A thoughtful, narrative cookbook in the vein of Mother Grains and Flour Power, exploring whole-grain baking from the celebrated Nova Scotia—based baker behind Gold Island Bakery.

For Jess Ross, baking is more than just mixing ingredients and placing them in an oven. It's an act of generosity presented through nutritious food, generational knowledge transmitted through hands, a declaration of local food politics, and most most of all, a way to rise to the occasion.

Rise is a collection of recipes from Jess's celebrated Nova Scotian bakery, Gold Island, feted for her accessible and delicious approach to whole grains. In this thoughtful, narrative cookbook, readers will find tips and techniques to help them successfully use whole grain flours, such as rye, oats, corn, buckwheat, spelt, and wheat. More importantly, they will learn how and why baking with whole grains is a love letter to flavour and family.

Organized by grain, each section includes a grain profile and delicious recipes for a variety of baked goods, from Seven Grain Sourdough Bread and Whole Wheat Brown Bread, crowd-pleasing cakes such as Blueberry Rye Coffee Cake and Kamut Gumdrop Cake, and dainty desserts like Chocolate Rye Cookies, Plum Crumble Squares, and Cape Breton Oatcakes. Variations on regional favourites like Blueberry Grunt can be found next to wholly original Kamut Carrot Apple Salad.

Features dozens of full-colour photographs of recipes, methods, and more by Jennifer (JK) Murphy.

Jessica Ross is a passionate gardener, caterer, canner and baker. For almost fifteen years Jess has owned and baked for Gold Island Bakery, a small sourdough bakery, where she shares her often experimental local grain creations to farm market communities throughout Nova Scotia/ Mi'kma'ki. A longtime educator, DIY bookmaker, and writer, with Rise Jess shares stories and recipes exploring some of our most beloved grains.

Jess Ross' profile page

Jennifer (JK) Murphy is a photographer and writer whose clients include Marci's Salads in Saint John, New Brunswick, and Gold Island Bakery in Nova Scotia. She currently photographs food and families around the Maritimes. In 2015 she was named one of the 30 most inspiring photographers in Canada by Weddingbells magazine. Jennifer lives in Halifax, NS, and is working on her first novel. Follow her work on Instagram @jkmurphyphotography.

Jennifer K. Murphy's profile page