The Lexy Food team has hit newsstands across the UK after making hundreds of pieces of gingerbread which feature in the 2015 festive branding for BBC Good Food, Britain’s no 1 food media brand. The images Rob and his team created will be used in Good Food magazine, at BBC Good Food Show in Birmingham and on Britain’s biggest recipe website bbcgoodfood.com
Rob Kirby, Chef Director at Lexington, and Hannah Westphalen, Sous Chef at Knight Frank, worked with the BBC Good Food team to create the iconic brand’s Christmas 2015 look. We caught up with Rob and Hannah to find out more about their experience…
What was it like seeing your creation in the festive issue of BBC Good Food?
Hannah said, “It was amazing to see my work featured in the magazine and the pictures look beautiful. Knowing I made the gingerbread is such a fantastic feeling and it makes all the hard work worth it – it’s a proud moment knowing something I have made will be seen in print, on the website and at the shows by hundreds of thousands of people.”
You say ‘hard work’ – what did you have to do?
Hannah said, “I was in the kitchen baking gingerbread and cutting them to shape from about 7am-6pm. Whilst I had templates the 160 odd pieces were very detailed and needed to be cut – some of them were as small as the end of a pen and it was important to get them just right. At one point I thought I’d never finish but in my final hour everything started to come together.
“The next day we spent four hours decorating the gingerbread with intricate piping – this required full attention to get everything looking perfect. But the most worrying part was leaving Rob to transport them all across London for the photoshoot!”
Tell us about the photoshoot
Rob said, “It was a fabulous day, working with some amazing people. Prop and food stylist, Katie Cecil, and I got to work placing Hannah’s artwork ready for the shoot itself – we had to be careful to keep in it one piece…we had no spares! Photographer, Lara Holmes, kept us calm and directed us to make sure we got the best shots.”
To see Katie and Rob in action click here.
What was the inspiration behind the design?
Rob said, “BBC Good Food’s Christmas 2015 branding is based around gingerbread so we had to make hundreds of different shapes – Christmas trees, reindeer, baubles. Our aim was to work together to create a concept that reflects the festive spirit and encourages people to people to be creative with their food.”
To find out more visit www.bbcgoodfood.com
