Who will be the next big baking sensation?

SOUTH AFRICA is on its way to crowning the next big baking sensation when reality show The Great South African Bake Off returns for a third season.

The series, which involves a nationwide search to find and crown the country’s best amateur baker, will air next month.

The highly creative competition sees contestants going all out to impress the judges with their originality and skill, ultimately hoping to bake their way to the final.

The show will be screened on DStv’s BBC Lifestyle and will be produced by Johannesburg-based media company Rapid Blue.

“The Great South African Bake Off demonstrates BBC Worldwide’s ongoing commitment to providing high quality local programming,” the show’s producers said.

In December, Cait McWilliams won the second season of The Great South African Bake Off.

Now a new group of hopefuls are hoping to follow in her footsteps.

They include Johannesburg’s Desmond Solomon.

The labour and human resources consultant said his inspiration for baking comes from his Lebanese ancestry and family parties.

Fellow Joburger Sibongile Mhlaba said her passion for food came from her love of feeding her loved ones.

The freelance interior designer and psychology student said she once watched how to make a baked Alaska on TV, and then recreated it that same night with her own twist.

Gerrard Kistanna, a medical laboratory professional in Johannesburg, said his love for baking came from his mother, who taught him everything he knew.

Alice Chan from Pretoria is also hoping to walk away with the title.

The senior lecturer and researcher at the University of Pretoria found her passion for baking when she moved to South Africa more than 25 years ago.

While she was learning English, her teacher would bring in cakes and share recipes, which opened up a new world and passion.

Capetonian Ameer Cloete is hoping his passion for experimenting in the kitchen will pay off.

Meanwhile, Western Cape social worker Bianca Breytenbach once decided to bake a cake for her friend’s child’s first birthday, and has been baking non-stop ever since.

Bryan Bergsteedt, also from Cape Town, has loved baking from a young age, along with his twin brother.

Self-employed Cameron Snyman from Durban said he had been baking since primary school, and fellow Durbanite Simmi Ramnarain has been baking for more than 30 years, and said her main pleasure was making biscuits.

Kershni Naidoo from Pietermaritzburg said challenging herself in making the perfect birthday cakes for her children was what got her into the kitchen, and Khanya Mchunu, a community development officer from Ladysmith, said her love for baking came from her grandmother, who taught her the tricks of the trade.

Matriculant Madeline Kriel from Bredasdorp is hoping to be the youngest winner of the competition, and insists that nothing is as satisfying as a classic chocolate cake.

The Great South African Bake Off will air on BBC Lifestyle, DStv channel 174, from October 17 at 8pm, and repeat on Wednesday afternoons.