Butter Cream: A Year in a Montreal Pastry School AUTHOR: Denise Roig ISBN 1-897109-30-X ISBN-13 978-1897109-30-4 256 PAGES $18.95 CDN $15.95 US ABOUT THE BOOK: What happens when a 56-year-old fiction writer decides to ditch it all and attend professional pastry chef school for a year? In writing that brings to mind the work of journalist/chef Michael Ruhlman Butter Cream: A Year in a Montreal Pastry School tells the story of eleven months of whipping, spreading and creaming in the pursuit of perfection. When Denise Roig set out to do this — a lark, she thought — she had no idea what it would cost and what it would give back. Butter Cream is the chronicle of an intense year of learning and tasting, dramas at the stove and in the locker room. It's about fights, friendship and competition, fallen cakes and rising doughs. And sometimes, unexpectedly, it's about the sheer joy of baking. It's a memoir that also includes trips back to Roig's mother's and grandmother's kitchens and to her own complicated relationship with all things sweet. REVIEWS: "In Denise Roig's honest memoir, the pastry kitchen becomes a metaphor for life with all of its rough edges and unpredictabilities. By the end of her yearlong course, Roig has cut through the conflicts to recognize the beauty of relationships that, like butter cream, hold together when handled just right. This is a charming book, written with sensitivity and verve." — Darra Goldstein, Editor-in-Chief of Gastronomica "A beautiful story of a writer's adventures in the world of baking: instructions in puff pastry become lessons in eating and living well. Wise, funny, and warm—Denise Roig's Butter Cream is a sumptuous read—both confection and feast. I loved every last bite." — Diana Abu-Jaber, author of The Language of Baklava and Origin Other Signature titles by Denise Roig: Any Day Now A Quiet Night and a Perfect End