Q&A with Cherish Finden
Category: Press Pack ArticleYou're back for series eight of Bake Off: The Professionals. Why do you think it’s lasted so long?
Well, first of all, the show brings the audience a lot of joy. It’s fun, but serious at the same time. Every year we bring in new challenges, so it's never the same. Viewers don't quite know what to expect. And, most of all, they want to see my ruler! I get people messaging me: When are you going to bring your ruler out? When are you going to say ‘Cha la la’? When are you going to say: ‘Love it. love it, love it!’?
What were your highlights this series?
My favourite challenge has to be the suspended showpiece. This is the first time we’re doing this and it has been intriguing. The chefs have to be engineers. They need to be dynamic. They have to look at the weight, they have to look at the structure, they have to look at how they’re going to hang it. It needs to be spectacular. And not only do they have to use chocolate, but also sugar. As you know, chocolate likes it cold, sugar likes it hot, so it’s very exciting. Building a showpiece on the table is hard enough. Expecting them to hang their showpiece on a wire is challenging. Some came up with rockets, some came up with balloons…
The more you push them, the better the chefs seem to get…
Whatever the chefs make, it needs to take my breath away. I need to get excited. I want to jump up and down. I want to be overwhelmed with whatever they produce. Whenever we give critique, we need to be mindful. We do not want to put anyone down. We want to inspire. You need to be truthful and speak from the heart. The level of pastry in the UK has grown tremendously. If you compare 20 years ago to today, well, we have lifted pastry to the next level. Definitely. They are getting very good.
Banoffee pie is one of the Ordinary becomes Extraordinary challenges. Were you impressed?
One of the teams’ taste profiles is superb. I, myself, am not a big fan for banana. However, this team actually bring out the beauty of banana and the mousse they made – the texture – it was just divine.
Banoffee pie has been voted Britain's favourite pie in an online poll, controversially beating steak pie and pork pie. What’s your favourite pie?
I’ve got so many. Apple pie is on my top list. I love apple pie. England’s got so many different apples and what I like to do for my pie is use different apples. I use a green apple or a Cox to bring in the sweetness and Bramley apple to bring in the jam with a cloudy apple juice to moisten the cooking process. And I love a basic sweet pastry with a little vanilla. I do not like to complicate beautiful fruits. I don't add cinnamon. I like to cook it on its own. You need the fruit to speak for itself.
What have been the strangest ingredients this year?
Ooh la la, it has to be a fruit and the name is Cupuaçu. It’s a tropical rainforest fruit from Brazil with quite a chocolatey pineapple flavour profile. The fruit is brownish, quite big and looks like melon texture. And the juice tastes a bit of pear, a bit of pineapple. Intriguing. The aroma is quite fantastic… a mixture of chocolatey and fruity. This was the first time I'm tasting Cupuaçu. It's like Marmite whether you like it or not.
Liam mentioned the dessert where they used goat's cheese…
Ooooh, that was interesting. I'm not going to give you too much because you need to watch, but they incorporated it into a mousse. If you use goat's cheese wisely, it will taste fantastic. If it’s overpowering and tastes like goat, it will be a no-no from us.
The two different groups start by making either Opera aux Fruit and a Banoffee pie showpiece or individual Prinsesstårta and Chocolate Amenity followed by a bread and butter pudding showpiece. Were you impressed from the off?
Well, it’s quite intriguing. The first challenge is a secret challenge. They cannot prepare, they don't know what is coming when they lift up the cloth. I do not want them to rush into the challenge. They need to read very carefully. They need to plan. They need to identify what has to be baked first. The secret challenges really show how they work together as a team. And, also, we want to see their personality and flare. We really want them to put their DNA on the table for us. This is the first time where I say: ‘Are they quite classical trained? Are they quite flamboyant? Are they: ‘This is the first challenge. I just want to be safe…’?
Did any chefs teach you anything new?
It was always the taste profile. For example, thyme or rosemary are such powerful spices. How do they incorporate them and make that ingredient shine? And they brought a 3D-printing machine into the show, which is exciting. The skill of a pastry chef has grown tremendously. We are using things from the DIY shop, the art shop. You need to be an engineer. It’s very important the chefs think outside the box or even throw away the box. You need to shine. You need to stand out from the crowd. You do not want to follow what others are doing. That is the key to success. And it has to taste fantastic. I want them to reach for the stars.
Any big dramas?
A couple. There were a few showpieces that crashed like usual…
You didn't knock any over this year banging on a table in your excitement?
LAUGHS I did look around and check before I slammed on the table, but you have to watch. The chefs put in a lot of hard work. They sweat, they cry and we need to show them we really appreciate their hard work.
Did you and Benoit disagree over much?
Uh, well, we agree to disagree, but we always come to the right decision. Who is doing the right thing? Who is using the right techniques? Who breaks the boundaries? There were times it was neck and neck. It was so close we had to go back and taste the pastry a couple of times. We have to deconstruct everything.
Liam has a new co-host. What was it like working with Ellie Taylor?
Ah, she’s ever so lovely. She’s very elegant, very humble, but very funny. She loved the taste of the food. She tasted a lot. She loves her sweets. Oh, my goodness, she’s got a sweet tooth.
One showpiece saw musical icons recreated in choux. Who would you immortalise in pastry?
I would move towards the colour, I’d move towards the funky, I’d definitely move towards Lady Gaga. I love her. She's very daring. She's a very intriguing personality.
What was your favourite food as a kid?
Ooh, la la la My nan used to take me to this open-air Teochew opera. It became tradition. Whenever I go to this opera, my nan would take me to this fishball noodle soup place for dinner. They were making the fishball on the spot – cooked to perfection. And the noodle, ooh la la, they cook to al dente with a little chilli and sambal, drizzled with garlic oil and sprinkled with onion and seaweed. With a well-cooked fishball and a bowl of soup, it was the thing. It's a comfort food for Singaporeans, a street food you take for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Now, I make it at home.
And what's your favourite food now?
Sunday roast is one of my favourites. The Yorkshire pudding needs to be huge. Gigantic. And you've got to put a lot of gravy on it, so when you eat, it drips on the plate. Oh, I love it. Any roast. And you need potatoes that are fluffy, but crispy on the exterior. I'm not going to discount fish and chips either. I love, love, love fish and chips. I only eat it twice a year. For me, it’s a treat. The fish needs to be so moist, the batter needs to be crispy not oily and you need big chunky chips. Oh, la la - Comfort food.
What did you last bake?
Suncake – a traditional cake from Taiwan. We put the flour and butter together. We laminate it layer by layer. And then enclose it with a Chinese malt sugar. It tastes quite flakey. It’s ever so tasty. You can have ever so many flavour profiles, but I love vanilla.
What are your favourite flavours at the moment?
Matcha is always my top favourite. Matcha and yuzu is a marriage in heaven. And, of course, chocolate. You can never live without chocolate.
If you could have tea and cake with anyone, who would you choose?
Can I choose three? I always wanted to bake for Her Majesty the Queen. I looked up to her so much. She reminded me of my grandmother. So I’d like to have baked her a lemon drizzle and jammie dodgers and have a cup of Earl Grey tea. But if I want to really have fun… Gino D’Acampo. I love him! He’s so funny. Oh, my goodness, he’s such a good laugh. It’s so joyful to watch him entertaining. You never know what’s coming out of his mouth. He can make something for me: a very nice pizza with tomato and cheese. And the last person is my idol, Marco Pierre White. He speaks his mind and it's intriguing to listen to him. I don't really know Marco and Gino, but I've spoken to them. It’d be nice to get to know them more.
What would you bake for King Charles?
Something very simple from Asia – a very, very traditional pineapple tart. The pineapple, we cook like a jam with a pandan leaf, star anise, a cinnamon stick and clove. We make it into a very acidic jammy texture. I’ve never baked for him, but I would really, really love to.
What's next for you?
I’ve just left the Pan Pacific Hotel in London. The past few years have been very intensive and it’s been an interesting journey to set up the entire pastry department and cake shop. I loved every minute. I would like to take some time off for myself and tick off a bucket list of things I really want to do. I want to help more in charity, to give back my time. If schools need me to do judging or give classes I would love to do that. I’d like to move into consulting. And I want to go for a lot of classes. I want to take a pottery class, I want to go for a photographic class…
Do you watch Pottery Throw Down?
I love Pottery! Oh my goodness. I love it. I really like painting. When I was young, I have gone for a lot of art classes: painting, sculpting, illustration… so I’d like to go back. Once I have ticked off a few things on my list, then it’s back to work. You need to recharge. It's always a journey, not a destination, isn't it? You never finish learning. It keeps you fresh.