Downtime With: Tanya Bush
The pastry chef and author of "Will This Make You Happy" shares her best book recs, rituals, and a mouthwatering cookie recipe.
When a copy of Will This Make You Happy: Stories & Recipes From A Year of Baking by Tanya Bush (out now) landed on my desk, I immediately wanted to curl up on the couch and spend a quiet afternoon with it. While the book contains recipes, it’s not your average cookbook. It’s a coming-of-age story, a “narrative cookbook,” a tender and honest memoir that unspools beautifully alongside watercolor illustrations that offer a slice-of-life, unkempt peek into one pastry chef’s experience baking, living, and growing in New York City. Also, the writing is very good.
It’s no surprise then that Tanya, a pastry chef by day, is no stranger to the literary life: she’s an avid reader and the co-founder of the literary food magazine, Cake Zine.1 Her literary influences shine in this book (think Laurie Colwin, Ruth Reichl), which at times reads like poetry and makes for an immersive, calming reading experience. The recipes for treats like Hojicha Tiramisu and Neapolitan Pavlova almost feel like an added bonus. I asked Tanya a few questions about her downtime, her reading life, and, of course, pastries. Enjoy. —Alisha
P.S. We’re giving away one free copy of the book to a Downtime paid subscriber! To enter, please like this post and leave a comment with what you’re baking lately.
Tanya Bush’s 3 Good Things
A radio: it’s so lovely to have NPR murmuring in the background of my afternoons. I love my parasocial relationship with Brian Lehrer, and I love feeling connected to the rest of my city.
Omnilux Men’s red light mask: My husband says I look like a serial killer when I don it each night, but I relish the ritual before bed. It helps with fine lines and my winter-induced rosacea! They say the men’s mask penetrates deeper…
Getting a cat (or two–definitely two): Makes your house feel alive.
Downtime With: Tanya Bush
Talk to us about where you’re from and what you do?
I’m from New Jersey. Now, I live in Park Slope in Brooklyn where I bake and write. I’m the pastry chef at Little Egg, I co-founded the independent print magazine Cake Zine, and I’m the author of the narrative cookbook Will This Make You Happy.
How did you end up in the work that you do now?
It’s so funny looking back on moments that you can retrospectively imbue with significance, which at the time felt so arbitrary. I started baking five years ago, I was unemployed and unmoored. I turned to the kitchen because everyone around me was insisting that making banana bread or tending to a sourdough starter would soothe existential dread. This did not seem like a particularly effective cure to me, so I took to the internet to complain. But, it turned out that I liked making something. From there, I went on to work in professional kitchens and then began writing about my experience baking.
Can you walk us through a typical day for you?
If I’m at the restaurant, I’m up before the sun, I walk to work listening to Three Doors Down, then do the bake off. If it’s a production day, I pipe crullers, shape brioche, make a kaleidoscopic array of glazes and frostings and fillings. At some point I eat lunch, generally an omelette, then return home to work on edits for the magazine, or freelance writing pieces. Hopefully I’ll go to hot yoga and then sleep early before it begins again.
How do you end your day?
Reading and watching Traitors.
What does your downtime / “you time” look like?
Taking long walks to food destinations, cuddling with my cats, staring at the wall and not thinking.
Take a peek inside the reads, rest, rituals, and rabbit holes of interesting people who make things — see more in the Downtime interviews archive.
On Cooking, Baking, and Eating
Tell us about your book! It’s so beautiful. How’d the idea come to be? What was it like writing it?
I knew I wanted to write a narrative cookbook where the recipes and the story were meaningfully intertwined. Because I taught myself to bake during the pandemic, I wanted to write about what it was like to learn a new skill. I decided to write about that strange year: about trying something new and the failures and humiliations—and pleasure—that precede mastery.
I also wanted to tell a propulsive story about falling in and out of love, going to Italy for an ill-fated Eat, Pray Love moment, and what it’s like to work in a basement kitchen. I eventually landed on a four-part structure: the story of a season, immediately followed by the recipes that were inspired by it. My hope is that the book is very immersive. When I read a novel, I want to live in its world, and I think that if you’re invested in someone’s journey, it can inspire your own.
Any favorite parts and/or behind-the-scenes tidbits you can share?
My favorite part was collaborating with Forsyth. I loved getting to think about building out the narrator’s world with her illustrations, about how we wanted to evoke the messy realities of that period of time, the unkemptness of the apartment, the sweatpants on the way to the grocery store. That felt rare for a cookbook, which is often oriented towards the glossy finished product. Collaboration is what makes any creative process feel meaningful to me. Writing a book can be lonely. Making this with her wasn’t.
What do you hope readers take away from it?
That you can just do things! You really can!
On Books & Reading
What’s the last book you read? What did you think of it?
Television by Lauren Rothery. Stylish, atmospheric, delightful.
How do you like to read? (where, when, physical book, audiobook, multiple books at a time, etc.) How would you describe your reading life?
I try to read before bed which is my only meaningful window of time during the day. Sometimes, I’ll listen to audiobooks in the kitchen (I like choosing things that I might not ordinarily pick up in a bookstore, books that go down like a milkshake) if I’m in need of distraction or a quick dose of pleasure.
What’s the best culinary book or food-adjacent novel you’d recommend?
The Debt to Pleasure by John Lancaster. It’s a roving novel that’s ostensibly a gourmand’s treatise, with delightful interludes on food culture and the philosophy of pleasure. Then, at some point, it reveals itself, almost imperceptibly, to be about murder. What a twist!
What book would you recommend to someone who wants to get out of a reading rut?
I know it’s probably a common answer but The Secret History! Delicious!
What’s a book you’ve read that’s stuck with you or has influenced you in a big way? (or books, multiple) How so?
Home Cooking by Laurie Colwin. I’m obsessed with her bossy and chiding tone and her failure-first approach. I love the way she makes cooking chic and approachable.
Just For Fun
What’s the last thing you bookmarked/screenshotted/took note of that piqued your interest or curiosity?
This recipe that Aliza and Shirley made for me when I was over for dinner. So garlicky and creamy! Heaven. *NYT gift link
Thank you, Tanya! You can follow Tanya on Instagram, and buy her book Will This Make You Happy on Bookshop, Libro.fm (yes, Tanya narrates!), or your favorite indie bookstore.
ENDNOTE: A BONUS TREAT
Recipe: Brown Butter Hazelnut Chocolate Chunk Cookie
Below is an exclusive recipe for paid subscribers of Downtime, courtesy of Tanya and excerpted from “Will This Make You Happy.” You can upgrade here for access.
I am eternally in search of the platonic ideal chocolate chip cookie. My specifications include a supple center with chewy and crisp edges, pools of bittersweet chocolate, and a toasty whole-grain flavor. Although there is an abundance of recipes readily available, I believe this one has it all: brown butter for depth, dark and milk chocolate shards for balance, spelt and whole-wheat flours for a nutty bite, and roasted and chopped hazelnuts for extra crunch. The base recipe is endlessly accommodating. Substitute buckwheat for spelt, add white chocolate instead of dark, trade peanuts for hazelnuts, and toss in some dried cherries for a tart kick. Or stick to the classics. I recommend using good-quality chocolate (like Valrhona or Guittard) and hand chopping for ideal distribution. I also like to use Sarah Kieffer’s pan-banging method for an extra-chewy cookie. —TB
Ingredients:
MAKES 21 COOKIES
240 g (1 cup plus 1 Tbsp) unsalted butter, plus more as needed, cut into 1-inch (2.5 cm) pieces
220 g (1¾ cups plus 1 heaping Tbsp) all-purpose flour
50 g (1⁄3 cup plus 1 heaping Tbsp) spelt flour
2 heaping Tbsps whole-wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
230 g (1 cup plus 1 Tbsp plus 1 tsp) light brown sugar
175 g (¾ cup plus 2 Tbsps) granulated sugar
1¼ tsps kosher salt
100 g (2 large) eggs, at room temperature
2 tsps vanilla extract
150 g (heaping ¾ cup) coarsely chopped dark chocolate
50 g (heaping ¼ cup) coarsely chopped milk chocolate
90 g (¾ cup) unsalted hazelnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped
Flaky sea salt (such as Maldon), for sprinkling
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Downtime to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.