How British baking champ Nadiya Hussain builds bridges, one cake at a time

Her father was a chef and owned an Indian restaurant, but growing up in England, Nadiya Hussain’s mum never baked and only used her oven for storage. So the bright young girl had to learn the basics of cooking at school. She was immediately drawn to the kitchen and Baking Studies became her favorite subject.

Fast forward to 2015: As an amateur cook she won the “Great British Bake Off” show competition and since then her career has taken off: She’s risen higher than an angel food cake in a warm oven. She’s hosted culinary shows, written cookbooks and was even commissioned to bake a cake for Queen Elizabeth II on her 90th birthday. (For those dying to know the flavor, she whipped up a citrusy creation decorated with roses and frosted with orange buttercream, purple fondant drizzle and orange drizzle.)

But there’s more to this champion baker. A native Briton, her family is originally from Bangladesh and as a Muslim in an arranged marriage, she has spoken out on prejudice, female empowerment and even mental health issues; she has suffered from panic attacks.

Despite her challenges, Hussain’s success seems boundless. She’s still the most popular winner ever of the internationally acclaimed baking series, called “The Great British Baking Show” in England. Now the American version of her latest cookbook, “Nadiya Bakes: Over 100 Must-Try Recipes for Breads, Cakes, Biscuits, Pies, and More” has been released and it’s filled with dazzling photos of her latest recipes, from strawberry cupcakes rich with clotted cream and topped with strawberry ice cream spiked frosting to savory recipes such as cheese-laden churros with tomato dip.

We had to speak to her about her latest book and get her take on baking delicious goodies and building cultural bridges.

Q: So, how many cookbooks does this make for you now?

A: Six.

Q: What was the inspiration for this one?

A: I’ve done a lot of books but I’ve not done anything specifically on baking and I suppose that’s what I’m best known for. I wanted to write a beautiful cookbook that people can use, enjoy and  have in their home. So, for me, this was a long time coming.

Q: It sounds like you really thought it out. How long did it take to write?

A: This was one that was always on the back burner, but from start to finish, about nine months, it was a joy to test, it was a joy to eat, it was a joy to write.

Q: Bring us up to speed on your whirlwind career. Since you won the championship on the “Great British Bake Off” series, you’ve done so much: Cookbooks, kids’ books, television shows, charity works, even baking a birthday cake for Her Majesty. What are some of the  highlights for you?

A: I’ve done so many things over the last six years that it’s hard to even imagine, that I’ve achieved so much in that short space of time. But things like being able to go back to Bangladesh and film a travelogue from my family’s home country, to be able to go out as a cook and talk about recipes, that was one of the biggest privileges for me.

Q: The recipes are wonderful. The Strawberry and Clotted Cream Shortcake Cupcakes was a genius cross between an English cream cake and an American strawberry shortcake. And it has two surprises inside, a crunchy cookie and a fresh strawberry. A 5-year-old would love it for a treat, but an 80-year-old would love it with tea. How did you come up with that?

A: Most of my good ideas come when I’m exhausted or in bed. I’m always on the go, creating something new and trying something new. I’m really fortunate that I’m able to kind of straddle between two worlds; I have the luxury of growing up in an authentic Bangladeshi home, being weaved in with British culture. So, with all that in mind, I’m able to cook from different parts of the world and different parts of me and ultimately that’s how all my recipes come about. Also when someone says I can’t do something, I say, “Why not?”

Q: Is it your nature to blend traditions to show that we’re really not all that different; that whether you’re from Bangladesh, Australia, or North America, we really have a lot more in common than we think?

A: Yeah, I suppose so. It’s not something I do consciously, but I think for somebody like me, who comes between many, many worlds, it’s really lovely that I’m able to do recipes because I think there are those of us who don’t fit in anywhere, but we can cook and blend things together. It just goes to show that we shouldn’t be restricted by the rules. We should be able to think outside the box and create something delicious without worrying about what the repercussions might be in changing a recipe.

Q: Shakespeare wrote, “Strive mightily, but eat and drink as friends.” And Ted Cantle, the author of a government report on community cohesion, said that you have done more for British Muslim relations than 10 years of government policy. Do you think if we could all just bake together and eat together, we could solve a lot of our differences?

A: I think when you break bread together, it can change things. On a much smaller scale, I could be having an argument or disagreement with a brother or sister, but if we have a cup of tea and a slice of cake together somehow that fixes everything. And I do believe that if you can break bread with people there is no room for differences, error and anger. It makes such a difference to humanity to be able to eat together, I think it makes a huge difference.

‘Nadiya Bakes: Over 100 Must-Try Recipes for Breads, Cakes, Biscuits, Pies, and More’

Author: Nadiya Hussain makes regular appearances at food events internationally and has been featured in the BBC’s 100 Most Influential Women list. She lives in the U.K. with her husband and three children.

Publisher: Clarkson Potter Publishers

Price: $29.99