From film-making to cake-baking

The Guardian - Back to home Family From film-making to cake-baking Sandra Bullock and her sister, Gesine Bullock-Prado, no longer work together, but they are still close Melissa McClements Sat 19 Mar 2011 00.05 GMT It's not every day that your pastries are served by a film star, but for residents of Montpelier, Vermont, that's what happened the day a new cake shop opened in town – and Sandra Bullock arrived to work behind the counter. As she boxed up sticky buns and worked the till, the Oscar-winner joked with the assembled news crews that she wouldn't be depending on the shop for a full-time job. And, indeed, she wouldn't: she had shown up to support her sister, for whom the cake shop was a passionate new venture. For Gesine Bullock-Prado – at 40, six years younger than Sandra – the cake shop was a career change. She had spent nine years working for her sister's production company, Fortis Films. To outsiders, she was living the Hollywood dream – there were A-list parties, a couture wardrobe and endless days of working lunches in the sunshine. But, as someone who describes herself as "painfully shy" and "socially retarded", Gesine says she found the whole Los Angeles lifestyle "relentless, exhausting and disillusioning". So she resigned. It was the death of the sisters' mother, Helga, in 2000 that prompted Gesine's transition from movie mogul to rural baker. Gesine found herself mourning by baking. "I'd always been a baker," she says. "But it became a ritual of healing for me, and an escape." Within four years, her hobby became her new vocation. She quit LA, moved east and set up shop in 2005. She has now moved on to run a commercial bakery, and has just published a book explaining how she reinvented her career. As children, the Bullock sisters lived in Germany, moving to Virginia when Sandra was 11 and Gesine was five where their father, John, worked at the Pentagon. Helga, a German opera singer, continued to travel back to Europe for work – sometimes taking her daughters with her on tour. Gesine describes Sandra as a "genetically gifted" and "loving and generous" big sister. But she also describes how she is often asked: "Why is it that you don't look more like her?" to which she replies, "So sorry to disappoint you, you ass." In person, she says she can see certain similarities between Sandra and their mother, in terms of "their great talent, beauty and individuality". She describes them both as fearless and also says that they have the same unparalleled work ethic and compassionate nature. The Bullock family were tight-knit. "We were raised in such an unusual way that we were taught to be relatively private people. I have friends and we're close. But when you are very private, family becomes more and more important. They are the only ones that you want to share certain things with." Today, Gesine is in frequent contact with her father and, despite Sandra's hectic schedule and physical distance, she and her sister communicate "all the time". This wasn't always the case. "Our age difference made it impossible to be chummy when we were younger," Gesine says. "I was a pest, an annoyance of a younger sister. No girl in her tender years, navigating through the trials of puberty wants her annoying geek of a little sister hanging about ... It wasn't until I got older that the age gap disintegrated. Once I was in high school, we became genuinely close." One thing that did unite the Bullock sisters in "camaraderie" as children was the "iron grip" Helga had on everything they put into their mouths. In many ways ahead of her time, she maintained her "perpetually svelte" figure with a largely macrobiotic vegan diet. She championed organic food and didn't believe in drinking water from plastic bottles or from the tap. "We both suffered from an acute sugar shortage due to our mother's health food initiatives and we bonded by scraping together what we could to get our sugar fix," Gesine reveals. However, Helga was also a master baker. On special occasions, such as birthdays and Christmas, she created spectacularly complex pastries and confectionaries. For her, sweet treats were only special if they were part of such ceremony. To this day, Gesine and Sandra – who is apparently a "pretty remarkable" baker too – recreate her recipes for special occasions. Gesine, whose husband is the film-illustrator Ray Prado, first came to LA to "hang out" with her sister and go to law school. Initially, she even moved in with Sandra, whose career was just taking off. By the time Gesine was in her second year, Sandra was "ridiculously famous". After she qualified, the Speed star asked her to run her production company. It seemed like a great idea. Indeed, their father John was CEO of Fortis Films for a while, so it became a family business. But Gesine was never satisfied with her work. And when Helga died of colon cancer – a disease she believed her strict dietary regime should have prevented – Gesine felt she had "no choice but to grow up". She baked in secret every weekend, "almost with my mother on my shoulder". When she quit to concentrate on baking, Sandra was sad but "terribly supportive". "We have a healthy relationship," she says, "and we're grown women who understand the nature of business. Sometimes a particular profession simply doesn't suit. A sister can tell when a decision is right and healthy. That certainly was the case with us." Starting Over, One Cake at a Time by Gesine Bullock-Prado is published by Allison & Busby, £12.99. Gesine bakes ... Helga's cake This cake, made to my mother's recipe, is a complicated piece of goodness. It's almost savoury; deeply rooted in German baking, but using all-American nuts. When you add the chocolate buttercream, it becomes a sensual piece of cake. Makes a triple-layer 8in cake For the cake 12oz pecan nuts 8oz sugar ½ teaspoon salt 8 large eggs, separated, plus 2 whole eggs 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 2 teaspoons baking powder For the buttercream 12oz dark chocolate, chopped small 8 large egg yolks 2 teaspoons vanilla extract ½ cup hot coffee or boiling water 8oz unsalted butter, at room temperature Preheat oven to 325°F/170°C. Lightly grease and line three 8in sandwich tins. In a food processor, grind the pecans with half the sugar and the salt until they turn into a fine meal. Add the egg yolks, 2 whole eggs, vanilla, and baking powder and blend to a smooth paste. Whip the 8 egg whites till they start to gain volume and look fluffy (but not chunky), add the remaining sugar in a slow, steady stream. Whisk until the whites are very shiny and hold a stiff peak. Transfer the pecan paste to a large metal mixing bowl and stir in a heaped spoonful of the whites to lighten the batter. Fold the remaining whites into the pecan mixture until well incorporated. Divide the mix between the cake tins and bake for 30 to 45 minutes, till the top springs back when you touch it. Allow to cool completely on wire racks before you release them from the tins. Buttercream Place the chocolate, egg yolks and vanilla in a blender or food processor. with the motor running. Add the coffee in a steady stream. Add the butter in small bits and process until smooth. If it's too soft to spread, refrigerate. Assemble the cake ... http://confectionsofamasterbaker.blogspot.com/