Probably the best book biscuits in the world
You can write books, you can read books, and thanks to historian Ella Hawkins you can now also eat books.
People’s ingenuity never ceases to amaze me. My early books chronicled astonishing bookshelf designs, remarkable libraries, and spectacular sheds, and each time I thought I’d come across something impossible to top, something would top it. Similarly, the book world is full of people doing incredible research, but one of the most impressive ways of reinterpreting our cultural heritage is the work of Shakespeare scholar and historian Dr Ella Hawkins. Long story short, she bakes books.
Dr Hawkins’ day job is Senior Lecturer in Research and Innovation (Drama) at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, and her book Shakespeare in Elizabethan Costume: ‘Period Dress’ in Twenty-First-Century Performance was published by Bloomsbury in June 2022. But she is also a very keen baker and designer, and has worked to create bespoke biscuit designs for the likes of the British Library, Milton’s Cottage, and Jane Austen’s House. Pictured top are some of her Early Modern Books designs. Here’s my recent interview with her about her fine work:
Why and when did you begin your biscuit art?
I was a committed hobbyist cake decorator for around 10 years before pivoting to biscuit art. I started designing biscuit sets early in 2021, during the UK’s third national lockdown. It wasn’t possible to visit family or friends in person at that time, and I had a lot of free time to fill. Biscuits were the perfect weekend project: I enjoyed making them and could send the finished products in the post to brighten somebody’s day.
What is your aim in cooking the biscuits?
At first, my aim was to make biscuit sets that would mean something to the person I was sending them to. For example, one box of cookies was inspired by a friend’s PhD project (including a portrait of Shakespeare, film reels, and theatre company logos). Another was a Nicolas Cage cookie filmography.
I then started creating biscuits inspired by my academic work on costume design, Shakespeare, and dress history. In each set, I try to capture and celebrate the aesthetic of a particular period, artistic movement, film/TV show, or literary context. I’ve made biscuits inspired by early modern books, Elizabethan fabrics, Tiffany Glass, William Morris designs, Jane Austen, and medieval illuminated manuscripts. Sharing photographs of the finished biscuit sets has been a wonderful way of getting people excited about museum collections and history.
How do you select designs?
It varies! As artist-in-residence at Jane Austen’s House, I had digital access to the organisation’s extensive collections and expertise. Each biscuit set [example pictured above] responded to a particular aspect of the author’s life, works, or legacy. For example, a patchwork coverlet made by Austen, her sister, and her mother inspired a set of diamond-shaped cookies that were hand-painted with patterns from various collection items.
More generally, I tend to be attracted to striking styles and artefacts. The costumes in Emma (2020), Game of Thrones, and Outlander caught my attention because each film/television show reimagines historical fashions in such a distinctive way. Recreating rare manuscripts and early printed books allows me to explore elements of calligraphy, annotation, gilding, and illustration. Once I have an idea for a set in mind, I’ll spend some time researching design options before beginning the baking and decorating process.
The archaeological designs are probably my favourites. It brings me a lot of joy to recreate museum artefacts like Ancient Greek pottery sherds, Anglo-Saxon metalwork, Roman coins, and Victorian transferware. I try to reproduce every scratch, crack, and wear mark in the royal icing so the cookies look as though they’ve been in the ground for centuries. It’s a satisfying process, and at the end of each project I feel as though I’ve ‘met’ the original artefacts.
I do match the flavours to the decoration if I can. So my ‘mudlarking’ cookies, inspired by objects found on the banks of the River Thames, were flavoured with sea salt, and I used rose water for the Jane Austen biscuits to make them taste like recipes the author would have been familiar with.
What happens to the finished biscuits?
They are photographed from every angle, then eaten! I don’t sell my biscuits, partly because they take such a long time to decorate (usually between one and three hours per biscuit). I still send the finished biscuits to friends, family, and colleagues if I can.
Creating biscuit art has changed the way I think about my academic work. It’s expanded my research interests and has given me a way of connecting with people around the world. I will continue baking as a way of exploring material culture, celebrating museum and archival collections, and bringing the past to life.
All photos courtesy and copyright Dr Hawkins. You can find many more examples of her smashing biscuit art at her website here.