Rahul Mandal: 8 Facts About The Great British Bake Off Winner
Fans of "The Great British Baking Show" became enamored of Rahul Mandal, the shy yet thoroughly capable baker who out-baked his fellow competitors to claim the title of winner during Season 9. Though this unassuming chap was a whiz with batters and doughs and won over social media with stories of his brave solo move from India to the U.K., his time in the white tent wasn't without some intrigue. There's much more to this seemingly humble chef than meets the public eye.
How much more is there to his story, exactly? It turns out that fascinating facts about his life beyond television baking competitions abound. Diehards may have caught on to a few of these, but it might interest casual viewers to learn that baking isn't his primary occupation, for instance. Instead, his day job affords him a much more significant role in a field that's far from the world of pastries and pies. And though his victory occurred in 2018, he's continued baking and creating incredible creations ... when he isn't getting married unexpectedly, that is.
So who is this subdued sugar shaker and mysterious master of the stand mixer? We put on our investigator's hat, picked up an oversized magnifying glass, and went researching to bring you a closer examination of the truth of Rahul Mandal in order to solve the sweet mystery.
He's a nuclear research scientist with a doctorate in optical metrology
You may know him as Rahul the Modest Baker, but he more likely goes by Dr. Rahul Mandal when he's around his colleagues. As a research scientist and technical lead for the Nuclear AMRC, a U.K. company in the field of net zero carbon emissions, Dr. Mandal has participated in a variety of projects. He's also served as the center's STEM ambassador, helping school-aged learners expand their knowledge of all things science, tech, engineering, and math. This goes quite a way to explain his meticulous methods in the kitchen, where his technique has proven to be equal parts food science and artistic baking brilliance.
Rahul's career was no secret while he was on the show, to the point where it was featured as part of his biography on the official series website. After reaching the top tier of British television baking competitions, he added a rather "aw, shucks" sort of reference to the victory on his LinkedIn profile. It just goes to prove that humans are adaptable, people can be great at more than one thing when they put their mind to it, and scientists who apply their brain power to sweet personal pursuits can turn out to be award-winning bakers.
He caused a bit of controversy during his final bakes
For as affable as Rahul was while he competed on "The Great British Baking Show," it was occasionally shocking to watch him get into a few sticky situations during his time in the tent. During the grand finale of his championship season, Rahul and his two remaining fellow contestants were tasked with baking rustic pita bread outdoors using a fire. The usually precise baker let his pita overbake, resulting in a severely charred entry into the show's final technical challenge. Considering this was the series' ultimate episode for the season, it was a bit jarring to see a finale competitor flub their project so completely.
Speaking of jarring, further drama ensued when, during the final showstopper challenge, Rahul had to deal with an exploding jar that sprayed shards of glass into his baked rock garden diorama. Because of the health risk to judges Paul Hollywood and Pure Leith that was posed by this accident, producers compensated for the mishap by allowing Rahul an additional 15 minutes to recreate his finale masterpiece.
However, some viewers felt that this gave him an unfair advantage against the other bakers, shards of glass or not. After all, fellow contestant Kim-Joy Hewlett had already won the pita challenge and required no extra time to complete her showstopper entry. But when the ovens were finally turned off, Rahul was deemed the winner, though perhaps not to the satisfaction or delight of all viewers.
He got married in India in a surprise ceremony
Though Rahul's wedding wasn't a surprise for him or his bride, for his fans and followers, the announcement came just one day before the nuptials took place in Kolkatta, India on December 5, 2022. What's not surprising is that someone who is largely unaccustomed to living his life in the public eye would keep such a personal occasion on the down low for as long as possible. His revelation came accompanied by videos of the baker wearing a traditional Hindu flower garland known as a mala.
Knowing how much his fan base has supported him since his time on "The Great British Baking Show," Rahul did promise to share more photos and videos of the celebration. In a thoughtful Instagram post addressed to his followers, he even wondered if he should broadcast the ceremony live on the social media platform. Though it was most likely meant as a joke, it's clear that Rahul and his wife, Shreya, made a lovely couple in follow-up photos, even if a livestream of the event never came to pass.
Even if they weren't invited, his Instagram family seems to appreciate having a view of the wedding. A clip of the ceremony on Rahul's feed has garnered more than 48,000 views in little more than a year after it was posted.
He once baked a cake with 100 ingredients
The number in the title is not a typo. What may be Rahul's most ambitious bake required a real cart-buster of a shopping list! Because there's apparently no limit to the number of clever elements you can add to a baking recipe when you're a sugar savant, Rahul tested his boundaries by creating a cake with 100 —yes, 100! — ingredients that included flavors of passionfruit, cherry, chocolate, and peach. Foods from all around the world were included in the bake, which took on the appearance of a tower of stacked suitcases topped by an edible globe. It was created in 2021 as a promotion for Love Home Swap, a home-sharing company that was celebrating its 10th anniversary.
To incorporate the enormous lineup of sweet and savory additions to his bake, Rahul made the cake with five graduated tiers that came out to more than three feet tall. The cake expert himself has even admitted that it was a Herculean task to complete the creation, not to mention working in a world's worth of tasty components in a balanced way. To Rahul, it was a commemoration of global cuisine and a tribute to international travel. After pulling off such a monumental feat, it will be interesting to see how the baking champ tops his accomplishment.
He also won The Great New Year's Eve Bake Off
Claiming the crystal cake stand just once wasn't enough for Rahul. When invited back in 2021 for "The Great New Year's Eve Bake Off," a holiday all-star spin on the original series, this quiet cook conquered yet again, besting his fellow all-star baking buddies from prior seasons in a three-recipe rout. Former competitors Henry Bird from season 19, Nancy Birtwhistle from season 5, and Helena Garcia from season 10 joined Rahul in the tent this time to see whose whisk would whip surest and steadiest before the year ended.
But it wasn't all sugar and spice around the kitchen this time. In fact, it was sometimes more spice than sugar when, at one point, longtime judge Paul Hollywood discovered an inedible clump of ground cinnamon when he cut into Rahul's finished fruit crumble. Rahul himself admitted that he was more nervous this time around than he had been during his original time on "The Great British Baking Show," which may have impacted his ability to keep his cinnamon distribution under control. Despite this rather glaring misstep, the former champ went on to clinch the title and add a second iconic crystal cake plate to his growing collection.
His Instagram is filled with his complex and precise bakes
There seems to be no end to Rahul Mandal's inventive baked creations, as followers of his highly active Instagram account can attest. Even with what sounds like a very important day job in a demanding field, the prizewinning confectioner still finds time to flood social media with eye-popping pictures of his spectacular work. Visitors to his feed will find pies with crusts woven to look like rattan basketwork topped with elaborate Christmas décor, cookies with ultra-fine icing patterns that replicate intricate needlepoint designs, and stacked Easter cakes that look like nothing less than temples crafted out of sugar. Rahul's talent for translating geometric precision into edible wonderworks is a source of joy for anyone who's willing to simply follow his kitchen exploits.
Scroll further into the past and you'll find the more whimsical pieces among Rahul's ever-growing museum of edible art. Cookies with royal icing in vibrant colors take on the form of monarch butterflies and tie-dyed T-shirts, while a two-tiered cake becomes a doubled-up display of daffodils, thanks to some tricky fondant work.
While his feed also features more traditional bakery-style cakes that are topped with chocolate drizzle and fresh fruit, it's his more imaginative creations that bring a dimension of magic to the bakes that he takes on. In these works, Rahul's quest for excellence is proudly displayed.
He's published a cookbook featuring his amazing cakes
After showing off his substantial skills all season long, the next logical step for Rahul was to share his talents with other bakers. So, published a cookbook, titled "Showstopping Cakes: Mastering the Art and Science of Baking." In the introduction, the bakerexplains his approach to cake craft and describes his adventures in the kitchen, going on to share tips and tricks that have served him well in years of baking.
Rahul's colorful volume includes primers on fillings, explanations of different decorating mediums, and instructions for elevating ordinary cakes into the realm of fine baking. There's even a section that focuses on gluten-free and meringue-based bakes, allowing bakers with dietary restrictions to get in on the frosted fun. No less than Nigella Lawson and Dame Prue Leith have weighed in with blurbs of praise, showcasing the level of acclaim Rahul has achieved among fellow bakers.
He once made a birthday cake for host Noel Fielding's daughter
It takes a lot to impress one of the hosts of "The Great British Baking Show," especially when they see bake after bake created by dozens of highly talented home chefs. So it must have been a supreme honor when host Noel Fielding asked Rahul to create a cake for daughter Dali's birthday. Though Rahul admitted on his Instagram that he was unaccustomed to making cakes in the shapes of animals, he was clearly up for giving it a go.
The cake turned out just fine in the form of a winsome, wide-eyed owl sitting atop a rustic stump. Both bird and bark-covered perch were made of cake, with a few edible feathers scattered about the base for artistic effect. The overall impression is that of a cuddly cake critter that is sweet enough for any sweets lover to adore, but especially for a four-year-old who surely loved her custom creation. But really, what kid — or adult — wouldn't love their own owl-shaped birthday cake baked by a champion of "The Great British Baking Show?"