There are a few of us here at MummyPages who have quite a crush on the blue-eyed Paul Hollywood. He has won our hearts as a judge on The Great British Bake Off and is one of the best loved artisan bakers and TV presenters in the UK. The son of a baker, Paul originally trained as a sculptor until his father persuaded him to change career. By combining his love of sculpting and baking, Paul is now established as an innovator in the world of baking. We are constantly referring to his book ‘How to Bake’ by Bloomsbury…it’s a must have in every kitchen and gives plenty of helful tips on how to create the perfect bread.
Paul will be appearing at Cake International - The Sugarcraft, Cake Decorating & Baking Show at the ExCeL, London from 12-14 April. He will be appearing alongside the Queen of Puddings, Mary Berry and the winner of Great British Bake Off 2012 John Whaite.
Cake International caught up with Paul to find out more about his rise to baking greatness.
What or who got you interested in baking?
My mother introduced me to pastry and my father introduced me to bread. I was probably around 8 or 9 when I first became really interested.
What is your favourite food?
This changes all the time! I do love the food that we eat when we go to Cyprus, Souvlaki, which is grilled and barbecued meat.
Do you have a favourite recipe?
One of my favourites is my recipe for passion fruit soufflé
What has been your career highlight to date?
When I baked for the royal family at the various hotels that I worked in. I created kitchen art and I loved it. It was exciting and rewarding – a definite high.
Sweet tooth or savoury?
Sweet
What do you most enjoy about baking?
The freedom to play around with the flavours and recipes to achieve whatever you want. The other huge plus is that people love to eat what you’ve made and it’s so rewarding seeing the smile on someone’s face when you see them enjoying something that you have created.
Do you have a favourite baking gadget?
My Scotch scraper. It’s so useful - we use it in the bakery to divide dough and pastry, to score, to clean down. It’s just a brilliant tool. I’ve had mine for about 30 years.
Away from work, what do you do to relax?
I’ve just started cycling and bought myself a road bike for Christmas. I also love my cars!
Please visit www.cakeinternational.co.uk for more information on the event.
