The creative cake-maker and owner of London’s Violet Bakery talks lifting weights, her mother’s fruit pies and the importance of speaking out
INTERVIEW: KERRY FOWLER. PHOTOGRAPHS: PIA RIVEROLA, ISTOCK/GETTYIMAGES
I don’t get anxious making cakes for special occasions. I’m a fan of being prepared. For Meghan and Prince Harry’s wedding cake we had a replica in case anything happened to it. I hate waste, so any cake left over was donated.
There’s a great tradition of plein air [outdoor] painting in Los Angeles, where I grew up. I loved seeing artists on the side of the road with an easel and palette. My daughter enjoys painting and maybe, when I retire, I’ll pick up my paintbrush again!
Working with Alice Waters at Chez Panisse, I learned how to taste.
Every day we’d taste everything we made and discuss each item; it taught me how to tweak and balance things. Alan Tangren, the pastry chef, would always wait for you to offer up your thoughts before commenting. I loved that and do it with my team now.
My mom is a great pie maker.
I revisited a lot of pie recipes for my new book, which took me back. In one place we lived, there were wild blackberries, huckleberries and apple trees to harvest. Mom would make little ‘cinnamon buns’ with the pastry scraps. The smell of pastry baking is childhood for me.
I get frustrated with complacency.
Rights are slipping through our fingers and we need to be careful. Raising a daughter has made that apparent to me. Laws are changing without people noticing because they’re being distracted by social media – which I love but
