RISING HIGHER
Dot Dicks was the winner of the first the ‘Great South African Bake Off’. Hilary Biller asked her about life after the competition
Roll on the new Great South African Bake Off
It’s been a year since winning and I’m still baking more than ever. Since the Bake Off I’ve been trying new recipes and developing my own and still busy making celebration cakes for people. Winning has given me the confidence to try new things, experiment with baking and cooking and of course it’s a great thrill when I’m recognised in shops and restaurants. I went into the competition determined to enjoy every moment of this once-ina-lifetime experience. There were a few lows, like when I forgot to put eggs in my baked cheesecake. The bakers all got on so well it was always horrible when someone had to go home, which is something I had to go through 11 times. One piece of equipment I coveted from the SA Bake Off set was the flexibeater attachment for the mixer. It just made creaming butter and sugar so much easier. After we finished filming I rushed out and bought one. Everyone on set wanted you to succeed, the judges were fair and had such a wealth of knowledge and I learnt so much from them. I only bake with butter. I am a butter girl, in fact I am a butter hoarder and if there is a special on unsalted butter I will stock up. I have a tray in my freezer dedicated to butter. My three top bakes are my millionaire’s shortbread, focaccia topped with fresh rocket, figs and blue cheese and tarte au citron using limes from my garden.
I was up until two this morning decorating two cakes, one a vanilla pound cake decorated like a tuxedo and the other a chocolate cake in the shape of an F1 Ferrari.
I bake traditional Christmas cakes made with nuts and cherries which I make in early November and inject them with brandy every week. I decorate them with marzipan and fondant. My best decoration is my handmade family of meerkats with winter hats and scarves. The bakers of the first SA Bake Off started a Whatsapp group which is still going strong. We follow each other’s
triumphs and disasters and still swap baking hints and tips. I would advise a novice baker to enter
the SA Bake Off to just do it! It’s an amazing experience, not just from the baking side, but also being part of the making of a TV show. You meet such great people, not just the other bakers but the whole crew.
What do a correctional officer, scientist, electrician, psychologist, restaurant manager, two housewives and domestic worker have in common? They are a part of the 12 contestants in the second The Great South African Bake Off competition which starts next week.