Charlotte Ree once ate 30 different kinds of croissants during a trip to France – then got a croissant tattoo afterwards. She’s so dedicated to pastries that she’ll stay up until 5:30am to finish a baking marathon. Pulling 120 cakes out of the oven during the hours people reserve for sleeping – and then going to work the next day, as communications manager for Pan Macmillan (the publisher of Hetty McKinnon‘s cookbooks) – well, that’s just a normal whirlwind day for Charlotte.

Charlotte’s love of all things sweet is clear on every page of Just Desserts, her latest cookbook. It features recipes for Nutella thumbprint cookies, peach and raspberry tray cake, tiramisu swiss rolls and chocolate ganache Bundt (Charlotte likes big Bundts and she can not lie). Just Desserts also includes “a nod to the king of biscuits” and is laced and frosted with a good dose of puns (sieve the day)!

Charlotte talks about how to land a cookbook deal (when you’re not a celebrity chef), being on the publicity trail with Hetty McKinnon, as well as her personal baking triumphs, fails and memorable moments. Plus, we take an express trip to all her favourite patisseries around the world (I’ve saved her Tokyo recommendations for my next trip)!

Note: this was recorded a few months ago, before the current pandemic and lockdown hit. So, social distancing is paramount, but please take note of eateries you can still responsibly support as they need the help right now. And there’s plenty in the podcast archive (the Christina Tosi episode, the one with Lune Croissanterie’s Kate Reid!) if you’re keen for a self-isolation soundtrack or audio company during this unprecedented time.

You can listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts or download it via RSS or directly (or just hit the ‘play’ button above)! You can also find it on Stitcher, Google Podcasts and other podcast players, too. Big thanks to anyone who leaves kind words about this show on Apple Podcasts, plus thank you to anyone who subscribes to this podcast and lets me know how much they like listening to it – it means a hell of a lot. Also, how wild to find out that this was Turkey’s #3 food podcast last week?!

Photography by Luisa Brimble, from Just Desserts, out now through Plum/Pan Macmillan.