In Ruby Bhogal’s defense, the cake was vegan. And vegan cakes don’t make the most structurally sound showstoppers.
Her stacked cakes came crashing down on the Great British Bake Off, becoming a meme that friends sent to each other—and to Ruby herself—with the caption: “How my week is going.” Fair, but, ouch.
When Prue Leith called it a “pile of mush,” said Ruby, “it was one of the most humbling moments of my life.” But the architect-turned-baker has more than made up for it. Her second cookbook comes out on Tuesday!
Around the World in 80 Cakes is her playful follow-up to One Bake Two Ways, in which every recipe includes a completely plant-based version (so there). Around the World is exactly what it sounds like: a globe-trotting jaunt with cakes from 80 countries. On She’s My Cherry Pie, she walks host Jessie Sheehan through her recipe for Sicilian Torta Setteveli, a seven-layer Italian cake with alternating layers of chocolate sponge, hazelnut Bavarian cream, hazelnut crunch, and dark chocolate mousse, and it all gets topped with a glossy chocolate glaze. Insane.
We always love a British guest on the podcast, but Ruby has a snappy sense of humor and so much warmth about her family and her life’s ups-and-downs; we didn’t want the chat to end. She told us about deciding to become an architect at a young age after seeing Michelle Pfeiffer, as a well-heeled architect, fall in love with George Clooney in One Fine Day, but she had to learn the hard way “that Michelle Pfeiffer was lying to me!” After the burnout, she found herself back home, and “it wasn’t in my life plan to be unemployed at 28.”
Find out how she got into baking, GBBO, and now, wading the waters of Substack with us (check out The Last Bite). Plus, she gave us a cake tip that may have changed our techniques forever. More on that, below.
Shop the show & more
Snag it! Around the World in 80 Cakes
Ruby became a baker thanks to picking up a Paul Hollywood cookbook in her parents’ house
Ruby swears by adding potato starch to cakes to help retain moisture
“I didn’t realize how patriotic and passionate people become about cakes.”
–Ruby Bhogal
Tip of the week
This one is huge. Ruby told us that after she removes a cake from the oven, while it’s still warm, she wraps it in plastic wrap to trap in the moisture. “It’s a game-changing moment,” she said. Moistest. Cakes. Ever. Have you ever??
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The cherry on top
🍒 The new issue of our print magazine is here with cookbook queen Melissa Clark
🥐 We loved noshing on doughnuts & coffee with Caroline & Miele at Cherry Bombe House
🎧 Don’t miss Olivia Tiedemann on Radio Cherry Bombe
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Still can’t get over Ruby’s advice to wrap your cakes when they are WARM!!!