Latest news with #TheHamlynAllColourCookbook
Daily Mirror
03-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Mary Berry's exciting new project to celebrate 90th birthday milestone
The baking queen is working on something special with the BBC Mary Berry is showing no signs of slowing down at 90 as the Queen of puds lands another BBC show. After celebrating the milestone birthday in March, Mary is filming a special series in celebration of her life and favourite recipes. It's set to feature some special guests too. Cameras have started rolling on Mary Berry 90, which will be shown on the Beeb later this year. A source said: 'Mary is a national treasure so what better way to celebrate her than a new series. It'll be a tribute to the Mary's joy of cooking and sharing good food.' It will feature some of the icon's favourite memories plus her best-known fuss-free recipes for every occasion. It's being made by the production company and much-loved team at Sidney Street who are behind her series Foolproof Dinners. It ties in with her cookbook of the same name. It will be a six-episode series, coming to screens in Autumn 2025. Much-loved Mary has enjoyed a glittering career, gracing our TVs for five decades and selling more than 12 million cook books. The former Great British Bake Off host studied at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris before becoming food editor at Ideal Home magazine. She's published more than 75 cookery books, including her best-selling Baking Bible in 2009. Her first book was The Hamlyn All Colour Cookbook in 1970. Hosting several television series for the BBC, most famously The Great British Bake Off with Paul Hollywood until 2016, her most recent series, Mary's Foolproof Dinners, saw her cooking and conversing with celebs. She was made a dame for services to culinary arts in 2021. She picked up her honour at a ceremony with King Charles - then a Prince - at Windsor Castle. In a message for her 90th birthday, Prince William - his son - left Mary in tears with his well wishes. He said: "I want to wish you a very happy 90th birthday. You are a true national treasure and we've loved working with you over the years. Have a fantastic day today. I dread to think who's cooking your cake and the criticism they might get but good luck and I hope it goes really well." Dame Mary has also marked her birthday by joining Instagram for the first time. Still approaching life with vigour, she sprinkles joy on everything she does. And the secret to her long and healthy life? Mary says her genes are good, with her mother, Marjorie, living to be 105. 'She didn't go to gyms and I couldn't agree with her more,' laughed Mary. Mary, who has been married to Paul Hunnings for 67 years, this week picked up the Special Award at Fortnum's Food and Drinks Awards.
Telegraph
20-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Mary Berry calls vegan substitute for egg whites ‘stupid'
Dame Mary Berry has called a vegan substitute for egg-whites in baking 'stupid'. The former Great British Bake Off judge, 89, offered her unapologetic take on using the popular egg-white substitute aquafaba – the liquid from canned chickpeas – for baked goods. Sitting down with British Vogue for an interview ahead of her 90th birthday on Monday, Dame Mary was asked her opinion on 'whipping chickpea water into an egg-white substitute', to which she simply responded with a laugh, saying: 'Stupid.' Aquafaba, derived from the water the chickpeas have been cooked in, has become a popular vegan egg substitute, known for its ability to whip into a fluffy texture meaning it can emulate egg whites in recipes, including meringues and mousses. However, the doyenne of British baking, who was made a Dame Commander in late 2021 for an influential culinary career spanning more than 50 years, disagreed. Instead, she will be using traditional methods to whip up her favourite Victoria sandwich cake for her 90th birthday next week. 'It's a bit hackneyed, but there's nothing better than a Victoria sandwich,' she said of the cake she has been making since during the Second World War. 'It's an act of love, isn't it, baking a cake,' she told British Vogue, adding: 'It brings people together. It's a celebration.' Dame Mary became a household name to a new generation of bakers thanks to her role as a judge, alongside Paul Hollywood, in the popular show The Great British Bake Off. Her first cookbook, The Hamlyn All Colour Cookbook, was published in 1970 and she has gone on to write more than 50 others which have sold millions of copies around the world. She has addressed the rising popularity of veganism before, telling the BBC in 2021 that she was 'eager' to discover new vegan recipes. 'When I was young, most people hadn't ever heard of vegetarian, let alone vegan, but times are changing fast and I'm eager to explore,' Dame Mary said. Speaking in 2022, the television cook admitted that she doesn't follow 'any particular diet,' but is 'careful' with her body weight and just eats 'a little bit less'. Elsewhere in her Vogue interview, Dame Mary addressed her secrets to a happy marriage ahead of her 60th wedding anniversary. She said: 'Respect. Love, of course, but respect is so important. And I don't count the decades too closely. 'Also we never raise our voices at each other because, you know, we love each other. If I'm a bit miffed, I very often think, 'Well, I'm not gonna say that right now. I'll go to the greenhouse and do some cuttings.' Never go to sleep on a quarrel.' Dame Mary, who has been married to her retired antiquarian bookseller husband since 1966, added: 'Happiness is very, very important, but it can be elusive sometimes. You have to look after it.' The couple have two grown-up children, Thomas and Annabel, but lost their son William in a car accident in 1989 when he was aged 19. 'It was a huge tragedy, but we did have two more children,' she said. 'We always think we were fortunate to have had him for 19 years. 'We still talk about him – the grandchildren particularly, the boys who love rugby.' Dame Mary added: 'It's absolutely amazing in my 90th year to think that William died all that time ago. If he walked in that door over there, I would say: 'Where have you been?' It wouldn't surprise me at all.' The full feature in the April issue of British Vogue will be available via digital download and on news-stands from March 25.
