Nechama Werdiger may be best known for her $1.05 billion fortune, made as one of the biggest landlords in the country, but the billionaire has an unexpected passion.
Ms Werdiger ranked 129th on this year’s The List, an annual compilation of the 250 richest people in the country and how they made their money.
The 88-year-old matriarch’s wealth was estimated at $1.05 billion, made primarily through the many properties held by her late husband Nathan, founder of the Juilliard Group.
Among her 28 grandchildren and nearly 100 great-grandchildren — the heirs to her enormous fortune — though, Ms Werdiger is known best for her baking.
“My love is baking. Cooking is a necessity but baking is a desire. I am creative, and baking allows creativity,” she recently told Channel 9.
“There’s something very imaginative about taking flour, eggs, butter and making something delicious.”
The children’s favourite is streusel, but the billionaire’s specialty is an extravagant and “very rich” Napoleon cake.
“It’s 14 layers of cake, all very thin, baked separately,” she explained.
“You cook a pastry cream and you sandwich it all together. It is laborious and very delicious. It’s very rich but you only need a small slice.”
The streusel cake, on the other hand, she said was “very easy”.
“No mixer, just a wooden spoon. I know the recipe by heart,” she said.
“250 grams of butter, four eggs, a cup of sugar, two cups of flour … The topping is sugar and butter. I have 28 grandchildren and nearly 100 great-grandchildren and they all love that cake.”
Ms Werdiger was born in Ukraine to a Jewish family and fled to Uzbekistan during WWII. The experience, she says, taught her to serve food with pride regardless of how fancy it was.
She also considers food to be connected to her faith, saying: “We observe Shabbat (the Jewish day of rest) and so on Fridays we do not cook, we don’t even heat up water.
“That means we cook a lot on Thursdays.
“I usually make gefilte fish and chicken soup. Comfort food, things that can be eaten cold or hot.”
It’s a skill that has been passed down to some of Ms Werdiger’s many heirs.
One of her granddaughters, Maaryasha, owns the famed Melbourne bakery Zelda.
“I wouldn’t say she has taken up my love of baking, I’d say she’s taken it and completely run away with it,” the matriarch said.
“Her bread is the best bread in Melbourne.
“You have a slice and you’re full for five hours; it’s a meal. People queue for it, it’s so good. I am very proud.”