It’s the most wonderful time of the year and Flora Shedden can’t wait to spend Christmas in Dunkeld with friends and family. Gayle Ritchie catches up with the star baker as she rustles up a few festive goodies…
Inside the cosy kitchen of the pretty whitewashed cottage, Flora Shedden is cooking up a storm.
With cookies, cakes and mince pies laid out on the counter, the aromas of spicy cinnamon and nutmeg are tantalising.
Dusting off her apron, Flora greets me with a warm smile, a hug and the offer of a cup of coffee.
With Christmas just round the corner, it’s a busy time for the 2015 Bake Off semi-finalist, but she’s certainly not complaining.
“I absolutely love Christmas, “ she beams. “It’s my favourite time of the year. Honestly, I’m a Christmas monster!”
My meeting with Flora takes place at a friend’s house, in the centre of Dunkeld.
As she drizzles white icing over a batch of star-shaped nutmeg cookies, Flora, 20, tells me she is hugely excited about the festive season.
“It’s such a brilliant time to be around friends and family. It’s weird not going back to university but in a good way. (Flora deferred her place to study art history at St Andrews University indefinitely so she could concentrate on writing her first book, Gatherings).
“It’s a great time to catch up with everyone, especially my friends who’re back from uni for the holidays.
“Winter is my favourite time of the year and I absolutely love snow. If it snows for Christmas, my dreams will come true.”
It’s tradition that Flora is at home for Christmas – in Trochry, a tiny settlement 10 minutes from Dunkeld where she lives with her mum, dad and two sisters.
Despite her jet-setting lifestyle, she can’t imagine being anywhere else.
There are always two trees in the house – an old one her family decorates with traditional baubles and “things we made at school, tucked away in the attic all year” – and then there’s Flora’s very own tree, which she festoons with biscuits and macarons she’s baked.
The festive fun starts well before December 25, with Flora and her pals heading down to Dunkeld’s Taybank pub on Christmas Eve.
“It’s a fun night and there’s usually a Christmas jumper competition on,” she smiles.
“Last year, people got really inventive and started pimping their jumpers with all sorts of accessories and lights!”
On the big day, around 20 family members flock to Flora’s house and even more people turn up when her mum, Tiffy, invites the neighbours round in the evening.
As you might expect, the day revolves around eating and drinking, with a breakfast of panetonne and fizz setting everyone up for the day.
Then, after opening some presents, the family heads out for a walk, usually down to gorgeous Rumbling Bridge.
Back in Trochry, their cheeks flushed with the cold, they start to prepare a lavish meal.
“Mum and I share the cooking but I become a monster in the kitchen, demanding creative control over everything,” laughs Flora.
“We order the turkey from a farmer who lives at the top of the glen every year and it tastes divine.
“Having prepped the veg the day before, mum and I get the roast tatties into the oven. It’s usually about 4pm before we sit down to eat and boy, do we eat!”
For starters, the family feast on beetroot-cured salmon, salad and bread and then it’s on to turkey and all the trimmings.
There are puddings galore – “usually at least five” – with everything from trifle to Christmas pudding, chocolate and fruit cakes.
There are more presents to be opened and the family have a system where names are plucked out of a hat so they buy only one gift for one person, and there’s a £50 limit.
“It’s a great way of doing it as you only spend £50 and you buy something you know the person would like,” says Flora.
“But I also make little things for everybody – fudge, biscotti, jams, chutneys, quince, cheese and mini panettones.”
While Boxing Day sees everyone tucking into turkey sandwiches, it’s a tradition in Dunkeld to take part in a shinty match, although Flora prefers to watch from the sidelines.
While many of us dread January, Flora can’t wait for January 26 – the launch date of her book, Gatherings – a collection of recipes for baking and cooking, with pictures taken by Flora.
Is she disappointed it wasn’t released before Christmas? “Not really,” she says. “The publishers told me it would be drowned by books from big names like Jamie and Nigella!
“January is a nice time for people to be thinking about getting together with friends and family and that’s a month after Christmas, so they’ll hopefully be looking for some cooking inspiration.”
Any final tips for families getting ready for Christmas? “Don’t stress,” says Flora.
“People get so panicked about Christmas but it’s meant to be a happy time spent with those you love. We always prep the veg on Christmas Eve and pop it in the fridge overnight and the puddings are done well in advance. Use the freezer as much as possible. Then all you have to do is cook the turkey and roasties.
“Ask for as many hands as possible and just enjoy it. As long as people have their drinks topped up, it doesn’t matter too much if dinner is cremated!”
Last year, aged just 19, Flora found herself starring in Bake Off, one of the BBC’s biggest primetime shows.
She made it to the semi-final, when shocked viewers saw her chocolate creation crumble, leaving judges Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry no choice but to let her go.
Yet despite her premature exit, the show opened up a world of opportunities for the former Breadalbane Academy head girl – a lucrative book deal, baking classes, demonstrations, personal appearances, TV shows and preparing meals for weddings and fancy parties, as well as mingling with celebrities.
It was her sister Hebe’s idea to apply for Bake Off and after a few glasses of wine, Flora filled in the application – minutes before the deadline.
Flora was ecstatic to make it onto the programme although the filming schedule was punishing and she found the fame that followed difficult to deal with.
“It was surreal. People would stop me in the supermarket queue and were usually always lovely but it was bizarre. There were also some accidental insults. People would say ‘I loved watching you…but Nadiya Hussain (Bake Off 2015’s winner) was my favourite’. These days, I’ll get the odd random coming over for a chat, which is nice.”
When Flora was sent home after the semi-final, she admits she was quite relieved. “I had a secret fist pump!” she laughs. “It was fun – there was a lot of alcohol – but it was so knackering and I just wanted to sleep. There were 12 cameras on us throughout filming which was intense.”
Was she not even a tiny bit upset to miss out on the final? “There’s always ‘what if?’, but then I look at Nadiya and I don’t think I’d have the energy to do what she does. A bit of me did feel I’d let people down. Multiple mothers were sending me videos of their kids crying. It was awful!”
So what next? A part of Flora acknowledges that a move to London would make sense but she’s not keen. “I’d be so miserable in London. I love it here in Perthshire. I’m close to the country and I love knowing everybody.”
Her dream is to run an artisan bakery in Dunkeld and she’s been looking at transforming a derelict property in the town, although she’s remaining tight-lipped as to its whereabouts.
“I’d love to open a wee bakery close to home,” she says. “I love the area and the community. And I don’t have to worry about going for a walk in my pyjamas!”
Happy Christmas Flora!!
