My Journey with Mason Cash

By Rachel Dunleavy, brand manager, Mason Cash

Mason Cash has been at the heart of kitchens for many years, and its iconic Cane Mixing Bowl is a firm favourite with bakers worldwide, including myself. Having always baked with my grandmother as a child, learning many recipes, there was only one item that was routinely used as part of our baking routine: her 70-year-old Mason Cash Mixing Bowl.

My first memory of baking with my grandmother was some 30 years ago. Every Sunday, my grandmother would cook a Sunday Roast for our (very large) family. The kitchen was chaotic, with lots of chatter and bubbling pots on the hob. Somewhere among this chaos, my grandmother would clear away the clutter and create this perfectly calm table space to make her infamous apple pie. Her enormous Mason Cash Cane Mixing Bowl lived on top of the fridge, and I knew we were in for a treat if she reached for this bowl.

Despite the many pots that were cooking away in the background, she would take the extra time to pull up a chair for me and teach me how to make pastry. Even though she was exceptionally busy, this was the time she carved out just for us. It didn’t matter that my 6-year-old fingers were clumsily doing a task she could do so efficiently; it was the time we spent together which is the lasting memory.

I remember the bowl so vividly growing up, and even now, when I visit my 92-year-old grandmother, her mixing bowl still sits proudly in its lofty position on top of the fridge.

I didn’t know 30 years ago that this was a Mason Cash original, but the second I walked into the Mason Cash showroom, I knew instinctively by its distinctive pale brown colour and diamond-embossed pattern that this was the same bowl I had grown up with. It has been a real privilege to take on the role of Brand Manager for this great British brand, which will forever be associated with such happy memories.

For many, their first memory of the Mason Cash Mixing Bowl is a similar story to my own. Through our upcoming “Mason Cash and Me” campaign, which is launching in August, we will be spotlighting a series of real bakers who will be sharing their own stories and memories and baking their favourite recipes in their own kitchen. This campaign aims to inspire and encourage the nation to start their own love affair of baking with Mason Cash.