TASTE OF CHILDHOOD Chocolate teacakes
“Everybody has a story about their mum, dad or gran baking something when they were kids – it’s nostalgic. Every time I have apple pie and custard it reminds me of my mum’s apple pie. It had quite a short pastry, and she used cooking apples from the garden. My dad was a professional baker so the last thing he wanted to do on his day off was bake, but I recall him setting out rolls to prove in front of the gas fire on Saturday afternoon, with World of Sport on the television.
I was born and raised among flour bags. You get used to the smell of bakeries, what you can and can’t touch, not going near the oven, cream cakes on tap. Working at my dad’s bakery in York, it was difficult – being the boss’s son – but I worked my way up and learned a lot. My big thing has always been bread. I find it fascinating because it’s one of the most difficult skills to master, as you’re dealing with a living organism. Later I moved south and worked in London at The Dorchester, The Grosvenor and at Cliveden House in Berkshire and loved it. It was important for me to spread my wings and see what I could do – and it was a challenge working at such world-renowned places. The baking was similar, but it was a case of adding finesse and using my artistic skills, which I learned at art school.