From dad’s 50th KFC bucket cake to pastry sensations at Michelin Guide restaurant

An award-winning graduate chef who decided against A-levels in law or politics to follow her deep passion for baking has been snapped up by a Michelin Guide restaurant run by another former University College Birmingham student. 

Rebecca Bourne, who completed a Professional Chef foundation degree and then graduated with a first-class BA (Hons) in Hospitality Business Management this year, is now creating sweet sensations as a pastry chef at The Boat Inn in Lichfield, headed up by fellow graduate and BBC Great British Menu star Liam Dillon. 

The fine dining inn – inspired by Liam’s travels in Australia where "produce and simplicity of cooking with premium ingredients is king" – not only has three AA Rosettes, but also made Estrella Damm’s Top 50 Gastropubs list in 2021.

Rebecca, who is set to compete in this month's British Culinary Federation Young Chef of the Year final and is the vice-captain of the National England Junior Team for the Culinary World Cup in 2022, said it was an exciting opportunity after a difficult year for everyone in hospitality.

“It’s an amazing place and I love the ethos of work-life balance, which is very important to me,” she said. ”It’s great to work alongside a lot of other University College Birmingham alumni too.” 

Rebecca had just finished her GCSEs and was debating studying law or politics at A-level when she toyed with the idea of turning her passion for baking into a career.  

Whipping up supermarket cake mixes at two years old, she was fully kneading, rolling and decorating from scratch by age 13 – even creating a KFC bucket-inspired cake for her dad’s 50th – and the more she thought about this very hands-on, vocational path, the more appealing it became.  

“I was always an avid home baker when I was younger and really into the Great British Bake Off and other TV cooking shows,” she said. “I was leaning towards going to law school one day, but was really drawn to the idea of getting into the cooking and bakery world professionally – I even went to the Cake International show five times!”