Martha Collison (born 23 September 1996) is a British baker and food columnist. She rose to fame after competing as The Great British Bake Off's youngest ever contestant,[1] reaching the quarter-final of the fifth series at age 17. She writes a weekly column for the Waitrose weekend newspaper,[2] and has released two cookery books as well as running a successful baking blog.
Martha Collison | |
|---|---|
| Born | 23 September 1996 |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation(s) | Food writer, author, columnist |
| Television | The Great British Bake Off |
| Website | http://www.bakingmartha.co.uk/ |
Early life
editMartha Collison grew up in Ascot, Berkshire.[3] She has one younger sister, Hannah.[3] She began baking at the age of eight, the result of her parents letting her loose in the kitchen[4]
Career
editTelevision
editIn 2014, at the age of 17, Collison took part in the fifth series of The Great British Bake Off on BBC One.[5] She is the youngest ever contestant in the show's history, making it to the quarter finals before being knocked out of the competition.[citation needed]
Martha has since appeared on Bake Off: An Extra Slice, as a guest on Blue Peter[6] and has presented for Saturday Kitchen.[7]
Writing
editCollison has released two cookery books. The first, Twist, was released on 14 July 2016,[8] and took simple, everyday recipes, such as chocolate cake and adapted them into new ones, like Chocolate and Passionfruit Layer Cake, or Mint Chocolate Ice Cream Cake. The second book, Crave, was published on 13 July 2017,[9] and split the recipes into chapters for various cravings, Chocolate, Caramel, Cheese, Citrus, Fruit, Nut, Spice and Alcohol.
She writes a monthly column for the Waitrose weekend newspaper[2] and runs a successful baking blog called "Baking Martha".[10]
Radio
editCollison currently holds the position of Show Chef on The Graham Norton Radio Show at Virgin Radio UK.[11]
Personal life
editMartha lives with her husband in Brighton, Sussex. They married in 2019, where several of the bakers from Collison's series of The Great British Bake Off were in attendance and baked cakes for a cake table.[12] In April 2024, Collison revealed via Instagram that she had given birth to their first child, a boy named Kenaniah.[13]
She is a Christian[1] and has appeared at various faith-based festivals such as Newday, Big Church Day Out South & North and WestPoint. She is also a charity ambassador for the charity Tearfund,[14] and has spent time in Cambodia teaching young girls to bake funnel cakes.[15] She has also been to refugee camps in Lebanon with the charity to see Tearfund's work with those displaced due to conflict.[16]
Her grandmother, Valerie Collison, is an English organist and composer of hymns and carols. Her best-known work is "Come and Join the Celebration" for which she composed both the lyrics and tune.
References
edit- ^ a b "Martha Collison speaks - Woman Alive". womanalive.co.uk. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
- ^ a b Limited, Waitrose. "Martha Collison Baking Recipes | Waitrose". waitrose.com. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
{{cite web}}:|last=has generic name (help) - ^ a b "Martha Collison on life since the Great British Bake Off". Berkshire Life. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
- ^ "About". Baking Martha. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
- ^ Foster, Patrick (12 September 2016). "BBC loses Great British Bake Off as Channel 4 swoops for Britain's biggest show". The Telegraph.
- ^ Douglas, Nicole (25 April 2017). "Blue Peter questions". OK! Magazine. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
- ^ SaturdayKitchen [@saturdaykitchen] (27 November 2018). "For this week's food film, we sent our cameras with Martha Collison to a popcorn factory! #SaturdayKitchen @marthacollisonhttps://twitter.com/marthacollison/status/1064909886696423424 …" (Tweet). Retrieved 8 July 2019 – via Twitter.
- ^ Collison, Martha. "Twist: Creative Ideas to Reinvent Your Baking - Martha Collison - Hardcover". HarperCollins US. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
- ^ Collison, Martha. "Crave: Brilliantly indulgent recipes - Martha Collison - Hardcover". HarperCollins US. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
- ^ "The Great British Bake Off Stars Made Martha Collison's Wedding Cake". brides.com.
- ^ "Stephen Mulhern Show 1: The Graham Norton Radio Show with Waitrose". 2 August 2021.
- ^ Cash, Meredith (8 April 2019). "The 'Great British Bake Off' stars reunited at a fellow contestant's wedding and each one baked an impeccable cake for the occasion". INSIDER. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
- ^ "Instagram".
- ^ "Press release: Great British teen baker Martha Collison teams up with Tearfund to end child trafficking - Tearfund". Tearfund. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
- ^ "Why has Martha Collison been baking non-stop for 21 hours? | Christian News on Christian Today". christiantoday.com. 18 October 2015. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
- ^ "Food for thought: how faith can shape our bakes by Martha Collison". tearfund.org. Tearfund.