An analysis of Bake Off icon Mo’s baking experience, since he shunned bread and biscuits

Mo Mahir from The Great British Bake Off has gained a lot of attention for his comments on all the things he doesn’t like baking. He called bread and butter pudding “a war recipe”, and biscuits “for old people”. Mo even dared tell Paul Hollywood, who built his career on bread: “I’ve never made bread before. I just have this idea of bread being, like, really boring and sad.” To fill the time on Dessert Week, he doodled Paul. So, what does Mo from Bake Off actually like to bake? What experience did he have when he applied for the show? Here’s an investigation.

Mo has been baking for ages

He was 21 years old when he competed on Bake Off (he’s 22 now). But we have evidence Mo didn’t just wake up one day and decide he would be on Bake Off.

Mo has been interesting in baking for years. He did a GCSE and an A-Level in food tech.

Sam Hayes was Mo’s food tech teacher at George Salter Academy in West Bromwich. Sam Hayes told the BBC: “”I’ll always remember being brought some of the delicious treats Mo had baked at home, a very welcome perk of having such a talented student. He always was an absolutely amazing baker while he was at school.

“He was very much self-taught from a young age … it was always cakes for him, so I knew he’d do well.”

There you go.

 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Mo (@mo.mahirr)

Mo’s expertise lies in cakes

Well, we know Mo is not a fan of bread. He said on Bake Off: “When it comes to bread, I’ve got no experience … I just watched, like, three TikToks, and was like, ‘That’s it. I’m going to do this.'”

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He made his cousin’s wedding cake, which looks beautiful.

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Mo (@mo.mahirr)

Mo is also accomplished at making very Instagrammable brunches, as these highlights from his stories demonstrate:

Ta-da!
(Images via Instagram)

He may have had other things on…

For many TV show competitions, the contestants are cut off from reality for weeks (or even months) But Bake Off participants carry on with their day jobs while the show is filmed.

Mo is in his final year of a law degree at Birmingham City University. He was revising for his end-of-year exams at the same time as he was competing on The Great British Bake Off. 

It’s easy for Bake Off viewers watching at home to say that they would’ve learned everything there was to know about bread before going on the show. It might be harder to do that in reality if you also have university exams to cram for.

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Featured images via Channel 4 and @mo.mahirr / Instagram