This is the day I tell you about the lovely Harry. She is a half british half american Food Writer, the most creative, fun and cheerful Cook I have ever met, she loooves getting her hands dirty and is, in the mean time, a real Party Girl. She loves to host, knows how to make you feel comfortable, fancies dresses and is so spontaneous you just want to hug her! 

She likes to understand her ingredients, and is passionate about tracking food back to it's roots. She loves cooking and she loves to party, but then, how do you stay thin when you are out dining and wining every evening? This is how she began writing recipes to help women stay thin without losing their appetite, not an easy task! The show was called "Cook yourself thin", and she wrote two books  out of it: "Cook yourself thin, a delicious way to drop a dress size" and "Cook yourself thin, quick and easy". 

But living for food, her mind kept on thinking and she came up with this crazy, and yet genius idea of replacing butter, oil, let's say the fattening ingredients by... VEGETABLES! Sounds incredible and I personally think that only a British could have come up with this concept. Being devoted to chocolate, she began working on pastry recipes involving vegetables, and wrote a whole book : "Red velvet chocolate heartache: the ultimate feel-good book of natural cakes that taste naughty". Not only do I love these real puddings, but I can give you garantee that even my french conservative Father who loves butter and cream could not feel the vegetables in the vanilla/courgette cakes he happily ate thinking they were regular cupcakes! The vegetables cut the fat in the pastries, but they also soften over time, rather than stiffen, improving the taste and texture of the cakes the longer you leave them... Although they never last long!

And the story does not stop here. Harry is passionate and a hard worker: she came to Paris to write a book about french cooking and how to keep the taste of our national recipes while lightening them. The book was juuust published and is called: "The skinny French kitchen". I have a special message for her: Harry, I think I will never forget the first time I met you. You arrived with 10 boxes... I am still wondering how you managed all the way to my home on your own: the Cheese Gougères, the Boeuf Bourgignon, the Green Beans, the Potatoes, then the Chocolate Mouss and to finish, the Red Wine Granité, it was a delight! Jazz music and stories from all over the world, to accompany this Feast, that was an unforgetable evening!

While working on these recipes in her little kitchen underneath the roofs of Paris, she found time to create a company with co-founder Ashley. "Petit Pois" is an extraordinary line of cakes that perfectly captures their motto: ‘Have your cake & eat it!’. Petit Pois cakes have half the calories and fat of ‘normal’ High-Street cakes and are both gluten- and lactose-free, they are sold in boxes of two different flavoured cupcakes that complement each other: Chocolate & Vanilla, Lemon & Orange. The recipes were developed in Harry’s kitchen in Paris and are made by a family bakery in Wales using the best quality, natural ingredients available, including 70% chocolate, Madagascan vanilla extract, freshly grated lemon and orange zest, and free-range eggs. They are sold at Selfridges, but if you'd like to have Petit Pois Cake's for you Birthday, Wedding, Baby Shower... you can contact Harry and Ashley here.

Let her enthusiasm cheer you up!



Harry's website here.