Cover story

Wade Ceramics is to launch a new range ofkitchenware designed by actress, writer andhome-baking guru Jane Asher. Susan Fentonfinds out how her love of cooking grew into abusiness, which Asher manages to juggle witha continuing career in acting

Jane Asher: She was hands on throughout

the design and production process

Though Jane Asher has achieved fame

through a lengthy stage and film career that

started at the age of five - and more recently

through her cookery-based retail and

writing businesses - she resisted for a longtime the various opportunities for productendorsement that she has been offered.

'I've been asked to put my name on things

but I wanted to wait until I found something I

could really believe in,' she says.

She was in no rush anyway: hand in hand

with her acting, she gradually built on a

long-standing interest in cooking to create

a business involving writing (with numerous

books about baking as well as three best-

selling novels) and retailing (through her own

cake shop in London).

Alongside more everyday items such as cake

mixes, sugarcraft ingredients and mail order

cakes, the Jane Asher Party Cakes & Sugarcraft

shop sells what she calls the 'haute couture' of

cakes. As a result, Asher is now perhaps almost as

well known for her cakes as she is for her acting.

What is it about this activity that has given

her the enthusiasm to help return baking,

with its somewhat old-fashioned image, to

the cookery mainstream? She explains: 'I love

baking, it's just so satisfying. You get such

a huge "earth mother" kind of feeling from

making a cake. Baking's a great part of our

heritage too, and it's a great way of getting kids

into cooking.'

Asher concedes that her acting fame was

probably helpful in establishing her business

career but stresses that much more than her

name was required.

'When I first started writing my books people

said I had a huge advantage. Yes, celebrity

-1 hate that word! - does give you an initial

platform but you have to follow it up. People

soon suss out whether there's some substance

behind the name or not.'

She cites Jamie Oliver and Gordon Ramsay

as examples of food 'celebrities' who have the

substance to endorse products with integrity.

'Gordon and Jamie are genuinely great

chefs, they've transformed things. I think

people are beginning to cook properly now - in

the past we've tended to watch these cookery

programmes then go out and buy a ready-

made meal. Jamie made it cool to cook.'

Cooks like Nigella Lawson - and like Asher

herself - have also been influential in changing

the way we cook. Asher credits Lawson with

helping home baking lose its rather old-

fashioned image.

'Nigella is a good friend and we source many

of her sugarcraft ingredients' she says.

It was through the cake business that Asher

got to know a business and social contact

called Richard Pink, who suggested she start

developing her business activities to focus

more on product development.

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'I immediately thought I would love to work

on bakeware, tableware and kitchen products

so I said OK, let's look at what we might do.'

Of the companies that showed an interest in

working with Asher, the one that stood out was

Wade Ceramics.

'I knew them from the little china animals

that I loved as a child. I wanted my products

to be British, high quality yet not unnecessarily

expensive, functional yet pretty - and I felt

Wade would be the company to work with.'

At round table meetings with the Wade

designers, Asher was able to contribute her

experience as a keen baker.

'I felt I could make better products than were

currently available, and I felt strongly about

practical issues. Existing mixing bowls, for

instance, were too shallow and existing ceramic

rolling pins had small, separate handles, which

I found irritating. I wanted non-stick that really

was non-stick - plenty claim to be but aren't

- and I wanted cake stands that had covers

because otherwise you have to use Clingfilm,

which looks horrible.

'I felt we needed a timer because you need

accurate timing when making cakes. I wanted

little bowls because baking with children is such

fun, but the bowls are more than that, you can

put other things in them. And I wanted a little

jug, for holding sauces or coulis.'

In short, Asher and the 'lovely' designers

at Wade, especially Alison Palin and Jenny

Sanders, spent a lot of time thinking about

how people bake, what works in the kitchen,

what they themselves liked. Asher goes on:

'We homed in on various ideas. When the idea

of Sprinkles came, it just clicked, the whole

concept came together. It's an unusual design

- there's nothing quite like it - and the colours

fit into any kitchen without being too serious.'

What next for the Sprinkles range?

Asher says that she'd like to use her 'happy

association' with Wade to expand the concept

beyond kitchenware. 'I like the idea of a china

collectable version of my cakes, and I'd love

to do a dinnerware range. I can see it being

a really sophisticated version of the Sprinkles

pattern, in black and white.'

Thinking back, did Asher ever have

ambitions to be big in the world of baking?

'No, not at all! Like many women, when I

had young children I wanted to be at home

more -1 didn't want to be on tour or on

a film set all the time. Baking was a very

enjoyable hobby that gradually developed into

a business I could do from home. Twenty-five

years ago I couldn't have imagined doing this

today, but I love the way my life's turned out.'

Does Asher feel there are parallels between

the seemingly unrelated fields of acting and

cooking? After all, both involve following

a 'script' yet interpreting it creatively, with

a finished 'production' the result. Yes, she

agrees, adding: 'Both have an element of

showing off, too. Though I'm quite shy, acting

turns you into a different person, a different

character that you inhabit completely.

Similarly, there's definitely a showbusiness

element that comes into cake designs: my

cakes are very showy!'

Asher is again busy with film work (she's

done two films in the past year or so: one, the

black comedy Death at a Funeral, is due out in

the US in April). But where would she rather

be - in the kitchen or on a film set?

1 love them both!' she replies. 1 want to

act and cook.'

For now, she says she is delighted with the

Sprinkles range and believes that in choosing

a product range to endorse she has chosen

the right one.

'I'm proud of the fact that people trust my

name, that they know when I put my name

on a product, it's a product I use myself and

that will do what it's supposed to do.'

www.janeasher.com

The Sprinkles kitchenware collection is part of the new Jane

Asher Home Cooking Collection, which also includes textiles (by

Home Creations) and non-stick bakeware (by More Than).

The eight-piece set includes a mixing bowl, cake stand and rollingpin, together with a tray with flour/sugar dredger, jug, timer and

small bowl.

The pieces are crafted in translucent white ceramic, with

Asher's signature etched into the colourful sprinkles pattern.

Jane Asher will be on the Wade stand at the Spring Fair in

Birmingham on Monday, 5 February to demonstrate the collection.

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