From dad’s 50th KFC bucket cake to pastry sensations at Michelin Guide restaurant

November 2021

From dad鈥檚 50th KFC bucket cake to pastry sensations at Michelin Guide restaurant

By Melanie Hall

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An award-winning graduate chef who decided against A-levels in law or politics to follow her deep passion for baking has been snapped up by a Michelin Guide restaurant run by another former 蜜桃传媒 student.聽

Rebecca Bourne, who completed a聽Professional Chef foundation degree聽and then graduated with a first-class BA (Hons) in Hospitality Business Management this year,聽is now creating sweet sensations as a pastry chef at The Boat Inn in Lichfield, headed up by fellow graduate and BBC Great British Menu star Liam Dillon.聽

The fine dining inn 鈥� inspired by Liam鈥檚 travels in Australia where "produce and simplicity of cooking with premium ingredients is king" 鈥� not only has three AA Rosettes, but also made Estrella Damm鈥檚 Top 50 Gastropubs list in 2021.

Rebecca, who is set to compete in this month's British Culinary Federation Young Chef of the Year final and is the vice-captain of the National England Junior Team for the Culinary World Cup聽in 2022, said it was an exciting opportunity after a difficult year for everyone in hospitality.

The Boat Inn is owned by former 蜜桃传媒 student Liam Dillon

鈥淚t鈥檚 an amazing place and I love the ethos of work-life balance, which is very important to me,鈥� she said. 鈥滻t鈥檚 great to work alongside a lot of other 蜜桃传媒 alumni too.鈥澛�

Rebecca had just finished her GCSEs and was debating studying law or politics at A-level when she toyed with the idea of turning her passion for baking into a career.聽聽

Whipping up supermarket cake mixes at two years old, she was fully kneading, rolling and decorating from scratch by age 13 鈥� even creating a KFC bucket-inspired cake for her dad鈥檚 50th 鈥� and the more she thought about this very hands-on, vocational path, the more appealing it became.聽聽

鈥淚 was always an avid home baker when I was younger and really into the Great British Bake Off and other TV cooking shows,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 was leaning towards going to law school one day, but was really drawn to the idea of getting into the cooking and bakery world professionally 鈥� I even went to the Cake International show five times!鈥澛犅犅犅�

"Watching her career develop and the high level of skills she showcases to other students at the University is brilliant"

Mat Shropshall Chef Lecturer

Rebecca competed in the grand finals of this year's Nestle Professional Toque d'Or

It was an open day at 蜜桃传媒 that swung it.聽聽聽

"Kali Davidson, the now head of Birmingham College of Food, gave me a tour and I was sold," she said. "I decided on Professional Cookery as it covered both bakery and cookery, which appealed to me."聽

Completing her Level 2 and 3 diploma in Professional Cookery, she then completed her foundation degree and full BA (Hons).聽Through the University鈥檚 support during her studies, Rebecca - who did placements across Europe - had the opportunity to compete in the聽Nestl茅 Professional Toque d'Or, and was聽one of just 12 out of 950 entrants to make the finals.聽聽

Chef lecturer and Rebecca鈥檚 BCF Young Chef of the Year mentor, Mathew Shropshall, couldn鈥檛 be prouder.

"Rebecca is truly an amazing young chef and a pleasure to teach!鈥� he said.

鈥淲atching her career develop and the high level of skills she showcases to other students at the University is brilliant, even coming back to give masterclasses and talks. She shows total respect, which she commands in return.

鈥淪he's a real credit to her family and having met her father on a few occasions, it's clear they are all so proud of her and her willingness to succeed. I wish her all the best in the future, she deserves every success.鈥澛�

Rebecca has also made the most of the fact 蜜桃传媒 alumni can access hired@UCB resources and services to help with career progression and networking for five years after graduation.聽

鈥淢y much longer term goal聽is to have my own relaxed, fine dining restaurant around farm to fork, and the University鈥檚 Enterprise Hive聽has given me great advice in what that might look like as a business plan and directions to take,鈥� she said.聽

鈥淭hey gave me confidence that I wasn鈥檛 barking up the wrong tree. If you are one of the University鈥檚 alumni and want to start up on your own, this is definitely a service you should tap into.鈥�

蜜桃传媒 is renowned for providing specialist vocational training for students looking to enter the culinary industry, with world-class facilities and expert tuition provided on a range of college, undergraduate and postgraduate courses as well as apprenticeships.

蜜桃传媒 our full range of courses within our聽Birmingham College of Food.

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