South African wins Bake Off in Chile with the help of koeksisters

A South African living in Chile for the past seven years, recently won the country’s own version of Bake Off.

The Bake Off television series has taken off around the world. It is about amateur bakers in studio kitchens creating masterpieces and flops in a set time parameter.

Cape Talk recently interviewed the winner of Chile’s most recent Bake Off, Allison “Alli” Ramsay who said she was always told to enter cooking competitions but never really had the courage to do it.

¡Allison es la ganadora de #BakeOffChile! Tu talento nos deslumbró en cada preparación que realizaste en el programa. Aprendimos de tu talento, buen gusto y creatividad sin límites. Este es el comienzo de un camino lleno de éxitos y muy dulce para ti ¡Te queremos mucho! 👏🏻😍❤ pic.twitter.com/zDIryWNwbs

— Chilevisión (@chilevision) November 5, 2018

The article written by Lengwadishang Ramphele stated that she has been working for the South African Embassy in Chile for the past five years and resigned last week to further her cooking career.

She shared her journey with CapeTalk’s Kieno Kammies:

Alli said she is distantly related to Gordon Ramsay. She studied at the Cape Wine Academy in South Africa and it was her love for wine that ultimately took her to Chile.

“Seven years later, here we are,” she says in the interview.

She says she was quite surprised when she made the cut to participate in Chile’s Bake Off even though everything about the show was in Spanish.

“It was a wonderful surprise. I wouldn’t say I’ve mastered the language, but I’ve learned a lot in the last seven years. I didn’t have too much difficulty, but when I did have difficulties the presenter of the show luckily speaks a little bit of English so she could help me with the odd word here or there.”

She also says there were a lot of challenges. There were dishes that she never baked before in her life, but with her koeksisters, it seems Allison hit the jackpot.

“One of the more popular bakes that I did was koeksisters. I mean it was really cool when the judges knew what I was making. When she [the judge] saw the dough she said ‘Ah! Koeksisters!’. I was surprised by that and it kind of put a little fire under my bum. It gave me a bit of a spark.”

She also says her life has changed quite a lot since she resigned and decided to intern with a Chilean pastry team.

“This is a group of three guys who are going to the World Cup in France in January. They invited me to do a sort of apprenticeship with them. I’ll see where it takes me. I’ve got a lot of hard work to do now. But this is really exciting and a dream come true for me.”

Allison fue la pastelera estrella de la semana en #BakeOffChile 🍰🌰https://t.co/oprCyEuxJg pic.twitter.com/6RXzT1nN8m

— Chilevisión (@chilevision) October 15, 2018