Tom and Henry Herbert, The Fabulous Baker Brothers, are so busy it’s almost impossible to pin them down. But I finally managed to nab them on a layby on the side of the M4. Oh the glamour. Having already been up with the larks baking, before setting off on the road for a busy day of interviews and TV appearances, you get the gist of how hard these boys are working. Katherine MacAlister finds out what motivates this handsome duo.

Hard work is the easy answer. Hard work and ambition.

Although Tom and Henry Herbert come across as fun and laid-back, their fledgling TV career is the result of a ferocious work ethic and a passion for what they do, as well as charm, enthusiasm and those cheeky smiles.

They make it all look so effortless, but this has been a long-time coming, centuries even, and not only is their new TV and book a reflection of this, but it also acknowledges the way the brothers have kept the family business afloat in an age when most butchers and bakers have sunk without a trace.

Because not only do these two cook like gods, but they run their own bakery and butchery in Gloucestershire’s Chipping Camden, where they have been local celebrities for quite some years as fifth generation bakers.

“Baking is our lives.

“It’s what we talk about and what we do. We live, eat and breath it, which, when growing up, can be a blessing and a curse, because you can’t get away from it and there is always work that needs doing,” Tom, the eldest says. “But that’s what puts fire in our bellies. Although I do remember when I was in my late teens and doing night shifts it was a nightmare trying to get to sleep above such a busy shop,” he continues.

And yet while Henry and Tom appear inseparable, they have only recently joined forces.

Henry was a chef with a string of impressive restaurants and awards under his apron.

But when the Hobbs House Bakery’s neighbouring shop fell empty, Henry got the call that would change his life. Did he want to come home and open it as a butchery?

“Of course,” was the answer and Henry got stuck in with his usual zest, transforming it into a hub as successful as the bakery next door.

Almost inevitably, then came the TV show, The Fabulous Baker Brothers proving an instant hit. And yet their “journey” hasn’t been as much of a whirlwind as you’d expect. Both Henry and Tom have been courting the cameras for several years, separately appearing in various TV shows as guest cooks. It was only when one bright TV producer realised that they were in fact brothers that The Fabulous Baker Brothers was born.

Because these two boys are naturals and perfectly at ease in front of a camera, fronting the trend for sustainable, local, produce.

“My mum always said I was like a bull in a china shop,” Tom says grinning, “but I’m a real opportunist. I always go for it and then see how it turns out. So this isn’t about fame and fortune, because working together is something we already do,” the 34-year-old, says. “And when you consider I run bread-making courses for eight people in Chipping Camden who might then go home and tell other people, to be teaching millions of people how to bake on Ch4 on a Wednesday night is really overwhelming. I just couldn’t have dreamt of it happening. It’s accessible baking for a whole new audience.”

So has the programme transformed their lives?

“People in general seem excited that something is going on locally and seem to like coming to Chipping Camden for the day now and we are busier in the shop, although some people just grin at us through the window,” Henry, 24, says.

“And people do come in and try to touch Henry’s arms,” Tom teases. “But this is all very new. The book hasn’t even been out for a week yet and it’s already number three on the Amazon charts and the show is going down a storm. So it’s really exciting.”

And what about their families? As both boys are married, Tom having four kids, do their domestic lives suffer?

“Yes, we are married, but our wives knew when they met us that we were married to the job and that we work evenings and weekends. But we enjoy what we do and its never a chore,” Henry says.

Tom takes up the lead here: “And I’m involving my kids as much as possible, and take them along for the ride whenever I can. Because this is the world we were born into. So getting up at the crack of dawn is normal.”

Baking is one thing, but touring the country’s bookstores and meeting their fans quite another. “We have resorted to extreme delegation,” Tom jokes, “and we do feel like show ponies being carted around the country.” “But we haven’t had a nervous breakdown yet,” his brother says cheerfully, “although it’s on the cards”.

“And when we come to Oxford we’re setting up a bakery instore at Waterstones,” says Tom, immediately enthusiastic about the idea, “and although we haven’t met our fans in the flesh yet we have each other for protection,” and they both howl with laughter at the thought, before hurtling off to their next engagement, like two bulls in said china shop.

* Tom and Henry will be opening a very special outlet of Hobbs House Bakery at Waterstone's Oxford from noon on Saturday where you can meet the boys, get a copy of their brilliant new book The Fabulous Baker Brothers (Headline, £20) and pick up a selection of their fantastic bread and cakes.

See waterstones.com or call 01865 790212.