Paul Hollywood a role model as more men baking

MEN are baking more after being inspired by TV chefs such as The Great British Bake Off’s Paul Hollywood, new research reveals.

Paul Hollywood: Male icon for all Britain's budding bakers. Picture: PA

One in three Britons have told how they plan to give their dad a culinary gift – such as a recipe book or an apron – for Father’s Day on Sunday.

Supermarket Asda says sales of breadmakers have risen 27 per cent and recipe books are up by 34 per cent, while research by retail analysts Mintel found more than two-thirds of men (68 per cent) now bake, with bread being the most popular thing to make.

Culinary gifts are now more popular than traditional Father’s Day items, such as beer, whisky and gardening equipment, the research found. Asda says the success of TV shows such as The Great British Bake Off led to male icons such as Paul Holly­wood, Simon Hopkinson and The Fabulous Baker Brothers
becoming household names.

In the run-up to Father’s Day, sales of digital bread makers have soared by 27 per cent at Asda, while baking ingredients are up by 15 per cent and recipe books are up by 34 per cent, with Jamie Oliver’s 15 Minute Meals proving the most popular for fathers.

Bread tops the male baking charts with almost half of men (46 per cent) on a roll baking white bloomers, granary batches and sourdough loaves, followed by cakes (29 per cent), chocolate brownies (22 per cent) and scones (15 per cent).

John Cummings, Asda’s master baker, said: “It’s great that more men are heading to the kitchen, rolling up their sleeves and getting stuck in to baking – it’s a well-known fact that guys love gadgets, so a breadmaker or culinary gizmo is the perfect gift for Dad this year.”

He added: “It must be a man thing.”