16/09/2026
✨ You never know where a new skill — or a chance encounter — might lead you.
Back in the 1990s, before chocolate became my career, I was determined to perfect a hobby I had fallen in love with: sugar craft and sugar flowers.🌺
🇫🇷 I was living in France at the time which meant a long overnight ferry back to the UK. I found myself in my mum’s kitchen in Bedfordshire learning from a true legend of the craft, Tombi Peck.
A founder member of the British Sugarcraft and author of too many sugarcraft books to mention…… To say I was in awe of Tombi’s talent is an understatement.
☎️ Having had a conversation with Tombi ( no emails, WhatsApp or DM’s! ) she travelled all the way to my mum’s kitchen to teach me, while I had travelled over from France especially to learn from her.
🌺 At the time, it was simply something I was passionate about and wanted to get really good at.
Little did I know where that skill would take me.
🍫 Years later, those sugar-craft skills impressed my future Swiss employer in Geneva — and that opportunity became the beginning of my professional journey as a chocolatière.
Looking back, it makes me realise how much can come from simply being curious, learning from someone you admire and saying yes to an opportunity.
A kitchen in Bedfordshire.
A long ferry journey from France.
A few sugar flowers.
An encounter with someone who was a true master of her craft.
And somehow, it all became part of the story.
All of this to tell you I was reminded of this yesterday during a 1-1 Chocolate workshop with an enthusiastic young baker looking to improve her chocolate skills.
To get a message from her today telling me that she “ Loved every second of it” truly makes me smile. I can’t wait to see what she creates next. 😊
You just never know where a new skill, a new person or a moment of inspiration might lead you. 🤎
