He’s travelled the world and worked with some of the best in the industry, including TV’s Bake Off: Crème de la Crème judge Benoit Blin – now pastry chef Andrew Blas is back on home turf doing what he loves best. He talks to Sarah Millington

EVEN for a chef renowned for his outlandish confections, it took the biscuit. Invited to participate in a fashion show being staged as part of Chocolate Week, Andrew Blas made a dress entirely from chocolate. It was a resounding success – though it did have to be repaired after each of its five wearings and it can only be imagined how uncomfortable it must have been for the model. Not until after he had made it did Andrew realise that he hadn’t exactly met the brief.

“I didn’t really research it and I didn’t realise that other people had literally taken a dress and added pieces of chocolate to it,” he laughs. “But it worked and it was an absolute stunner.”

Speaking to Andrew, recently back in the North-East following a 15-year absence, his passion for pastry is clear. Having started, like most chefs, in the general kitchen, he quickly found that he was drawn to what, for many, is a true art form. “The appeal is the sweetness,” he admits. “I love sweet things. Then you can be so creative. It’s a very artistic medium. I love that.”

Andrew’s return marks the beginning of a new venture, Proper Patisserie, which he has established with his wife Lynsey. Initially supplying Let There Be Crumbs at The Roker Hotel, in Sunderland, with plans to expand to other venues, it aims to bring Andrew’s expertise to local customers. The question is, are they ready for such innovations as a lemon and lime opera cake with a mirror-finish glaze or a passion fruit cheesecake laced with caramel?

“It is very early days, but it’s going well,” says Andrew, 34. “Everyone seems to be enjoying what we’re cooking, which is great. It’s a real big thing at the moment – trying to let the North-East know that there’s a different style of pastry to what they’re used to and trying to bring a bit of London and Paris to the North-East.”

Andrew does acknowledge, however, the need to tone down some of his more outlandish ideas. Having first begun to specialise while at The Samling, in Windermere, he went on to work at the two Michelin-starred Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, in Oxfordshire, then was appointed executive pastry chef at London’s Hotel Café Royal. It was here that he was truly able to vent his creative instincts.

“That was a very demanding and interesting job,” says Andrew, who lives in Houghton-le-Spring. “We had nine outlets for that hotel and we made products for all of them. We had a team of 21 pastry chefs. It was insane – but that gave me the opportunity to design and make all the products that I could ever dream of making.”

Having become established as a leading light in the pastry world – thanks, in part, to training under TV’s Bake Off: Crème de la Crème judge Benoit Blin while at Le Manoir – Andrew was snapped up by American cruise line Seabourn as its corporate executive pastry chef. He spent the latter part of his career before returning home sailing the world’s oceans, but claims it wasn’t as glamorous as it sounds. “To visit 34 countries in one year is really hard work – it becomes trashing and you actually get fed up of travelling,” says Andrew. “I always said if I could find a job that would allow me to come back to the North-East, I would do it.”

He may have tamed his creations for Proper Patisserie, but there’s still the undeniable urge to experiment. Thankfully, Andrew has been able to satisfy this through his participation in the Pastry World Cup, a biannual competition based in Lyon. “The UK had a team there this year and I was the captain,” he says. “I was also with the team in 2015. You have to make an ice sculpture and this year, we did Thor. The ice cream cake to match was Thor’s hammer. Then there’s a sugar sculpture and a chocolate cake. The UK won the best sugar sculpture in the world. Our theme was Marvel in London and it was geared towards the Fantastic Four.”

When not dreaming up ideas for the World Cup, Andrew is happy creating in his purpose-built kitchen on an industrial estate in Hebburn. His current obsession is macaroons, including flavours like Coca-Cola and bubblegum. “At the moment I’m really enjoying this macaroon adventure that I’m on,” he says. “I have a thing for macaroons so I’m on this little macaroon revolution. The great thing now is that I spend all day doing it but if I want to, I can take it home.”

W: properpatisserie.com

Proper Patisserie is currently at Let There Be Crumbs, The Roker Hotel, Sunderland; Northern Dales Farmers’ Market and Durham Farmers’ Market.