The golden rules of baking according to the ‘Mary Berry of Instagram’

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Now described as the “Mary Berry of the Instagram age”, her debut book, Jane’s Patisserie, became the fastest-selling baking book of all time, selling 44,000 copies in its first three days after publication, followed by other bestsellers and a social media following of more than 2 million. “It was something I just started as a hobby and I can’t quite comprehend the fact that I’m still doing this 10 years on, with four books and millions of people following my journey.” Her success has brought with it a confidence which her younger self didn’t have, growing up a shy, reticent teenager near Portsmouth, who chose catering college over university and had a succession of jobs, while in her spare time pursuing her love of baking. “I did a hack recently where you can make raw cookie dough, freeze it as raw and then if you have a craving you can just pop it in the oven frozen, add one or two minutes to the baking time and you can have a freshly baked cookie whenever you want.” Bake on the barbecue “I recently made a pineapple upside-down cake in a cake tin on a barbecue with indirect heat – where your coals are one side and your food is the other side – and it was the perfect sponge.” It requires a lid, and you’ll need heat deflectors if you have a gas barbecue, making sure the heat isn’t directly below the cake tin, she advises. “I don’t think everybody knows everything about cooking or baking and I think hearing tips and tricks from other people always benefit you to be open-minded.” ‘Jane’s Patisserie: Easy Favourites’ by Jane Dunn.