The Seasonal Baker: Baking All Year Round

Seasonal bakes and tips on growing your own produce by former The Great British Bake Off contestant, Michelle Evans-Fecci

Former Bake Off contestant Michelle was known on the show for her flavoursome, colourful bakes and for championing seasonal, locally sourced and homegrown produce. Whether it's a simple loaf for breakfast or a striking showstopper cake for a celebration, she loves using seasonal food to create tasty recipes for the whole family to enjoy.

The Seasonal Baker is a collection of recipes straight from Michelle's kitchen to yours - from quick-and-easy bakes to others that are a bit more challenging - with an emphasis on special events such as Easter, Halloween and Christmas. Inside you will find delicious, vibrant recipes such as:
- Hot Cross Bun Bread and Butter Pudding
- Truffle, Rosemary and Garlic Focaccia
- Smokey Pulled Pork Sausage Rolls
- Butternut Squash, Feta, Maple and Pecan Cups
- Vanilla, Rhubarb and Raspberry Celebration Cake

Michelle grew up on a farm and learned from a young age how to grow vegetables and the basics of cooking and baking. She now lives in the beautiful seaside town of Tenby in Pembrokeshire with her husband Ben, their teenage son Alfie, little whippet Rosie, and two cheeky hens. As a family they love to be out in the garden where they grow a lot of the fruit, vegetables and herbs that Michelle uses in her everyday cooking. The book shows just how easy and rewarding it is to grow your own produce.

As well as delicious bakes for all abilities, The Seasonal Baker contains hints and tips on ways of being thrifty with food. There is something for everyone, from what to plant, when to plant it and when to harvest - whether you have access to a plant pot, window box, balcony, raised bed or garden veg patch with intuitive, creative photos to help.

My earliest memory of baking is being stood on a stool with my Mam in an apron that drowned me, taking everything in with fascination, excitedly waiting to see the end result! Growing up on a farm, I learnt the basics of cooking and baking traditional hearty bakes with my Mam and growing veggies with my Dad.

I've always found growing from seed such a magical and rewarding process. It's relaxing, very easy, cheap and it's fun planning what to plant, watching seedlings grow, harvesting and adding them in everyday cooking and baking. Being sustainable and self-sufficient is something we love as a family.

It was my love and passion for baking that made me apply for The Great British Bake Off, a show that I'd watched for years in awe of so many talented bakers. To be chosen to bake in the big white tent was nerve-wracking to say the least, but it was an amazing experience I'll never forget and gave me memories that I will always treasure. The endless baking and intense recipe development made me the baker I am today, as it gave me the confidence to try new flavour combinations, become more adventurous and even gain star baker of cake week!

Since buying my first cookbook with my pocket money from the touring bus library that came to my school as a child, it has been a lifelong dream of mine to write my own. I still have that book; it's covered in splatters and held together with tape!

My first book, The Seasonal Baker, is filled with colourful, flavoursome bakes from my kitchen to yours, for you to enjoy and become family favourites in your home as they have in mine.

These inspiring creations will keep you baking through the year with the best produce each season has to offer. Whether you have a small plant pot, window box, balcony, raised bed or garden veg patch, we can all grow our own!

So, pop on your apron, get baking and watch your loved ones faces light up when you give them something that's made with love.

Happy Baking!
Michelle x