An amateur baker from Beauly has revealed her excitement after her festive creation was selected to appear on BBC’s The One Show.
Gift Hardwick was chosen to bake a special cake for Nigerian ministers Father Maximilian Nwosu and Father James Anyaegbu, both priests at the nearby St. Mary Catholic Church in Beauly.
The cake was made for a gathering organized by church council member Callum MacPherson in honour of the priests. To Gift’s delight, the event was featured in a segment on The One Show.
Speaking to The Press and Journal, Gift – who is originally from Thailand – said the commission came as an unexpected but welcome surprise.
She said: “It was unexpected but in a good way.
“I didn’t think this would happen to me. It might be just a small part but it is massive for me.”
The brief segment, which aired on Monday, highlighted the priest’s use of social media to help young people find their faith.
Known as the TikTok Priest, Father James has 1.6 million followers and racked up more than 15 million likes.
The Highlands has been their home for the last nine years as they work to keep rural churches alive while supporting local communities.
To date, they serve seven congregations.
During Monday’s television appearance, they spoke of the power of social media before clips of the Christmas gathering were shown featuring Gift’s signature cake.
Speaking about the priest’s work to the BBC, Callum said: “We are a small community but a really close one and today we are putting on a little Christmas party for two guys who have contributed so much to the community over the last few years.”
Beauly baker is so ‘honoured and proud’
Gift – who also owns Thai at Beauly, a mobile Thai and Asian-inspired street food stall – began baking during the Covid lockdown.
Honing her skills at home, she began learning how to create bespoke cakes before launching an exclusively online baking business Ka-Nomm, which means sweet in Thai.
Gift spent up to four days pulling her creation together before being filmed at home bringing the cake to life.
The amateur baker says the support of her community towards her TV debut has been heart-warming.
She added: “I didn’t think it would be this good, people’s support and kind messages for what I am doing. I really appreciate it; so many nice words.”
Sharing the news on social media, alongside pictures of her cake, she thanked locals for their support.
She wrote: “I’m so honoured and proud of myself as an amateur baker
and I really appreciate all the praise and compliments from you (my lovely clients) that means the world to me.”
Gift’s cake featured on BBC’s The One Show on Monday, December 9.
Conversation