'I Bought Myself A Wedding Ring!'

Great British Bake Off judge Prue Leith, 79, shares her passions and memories. She lives with her husband John Playfair, in the Cotswolds country home she’s had for 40 years

- Hayley Minn

What is your first memory of baking?

I made a Christmas cake when I was 10 and it was a disaster. What I had failed to do was put the glycerine in the icing, so when it set it was like concrete. My father broke my mother’s best bone handle knife trying to use it as a chisel, hitting it with a hammer, in order to get the cake out!

When did you realize you could be a professional cook?

It was when I was at cooking school and I went to help a caterer at a party. I just loved the whole buzz of catering and the excitement of bringing everything together. Cooking was probably about the fifth thing I tried my hand at and I was really in love with it, but I didn’t think I could do it for a living as chefs were mostly male.

Did you ever have a plan B?