Loving the new series of The Great British Bake Off? Thought so! Inspired to make a some gorgeous cakes as a result of this week's programme? We were too! I love seeing up and coming baking stars give it their all. And my favourite up and coming baking star was going to apply for the bake off but decided to go to study pâtisserie at Le Cordon Bleu Europe instead. Yes, I am talking about allaboutyou.com's very own longstanding writer Natalie Glock who has launched herself into the baking world with her lovely inspiring blog blameitonthebrioche. See these madeleines with passion fruit curd on the left here? They are Natalie's creation. Click here for the recipe.

But love The Great British Bake Off though I do, I sometimes find the British penchant for with watching cooks just a bit, dare I say it, obsessive. In Italy recently at an agritourismo I asked some Italian foodies if they love their TV chefs. They looked back at me blankly, saying there are one or two well-known TV chefs. 'But do you follow them in the newspapers, watch their every move, want to cook like them, bake like them? Do you adore them?' I asked. This was followed by more blank looks - it seems the Italians aren't as wild about their TV chefs as we are about ours. 

Mind you, the food obsession is not all about 'celebrity' in this country. I was in Vapiano's on Great Portland Street in London the other day. Vapiano's describes itself as 'an innovative European concept serving made-to-order fire roasted pizzas, fresh, house-made pasta and hand tossed gourmet salads'. What this means is that you queue up and then stand there and watch while your meal is cooked for you. As I waited my turn I saw the bloke in front of me take his phone out, and then he started filming the chef who was cooking for him! I was amazed! We really are a nation of foodies, I suppose. Here's to next week on The Great British Bake Off. Think I'll make Mary Berry's lemon drizzle cake in honour of the series!