Aran: Recipes and Stories from a Bakery in the Heart of Scotland

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If you had told me two years ago that I would have a cookbook out and would be getting ready to open my own bakery, I would have thought you were joking. Flora, who is an accomplished food blogger, has decided to keep deferring her history of art degree at St Andrews University.

Flora attended the University of Edinburgh to study architecture and the University of St Andrews to study art history, but she is currently on a break from her studies while pursuing her career in baking. She said: “I was sad when I heard it was moving to Channel 4 and Mary Berry, Mel and Sue would be leaving but I suppose I put it down to a seven-year itch.

Serve immediately with good hunks of the honey and oat bread (below) and any extra dressing. You can also add some green chilli slices and lime wedges for a bit of heat. Flora, who is a presenter on BBC Radio Scotland’s weekly food show The Kitchen Cafe, admits she is disappointed that the Great British Bake Off as we know it is gone. I will be doing most of the cooking but I will be employing a full-time baker and my mum will be lending a hand. It’s going to be a real family affair. Flora, who has a cat called Dog, said: “I know there have been rumours about who will be fronting the new show with Paul Hollywood and they all look interesting. The first-floor restaurant looks over the river and serves great gastropub fare: Isle of Mull cheddar soufflé with mustard mayonnaise, or venison burgers with smoked applewood cheese and bacon. I have the special, a huge plate of Skye langoustines dripping in garlic butter, washed down with a glass of natural orange wine. The rooms

Lots of people want me to call it the Flora Shedden Bakery but I’m unconvinced and there are a few more names being tossed around. Remove from the oven once crisp and allow them to cool completely before serving with a good selection of cheese and antipasti, or with the above soup and some nice salted butter. They will keep in an airtight container for a month.Assemble the salad on a large serving platter. Scatter some watercress over the base of the platter then dot with the dressed fennel slices, grapefruit and chicory in a haphazard fashion. Finish with a little more watercress, some cress leaves, parsley and the fennel fronds. Dot the crabmeat over the dish. Using a mandolin or a very sharp knife, finely slice the fennel (reserve the fennel fronds to decorate) and toss the slices into the dressing to stop the fennel from browning. At this stage you can cover the fennel and store in the fridge for up to six hours.

Now she’s 27, with even more precocious achievements under her belt. There’s her bakery, Aran, in her home town of Dunkeld, as well as the produce store, Lon. Yeah, I like to keep busy. I've always been that way. I like a project and I think I'm also just really terrible at saying no to things and situations”, she says. “I don't feel like I've actively gone out to, you know, do X, Y and Z. I’m very fortunate that I've been able to do what I have”. In a medium pan, heat the olive oil over a medium heat. Add the shallots, garlic, fennel and celeriac. Cook for five minutes, being careful not to brown them or you will lose the lovely pale colour of the soup. At nineteen, Flora was catapulted into the public eye when she became the reality show’s youngest-ever semi-finalist – an experience she found “incredibly daunting”. “I wouldn’t have done it if I’d known what it would be like to have that level of exposure, with so many people forming opinions about you,” she says. Afterwards, her agent was keen for her to move from Trochry, the rural village outside Dunkeld where she grew up, to pursue the television personality route in London. But the self-confessed homebody was having none of it. “I’d love to be a cool city person, but that’s just not me,” she says. “And after seeing the kind of attention generated by being on TV, I knew I wasn’t comfortable with it. So I decided to stay put.”Put the sliced onions into a deep saucepan with the vinegar and sugar and cook over a medium-low heat for about 15 minutes. You are looking to soften the onions, then almost caramelize them. There should be no excess liquid in the pan.