Introducing BBBB

A rare treat on the blog today, an interview with the delightful Stephanie Butland, Firestation Bookswap regular, blogger of Bah To Cancer fame, stupendous BBBB book giveaway organiser and cupcake baker extraordinaire - more on all of which can be found below. You should read right to the end of the interview unless you are on a really strict diet, in which case you might want to close the browser the moment that I mention cupcakes because it gets very tempting from there on in... But to start with, talk of BBBB and books in general.

Who are you and what is this BBBB of which you speak?

I'm Stephanie Butland and I was diagnosed with breast cancer in November 2008. Since then I've had surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and ongoing drug therapy, and I've chronicled my dance with cancer at www.bahtocancer.com.
One thing I discovered during treatment was that my usual response to long days of not feeling well - curling up on the sofa with a book - didn't work. At first I put it down to poor attention span and watched a lot of daytime TV instead. But then someone gave me a Georgette Heyer novel and I devoured it. I realised that my usual books - dense, dark thrillers, complex small-print novels, modern fiction usually involving incest and other nastiness - just weren't the right books for me while I was trying to get better. So I started reading differently - Agatha Christie, Dick Francis, Lisa Jewell - and was re-reminded of what a healing thing a good book can be.
The BBBB - Bah! Brilliant Book Bonanza - was born from this experience. I've persuaded lots of lovely writers and publishers - including your fragrant self - to donate copies of their books, and I'm inviting anyone in need of a good, uplifting read (you don't need to have cancer) to come along and leave a 'pick me!' comment. So you can get a good, free, read if you need one, or you can make a small donation - I'm suggesting £2 - for every 'pick me' comment that you leave. So, if it works - and I'm going to look a complete twit if it doesn't - people in need of a good book will get one, and cancer charities will make a bit of money.

How can my lovely readers get involved with BBBB?

Readers can go to www.bahtocancer.com/bbbb and click on the 'May 2010 BBBB' link, read the list of available books - and there are some brilliant ones - leave a comment to say which one they'd like, and leave a 'pick me!' comment.

Writers who want to get involved with the BBBB can contact me via the site and tell me about the book they'd like to donate. It can be anything - fiction, biography, poetry, young adult books - so long as it leaves you with a smile on your face.

And now for some book questions. First book you remember reading / being read to you?

I remember a book called 'A Child's Garden of Verses' which was a big, heavy, illustrated poetry book. And my Grandma had a book at her house that she read to me and I loved - called 'Jim and Mary and the Rocking Horse' about a rocking horse in a park that sometimes came to life. I remember my Dad reading to me a lot. And I remember always being a reader. The first time we went on a plane, I missed the whole experience because my Mum had bought me a new Malory Towers book to read on holiday and I wasn't allowed to start it until we got on the plane. So I spent the whole flight with my nose stuck in the book with my Mum periodically interrupting me to try to get me to look out of the window.

First book that had a significant impact on you and the way you saw the world?

I really wanted to say something really impressively intellectual here, but I have to be honest and say it was one of the Enid Blyton St. Clare's boarding school books. I forget the context exactly but the message was that everyone has something special about them - and one day you will discover what is special about you. I liked that. Still do.

Favourite obscure book that everyone should know about?

'Chatterton Square' by E. H. Young. The characters are just exquisite and the story so moving. And it's such a delight to read a book where all the main characters are middle aged and none the less interesting for that.

A book that everyone loves but which you just don't get?

'The Time Traveller's Wife'. I get that the conceit is clever but frankly, I just couldn't care less. I've recently given up on 'The Children's Book' by A S Byatt when I was 100 pages in and loathed everyone in it. I read 'Wolf Hall' and felt very 'So what?' at the end, although I've loved Hilary Mantel's other novels. Oh, and you can keep all of Dickens.

All-time favourite book (or books - as this can be like choosing between your children)?

'Middlemarch' by George Eliot for the sheer span of it, and for Dorothea Brooke
'Bel Canto' by Ann Patchett, which is simply faultless
'A Suitable Boy' by Vikram Seth - I do have a bit of a big book fetish and this is the top of my big book list
The Edith Wharton one with Lily Bart that I can't remember the name of. Oh, hang on, "The House of Mirth'. The inevitability of the ending breaks my heart every time
'Cloud Atlas' by David Mitchell which is so brilliant and so clever but the brilliance and the cleverness don't interfere with the fact that these are really good stories.
'A Month of Sundays' by John Updike, although frankly I'd pay to read Updike's shopping list.

A special BBBB question - what's the perfect uplifting read for when times get really tough?

For me, it's a Jane Austen novel, because I've read them all so often that I can read and enjoy them without too much effort, and they link me back through my past, and new things speak to me every time.

Last but not remotely least: you are famous amongst the Firestation Bookswap audience for your delicious cupcakes. Care to share a recipe with us?

Of course! Here is my 'Vanilla Variations' recipe.

To make a dozen cupcakes you will need:
- 125g butter at room temperature
- 125g golden caster sugar
- 2 eggs
- 125g self raising flour
- a tablespoon of vanilla extract (not essence)
- a glug or two of full-fat milk
- muffin cases (not cupcake cases. This matters: it gives you the optimum cake to icing ratio.)

Heat the oven to 160 degrees celsius or so. Beat together the butter and sugar until it's really, really pale, or get a machine to do it for you. Add and egg and half the flour and beat it in slowly. Then the other egg and the other half of the flour, then the vanilla, then enough milk to make a soft dropping consistency - take a spoonful of the mixture, hold it sideways over the bowl, and if it falls off within 3 seconds that's what you've got.
Divide the mixture between the cases and put them in the oven. Take a look at them after 15 minutes: they should be pale gold and spring back to the touch. If in doubt, give them another 5 minutes. Remove the tray from the oven and leave the cakes in there until they are cool.

Now, the topping. This is where the variations come in. Try any of the following. As a general rule, the longer you mix the toppings for, the better they'll be.

Basic icing: 200g icing sugar and a little cold water. Vary this by replacing the water with lemon or orange juice, or adding a drop of rosewater. Golden caster sugar will give a hint of caramel.

Royal icing: start by whisking an egg white until it's foamy then add 200g icing sugar. This gives you a crunchier icing when it sets. You can add any flavouring to this one, and try it with golden caster sugar too.

Traditional frosting: use 100g cream cheese (such as Philadelphia), 50g butter, 200g icing sugar and a glug of vanilla extract.

Add 2 tablespoons of good quality cocoa powder to any of the above.

Try mixing lemoncurd with thick greek yoghurt and putting a raspberry on top, but you'll need to store these in the fridge and eat them quickly.

Beat 100g Nutella with 200g icing sugar.

Melt 200g good quality dark chocolate, 50g butter and 100g double cream. You'll need to leave this to thicken before you use it and keep these in the fridge.

Once you have the icing and the cakes are cool, put the icing on and spread it around, and put something yummy on the top. Raspberries, chocolate buttons, sugar roses, dolly mixtures, flaked almonds (good with rose icing), those chocolates in the shape of seashells - they're all good.

Enjoy!