Confections of a Closet Master Baker: One Woman's Sweet Journey from Unhappy Hollywood Executive to Contented Country Baker

I love books that actually tell real stories, this book incorporates a fun filled story which involves memories from childhood in a foreign country, creating a pastry shop, recipes and a whole bunch of truths!! It’s funny, witty and a page turner with a fabulous full recipe in detail as the chapter tells its birth or tale! A must read for anyone who appreciates food, travel and a story that is real!!! A fav🩷

Gesine Bullock-Prado lives the life that I am living in quiet desperation. Her bakery is the bakery of my dreams, her life the one of my aspirations. I, too, am a closet baker, giving love and affection to whoever will appreciate the time and care that go into a perfect chocolate chip cookie, a decadent double chocolate brownie pie, or anything else baked in my tiny kitchen in upstate New York. Gesine's road from Hollywood to Vermont makes perfect sense to anyone who dreams in sugar, flour and butter...and often chocolate, too. Her autobiographical story of lawyer to baker truly is well written and understandable, funny and intellectual...and then there are the RECIPES: almost as many as in any cookbook, but woven in as part of a story from a European-flavored childhood (Apfelkuchen and Zwetschgendatschi) to the very adult Devil's Cream Pie and Espresso Cheesecake. Can't wait to try them all. I loved reading this book and am thrilled to add it to my collection of special cookbooks that tell their own story. Please get this book; Gesine's story will make you laugh and will touch your heart.

I'm not a big cook, but the premise of this book intrigued me, and I'm glad I decided to read it. I've never read a book quite like this - part cookbook, part chasing your dreams. Highly readable, the book's recipes are even fun to review, imagining how they might turn out and "hearing" the author's beautiful descriptions of her culinary creations. This is one of those books I enjoyed so much that I missed it afterward and kept it on my nightstand a while. Highly recommended. Don't read this on an empty stomach, and enjoy.

I will admit to being embarrassed in how long it took for me to catch on that the author of this book is Sandra Bullock's, the actress, sister. But once I caught on, it was delightful to imagine Sandra's face eating some of the perhaps more unusual items from their mother's German kitchen. However this book is not a story about an actress but a sister that served in Hollywood until she could no longer stand the emotional pain and then picked up and moved to Vermont. How much further could you run and still be in the states? Instead of being the `cool' anorexic insider in Hollywood, Gesine loved to bake and make goodies for all her friends and soon found herself running her bakery/pastry shop in Vermont. This book is a delightful romp through the opening of her store, the exhaustion of keeping it going, the fun of opening day when her sister pitched in which ended up drawing huge crowds, and the day to day maintenance of running a shop that delighted in giving people the Yum factor that they desired. I can so understand this woman as this is something I have tried to do throughout my life also, but was never crazy enough to start a bakery. Gesine is an exceptionally good writer, her people and scenes come alive, she writes with great humor besides. To top it off, she includes recipes throughout her book. While I have not tried the recipes myself, reading them look like they would do what is promised and I hope someday to try her buttercream frosting recipe as I have been looking for a good recipe for that for a long time. If you love baked goods, humor, family struggles and successes, etc. you should enjoy this book. While Sandra is mentioned several times in the book, it is not a book about her except to show the sheer `girl next door' niceness that we all assume from the movies we have seen her in. A sister writing a memoir can choose to be so cruel if they want to be, but she choose to portray her sister in a very favorable light which I appreciate. The only people she really seemed to not like are the paparazzi and hanger ons that only want a glimpse of her sister or imagine themselves in some sort of relationship with Sandra. Those are given the sort of treatment in the book that they deserve for trying to steal a person's private life. I hope that now that she has seen that she has a true talent for writing, that she will find time in her busy schedule to write more books.

I really enjoyed this book. It was easy to read, fun, touching and full of heart, not to mention great recipes. Gesine paints an honest picture of her life. I was touched by her honesty. From her life as head of her celebrity sister's production company, where she had beautiful clothes, hobnobbed with celebrities, but was miserable, to her life as the owner of bakery in Vermont. The book is filled with colorful people and heart felt stories. Her mom, sister, dad, and grandma began to feel like family. Everything about this book is simply delightful. The cakes and pastries were described so well in this book I could almost taste them. I can't wait to try some of the recipes. This book is for anyone who wants to be inspired to live their dreams! Another book I was inspired by is Being Here: Modern Day Tales of Enlightenment by award winning authors Ariel & Shya Kane. I highly recommend both of these books.

I work in a bookstore and read soooooooooo many books that and often I lose interest and toss the book aside to move on to the next one. Well. I LOVED this book. I read it in two days and found myself making home made bread and vanilla cake (which was THE BEST EVER). This is the story of Sandra Bullocks's sister, Gesine, who worked in Hollywood for her sisters production company and gave up a career most American's would drool over. Famous Stars - check! Fabulous clothes - check! Lunch/dinner dates - check! First class travel - check! Gesine chucked all the "phoniness" of LA to follow her passion for baking and ended up opening her own bakery - due mainly to an offhand comment her sister made about Gesine's fabulous macaroons. If you love to bake (or eat) hurry and place your order for this book. If you're not a foodie but your doing a job that drains you and long to do something else, buy this book! It's a heartfelt, easy, inspiring, read. Truly the best book I've read all year. I will not be loaning my copy to ANYONE. And I rarely keep books I read (I usually pass them on). I have ONE SHELF that holds favorite books (6 in all) - and this takes first place. Did I mention I LOVED this book! Funny. Heartwarming. Inspiring. Funny. And there's recipes!!!!