Kiran Jethwa on wearing the hat of judge and producer on ‘The Great Kenyan Bake Off’

Kiran Jethwa, a Kenyan-born celebrity chef and restaurateur, wears the hat of judge and producer on BBC Lifestyle’s “The Great Kenyan Bake Off”.

The localised version of the hit UK series, “The Great British Bake Off”, sees 12 amateur bakers put their paces by Jethwa along with fellow judge Myra Ndungu.

Thankfully, actor Nick Ndeda and singer June Gachui, who have zero baking experience, help lighten the mood.

In the 10-episode series, the bakers face several technical and signature challenges, which include bread making and baking and, among other things, a dark chocolate with macadamia brownie, Myra’s lemon meringue pie, a chocolate lava cake, a classic bacon, mushroom and tomato quiche, a sweet-tart with a filling of their choice, checkerboard biscuits and more.

During our Zoom interview, Jethwa unpacked the challenges of producing, too.

He revealed: “Building a tent in a field with 12 full working stations was no mean feat. I take my hat off to anyone who has done this anywhere else in the world. The first time doing anything is always a challenge.

“The entire thing was quite a learning curve but a very gratifying one, ultimately. BBC was extremely happy with what we did.”

The show was given the green light for a second instalment.

As such, Jethwa was mindful of not repeating the mistakes he made in the first season.

He admitted: “The location is different. There was a slight gradient for the one in season one.

“Over the number of shoot days, that slope became almost impossible for the cameramen, complaining of sore backs and sore knees.

“You kind of underestimate what a very gentle gradient is when you put a flat floor and a tent over it. Levelling all the counters so the eggs didn’t run off it and just things like that was quite amusing.”

The other challenge was whittling down the contestants based on personality and skillset.

He added: “You need a good representation of bakers and personalities. Ultimately, casting is the heart of everything. But it was more difficult than I had anticipated.”

With the series shot in Kenya, Jethwa was mindful about giving it a local flavour.

He added: “I developed a challenge to make an ugali cake, which is similar to pap. It’s an absolutely lovely cake to eat, with a slightly different flavour. If you go to my YouTube challenge, you can see it. Kenyans had not seen that.”

That can be seen in episode eight, which celebrates gluten-free week.

When asked about what he brings to the judge’s table, he admitted: “Look, I’m a very frank but fair person when it comes to food, across the board.

“If it is good or terrible, you will know about it. In the shadows, I’m a very technical person. And baking is very technical. So I’m entirely focused on those things and spit it out as frankly as I needed to be.”

On having Ndungu as a co-judge, he praised: “She is a wonderful human being. She’s a sweet as they come.

“She’s an incredible baker and has an incredible bakery that makes the best croissants in Kenya.

“She’s the yin to my yang, which is probably why we work so well together.”

Of course, this is a high-pressure environment and not everyone can stand the heat. And those who didn’t appear like they were going to make it, actually did.

Jethwa pointed out, “I think people underestimate what that sort of arena brings from a pressure perspective.

“You have got lights, cameras, time pressures. It makes it a whole different animal.”

A fan of Italian desserts and New York-style cheesecake, his go-to treat in Kenyan is one of Myra’s brownies with vanilla ice cream and a nice coffee.

Although the first season doesn’t include any guest celebrities, Jethwa added that they will be considering that going forward.

He continued: “It’s Bake Off, we know what to expect. It’s warm, funny, has all the tearful drama.

“What you can expect from ours, Kenyan people are extremely friendly and extremely welcoming.

“It has that Kenyan touch. You are going to see incredible baking and some horrendous baking. But that is what you expect, isn’t it?”

For the finale, the three bakers standing have to make the perfect schichttorte 20-layer cake in two and a half hours. Talk about pressure, I would drink the rum instead of using it.

“The Great Kenyan Bake Off” airs on BBC Lifestyle (DStv channel 174) on Wednesdays at 8pm.