Barbara Maher

Barbara Maher was born in Berlin in 1937 and came with her parents to England in 1939. She grew up and was educated in Manchester. She studied textile design at Manchester College of Art and Design, and later moved to London with her husband and family. Her continental background greatly influenced both her cooking and then particularly her baking. In the late 1970's She began researching old European cookery books when there was very little interest at all, in baking, in the UK, Austria, Germany, France, Switzerland and Hungary were an inspiration with their centuries old traditional recipes made with finest quality ingredients. Her first book 'Cakes' (1982) won the André Simon Memorial Fund Award as best cookery book of the year.