The Great British Bake-Off star explains how she stays fit and healthy (while still enjoying a good slice of cake)
SHE MAY NOT HAVE WON GBBO IN 2018 (she came second), but Ruby Bhogal has used the iconic show to launch a stellar career in the food business, working as a recipe consultant and Instagram influencer. Jo Waters asks how the talented cake baker stays healthy…
Q How did you get into baking?
I actually only started baking when I was unemployed, and it turned out to be a bit of a saviour during a dark period of my life. I’d been living in Liverpool for 10 years, most recently working as a project manager in heavy industry (I did a master’s in architecture before that), and I think the fear of turning 30 hit me. I quit my job and moved to London to be nearer my family. I think I was quite naïve in thinking as London was a big city I’d find a job immediately. I didn’t, and I ended up being unemployed for about seven months. I went into a dark place mentally. I’d been so used to having a routine that when it was taken away, albeit by choice, it was all quite overwhelming.
Then, one day, I was flicking through a baking book at my mum and dad’s and I came across a bread recipe that took five hours to make. I thought: well, I’ve got five hours, so I’ll have a go. I found the process incredibly therapeutic – I just got in the zone and I didn’t think about anything else. The breadmaking was like therapy and it lit up something inside me that I hadn’t felt in a very long time. After that, baking turned into my passion and I made something every day.
Q Why is baking such good therapy?
It makes you switch off and be present. Everything today is so technology based – we’re all on our phone and email and social media – there’s a pressure always to be ‘on’. But with baking it’s like you go into a bubble – you have to be present because it’s so scientific, and if you don’t concentrate it can go horrifically wrong. You have to give in and enjoy what you’re doing.
Q Are there any similarities between baking and architecture?
For some reason, with my baking I still have problems getting some things to stand up! The main transferable skill from architecture was the creative design process. I suppose I’m just expressing myself in a different medium, but both are very methodical and quite precise.
Q What made you apply to be on GBBO?
It was Christmas and I’d just baked a delicious pie with all t
