A couple of weeks ago, Sydneysider Natalie Levy took to her Instagram to share an announcement, writing, “So me and my baking buddies got together to make this little show for y’all.” Alongside the caption was a picture of Natalie alongside 11 other bakers, who will be competing in this year’s series The Great Australian Bake Off.
Natalie, whose parents met at the Hakoah Club in Sydney, as so many Sydney couples did, told The AJN that since the announcement, the encouragement from the Jewish community has been very moving.
“The incredible outpouring of support from the Jewish community since I was announced as one of the contestants is so nice and heartwarming,” she said, continuing to thank the community for all their love.
Baking has always been something Natalie loves to do.
“Baking and foods have always been a really big part of my family traditions with all of the chagim,” she said. “I got the baking bug from my mum and my grandmothers.”
“The experience was wonderful, but it’s really the beginning of the journey.”
It is now also rubbing off on her daughter, Natalie’s biggest baking fan, who recently came second in the children’s division of the recent Jewish Bake Off run by Shalom and Adamama. While Natalie did start her apprenticeship as a pastry chef and worked in a bakery after leaving school, the hours weren’t ideal, so she gave it up after two years. More recently though, she embraced her love of baking and food again.
“I enjoy the creativity,” she explained. “I get people ordering specific things, and I like doing that. But I love it when people just say, ‘I want you to make me a cake. I want it to be pink and do whatever you want with it.’ It’s such a creative outlet, and I love getting my hands dirty.”
So, how did her coveted spot on Bake Off come about? When Natalie went to the Cake Bake and Sweets Show in Sydney, she applied to be a cake angel – someone who donates cakes and cookies for children in need. While sitting over a coffee, Natalie noticed a flyer for Bake Off and on a whim, she applied.
“I sent them a little video on the Friday and that was it,” she recalled. “By the Monday I received a call back and then it progressed very quickly from there.”
It was a tense wait, during which Natalie thought she’d missed out and “I’ll apply next year”, but a few weeks after the initial contact, Natalie received the call from the producer to say that she was in.
“I can feel the feeling right now,” she laughed. “It was the most exciting feeling.”
It meant, though, that Natalie would be taking time away from her family, her job and her life to enter the baking house. While her teenage son was “just cringe” and her daughter initially was quite apprehensive as she didn’t want mum to go, ultimately she had the utmost support and love from her family, saying they were very proud.
“I’m very lucky to also have such a hands-on husband who took it all on,” she said. “He was amazing and so supportive.”
While Natalie acknowledged that there’s often an expectation of cattiness and competition when it comes to reality television, she said her experience on Bake Off was the complete opposite.
“I got to know my fellow bakers very quickly, we had long days together,” she explained. “We’d talk about baking and family, and it was amazing. It was nothing but niceness and real support. I feel like we were really taken care of.”
She explained that she became so close to her fellow bakers, that one of them even came to her son’s bar mitzvah, recalling that it was beautiful to have her friend celebrate with the family.
During Bake Off, Natalie and her fellow bakers were mentored through a series of mouth-watering challenges by world-renowned culinary icon Rachel Khoo and king of the pastry world Darren Purchese. The aim of the show is to unearth Australia’s best amateur baker.
“The experience was wonderful, but it’s really the beginning of the journey,” she said. “That’s the way I look at it personally. It’s the beginning of taking my baking to a higher level, and seeing where I can go to from there.”
As for some advice for others who want to start their own reality television journey, Natalie said to just go for it.
“I left my family. I left my job for the time being. I put my life on hold,” she said, explaining that it was the best thing for her. “As mums especially, we spend so much time investing in our family, in our home, in our children, sometimes mums can forget to take those moments and those experiences for themselves. They forget who they are and don’t follow their passions anymore.”
But, she said – as the sayings go – you need to fill your own tank, and put your own mask on first.
“It definitely makes me a better mum, better wife, better daughter, sister, community member and person,” she said. “Just follow your passion.”
The Great Australian Bake Off begins on Tuesday June 13 at 8.30pm on Foxtel. To follow Natalie on Instagram, head to @sweet_as_funk
comments