Scones in the Time of Agita
Claire Ptak’s “Love Is a Pink Cake” and “Mary Berry’s Baking Bible” provoke differing views of the state of British baking — and Britain itself
Britain is in turmoil. It’s been weird since last fall, when the pound fell to a dramatic low and Prime Minister Liz Truss was ousted from power amid the demise of the country’s longest-reigning monarch. Or maybe it’s been weird since last summer, when the previous prime minister was felled by his own corruption and electoral disappointments. Or maybe it was 2020, when the country tumbled out of the European Union and into a series of grossly mismanaged pandemic lockdowns, oft-flouted by their authors. Or the summer of 2016, when the electorate decided to abandon the EU and plunged the populace into unabating existential angst. Or perhaps as far back as 2010, when the Conservatives came to power and implemented a national spendthrift … Read more