Amanda Seyfried Interview

As the face of Givenchy’s delicious new gourmand fragrance, the award-winning actress shares her secrets to baking mouth-watering fruit pies & four-tier vanilla birthday cakes.

 Icon: Amanda Seyfried

Profession: actor & singer-songwriter

Born: December 3, 1985

Film credits: Mamma Mia, Mean Girls, Red Riding Hood, Ted 2, Dear John, Les Miserables, Lovelace

The brand: Givenchy

City: Paris

Launch: Live Irrésistible Eau de Parfum Délicieuse

Scent style: a floral gourmand for her. It’s described as a new kind of ‘gourmandise” scent since it opens with a delectable Madeline accord. It smells like a gourmet dessert in a bottle.

Notes: Madeline accord, rose, neroli flower & tonka bean

Live Irrésistible Délicieuse, 75 ml, $125 (debuts April 10)

 “I love sweet notes in a scent & I find Délicieuse smells like a latte on my skin after a while.” – Amanda Seyfried

Inside a 7th floor corner suite in New York City’s chic Crosby Hotel, the catering staff is setting up a spread worthy of the Great British Bakeoff. Mary Berry herself would be impressed with the tiered trays of rainbow-hued Madelines, petite fours, cream horns and apple blossoms all displayed in geometric shapes on wooden trays. On one end of the table is a silver tea service with half a dozen gourmet tea blends.

Amanda Seyfried: In Her Own Words

I’m a baker. I love baking fruit pies. For Thanksgiving last year, I baked the basics: pecan, pumpkin and apple for my family. My favourite to make is a deep-dish apple pie. Now, here’s my secret: I bake it in a spring form pan. It’s a dutch recipe with a thick dough and just pounds of apples. I add a little bit of flour, a little bit of sugar. I don’t really ever measure ingredients. I just experiment. And I have to say, it always is good. You can’t over bake it either. Whenever I serve it, people are always going ‘ohhhh, this is incredible’, and I say, ‘no, stop” (laughing) My stylist just gave me this idea to make roses out of the dough for the top so that is my next bake.

My signature cake is vanilla. Amy Sedaris has a really good recipe that I love. So for my birthday last year, I baked a giant four-layer vanilla cake that was so f$#&’ing delicious. My best friend always has me over for my birthday and my mom was in town so I told them both I knew what I wanted and I was baking my own cake. It was pure vanilla cake with white vanilla icing – all white. At the last minute I found this weird cake confetti so I sprinkled it everywhere. It was beautiful! (She pulls out her iphone and finds a photo of the truly mammoth cake)

I particularly love baking for the holidays. I bake shortbread, stars with special Royal Icing, and the most incredible pecan balls. Some people like gingerbread but I prefer shortbread – the more butter the better! Shortbread is a pain in the ass to roll out though. The last time I made it, I left it on the counter and went to get something. When I came back, I discovered my dog Finn, had eaten half of it. I was really pissed at him.

I used to love Magnolia Bakery in New York, but I don’t think there is a better cupcake than those made by Sprinkles. I know it is a chain store, but I don’t think you can get better. I also like the Moo Milk Bar’s birthday truffles. If I was asked by someone what to get me for my birthday it would be these birthday truffles.

ABC Kitchen is my favourite restaurant in New York. It’s always delicious.

I love sugary notes in a fragrance. I like rose notes but you don’t always want to smell like springtime. But you can smell of vanilla and sweet notes all the time. I find this new one, Delicieuse, smells like a latte on my skin after a while.

I have a kitchen full of cookbooks but I don’t use any of them.

I’m enjoying spending time at home these days. I worked so much last year that I love to be at home. My husband makes dinner each night and I make dessert

Givenchy Live Irrésistible Délicieuse is available in Canada at select Hudson’s Bay stores