ELANA’S BAKE OFF
A HUGE ratings success for BBC Lifestyle, The Great South African Bake Off concludes its third season on Tuesday at 8pm with a festive celebrity special.
Under the watchful eyes of judges Tjaart Walraven and Zola Nene, the six contestants will go through the same three rounds as every amateur baker in the series: signature bake, technical bake, and the crucial show-stopper – all with a suitably festive theme.
Hoping to rise to the occasion are TV and radio personality Mel Bala, Isidingo star Michaella Russell, singer Timothy Moloi, former Mrs South Africa and Mrs World Candice Abrahams, comedian Chris Forrest, and Elana Afrika-Bredenkamp.
MC, radio and TV personality, and actress Elana Afrika-Bredenkamp lives in Cape Town with her husband Ian Bredenkamp and their four children so I could spend some quality time with her to chat about the show, her cooking skills, work, parenting and family.
“I married a really cool guy… and I think I may have married myself,” she says.
“We are as fiery as we are as calm, as organised – or disorganised – as we are driven, as entrepreneurial as we are ‘it has to happen and if we don’t do it, no one will’.
“Over the past three years, things have become very interesting because I told myself I wanted to be a mom, desperately, and I became a mom very quickly. We have no down time. If we say we want to be parents, the next month we are parents. The girls are exactly 22 months apart.”
Afrika-Bredenkamp wants to correct the society that says women are balancing and juggling motherhood and work. “I’m calling a bulls**t card. I’m a mom first and then I do all these other projects and it’s extremely hard to do it, but I manage,” she says.
Since moving back to Cape Town, Afrika-Bredenkamp has quit doing live TV due to it being too demanding, and now works when she wants.
“Which is awesome,” she says. “I’ve been on movie sets, or MC-ing. I’m one of the best in the country; I know that because I’ve been doing it for 20 years and I enjoy it.” This is said without a trace of vanity, because it’s a fact.
“I’ve also managed to launch a very successful digital platform so my Facebook and Twitter and blog are managed strategically to speak positively and influence people about key issues like parenthood and life.
“Baby Brunch is another project I launched this year because I felt there’s a need for moms – and single dads – to feel supported instead of being judged for whatever reason.”
When Afrika-Bredenkamp was approached to take part in the celebrity episode of Bake Off, she immediately agreed.
“I like a good challenge so I said yes. Am I a star baker? Of course not. Do I make things at home? Yes. I cook for four children even though I have a career and lots of other nice things to do,” she says.
While she loves cooking for the festive season and all sorts of celebrations filled with friends and family, Afrika-Bredenkamp says she has a mixed relationship with Christmas itself: “I don’t like all the presents but I enjoy the family aspect of it”.
“I do get everyone around and make the biggest butter turkey ever. Ian adores Christmas, and we have our traditions.”
Coming from a family of women with great kitchen skills, Afrika-Bredenkamp wanted to impress them in Bake Off.
“All my recipes I baked on the day were from my mother-in-law, Lani Bredenkamp. She has a killer milk tart recipe that comes from the 1970s from her ouma that she makes, and I make. But hers tastes much better,” she says.
Sharing some behind-the-scenes titbits, Afrika-Bredenkamp talks about practising her recipes once before filming (while admitting it should be done a few times for a better chance at success), baking as a science, and the pressure of baking in front of the camera, even though it’s something she’s done before.
“Do you know what’s hectic? You’re baking and you can see it’s flopping, but the judges just appear and hang around you, watching. Where did they come from? And you get so nervous,” she said.
“What made it even more nerve-racking was Zola and I have a relationship. She was the one who cooked my baby’s first food! So failing in front of them, who you’ve cooked with before, and learnt from them, is hectic!”
Would she do it again? In less than a heartbeat, Afrika-Bredenkamp replies an emphatic “yes”.
Tune in to BBC Lifestyle on Tuesday at 8pm.