The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Bake Off winner urges more boys to try it out
The research scientist winner of this year’s Great British Bake Off is encouraging young men to bake
Great British Bake Off winner Rahul has urged more men to take up baking and assured them it is “a science”.
The Rotherham-based scientific researcher was crowned Bake Off champion on Tuesday after a dramatic final which saw a jar shatter, spraying shards of glass across his workbench.
Rahul Mandal, 30, overcame the setback to claim victory, and has urged young men to follow in his footsteps and believe in their ability to bake.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Rahul said: “I think baking is a science. It’s physics, chemistry, everything.
“I just wanted to spread this word to people, especially quite a lot of students. They don’t take things up, they might not do home science, they think maybe it’s not for them.
“Quite a lot of guys and boys at school, they think they can’t bake. Anybody can do it.”
He added that his family in India are “happy but in shock and surprise that I went for a show like this”.
Bookmaker Coral has offered odds of 2-1 that Rahul will enter I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!
He has said he has a rigorous approach to baking, and that his technique is all about measurement and proportion.
Speaking to Talkradio, he said: “I took Bake Off as an exam. That was an exam to me. I just wanted to concentrate and just finish it. I just wanted to try and do my best.”
Rahul, who moved to the UK from India eight years ago, had struggled with confidence throughout the hit series.
But the researcher, who received several coveted Paul Hollywood handshakes, beat Ruby Bhogal and KimJoy to triumph in the final.
Rahul has described Ruby as “like an elder sister”, and said that “everyone looked after me”.
Kim-Joy wrote on Twitter: “I didn’t win – but I’m the happiest I’ve ever been.
“I’ve learnt so much about baking and have become so much more confident. And I’ve made 11 amazing new friends!”
Rahul had to restart his final showstopper after the 32C heat in the tent caused a storage jar on his workbench to shatter, sending glass everywhere.
Judges Prue Leith and Hollywood ultimately gave him extra time at the end of challenge to make up for the 15 minutes he lost.
“It broke into a thousand pieces and went in everything so it all had to be chucked, it almost broke me and I really thought that was it for me,” said Rahul.
Earlier in the episode Rahul impressed the judges with his doughnuts in the signature challenge, despite never having eaten one before the competition.
After crowning Rahul the overall winner, Hollywood said: “He is one of those characters that you will miss when you are not with him.”
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Quite a lot of guys and boys at school, they think they can’t bake. Anybody can do it. RAHUL MANDAL