'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,/9j/4AAQSkZJRgABAQAAAQABAAD/2wCEAAMDAwMDAwQEBAQFBQUFBQcHBgYHBwsICQgJCAsRCwwLCwwLEQ8SDw4PEg8bFRMTFRsfGhkaHyYiIiYwLTA+PlQBAwMDAwMDBAQEBAUFBQUFBwcGBgcHCwgJCAkICxELDAsLDAsRDxIPDg8SDxsVExMVGx8aGRofJiIiJjAtMD4+VP/AABEIAAcACgMBIgACEQEDEQH/xABfAAEBAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABwgQAAICAgMBAQAAAAAAAAAAAAECAwQABQYREjEHAQEBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABBEAAgMBAAMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQIDBBEABRIh/9oADAMBAAIRAxEAPwCj/uPIOMcM1Ne4k+wVL27t3rDiRvUbS1ipESsHBU+Oyp6GZtmk5e8sjR6/SzIWJWQ1wC4PxiPY+4xivQq2ZZGlQtirn09a/kLVSBFhYJ7M2nBpwDv/2Q=='%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Judge Cherish Finden is all set to appear in Netflix's upcoming series installment, The Great British Baking Show: The Professionals. The revamped series of the popular UK-based reality show Bake Off: The Professionals will showcase 12 professional pastry chef duos competing against one another for the title of best patisserie team in the whole of Britain.
The baking series will also feature fellow judge Benoit Blin alongside hosts Tom Allen and Liam Charles. A total of 10 episodes of the baking competition show will be released all at once. The series is specifically geared toward American viewers.
The official synopsis of the show reads:
"Teams of the UK's most talented pastry chefs compete to be crowned the crème de la crème, but only one duo can rise to the top."
The Great British Baking Show's Cherish Finden is an executive pastry chef at Pan Pacific London
A grandes dame of the British pastry industry and multiple award-winning pastry cook and professional judge, Chef Cherish Finden, who currently works as an executive pastry chef at Pan Pacific London, originally hails from Singapore. When she was 14, she began working as a waitress but quickly moved into the kitchen, where she discovered her passion for cooking.
Cherish Finden enrolled in cooking school when she was 16. She quickly developed her skills in some of Singapore's finest hotels, such as the renowned six-star Raffles Hotel and The Sheraton.
Cherish Finden moved to London in 2001 to work at the Langham hotel, which is credited with being the origin of the British tea custom. According to the judge of The Great British Baking Show: The Professionals, Peter A. Knipp, with whom she collaborated in Singapore, is her greatest teacher. In an interview given to Cacao Barry, she stated:
"He pushed me always to the maximum by saying that I was actually not good enough, so I was doing more and more and better and better. I also did many competitions but he did not care about certificates, he just cared about what he saw and tasted on the plate. Another great teacher was Martin Chiffers – he guided me on the culinary side."
The reality star, who joined the Bake Off: The Professionals franchise in 2016, gained international acclaim after being recruited as the executive pastry chef at the prestigious Langham hotel in London from 2009 to 2017.
Cherish Finden's favorite food memory had nothing to do with her many awards or mingling with famous people. Speaking about it in an interview given to CNA Luxury, she said:
“My Ah Ma (grandmother) would take me to the open-air Teochew opera show – a tradition I enjoyed with her every year. She always brought me to an exquisite Teochew fishball noodle stall for Singaporean street food. The fishball was cooked to perfection with the right amount of chilli sambal, and the mee poh was cooked al dente plus drizzled with fragrant garlic oil, spring onions and shallots…. I feel hungry just thinking about it.”
Cherish Finden has won over 25 awards from several international culinary events and has baked cakes for Lady Gaga and Queen Elizabeth's 90th birthday.
Over her professional years, she has won numerous honors, including the Macalcan Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015 and the famous Tea Guild's "Top London Afternoon Tea" award in 2010. She was also named "Pastry Chef of the Year" by the Craft Guild of Chefs in 2012.
Cherish Finden has also appeared on well-known TV programs like Junior Bake-off, Heston's Great British Food on Channel 4, BBC's MasterChef, Australian MasterChef, and MasterChef on BBC2.
Finden's relationship with Pan Pacific started off before the London location's opening in September 2021, where she was under employment in 1991. Some of her notable achievements over the years include the FHA INTERNATIONAL CULINAIRE (Gold for Praline) and FHA INTERNATIONAL CULINAIRE (Gold for Confectionery) in 1992, the Global Chef Award, the Macalcan Lifetime Achievement, and the JUDGE ‘DESSERT OF THE YEAR’ ASSOCIATION OF PASTRY CHEF in 2015, among others.
Some of Cherish Finden's notable achievements over the years include:
- 2014 JUDGE ‘DESSERT OF THE YEAR’ ASSOCIATION OF PASTRY CHEF
- 2014 JUDGE ‘GOURMET DESSERT CHEF OF THE YEAR’ (MOVENPICK)
- 2014 JUDGE ‘ROYAL ACADEMY OF CULINARY ART – ANNUAL EXCELLENCE AWARDS’
- 2014 JUDGE ‘BRITISH KAZAKH DESSERT COMPETITION’ (KAZAKHSTAN)
- 2013 TASTING JUDGE UK PASTRY CLUB – COUPE DU MONDE
- 2013 JUDGE ‘GOURMET DESSERT OF THE YEAR’
- 2012 PASTRY CHEF OF THE YEAR, CRAFT GUILD OF CHEFS
- 2002 LE SALON CULINAIRE INTERNATIONAL DE LONDRES, Gold for Petit Four
- 2001 DESSERT OF THE YEAR (LONDON), 1st Place
- 2000 OLYMPIC IKA, 1st Place for Pastry Category C, Gold for Plated Dessert & Petit Four
- 2000 OLYMPIC IKA, 1st Place for Hot Cooking Category D
- 2000 OLYMPIC IKA, 2nd Place for Overall Singapore National Team Achievement
- 1999 IEGHO CULINARY COMPETITION, 1st Place for Petit Four
- 1999 IEGHO CULINARY COMPETITION, 2nd Place, representing Singapore National Team
- 1998 SALON CULINAIRE INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION, 3rd Place, representing Singapore National Team
- 1994 FHA INTERNATIONAL SALON CULINAIRE, Gold for Petit Four
- 1994 FHA INTERNATIONAL SALON CULINAIRE, Gold for Confectionery
- 1994 FHA INTERNATIONAL SALON CULINAIRE, Silver for Pastry Showpiece
The Great British Baking Show: The Professionals season 1 will air this Wednesday, February 1, 2023, at 3:01 am ET on Netflix.
