Order a Malaysian bake, take an Asian cookery class, learn to pair cheese, snack on posh popcorn and stock up at a new farm shop. It's a tasty month

Seeing Stars

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Known for bringing a taste of his Malaysian childhood to Cambridge via Far East-flavoured chiffon sponges, cake rolls and dessert boxes, Jin Yee Chung, aka The Baking Jin, is celebrating success at this year’s Great Taste Awards - where no less than three of his bakes won a coveted gold star rating.

Jin’s Pandan Chiffon Cake was described by judges as “a perfectly light, wobbly and fragrant cake with a delightful level of zesty, characteristic pandan infusion”; the Black Sesame Cake Roll was hailed both “visually striking” and “light, uncloying, interesting and undeniably delicious”; and the Moist Chocolate Miso Caramel Cake was praised for “both the fruity, deep-noted quality of the cocoa and the savoury, umami-rich yet sweet miso caramel”.

Originally an engineer, Jin switched career lanes after winning the Cambridge Bake Off, our city’s answer to the TV show, in 2015. He has been baking full time since 2020, offering both to-order celebration cakes and rolls and direct delivery dessert boxes - all of which have proved so popular, he has now outgrown his home kitchen and is keen to hear from anyone with professional kitchen space to hire or share.

* See thebakingjin.com and follow @thebakingjin

Flourishing Business

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Famously ploughing her first furrows with the help of heavy horses Bill and Ben, Flourish Produce founder Calixta Killander is known both for her planet-friendly practices and the unrivalled quality of her homegrown fruit, vegetables, herbs and flowers - all of which you’ll be able to stow in your own shopping basket as of this month.

With its produce previously sold solely to chefs in some of the county and country’s top kitchens - including Restaurant Twenty Two and Garden House in Cambridge and Brat, Manteca and Clove Club in London - Flourish’s 56-acre Hildersham site is poised to open its own farm shop.

Says Calixta: “This really is a dream come true: to be able to open a shop in the little corner of the world that we call home, and to be able to share the fruits of our labour with those at home rather than just restaurant chefs. We can’t wait to welcome you!”

Housed in a carefully restored farm building, the shop will not only fly the flag for Flourish, but fellow local farmers and artisans too: alongside the fresh fruit and veg, expect everything from eggs, honey, juices, oils and jams to homeware and lifestyle ranges. From the new year, the shop will also run regular workshops, with early topics including natural dying, lino cutting, tablescaping and calligraphy.

* The farm shop’s opening date is yet to be confirmed. Sign up to the newsletter at flourishproduce.co.uk or follow @flourishproduce/@flourishfarmshop for updates.

Tastes of Asia

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A chance to master the art of Asian street food, from Thai chicken skewers and coconut peanut dip to Hong Kong crisp fried wontons, award-winning Singaporean chef Lilian Hiw is running a half-day cookery class in her Bury St Edmunds kitchen next month.

Taking place on October 18, 10am to 1.30pm, the session will begin with a freshly shaken Tropical Paradise welcome mocktail, cover knife and cutting skills as well as the recipes, and conclude with the opportunity to sample all the dishes.

Crowned Prestige Awards Private Chef of the Year: London & South East two years on the trot, Lilian cut her culinary teeth in some of Asia’s most famous kitchens - notably at Raffles in her native Singapore. Known for her flair with flavour, her flawless presentation, and her ability to demystify seemingly finicky dishes, her cookery classes are swift to sell out; as well as making haste to book the street food session, you might want to put your name down for Valentine’s Day 2023, when, says Lilian, “for the first part of the evening, the guests will be making three dishes with their loved one, and as they sit, relax and sample their masterpieces, I will do a live theatre-style demo, entertain them with stories and share lots of tips.”

* Places for the street food class are priced £128. Christmas gift vouchers, varying values, are also available. Visit lilianskitchen.co.uk for more information, to book and to buy.

Perfect Pairing

When it comes to food pairings, few double-acts are more delicious than apples and cheese. Have your doubts? Head for Cambridge Cheese Company’s stall at the city’s Botanic Garden this Apple Day, October 23, and be prepared to eat your words (and your own bodyweight in apple and cheese, obvs).

The secret is to balance sweet and savoury flavours, says Camilla Marshall-Lovesy, manager of the independent cheese shop which stocks some 200 skillfully selected varieties on rotation - a number of which are sourced monthly from the hallowed Rungis market in Paris.

Sweeter styles of apples work well with tangy or blue cheeses, such as Lincolnshire Poacher or Colston Bassett Stilton, she explains, while a sharp and juicy Braeburn apple will bring out the caramel and cream notes of Twisca, the sheep’s milk Gouda, and the nutty, mellow flavours of the Somerset artisan-made goat’s cheese, Rachel.

Adds Camilla: "It's wonderful how both foods have so many different flavours and textures; we've had a real journey to find the best match.”

* Find out more about Apple Day at the Cambridge University Botanic Garden at botanic.cam.ac.uk and visit Cambridge Cheese Company at 4, All Saints’ Passage and cambridgecheese.com.

Super Seven

Got a soft spot for popcorn? Popcorn Shed - the great British gourmet corn brand which started life in the founders’ garden shed, hence the name - has just added a magnificent seven new flavours to its range: Red Velvet, White Chocolate, Pink Gin, Chocolate Orange, Maple Bacon, Gingerbread and Toasted Marshmallow.

While many popcorn manufacturers apply spray-on and powder coatings via industrial process, the Shed team tumble their air-popped corn in fresh, all-natural ingredients by batch, cooling and bagging it at super-speed to ensure it retains that all-important crunch. No additives or preservatives are used (which means you need to eat your corn within three months; no hardship, as it’s moreish as hell).

Coming in both signature ‘shed’ boxes, ideal for sharing and gifting, £4, and mini snack packs, an inspired alternative for trick-or-treaters, £1.49, each of the new flavours is inspired by a classic movie.

Our favourites are the Red Velvet, which doffs its cap to Alice in Wonderland (red cocoa-infused caramel popcorn with white chocolate and cream cheese frosting), and the vegan Chocolate Orange, a tribute to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (dark chocolate popcorn infused with orange).

* Available at popcornshed.com and Amazon