Cherish Finden

Cherish Finden (born 20 December 1967) a Singaporean-born pastry chef. Born in Singapore, she trained to become a pastry chef and after moving to the United Kingdom, has worked as an executive chef at various hotels and restaurants and has won a plethora of awards for her work. Since 2016, she has served as a judge on Bake Off: The Professionals.

Cherish Finden
Born (1967-12-20) 20 December 1967
Singapore
Children1
Culinary career
Cooking stylePastry
Current restaurant(s)
Television show(s)

Life and career

Early life and culinary career

Finden was born on 20 December 1967 in Singapore.[1][2][3] The youngest of her siblings, she began cooking for them when she was eight years old after her father became sick and her mother had to work.[1] At the age of 14, she began working as waitress and later asked if she could volunteer in the kitchen, thus inspiring her love of cuisine. When Finden was 16, she joined Shatec Institutes where enrolled on a course in pastry making, and later began working as a chocolatier before becoming a pastry chef, at Raffles Hotel and Pan Pacific Singapore Hotel.[1][4] In 2000, Finden led a team of pastry chefs to win the IKA Culinary Olympics.[5] Finden is married to a financier and they have a daughter together; they moved to London in 2001.[2] Between 2009 and 2017, she worked as an executive pastry chef at the Langham Hotel, a role which has earned her numerous awards.[4][2][6] During her first year, she won "Dessert of the Year" and in 2010, under Finden's leadership, The Langham's Palm Court won Tea Guild's "Top London Afternoon Tea" award.[1] She was also awarded "Pastry Chef of the Year" by the Craft Guild of Chefs in 2012 and in 2015, Finden was awarded The Macallan Lifetime Achievement Award at the World Gourmet Summit.[7] In 2018, Finden was appointed creative development chef at luxury chocolatier Godiva and the following year created the world's most expensive easter egg, made entirely of Belgian chocolate that cost £10,000.[8][9] In 2020, Finden became the executive pastry chef at the Pan Pacific London, which opened in September 2021.[10][11] Whilst there, she opened her own pâtisserie Shiok! which launched in May 2022.[12] She left her role at Pan Pacific in April 2023.[13]

Television

In 2010, Finden appeared as a guest chef on MasterChef Australia and MasterChef: The Professionals.[1] In 2016, Finden became a judge on the BBC baking competition Bake Off: Crème de la Crème, a spin-off of The Great British Bake Off.[14][15][16][17] After two series on the BBC, the show moved to Channel 4 in 2018 and was renamed Bake Off: The Professionals, and Finden has remained with show since.[18][19][20][21] In 2017, Finden appeared as a mentor on Celebrity MasterChef, during an episode in which she led a team of contestants who had to re-create her pastry dishes.[22] In 2020, Finden appeared as a celebrity expert on an episode of the BBC game show The Wheel.[23] She has also made appearances on Heston's Great British Food, Junior Bake Off, The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice and Saturday Kitchen.[24][25][26]

Filmography
As herself
Year Title Notes Ref.
2010 MasterChef Australia Guest chef [1]
2010 MasterChef: The Professionals Guest chef [1]
2014 Heston's Great British Food Guest [5]
2015–2017 The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice Guest; 3 episodes [25]
2016–present Bake Off: The Professionals Judge [4]
2017 Celebrity MasterChef Guest [22]
2020 The Wheel Celebrity expert [23]

References
  1. "Cherish Finden, the executive pastry chef at The Langham Hotel London". Cacao Barry. Archived from the original on 3 February 2023. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
  2. "How Singaporean chef Cherish Finden became a grand dame of British pastry". CNA Luxury. 28 February 2023. Archived from the original on 9 December 2022. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
  3. "Five minutes with Cherish Finden". Delicious. Archived from the original on 20 August 2023. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
  4. "Cherish Finden". BBC. Archived from the original on 14 June 2023. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
  5. "Cherish Finden". DML. Archived from the original on 1 June 2023. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
  6. "Cherish Finden leaves the Langham". The Caterer. 10 February 2017. Archived from the original on 30 May 2023. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
  7. "Cherish Finden Awards Host". The Cake Professionals. Archived from the original on 20 August 2023. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
  8. "Godiva hires Cherish Finden for UK café push". Bakery Info. 26 March 2018. Archived from the original on 6 July 2022. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
  9. "Godiva spring Atelier egg: This is what a £10,000 Easter egg looks like". Evening Standard. 17 April 2019. Archived from the original on 12 June 2020. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
  10. "Cherish Finden named executive pastry chef at Pan Pacific London". Restaurant Online. Archived from the original on 20 August 2023. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
  11. "Cherish Finden joins Pan Pacific London". The Caterer. Archived from the original on 26 March 2023. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
  12. "Pastry Chef Cherish Finden launches her first standalone patisserie in London". Supper Mag. Archived from the original on 29 March 2023. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
  13. "Bake Off: The Professionals judge Cherish Finden leaves Pan Pacific London". The Staff Canteen. Archived from the original on 2 June 2023. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
  14. "Great British Bake Off gets professional spin-off show". BBC News. 2 December 2015. Archived from the original on 20 April 2023. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
  15. "Cherish Finden recipes". BBC. Archived from the original on 20 August 2023. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
  16. "Bake Off: Crème de la Crème review – a bland spin-off that feels like a neverending MasterChef quarter final". The Guardian. 30 March 2016. Archived from the original on 1 April 2020. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
  17. "Another team leaves Bake Off Crème de la Crème, as judge Cherish swaps her ruler for weighing scales". Digital Spy. 11 April 2017. Archived from the original on 20 August 2023. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
  18. "Q&A with Benoit Blin and Cherish Finden - Bake Off: The Professionals". Channel 4. 17 May 2020. Archived from the original on 13 May 2021. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
  19. "Bake Off: The Professionals 2023 Press Pack". Channel 4. Archived from the original on 28 June 2023. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
  20. "Who are the Bake Off: The Professionals judges Cherish Finden and Benoit Blin?". Radio Times. 6 February 2023. Archived from the original on 12 July 2023. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
  21. "Bake Off: The Professionals review – at last, they've got the recipe right!". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 29 November 2022. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
  22. "Celebrity MasterChef: A Star Is Born". BBC. Archived from the original on 14 July 2022. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
  23. "Michael McIntyre's The Wheel – Series 1, Episode 4". BBC Media Centre. Archived from the original on 20 August 2023. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
  24. "Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice gets X-rated thanks to some "cock and bush"". Digital Spy. 21 September 2017. Archived from the original on 4 November 2021. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
  25. "Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice shocks with X-rated 'c**k and bush' slip-up from Cherish Finden and Jo Brand". OK!. 22 September 2017. Archived from the original on 20 August 2023. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
  26. "Bake Off The Professionals: Who are judges Cherish Finden and Benoit Blin?". Metro. 6 May 2018. Archived from the original on 20 August 2023. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
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