Meet our Maker | Emelia Jackson

Where to begin! My name is Emelia and I am a full time cake maker in Melbourne. I am obsessed with all things sugar, butter and funghi (strangely enough). Life highlights currently include recently winning MasterChef Back to Win and overcoming my fear of speaking into my iphone for instagram.

Thank you! I am seriously still pinching myself. It was such an exceptional experience - a world of light and adventure during what has been a terrible year for most. I truly feel so grateful. For me, the greatest challenge was definitely that finale! Never in a million years did I think I had the ability to run a service, on my own, for 20something diners and actually present food I was incredibly proud of!

Ooooooooh I love a chocolate fondant. It is so basic, but so so so delicious and comforting and indulgent. Bit of icecream on the side? Bliss. I also will take a chocolate fondant recipe, and bake it into a chocolate shortcrust tart base. It makes for the best chocolate tart on earth!

Practise, practise, practise! You don’t necessarily need formal qualifications nowadays to achieve goals in the food industry. If you want start a cake business at home, first, nail your cake and buttercream recipes, invest in some great equipment that will make your life 100 times more efficient and PRACTISE. Everytime you make a cake, you’ll get better and better at it - and your customers will come back time and time again.

Oh definitely my big girl Pearl - my 6.9L heavy duty stand mixer. I make massive batches of cake mixes and buttercream at a time, and Pearl handles them all like the professional that she is! And of course, I am obsessed with the attachments - my pasta roller, icecream bowl, mincer. Love them all.

YAY! I was running some classes pre-MasterChef and am now upping the ante! I love teaching and as you know, am obsessed with all things baked goods, so why not combine the two loves! My first scheduled classes were postponed due to Covid, so I am hoping that we can get them back up and running by October. Well be learning all things choux, petite gateaux, cookie cakes, sharp buttercream edges - the list goes on and on.

I AM a financier! - completely nutty and made of 50% butter. I think I am a chocolate hazelnut type of financier. Chocolate is one of the great loves of my life and who can resist a classic combo like chocolate hazelnut?