CANDICE Brown won the Great British Bake Off last year, and now has her first book out. Let's just say, she's still trying to get her head around these really quite delicious facts.
"It's funny saying that... 'My book!'" she says, with a laugh. Winning Bake Off, the ultimate show for those who pride themselves on the quality of their lemon drizzle and the sturdiness of their pie crust, would, you'd think, prepare a person for automatic cookbook domination and a tasty TV career. However, 32-year-old former PE teacher Candice is still gobsmacked.
Three manic months of writing, cooking, developing (and very little sleep) followed news of the book deal; the result is Comfort, a collection of Candice's tried-and-tested home classics: "The sort of things you want to stick your face in, grab a spoon, dive straight in and worry about burning your mouth later."
The recipes are huge, decadent and sometimes borrowed treats – think an enormous, bubbling shepherd's pie, sausage rolls the size of bricks, and her beloved nan's boiled fruit cake.
"Everything has a story," explains the London-born baker. "I'm so proud of it – it's big flavours, it's big pots."
Piecing all the recipes together was something of a challenge though, as Candice admits she's "bloody awful at writing them down".
"Liam [her boyfriend] would always say to me, 'Are you writing that down?' And I'd go, 'Yes, yes!', knowing full well I'm not writing anything down at all, because I do what I call a 'guess-a-cake'."
Candice, who started baking before the age of five and considers it "one of the only things that comes naturally to me", still doesn't fully comprehend how she won Bake Off.
"I don't think I was the best baker in the tent," says the pub landlord's daughter. "Some days I still don't know how I did what I did, because I hadn't been able to do it at home. Dad always said I was the same at university and school. I'd say, 'I can't do this, I can't do it', then the pressure would hit, and I'd get my head down and do it."
And yes, she will be watching the new series on Channel 4... Below are two of Candice's recipes for you to try.
:: Comfort: Delicious Bakes And Family Treats by Candice Brown, photography Ellis Parrinder, is published in hardback by Ebury Press, priced £20.
CHUNKY SHEPHERD'S PIE
(Serves 4)
Olive oil
1tbsp (heaped) plain flour
800g lamb stewing steak (eg. neck), cut into 50p-sized pieces
1 large red onion, diced
1 red pepper, seeded and diced
3 small carrots, peeled and diced
2 celery sticks, diced
150g chestnut mushrooms, diced
100g chorizo, skinned and sliced
Leaves from 1 small bunch fresh rosemary, thyme and sage, finely chopped
1 dried bay leaf
2tsp finely chopped garlic (jarred or fresh)
1 small fresh red chilli, finely chopped (remove the seeds if you don't like too much heat)
1tsp hot smoked paprika
1/2tsp paprika
1/2tsp cayenne pepper
1tsp dried thyme
2tsp mushroom/porcini powder (available from Whole Foods or online)
1tbsp (heaped) tomato puree
200ml red wine
300ml beef stock (fresh or from stock cube)
1tbsp Worcestershire sauce
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the topping:
4 sweet potatoes
4 large baking potatoes
Milk
Butter
3 leeks, trimmed and sliced
100g grated cheese
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Preheat the oven to 160C fan (180C/350F/Gas Mark 4). Heat up a glug of olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium/high heat. Season the flour with salt and pepper, then toss the lamb in the flour to coat lightly all over. Fry in batches until browned on all sides. As each batch of lamb is browned, transfer to a large casserole using a slotted spoon.
Add another glug of olive oil to the frying pan, followed by the diced vegetables and sliced chorizo, the fresh herbs, bay leaf, garlic and chilli. Fry for four to five minutes until the vegetables soften, stirring frequently. Stir in the paprika (both types), cayenne, dried thyme and mushroom powder. Turn the heat to medium. Add the tomato puree and stir in, then pour in the red wine. Allow this to bubble away for a couple of minutes before stirring in the beef stock and Worcestershire sauce. Make sure you get all of the lovely bits off the bottom of the pan.
Tip the whole lot over the meat in the casserole and give it a good mix round. The liquid should just be visible through the top layer of meat. Place the lid on the casserole and transfer to the oven to cook for two to two and a half hours - until the meat is tender. Stir occasionally. With about one-and-a-half hours of cooking time to go, prick the sweet and baking potatoes with a knife, then set them on a baking tray and place in the oven with the casserole to bake for the remaining time.
Melt a knob of butter in a frying pan over a low/medium heat, add the leeks and cook for five to six minutes until soft. Set aside to cool. When the meat filling is cooked, remove the casserole from the oven - the sauce should be rich and thick. Taste for seasoning, add more if needed and stir through. Cover the casserole and set aside. Increase the oven temperature to 180C fan (200C/400F/Gas Mark 6).
Using a sharp knife (holding the potato with a tea towel), cut each sweet and baking potato in half lengthways and scoop out the soft flesh into a large bowl. Mash all the flesh together with a splash of milk and knob of butter. Stir through the leeks and half of the grated cheese. Season with black pepper.
Cover the meat mixture with the potato and cheese mix. Scatter the remaining grated cheese over the top. Put the casserole back into the oven (without the lid) and bake for about 25 minutes until the cheese has melted, the top is golden and the meat juices are bubbling up around the edges. Serve hot, with a heap of broccoli and greens.
TRIPLE-LAYER BERRY VICTORIA SPONGE
335g self-raising flour
335g unsalted butter, softened
335g golden caster sugar
3tsp baking powder
6 large eggs
Grated zest of 2 lemons
Juice of 1 lemon
150g fresh raspberries
600ml double cream
500g fresh strawberries, hulled
Icing sugar, to finish
Preheat the oven to 160C fan (180C/350F/Gas Mark 4). Grease three 25cm round, loose-bottomed sandwich tins and line the bases with greaseproof paper. Sift the flour into a large bowl and add the butter, sugar, baking powder, eggs, lemon zest and juice. Mix together until smooth, fluffy and combined. If using an electric mixer, mix on a medium speed and do not over mix.
Divide two-thirds of the mixture between two of the tins. Reserve five of the fresh raspberries for the decoration, then add the rest to the last third of the mixture and mix them through, crushing some of the raspberries as you go. Put this mixture into the third tin. Place the three tins in the oven and bake for about 20 minutes until the sponges are risen and golden, and are slightly coming away from the edges (try not to open the oven before the 20 minutes are up). The raspberry sponge may need another five minutes. Remove the tins from the oven and turn out the sponges onto a wire rack. Leave to cool.
Whip the double cream thick enough to hold its shape - do not over-whip. Spoon the cream into a piping bag fitted with a round nozzle. Reserve five of the strawberries for the decoration. Evenly slice the rest of the strawberries. Pipe a layer of double cream onto one of the plain sponges. Top with a layer of sliced strawberries. Spread a small amount of cream on the underside of the raspberry sponge, then place it gently on top of the strawberries (the cream helps the sponges stick together).
Pipe a layer of double cream on the raspberry sponge and top this with the rest of the sliced strawberries. Spread a small amount of cream on the underside of the other plain sponge, then set this on top of the strawberries. Push down gently and check the layers are even. Top with any leftover cream, the reserved strawberries, cut in half, and the reserved raspberries, then dust with icing sugar.]
