A New Jersey-based amateur baker will be seen showcasing her skills along with fellow bakers on the second season of ABC’s “The Great American Baking Show,” premiering Dec. 1. Prachi Chaudhari of South Plainfield will compete in a series of themed challenges and eliminations to be crowned “America’s Best Amateur Baker.”
Chaudhari, 32, who holds an MBA in Human Resources wasn’t formally educated in the culinary arts. After relocating to the U.S. with her husband, she became a full-time stay at home mom to their four-year-old son. With more time on her hands at home, Chaudhari found baking as a new love just two short years ago, according to her bio data on the baking show website. She now creates cake designs including artistic, gravity defying designs in some unique flavors. Some of her popular cakes include the noodle bowl, makeup pallet and beer can designs.
As a avid consumer of good food and global cuisine, Chaudhari told Desi Talk she began to explore and self learn different categories of desserts, such as American cheesecake, Italian tiramisu, French crème brulee and roulade, Dominican cake, and the Mexican tres de leches. “What fascinated me was the classic amalgamation of presentation where your creative juices get to flow as well as science where you understand how each ingredient has a delicate taste and how they interact with one another,” she said.
A fan of the orogonal British version of the show, Chaudhari said she saw the application information of the ABC show on the Facebook post of a baker she follows. She applied and went through the process and got selected to participate in the show.
Through her television appearances, Chaudhari hopes for visibility and recognition, and she also wants top win. In the future she hopes to create a cake studio.”I hope to have my own custom studio one day, I really love making expressive cakes which can narrate a story,” she said.
Chaudhari says being on the show with more experieced fellow contestants was “very overwhelming.” Some of the challenges allowed the contestants to think through, while others involved on the spot thinking, she said. Growing up in India, Chaudhari said she did not learn baking from either her mother or her grandmother, as it is not traditional to our culture, vis-a-vis an American family, where baking is an important activity and recipes are passed down generations. However, she was quick to add that she felt “a little blessed to come from a land that is full of rich spices and a richer culture.”
Talking about her experiences during the show, Chaudhari said she learnt a lot from the show. “It was very enriching,” she said. She said she got to learn new tips and methods not only from the judges, but also from the fellow contestants. “Each contestant had their unique style,” she added.
In addition to designing cakes Chaudhari has also experimented with traditional, eggless, gluten and nut free desserts. Another unique twist is their twist on the tradition. When baking, Chaudhari said she likes to incorporate different Indian flavors from where she grew up into modern American and European desserts. Her discipline, focus, and care help her to craft detailed bakes, she said.
Outside of the kitchen she enjoys going to the park with her family, watching soccer and formula 1 racing.
“The Great American Baking Show” is presided over by British cookbook author and TV personality, Mary Berry and fellow judge Johnny Iuzzini, a James Beard award winning pastry chef, while husband and wife, Nia Vardalos and Ian Gomez host.
Each episode focuses on a specific discipline of baking (i.e. cakes, cookies, patisserie, etc.), which become progressively more difficult as the series unfolds. Every episode features three types of challenges: The Signature Challenge allows the bakers to show off their tried and true recipes; The Technical Challenge gives all the bakers the same surprise recipe; and The Showstopper Challenge. At the end of each episode, the judges, name one “Star Baker” of the week, and also ask one baker to go home. In the final, only three bakers remain and the best baker that week wins the title of “America’s Best Amateur Baker,” along with a trophy and bragging rights.
The post New Jersey Baker Among Contestants In ‘The Great American Baking Show’ appeared first on News India Times.