We’re sweet on all bloggers, but Fanny from foodbeam takes sweetness to a whole new level. The “100% sweet” food blogger beams to us from her student quarters in the fabulous south of France, where luscious, organic ingredients inspire her to cook up gorgeous fare, in spite of her meager kitchen.

Your site is one of the most beautiful and well-presented out there. What do you do when you’re not cooking gorgeous food, then styling, photographing and writing about it? Do you sleep standing up?
Oh gosh, you found my secret! No, actually I’m just a busy student trying to make her way through her passion. It does take a lot of time, but as the saying goes, ‘quand on aime, on ne compte pas’ — when you love something, time doesn’t count.

Your food styling is phenomenal. How does presentation influence you when you shop?
Ask any 20-year-old about their favourite shops – clothing, jewelry… but certainly not housewares. Sometimes I even wonder if I’m an alien. I’m 21 and all I care about are plates, cutlery, placemats and so on.

I love shopping for kitchen accessories – whether I have an idea in mind or not. Let me explain: as most of the food-lovers I have a list of ultimate recipes to make and sometimes, before having made one I can already ‘see’ the picture I want to take – at least in my head. So if it includes a glass cake dome then I can’t help but jump in the car, head towards my favourite department store and search for the perfect glass cake dome.

Have you seen anything on ThisNext that you absolutely cannot live without?
Well that’s not food-related but I love my UGG boots. They’re so comfortable and warm. They will keep you cozy all day, even if it’s rainy and you’ve got a paper due the next day and no time to work on it! Regarding the food realm I can say without blushing that every single Rosle tool is a delight to work with, from the garlic presser to the whisk.

What’s the best part about living in the south of France ? Other than just being there, that is.
I could say I like the sea, the mountains but I think it doesn’t count as an answer, does it? Seriously, I love the fact you can find so much different top-quality produce, from perfectly-ripe vegetables to delicious duck ravioli; from juicy melons to delectable goat cheese. All organic! What a satisfaction! I love to go to the farmers’ market on Saturday mornings and be invited to bite into the most flawless strawberry and then lick the scandalous juice that runs on my fingers.

Where do you do most of your shopping?
I love Kingston Upon Thames and London for shopping. There you’ll find plenty of lovely shops and huge department stores, which are always a great inspiration for food styling. I also like to shop on the Internet but restrain myself to cookbooks otherwise my credit card wouldn’t be happy at all!

I’m a fellow cookbook whore, so I love that you have lists both for your top cookbooks and for cookbooks you want. But if you had to pick just one cookbook to use forever more, which would it be?
I guess it might upset a few of you but I think I’d pick a cookbook written in French – PH10 by Pierre Hermé. This massive book is a collection of all the recipes Hermé created from the day he opened his own shop and even before actually (he invented the famous Plaisir Sucré when he worked at Fauchon). As I’ve said a number of times on foodbeam, this is more than a cookbook, it is my bible. Though it does not reflect one of my greatest addictions: British and Aussie cookbooks.

What’s your guilty pleasure?
Anything that looks like milk chocolate – even more if it’s got caramelized almonds in it!

Where are you right now?
In Toulouse (where I study), in front of my computer, on my mezzanine-bed watching the hurried people going home before the night comes and thinking to what I’m going to have for supper.

What’s for supper, then?
First I’d like to make a statement. It’s hard to produce good food when all you’ve got in your tiny student kitchen is a stove and no oven, but I think I’m doing pretty well. Tonight I’m going to eat a sorrel, spinach and artichoke ragout (from Leith’s vegetarian bible) followed by some sheep’s milk yoghurt topped with dried figs and toasted almonds.

As you might notice from my dinner I’m an enthusiastic whole foods lover. Whenever I can I go for the freshest and unprocessed produce available and try to cook them as little as possible.