Sally Wise bakes for comfort, creativity and community. Homely and humble, these sweet and savoury treats will bring this feeling into your slice of the world.
In a wooded valley tucked into an island just off the coast of Australia, you’ll find a wooden cabin with its kitchen window ajar. Step closer and you’ll smell just- brewed coffee, bubbling cherries and buttery pastry. This is where “the gran we all wished we had” lives.
This small plot in Tasmania is where Sally Wise has been making, baking and preserving treats for anyone who happens to stop by – whether a pal, neighbour, student or delivery man. This is where she has imagined and made all 100 bakes that have gone into her 17th cookbook – The Comfort Bake: Food that warms the heart – and where her husband, Robert, has gladly taste-tested every single one.
Sally has been hailed one of the best grannies around – and not just by family, cookbook critics and fans. Even the Australian government has put its money on her being the best: in 2019, they named her Tasmanian Senior Australian of the Year and, two years later, awarded her an Order of Australia Medal for her service to the culinary community. Of all of these achievements she simply thinks: “What a privilege, if indeed this were so, to be representative of a whole group in society that has so much they would love to share with younger generations.”
In fact, it is her own grandmother who inspired her love of baking. This paternal “nan” was a pastry chef in her own parents’ bakery, not far from where Sally now lives, and stood by the mantra that “When visiting, it’s always nice to take a little something delicious to share with others”.
Sally has infused her life and The Comfort Bake with this worldview. “From my perspective, the greatest thing about baking is the capacity to brighten someone’s day,” she says. “The fact that you have thought of them and want to share something you have baked is like offering a ‘cuddle with food’ – it’s warm, it’s comforting and asks for nothing in return. Baking is not what I do – it’s who I am.”
It’s no wonder, then, that Sally has always insisted on 6m of bench space in her kitchen and roped all six of her children into baking from a young age. Always experimenting with flavours, she shares her bakes on anyone who’s willing to try a bite (or two). A cooking school and 16 cookbooks later, she shows no sign of slowing down.
But despite a wealth of experience and accolades, Sally and her recipes remain down-to-earth – she prefers second-hand baking equipment to new, can’t be bothered with caster sugar, always has custard powder on hand and doesn’t sift flour. And it comes through in The Comfort Bake.
The recipes are divided according to occasion: not how fancy it is, but how many mouths you’re expecting to feed! From “bite-sized beauties” to “large savouries”, there’s something for whichever occasion calls. A recipe for plum pies advises that tinned plums can be used “in an emergency” – only someone who bakes with love could see this as an emergency!
Another clue that this is a Sally Wise book is the emphasis on fresh, seasonal ingredients. From berries and peaches to tomatoes and pumpkins, Sally has selected widely available produce which become even more delectable when baked low and slow.
She is revered as one the grandest grans, but there’s nothing old-school about her recipes. For her, baking “is, in essence, an act for yourself, sparking and enabling creativity, but its great strength is that it’s something that can be shared readily for others,” she explains.
Her most recent personal challenge was to bake a new cake, with custard hidden in it somewhere, for a local community group every week. And she’s got it right for the past two years – and doesn’t plan to stop anytime soon. This same creative energy is in The Comfort Bake. From a whiskey and orange chocolate self-saucing pudding to a summer tomato pie with pesto cream, the recipes suite a modern palate but with a touch of something recognisable, reassuring and warm.
Paging through the book, you’ll never guess that it is photographed in Sally’s own home kitchen. Sure, there are stacks of her beloved second-hand wire racks, blotchy baking tins, antique knives and plain plates and platters. But her experienced hands break bread, pass a slice and offer a tray. Crumbs are footloose and fancy free, the helpings are healthy and the mugs are filled to the top. You can’t help but be sure that this kind of comfort will land on your kitchen table, too, with one of these bakes.
“Don’t be deterred, don’t try to do things too fancy and don’t have too high an expectation of what the food will look like on the plate,” Sally advises in the book’s introduction. “Be a flavour-chaser, because everybody loves flavour. Just get together with others and cook, because it is that wonderful means of communication through which you can learn so much and have fun. You make a wonderful meal and community.”
Rustic cherry brandy pie
SERVES 6 • TOTAL TIME 2 HR
Ingredients
1 egg white, lightly whisked
FOR THE PASTRY
125g very soft salted butter
80g white sugar
1 egg
90g plain flour
90g self-raising flour
FOR THE FILLING
1 x 680g jar sour (Morello) cherries, drained, or 400g pitted fresh sour cherries
60g white sugar
2 tsp brandy
3 tsp cornflour mixed to a paste with 40ml cold water
Method
- Preheat the oven to 190°C.
- Grease a 20cm round pie tin or tart plate, 4cm deep.
- Using a hand whisk, mix the butter and sugar together, then whisk in the egg until well combined.
- In a separate bowl, combine the flours and, using a large metal spoon, fold into the butter mixture to form a soft dough.
- To make the filling, place the cherries, sugar and 80ml water in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
- Add the brandy, then gradually stir in enough cornflour paste to reach a thick custard consistency. Keep warm over low heat.
- To assemble for baking, cut 1/3 from the pastry, cover and set aside.
- Press the remaining pastry evenly into the tin, then brush with some of the whisked egg white to seal.
- Spoon in the warm cherry filling.
- Break the reserved pastry dough into several pieces and flatten them between your (slightly damp) hands. Place them on top of the pie. Don’t worry if they don’t fit together – this will sort itself out during baking.
- Bake for 25–30 minutes, or until golden brown.
- Leave to stand for at least 20 minutes before serving with ice cream.
Words by Christi Nortier
Photography: Samuel Shelley/Murdoch Books
