What is your earliest memory?
I had this heavy addiction to eating flowers when I was a kid. I have a very early memory of being with my mother in the park, and waiting furtively for a moment when I could check out what was good that day, and just chomping straight off the bush. I don’t know how that ties into what I do now, but it feels connected.
What was the first dish you learnt to cook?
Very traditional, simple baking, with my grandma.
Who was or still is your mentor?
A lot of my education has come from the people I’ve hired over the years. Megan Holyoake, who works with me in the kitchen — we’ve been together for years now. We’ve developed a very nice hive mind. We pool ideas and learn from each other.
How fit are you?
I do Pilates three or four times a week and I work on my feet — I’ve had a very physical job for 15 years. But we eat a lot of brownies and cakes and sausage rolls — I have quite a decadent diet.
Breakfast or dinner?
Dinner 100 per cent — or a long, late lunch.
Which technique did you struggle to perfect?
Absolutely everything. I’ve worked and worked — I don’t have God-given talents. Artistic skill has been hard-won. Thankfully, I’m quite patient, so I’m willing to do things many times. In particular, the very detailed piping we do at the moment: it was a lockdown hobby for me and it didn’t come easily.
Which flavour pleases you most?
I like violently strong flavours; I’m drawn to hot chilli and Szechuan. I like quite an intense experience. For sweet things, always tangy, sour acidity — say, passion fruit.
Which flavour can’t you abide?
Baked beans. I can’t even think about them, I don’t want to see them or smell them, I definitely don’t want them to touch me — it’s a borderline phobia.
What equipment could you not do without?
I have a very special fondness for my Kenwood mixer, which was gifted to me about a year in — so 14 years ago. At the time, I was using hand mixers, which would break, and I’d have to cycle to Argos, sometimes twice a day, and get a new one. I was very, very broke, and somebody bought me the mixer, and it changed my life. Me and that mixer have put in the hours together — we’ve made thousands of cakes. To this day it still hasn’t broken and it’s still squeaky clean.
What is your guilty food pleasure?
I don’t feel guilty about any pleasure! At the moment, I’m making pot-sticker dumplings two or three times a week. Pretty much anything fried, and wine — chips and wine, I could die happy just with those.
Do you see yourself as an artist?
Absolutely not. I’m very content to be a baker. It’s very fulfilling — it’s a great profession.
What would you have done differently?
I’m very grateful for where we are right now. Of course, there were things that worked and things that didn’t, but I’m very comfortable with the way things have grown. I was never very ambitious, I didn’t take big risks, I’ve kept things very creative. My work has always first and foremost been my passion. I get so much pleasure from it, and I wouldn’t change anything.
Online baking and piping classes are available from the Lily Vanilli Academy: lilyvanilli.com
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