It will soon be broadcast on Real Time (channel 31) the twelfth edition of ‘Bake Off Italia – Desserts in the oven‘, the BBC cooking show, produced by Banijay Italia for Warner Bros. Discovery. The program, dedicated to pastry shop et al world bakery, is one of the flagship programs of the station’s offer and continues to be appreciated, as well as for the sweetness of its contents, also for the politeness and kindness that characterize it, with some more ironic and fun notes, but never above lines. As usual, the person who wins the competition will be proclaimed Best Amateur Pastry Chef in Italy at Villa Borromeo d’Adda, in Arcore (Monza Brianza). The show will be hosted as always by the journalist and writer Benedetta Parodi. The jury will still be composed of Ernst Knam, Damiano Carrara and Tommaso Foglia, with a new entry already known to the public and loved by spectators: Iginio Massari.
Iginio Massari
Great news of the new edition of ‘Bake Off Italia’ will be the presence of the master Iginio Massari as permanent super guest of the technical test. Born in 1942, from Brescia, Massari has lived in the kitchen since he was a child: his mother was a cook and his father ran a canteen. When he was 16, Iginio, after a period spent in a bakery in the city center, went to Switzerland, to the French cantons. It was there that, in four years, he acquired his first experience of pastry and chocolate shop.
When he returned to Italy he was a much sought after professional. Not even a serious car accident stopped him. A well-known food industrialist, in order to have Iginio among his collaborators, sent for him every day during his period of forced immobility. The maestro was also a corporate manager for well-known brands. At the same time, in 1971, encouraged by his wife, he opened the Pastry shop Veneto. Starting from 1964 until more recent times, Massari he has won more than 300 competitionsi, prawards and recognitions national and international. In recent years he has also become a face television increasingly known.
Ernst Knam
Historical judge of the programin which he made his debut in 2013, born in Germany in 1963, Milanese by adoption, Knam is one of the best pastry chefs in our country. The Chef Knam he trained in the kitchens of the major starred restaurants. Arriving in the Mediterranean Peninsula, he joined Gualtiero Marchesi’s brigade as Master Pastry Chef. His entrepreneurial adventure began with his own in 1992 pastry shop in via Anfossi 10 in Milan. After having taken care of various catering for the fashion sector, in 2015 he was the only pastry chef appointed Expo Ambassador. In 2012 he entered the world of Discovery Italia as ‘The King of Chocolate‘, in addition to being a judge on ‘Bake Off’ for over 10 years in 2018 Knam became face of Food Network Italia.
Damiano Carrara
For a few weeks we have been seeing him competing with his brother Massimiliano at ‘Beijing Express‘, with which it forms the duo ‘The Pastry Chefs‘. Damiano Carrara he joined ‘Bake Off Italia’ in 2017, after a long period spent in the United States. Damiano, born in Lucca in 1985, initially worked as a bartender. He then moved in California with Massimiliano. Together they opened two successful pastry shops, Carrara Pastries. In America he made himself known by landing on Food Network America. In 2015 you participated as a competitor in the first season of Spring Baking Championship, placing second. As well as ‘Bake Off’ he was a judge on ‘Junior Bake Off’. He hosted ‘Cake Star’ with Katia Follesa and ‘Fuori Menù’ on Food Network Italia. He has written several books.
Tommaso Foglia
Tommaso Fogliaborn in Nola, in the province of Naples, in 1990, became familiar with the sector starting from family oven. Shortly before becoming an adult, he left home and moved to Sant’Agata sui due Golfi, welcomed by the two-star cuisine of Don Alfonso 1890. His professional growth also took place at the Aldrovandi Palace in Rome and Le Sirenuse in Positano. In 2011 he became Pastry Chef at Maison Iaccarino. He has traveled a lot: he also worked in the United Arab Emirates, England, Ireland, Morocco. In 2017 he landed at the I Portici restaurant in Bologna. The following year he followed the Lucanian project of the San Barbato Resort in Lavello. Pastry Chef 2022 for ‘Shrimp Red‘, since the same year he has been part of the ‘Bake Off Italia’ team.
