“On the top rack is a cooled and decorated seven-layered 'opera' cake. Her client- the Peruvian ambassador- had requested a "tropical" theme… — Diana Abu-Jaber Copy Share Image
“The first time Avis knelt on a chair and stirred eggs into flour to make a vanilla cake, she had an inkling… — Diana Abu-Jaber Copy Share Image
“A cookie, Avis told her children, is a soul. She held up the wafer, its edges shimmering with ruby-dark sugar. "You think… — Diana Abu-Jaber Copy Share Image
“For this cake, I want to mingle the womanly and masculine foods- sugars and meats in particular. The walls must come down.… — Diana Abu-Jaber Copy Share Image
“Avis named her business Paradise Pastry because she imagined cathedrals. She thought about the stonemasons, glassblowers, sculptors- who gave lifetimes to the… — Diana Abu-Jaber Copy Share Image
“Years ago, when she'd studied the constructions of stem, blade, stamen, ovule, she loved the infinite possibilities of the plant kingdom- but… — Diana Abu-Jaber Copy Share Image
“She considers a tray of flaky 'jesuites,' their centers redolent of frangipani cream, decorated with violet buds preserved in clouds of black… — Diana Abu-Jaber Copy Share Image
“Avis puts aside the 'Saint-Honore' and decides to embark on a new pastry. She's assembling ingredients when the phone rings in the… — Diana Abu-Jaber Copy Share Image
“But Stanley persisted in the kitchen, performing the small yet demanding apprentice's tasks she set for him- removing the skin from piles… — Diana Abu-Jaber Copy Share Image
“This morning's pastry poses challenges. To assemble the tiny mosaic disks of chocolate flake and candied ginger, Avis must execute a number… — Diana Abu-Jaber Copy Share Image
“Deep, fluting emotions were a form of weakness. She'd seen the softening in her work over the years, she'd started making the… — Diana Abu-Jaber Copy Share Image
“I mean, he could blow old Capitalist-Stevie here away." Felice doesn't respond. She pulls the backs of her ankles in close to… — Diana Abu-Jaber Copy Share Image
“It's been over a year since they've visited their son's market. As they walk through the parking lot they take in a… — Diana Abu-Jaber Copy Share Image
“As she piped rosettes, docked a sheet of dough, or doused a tart with sanding sugar, another world occurred on the doorstep.… — Diana Abu-Jaber Copy Share Image
“Propped on a small easel she uses for orders and ingredient lists is a request for a 'gateau Saint-Honore' bearing the legend… — Diana Abu-Jaber Copy Share Image
“He had a satisfying wholeness about him, American good looks like a baseball player's- level shoulders, a pale shock of hair. A… — Diana Abu-Jaber Copy Share Image
“She collects a tray from the kitchen: arranges almond and mango cream puffs, brown sugar lace cookies, and miniature napoleons of vanilla… — Diana Abu-Jaber Copy Share Image
“Flour and yolk and cream are all coarse- of the earth. But sugar and air and vanilla are elements of the firmament.… — Diana Abu-Jaber Copy Share Image
