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Bristol’s Bake Off star publishes debut cookbook
Former The Great British Bake Off star Briony May Williams is celebrating the launch of her first cookbook, The Retro Recipe Society.
The book celebrates vintage and traditional recipes, including school cake and sticky toffee pudding, along with Williams’ own modern twists.
Williams, from Henbury, said to Bristol24/7: “I realised people love sharing in nostalgia and talking about it, and it brings this amazing sense of comfort.”
The former Bake Off contestant is keen to spread the joy of baking
The book covers a whole range of recipes, from sweet treats to dinners and spanning decades of archive material.
“Over the last couple of years I’ve become really obsessed with vintage cookbooks.
“I’ve got this amazing collection of cookbooks from the 1960s and 70s, but also things like Mrs Beeton’s Cookery Book that was published in the 1800s.”
Williams started posting her recreations of some of these recipes online, experimenting with how she could make them her own.
She said: “There was actually one from the 70s that was genuinely called ‘mouldy old salad’ which, to clarify, is not in the book!”
The book contains ‘throwback’ favourites and new twists
With The Retro Recipe Society, Williams is keen to bring back the “warm, joy and happiness” of cooking in a more analogue way.
She told Bristol24/7: “You find these lovely, old-school recipes like a jam roly-poly or vol-au-vents that a lot of people feel like they don’t have time to make anymore, or don’t know where to start.
“On the Great British Bake Off, they made us make things like Wagon Wheels and custard creams, and it was so weird thinking that that was something I could make!”
The Retro Recipe Society is the former Bake Off contestant’s first book
Williams believes it’s crucial to keep the connections with our history and culture through keeping these classic recipes alive.
“There’s so much wisdom and knowledge to be found in these old books and I think we’re losing the cookbook a little bit with the presence of social media and our phones – and I’m so guilty of it too, but I want to celebrate it again.”
Family and connection are at the heart of Williams’ book and she hopes that The Retro Recipe Society will help to bring people together through food.
“There’s nothing wrong with buying our favourite nostalgic foods, we all do it, but it’s trying to bring back the joy of cooking and being in the kitchen with your family, trying to carve out a bit of time.
“We don’t seem to pass recipes down the same way anymore.
“In the book, I use a few of the recipes that my nan gave me before she passed away, and it’s just so lovely to feel connected.
“I’ve got a ten-year-old daughter and I love the fact that she knows what goes into a cake, what goes into a bread – I don’t want us to lose touch with that.”
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Alongside family favourites and nostalgic classics, Williams has included what she calls a ‘remix’ of every recipe.
She said: “So for the classic, for example the jam roly-poly, we have both the traditional and then a ‘remixed’ filo with a cream cheese filling and blackcurrant jam that feels more modern but still fun.”
Williams worked alongside photographer Cíara Hillyer, who is also from Bristol, on production of the book.
The book will also be available to purchase as a digital download, for those “not wanting to clutter up their shelves,” laughed Williams.
All photos: Cíara Hillyer
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