Rahul Mandal - Showstopping Cakes: Mastering the Art and Science of Baking

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DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to my families. My family in India, my work family at Nuclear AMRC, my Bake Offfamily cast, crew and bakers and my families in Sheffield and Rotherham, in particular the staff at my local supermarkets and Rotherham Leisure Centre.

I made my first cake in 2016 and if you had asked me then whether I would ever write my own baking book, I would have laughed. I grew up in India surrounded by lots of good food. My dad still goes to the market every morning for fresh vegetable and fish, which my mum transforms into something delicious. As a child, I thought there was sorcery happening in the kitchen and whenever I got the chance, I used to watch her cook. Baking, though, didnt feature. Like many other middle-class families in India, we didnt have an oven. My experience of cake was limited to the fruitcakes the local grocery store stocked at Christmas. These usually came wrapped in plastic but there were also more expensive ones in tins. These were the ones my family preferred, as we liked to keep the tins to use as storage for little things.

So how did cake become such a feature in my life? In December 2010 I came to the UK to do a PhD at Loughborough University. It was a big change. Growing up I didnt have friends, but I never felt the lack, as I was surrounded by a large, close-knit family. Coming to Loughborough taught me two important life lessons: how to be a grown-up and how to deal with loneliness. The first lesson I learnt quickly. But I didnt deal very well with loneliness. So, I joined the Gardening Society. It was there I discovered that cakes could be made at home. To see people bringing home-baked biscuits to social events was a revelation!

That Christmas I wanted to give my newly made acquaintances in the Gardening Society presents but as an international student on a grant I had little money. Then Nigella Lawson came to my rescue. She didnt literally come to Loughborough to help me, but she did introduce me to the world of mince pies. Now, dont get too excited: I didnt make the pastry, I bought it. The mincemeat, too, but I added some chopped apples and dried cranberries. They were okay actually. I also made stained-glass cookies. The see-through bit of boiled sweet in the middle was too magical for me to resist. I need to thank Lorraine Pascale for these. She describes them as the perfect Christmas present and wraps hers in cellophane bags. To be really honest, though, I couldnt find any cellophane bags, so I used wrapping paper instead. Two mince pies and two stained glass cookies each. Since then, it has become my Christmas tradition. Every year I make mince pies (and these days, even my own pastry) and stained-glass biscuits. They literally mean Christmas to me.

My life in Loughborough was good, but sometimes you need to stir things up to create space for something new! That stir came when I moved to Rotherham, to take up a research job at the Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC). Starting again from scratch somewhere else is difficult. My work colleagues did much to make me feel comfortable but I was missing some kind of social life. I joined Rotherham Leisure Centre, and also spent time chatting with the staff at my local supermarket. I know it might sound depressing, but everyone in the leisure centre and the supermarket was super nice, caring and friendly, and I cant thank enough to them for giving me companionship. They unknowingly became part of my social circle, long before Bake Off.