profile
campusreview.com.au
Just desserts
Dentistry
student cuts
her teeth on
reality TV
baking show.
Emma Sievwright
interviewed by
Loren Smith
T
he Great British Bake Off, or simply
Bake Off as it’s known to fans, is
more than a televised amateur baking
competition. It’s a cultural phenomenon.
From its humble origins in the bucolic English
countryside, it has captivated much of the
Western world with its sugary charm.
Australians, too, have salivated over its
good-natured confections. In Bake Off,
there is no Gordon Ramsay-like insults, nor
any withering stares. The worst feedback a
Bake Off contestant can expect to receive
is “good try” – the otherwise unheard of
participation ribbon of tournament reality TV.
Like many a reality food competition
show in the late twenty-teens, contestants
are varied in age, ethnicity and employment.
In this year’s Australian iteration of the
show, The Great Australian Bake Off, Emma
Sievwright is repping young scientists.
The human biomedical anatomy honours
graduate will not only be perfecting her
chocolate, orange and vanilla marble cake,
she’ll also be commencing a dentistry
degree at her alma mater, the University
of Queensland.
Campus Review quizzed 24-year-old
Sievwright on her unlikely twin passions
and, given the success of past contestants,
which one she thinks will win out.
CR: Which came first, dentistry or baking?
ES: When I was finishing up my honours
year, I started doing a lot of baking as a bit
of a hobby … a bit of stress relief. And I had
always thought about doing dentistry or
medicine. I could never decide which one
to pursue. Last year, I decided that I’m really
interested in dentistry. It’s kind of funny
having the interests of baking and dentistry.
They’re kind of conflicting, but they
probably came at around the same time.
Why did you apply for Bake Off?
I’ve always posted pictures of the cakes
I made onto my Instagram page. And a
producer from the show [who saw the
pictures] contacted me, asking if I wanted to
apply. I have always loved the show so much,
so I turned in an application and somehow
found myself on it, even though I was much
less experienced than everyone else. So it’s a
bit of a learning curve.
What are the differences between what we
see on TV and reality?
The main thing is because they’ve got such
a small amount of time to fit everything into
each episode, they can’t include everything
that happens, and the main thing that
happens is everybody is helping each other.
All of the other bakers were so nice and so
supportive, so anytime I made a mistake or
was lost, there would be at least one other
baker, if not two, helping me out, trying to
figure out what I’d done wrong.
There are so many shows that are so
competitive and just really nasty. Whereas
because this show doesn’t have a cash prize,
it’s almost like everyone just loves baking. It’s
almost just as fun when you see someone else
really nail a bake. So it’s actually really nice.
scratch for the cake and you just can plan
the whole thing out. But in a couple of the
bakes on the show, I try to bring in a couple
of scientific inspirations, more in terms of
the concept of something I find really cool.
In general, though, the thing I love about
baking and how it relates to science is that
you can have a whole bunch of ingredients
and then by the end of it you get a product,
like a cake. It’s so much like a chemical
reaction. It’s so interesting.
Do you also incorporate elements of baking
into science?
What I love about baking is the endless
possibilities, and you’ve got to think outside
the box as to how you’re going to do
something. So I guess the main thing I take
from baking into science is a more open-
minded approach.
How do you strike a baking/study balance?
Last year I spent a really long time studying
for my entry exam to get into dentistry, and
so I would take study breaks where I would
start making some bread or something,
and while it was proving [I would study].
So, actually, they almost fit perfectly!
Have you been recognised at uni?
I haven’t been recognised yet, but a lot
of my friends are watching the show. It’s
been really fun, even just seeing who of my
friends are watching it.
What are your career aspirations – do you
aspire to be the next Ruby Tandoh, or will
you stick to teeth?
I’m really inexperienced. I’ve only been
baking, prior to the show, for about six
months. So I definitely have a lot to learn.
I love making cakes. I love making them
for my friends and family. But in terms
of continuing with baking, science is
definitely my main passion, where my
strength is. But baking is really fun.
What’s your favourite or signature bake?
How do you incorporate science into baking? It’s so boring compared to the bakers
I’ve met on this show. Their specialties
are just incredible. But mine is definitely
hummingbird cake. It’s my favourite
cake. In terms of what I like making
for other people, it’s just chocolate
cake. I love making it. Who doesn’t like
cho colate cake? ■
I’m one of those organisational freaks. I love
timing things and planning everything, so
I really love just when you start out from The Great Australian Bake Off airs on
Foxtel’s Lifestyle channel.
15