I started collecting recipes as a kid - in little folders and notebooks. After school I’d watch my friends Jennifer + Clarissa, Huey, Nigella, Maggie + Simon. . . and at Christmas I’d help Mum make shortbread with rice flour and queen’s vanilla essence. When I left home, I received the CWA Classics and the Bourke Street sourdough cookbooks - there was a lot of not so good experimental baking. But it wasn’t until a project for my graphic design class at university that I realised I’d like to cook for real - I’d found Stephanie Alexander’s Kitchen Garden Foundation in my research and fell in love with it. Not long after that, I left uni to pursue pastry.

More than a decade later, Fornax Bakery is the accumulation of what I’ve learned (and am still learning) throughout my career - that sharing food is an expression of your love. I made this for you because I love you.

When I’m not baking, you can find me in my garden, where I keep chickens, grow vegetables and flowers, and a lot of the garnishes that you’ll see on your cakes.

Photos by Rachael Barrett, Erin Coberg and myself.