A PATISSERIE chef and baker has opened his doors to the community to learn the basics of making cakes and chocolates.

Jon Jones, a 2011 MasterChef semi-finalist will run classes from his Cake and Decorate shop at the Market Place in Bolton, teaching people how to make and decorate cakes.

The chef lives in Bolton and took over the shop from a mother and daughter duo just over a month ago.

Mr Jones says he loves making and decorating cakes but does not want to be a traditional cake maker.

He said: “We can do any flavour that people come up with.

"We have done a popcorn cake and even salted pretzels and allow children to design their own cakes for us to recreate.”

The patisserie chef has also travelled in Europe, spending a few days working in Paris.

Mr Jones said: “I went to Paris, the home of pastry.

“I walked into a little patisserie and asked if I could work for them for free a few days.

“It was a family business, with the father, sons, and even the grandfather all working together.

“The grandfather was making the bread in the back, sat on his stool, and said he loved what he did, so why would he retire? That really stuck with me.

“I want to thank Jan Hampton too, because working for her at Egerton House was the most amazing experience.

“She was great to work for, she just let us get on with it.”

Mr Jones also enjoyed his time on MasterChef: The Professionals.

He said: “It was good fun, I enjoyed it, but I made mistakes and they laid into me.

“But it was a good experience, we were told to make some things like the stuffed squid which I had never done, and it went horribly wrong.”

Mr Jones ran The Farmer’s Arms pub for three years ­— but quit the role to focus on baking.

He said: “I gave up running the pub because it was not going in the direction I wanted to go in.

“People wanted to eat just pub food, but I wanted to make different things, that people going to a pub aren’t really interested in.”

The cake shop is open from 9am to 4pm on weekdays.

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