When I’m not cooking, some of my very favourite moments are spent with Rob and Sophie, who make up our little family of three. Without them and the rest of my wonderful family, and their endless encouragement, mealtimes would be meaningless and cooking would be aimless and empty.
To Mum, for teaching me that patience is indeed a virtue. That’s why her cakes (and pretty much everything that she touches in the kitchen) always come out perfectly. She’s meticulous, thorough, focused in her approach in the kitchen and so many other things that I am not. And she always, always cooks with love.
To my recipe testers, scattered all around the world, who are also some of my very best friends. I triple test all of my recipes in my own kitchen and then farm them out to my friends, regular (and amazing) people, just like you and I, who painstakingly retest, make notes and return their homework. The deal is that they have to be ruthlessly honest. This time around, the merry band included: Debbie Buchner, Kimbo Brown-Schirato, my darling mum Wendy Conolly, Tracy Dane, Bronwyn Diering, Cath Goldsworthy, Ashleigh Graham, Robyn Graham, Teneale Holley, Jenna Hutchings, Megan Massingham, Justine Passaportis, Louise and Richardt Schoonwinkel, Ruth Tanser, Barbs Taylor, Yvonne Turner, Katherine Tyler, Claire Van Tonder and Elsie Velacott.