With an extensive career in the baking industry, Darren Purchese returns as a judge for the eighth season of The Great Australian Bake Off.

After making his debut in the previous season, Darren is no stranger to Australian TV audiences, having also appeared on MasterChef Australia and Dessert Masters.

Over the years, he has built a wealth of experience—first with the launch of his acclaimed S&P Sweet Studio and now with his current venture, the Kitchen Studio. In addition to his hands-on work, Darren has authored several cookbooks that showcase his passion for desserts and the techniques behind them.

Baking Business sat down with him to chat about the latest season of The Great Australian Bake Off.

You’ve returned as a judge for Season 8—what made you say “yes” to coming back?

It was easy saying yes! It’s the best job that I’ve ever had. There’s so much fun on set and there’s a great crew. We’re all one big family.

But really the most important thing is nurturing some really talented bakers, some of Australia’s best from all over the country—helping them advance their passion in baking

What makes this season different from past ones, both in terms of bakes and bakers?

Even though we stick to the same format, every season is different because of the casting of the bakers. They come from all over Australia, all different ages, all different backgrounds and cultures. What you see in every episode is a reflection of their experience in the kitchen.

We get to see some familiar bakes but also see some bakes that are family favourites and may be a little unknown. We’re all learning, and we get to see different bakes every single season. No two are the same.

How do you balance being honest as a judge while encouraging amateur bakers who are often pushing themselves outside their comfort zones?

There’s a fine balance. You’re certainly not there to knock anyone down. This is a show that affirms people and tries to push them up. We always give feedback wherever we can, whether it’s positive, but also constructively negative in order for them to improve.

It’s certainly not one of those shows where we’re looking for tears. We’re looking for people to be happy and inspired and feeling good about themselves. This can lead them to creating something really special.

Do you ever find yourself wishing you could just jump in and help the contestants mid-challenge?

It’s not allowed but I do want to jump in and help. I want to give them a bit of advice. Unfortunately, my role is consigned to tasing it afterwards and then giving feedback.

Hopefully the feedback will help them in the next phase, but I always want to jump in. But they’re also such a talented bunch. They really are amazing and often do things that are absolutely incredible.

What’s the biggest mistake you see home bakers make when attempting more technical or showstopper-style desserts?

If you are going to be attempting something really advanced, you want to be doing a few practices. It’s important to make sure you what you’re doing before you get to the end of the recipe.

Don’t start something without a plan of how to chill things down sufficiently for example.

Often an advanced bake needs to be made a couple of days out. So, I would be sitting down with some paper and working out a little production schedule.

Is there one baking skill every home cook should master, no matter their level?

Ensuring you have all the equipment you need ready beforehand. You also have to make sure you know how to use all the equipment properly like thermometers or your oven—often bake ovens can bake at different temperatures.

Also just learning the basics of pastry. Learning how to make sponge, learning how to make sweet and savoury and moving on to puff pastry and chocolate.

The more you do it, the more experience you get. You’ll have a few disasters along the way, but we’ve all been there, and the joy is in the journey of baking.

What’s something viewers would be surprised to learn about what goes on behind the scenes of Bake Off?

I’m one of the last people to try some of the bakes. Everyone’s on set and it smells so incredible. The bakers make say, six tarts to present but they often make extras.

I’ve seen some of the crew and certainly some of the hosts indulging in bench scrap as we call it.

We all get on really well, and we all spend a lot of time with each other every day. And it becomes a bit like a family.

You’ve talked about believing everyone has a showstopper in them—how do you help people find that confidence in the Bake Off tent or in your Studio Kitchen?

There’s the TV part of it, the camera in their faces. We try to tell them to pretend they’re not in tent and to pretend you’re in your kitchen at home. If they can switch their mind from what’s in front of them to just concentrate on the baking, then they’re going to do really well.

They’re all really creative people. We haven’t chosen anyone to be in the tent who’s not capable of producing an amazing showstopper.

We all know it’s inside them, and it’s my job to try and coax that out of them and just give them a little bit of encouragement so that they can really believe in themselves.

If you could challenge the Bake Off contestants with one of your own signature creations, which would it be—and why?

It really depends on the theme of the week and time limit but if there was total freedom it would be my explosive raspberry cake that I used to do at B&P Sweet Studio a couple of years.

I had my business on Chapel Street [Sydney] and it was a real showstopper, it was more most popular cake. So, it’d be interesting to see how they get on with that. There’s lots of components and lots of technique involved.

Halfway through the season and things are starting to heat up in the kitchen. Follow along on Foxtel and BINGE with weekly episodes to watch some great Aussie bakers compete for the coveted title. With five more episodes to go, we’ll continue to see some showstopping bakes and witness the winner of  The Great Australian Bake Off.