CHETNA MAKAN
Semi-finalist in 2014, she released her third cookbook, Chetna’s Healthy Indian, this year
Tell us about your current kitchen
It’s pretty much my dream. It has lots of workspace and two ovens, which is really handy because I can do lots of baking in one go. I’ve also got a little room where all my ingredients live, and they’re all labelled so it’s easy to find what I’m looking for. I love my work surface, as it’s really solid. I can put extremely hot things on it and can do caramel work directly onto it.
What’s your baking essential?
I think you just can’t bake without an electric whisk. The first item I bought in terms of baking was a £4 electric whisk from Tesco. Of course, they don’t sell it for £4 anymore, but it was really good and lasted me four or five years.
Do you have a go-to recipe?
If I’m baking for myself, then I just make a Victoria sponge. I can practically bake it in my sleep and I know the whole family will love it.
how did you get into baking?
My Mum baked quite a bit – she didn’t do anything fancy but she always made really good cakes in a small portable oven. It’s good because you can just plug it into any room you like. So I used to bake with her when I was a teenager, but I got into baking properly when I had the kids because I wanted to bake for them.
What should a beginner invest in?
Don’t get carried away with gadgets. Baking is all about your technique rather than the equipment. If you really want to invest, get a good stand mixer and some quality cake tins. I’ve got the same sturdy non-stick cake tins from when I started baking.