By Joy Summers, The Minnesota Star Tribune MINNEAPOLIS — For decades, Zoë François has built community through her baking. With her 10th book, “ Zoë Bakes Cookies ” — already a bestseller — she is sure to widen that circle. What began as a straightforward installment of the Minneapolis pastry chef’s favorite recipes quickly morphed in a deeply moving ode to the humble treat that transformed her life, and a testament to the women who forged paths before her, handing down their stories and strength through tattered recipe cards.
François starts the book talking about the commune where she was raised, a nomadic upbringing where carob was the closest thing to a chocolate chip cookie. While she is still working to develop an appreciation for some aspects of that cooking, she does share her aunt’s granola and some gluten-free peanut butter cookies. Related Articles She then guides the reader through the science and discovery of home ec class, and how as a lonely kid she learned to make friends by cracking the codes of edible chemistry.
A college business course led to a cookie cart — and a course correction from academia to the prestigious Culinary Institute of America, where she learned to create fine-dining-level pastries — and the fun of breaking the right rules. Perhaps most important, the heart of this book is a testament to the women who formed her, including her great-great-grandmother, whose bravery and boldness to surreptitiously bake bought passa.