Update: Since we last spoke to Sophie she’s kept herself busy – TV presenter, professional baker and, of course, recipe developer. And she’s started her own business Sophie Faldo Couture Cakes.
As food festivals get into full swing this summer, throughout the UK you can see top chefs and celebrity bakers in action in massive marquees set up in parks, stately homes and local high streets.
Some are professionals who’ve worked their way through apprenticeships in searing hot kitchens. Others have found a fascinating or family-based culinary niche, deliberately setting out to fill a gap in the foodie market.
Then there’s Sophie Faldo, GBBO winner of 2017, whose path from army captain, through rower, chalet hostess, and ski instructor to name just a few, definitely breaks the mould.
Speaking to her backstage at the Brighton Foodies Festival in 2018 it soon became clear that Sophie’s can-do attitude was not just there for the cameras.
“I really like to push myself and challenge myself and I’m not scared to throw myself in the deep end. I’m not intimidated by things and I’d rather go full out than piecemeal if I think it’s something I might enjoy”
She’s also a keen track cyclist and is a stunt artiste with a couple of major films in the pipeline.
So how on earth did she get into baking?
From chalet hostess to celebrity chef
“It was when I was chalet hosting in France after I’d just come out of the army. In fact that was the first time I actually had a kitchen of my own to work in.“
“I had to bake a cake every day and enjoyed finding different recipes. I was even looking at enrolling in a school to become a pastry chef and I’d begun to teach myself, working my way through some great cookbooks.”
“Then my partner David spotted the advert for GBBO and I thought ‘I’ll chuck in an application but I won’t get picked.’
A few weeks later I got the call.”
In her demo, delicious strawberry tarts whose creme patissiere filling was a challenge in the un-seasonal heat of the day, her military approach soon came to the fore.
“I’m always irritated by a recipe that says ‘boil for 3 minutes’ because it’s not accurate. I prefer instructions that say “heat to x degrees” because then you know exactly where you are.”
“If you do everything right, precisely and consistently, then the recipe will work every time.”
Sophie on stage
Sophie’s a natural on stage, bouncing ideas off her fellow foodie comperes and chatting in a relaxed style.
“I’m really enjoying these demos and think the most important thing is to teach people tips and tricks. Passing on the information I’ve found useful has become my calling, and I really enjoy it.”
“It’s all about knowing when you need to be precise and when you can cut corners.”
After a quick and amusing run down of the difference between ribbon stage, soft plop and stiff peaks, it’s clear that the gloriously sunny day is not helping.
The the end result is less than perfect, something that might surprise GBBO viewers who saw the incredible dishes she produced with apparently little fuss.
Sophie laughs. “There were a couple of occasions where my army training came into play. Things went wrong, I didn’t always finish. But being able to have that tiny moment of panic then say ‘right let’s get on with it!’ made a difference.”
“I had a lot of things that didn’t go to plan but they didn’t show them because I stayed so calm and didn’t react. The cameras just moved on.”
Sophie also shares some behind-the-scenes moments.
“Everyone who works on the show has a really good relationship and the crew are a big part of that. The new presenters were lovely, although Noel did keep forgetting his lines. He’s really a shy and sweet guy.”
But she admits she and Paul Hollywood didn’t always see eye-to-eye and had some stand-up disagreements. I suspect Sophie won!
What Sophie did next
There’s a lot going on in Sophie’s life right now with possible TV collaborations with other GBBO bakers, stunt action filming, more demos and, of course, a book.
“It’s a step-by-step guide to gourmet cooking. Every stage is written out in detail and there are photographs so you can see exactly what to do. I want to demystify some of the fancy dishes and show that with a few simple, repeatable techniques you can get great results.”
That sounds like something I need, although Pork Belly’s approach in the kitchen is much less regimented.
But I doubt that, even with Sophie’s guiding hand, my creme pat would be a patch on hers!
If you’re a fan of food festivals check out our festival listing page Food Festivals UK