Couple to give views on burnt buns and prime time personalities

The Man with Two Dogs and The Doyenne are joining forces to give readers their opinion of the popular Bake Off series. Gayle Ritchie meets the famous duo in their kitchen...

The glorious aroma of freshly baked biscuits is wafting from columnist Angus Whitson’s kitchen in Fettercairn.

Inside, I’m greeted by The Doyenne – aka his wife, Liz – the lady responsible for the biscuits.

Tomorrow will see the launch of a new Courier column in which the couple give readers their views on Bake Off.

“It’ll be a fun, lighthearted commentary on the contestants, the baking and the judges,” says Liz, handing me a biscuit from a cooling rack.

“I’ll be commenting as an experienced baker but Angus is more likely to talk about the personalities.”

While Angus is our most popular columnist, writing under the guise of Man with Two Dogs, Liz is often mentioned in his weekly musings and her recipes feature in his books.

Born in Yorkshire in 1942, Liz was brought up during the war when rationing forced her mother to make many dishes from scratch.

“Everything was home made,” she recalls. “If she bought cakes, my father would say, ‘I’m not eating that muck!’

“Saturday morning was baking morning when we made everything from cakes to tarts and biscuits.

“I’d watch as my mother got flour on her elbows while she smoked cigarettes and dropped ash everywhere!”

While Liz’s bakes are out of this world (I can vouch for this as I’ve sampled her legendary mince pies on many an occasion and now, her Anzacstyle biscuits), she describes herself as a “plain cook”.

“I like a lot of traditional things, like Sunday roasts, and I like to keep my baking simple,” she says.

“I don’t want to have to wait three hours for it to come out the oven to ice it or do fancy things.

“But biscuits are probably my favourite things.”

Liz has baked for as long as she can remember, much to Angus’s delight. He’s particularly fond of her lemon drizzle cake.

“That’s why I cast a generous shadow!” he laughs.

The couple, who have three children and five grandchildren, met while they were at Edinburgh University, via the rowing club.

Liz was captain of the ladies rowing club and they needed a coach. In stepped Angus, a talented coxswain.

“Having shouted at her for a year, I thought I’d better marry her!” he jokes.

As the photographer asks the couple to pose, Liz can’t resist a wee dig at her husband.

“Don’t tickle my bottom!” she cries. “Well stand up straight, dear!” he retorts.

While munching on my second biscuit of the morning, I enjoy cuddles and kisses with Inka, Angus’s faithful black labrador, who features in his column.

Regular readers will know that Macbeth, Angus’s West Highland Terrier, passed away a wee while ago.

As we get ready for Bake Off tomorrow and await the couple’s column with anticipation, I have to ask – does Angus ever bake?

“Very rarely – there’s no point,” he beams. “I doff my cap to my wife’s abilities. There’s no point in trying to match them.”

When she’s not baking, Liz runs an interior design business, enjoys singing, and is a member of the book club.

Is she looking forward to Bake Off 2017?

“Oh yes, it should be a lot of fun,” she says. “I was a big fan of the first series and I hope this one will be as exciting.”

I like a lot of traditional things, like Sunday roasts, and I like to keep my baking simple