A Galway pastry chef is set to cook up a storm in Bake Off: The Professionals.
Rebecca Piccione, from Abbey, Co Galway, is among the dozen teams of bakers competing on the hit Channel 4 series.
Rebecca holds a Bachelor of Business in Culinary Arts from GMIT and has worked in London in the five-star Landmark Hotel, The Dorchester, Hotel Café Royal and Fortnum & Mason.
She joined the Clayton Hotel Galway as Head Pastry Chef last year and her sweet treats are now served up in the Red Bean Roastery coffee dock.
She is joining forces with Keiron George, a London cake designer, to battle it out against 11 other teams and be crowned the best bakers.
The pair previously worked together at Keiron George Cake Design.
Rebecca said she has struggled to keep her TV appearance a secret.
She said: "Time to reveal the hardest secret I've ever had to keep!
"I thought what better way to make 2020/21 a bit more crazy then entering one of the hardest pastry competitions with some of the most talented chefs I've ever seen!"
Bake Off: The Professionals is a baking competition that sees teams of chocolatiers and pastry chefs compete to be crowned the best professional bakers.
The teams of two must already work together at a high-end patisserie, five-star hotel or Michelin-starred restaurant. The teams are made up of the head pastry chef and one of their colleagues.
Rebecca and Keiron's first task will be to create two types of miniature classics.
They must transform well-known cakes into delicate petit fours and make a total of 24 cakes, a dozen of each dessert, in just three and a half hours.
Judges Cherish Finden and Benoit Blin will be judging Rebecca's creations while hosts comedian Tom Allen and former GBBO contestant Liam Charles are also set to taste her treats.
Bake Off: The Professionals kicks off next Tuesday, May 25 on Channel 4.
