My Book!! Upside Down Cooking

Where it all started

In May 2023, inspired by the foodie world on social media and my love of everything wrapped in pastry, I created an upside-down caramelized onion tart, the video of which I posted on Instagram. Nothing particularly incongruous about that and, to be honest, despite my usual predisposition for procrastination, I didn’t think about it too deeply. I gave it my twist, adding a layer of luscious, salted cream cheese that lent a wonderful richness to the tart, filmed and uploaded it, then went to bed.

If I’m honest, I had become a little despondent with social media; it felt as though I was putting a lot of effort in for very little return, which had become frustrating and akin to shouting into the wind. I wanted to share my passion for cooking with the world, but not enough people were seeing my creations. Perhaps I was guilty of overthinking each image I posted instead of just getting on with it and sharing what I’d cooked that day.

However, with this little tart my life quite literally flipped upside down.

I woke the next morning to a deluge of over 6,000 comments, over 1.2 million likes, and 800,000 saves as well as close to 100,000 new followers. All in one day! The reel showing the tart has now been seen by over 40 million people. With this simple tart, I tapped into viewers’ and readers’ desire for food that’s delicious, looks great, and is not only easy but fun to make.

And that is how Upside Down Cooking was born.

What is Upside Down Cooking?

The upside-down idea is such a simple one that encapsulates my style of cooking. You basically start with sugar or fat to help the cooking process, and then top these with the main ingredients. You’re essentially building the recipe in reverse, creating a deconstructed version of a dish, and completing it with a blanket of pastry on top. Once in the oven, the heat from the metal baking tray below and the cover of the pastry on top cooks the filling to glorious perfection, and then when it comes out of the oven you have the theatrics of flipping it over to reveal the finished dish.

And, of course, the possibilities are endless: from sweet to savoury; and weekday meals to seasonal treats. Wherever your imagination and the ingredients in your fridge take you. I often ask guests, who are coming to dinner, what their favourite food is and then make it into an upside-down tart or pie, or take the essence of the dish and layer it under pastry. Take a classic recipe and think how it could work in layers. I ask myself “will it pie?” and if the answer is “yes” (which it almost inevitably is), then I adapt it to become an upside-down version, and once you have the technique figured out, you can get creative with your own inventions.

About My Book

This book is packed with familiar dishes with an upside-down twist, alongside new creations inspired by my travels, meals out, family and friends. There are chapters for individually sized savoury tarts, pies and canapés, all with a golden, crisp layer of puff, shortcrust or filo pastry. You’ll also find recipes for large upside-down tarts and pies, that are perfect for sharing and for special times of the year, such as Christmas, New Year’s Eve and Valentine’s Day. People often ask me what to serve with my upside-down tarts and pies, so there are recipes for soups, salads and sides that can be served alongside to make a complete meal, or extend it into a multiple-course dinner.

Alongside the upside-down recipes, I’ve included a chapter of some of my favourite right-side up dishes that follow the same principle of layering in terms of ingredients, textures, colours and flavours to create well-rounded one-pot meals, bakes and roasts, but without the flip. And for those who love sweet treats (and who doesn’t!), there is a collection of glorious cakes, bakes and tarts, all with my signature upside-down twist. Enjoy!

Thank you

I want to start by thanking my literary agent, Liza, who’s girlish chuckle hides a whip-smart brain and fabulous capacity for Champagne consumption. She led me to the incredible team at DK Books, who have literally and figuratively held my hand through the process. Cara, Lucy and Tania have been so lovely and Nicky, my editor, is like the English teacher I’ve always wanted but never got. Thank you all.

Thank you to Ellis Parrinder, Max Robinson and Susannah Unsworth, my photographer, stylist and food stylist who literally crawled inside my brain and extracted my thoughts to create a unique vision for this book.

Nikki at Nik and Lou, who just seemed to get me and managed to design the beautiful artwork and layout of the book based on a few simple questions about where I buy my shirts!

The Viking

And finally, I want to tell you about my incredible husband, Andy (The Viking), who is always my biggest champion, forever my safety net and somehow able to talk me down off a cliff even though at times I seemed incapable of expressing emotions other than spitting venom, which he takes without complaint. I love you Andy and could not have done this without you. You are my everything.

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