Riverina’s `Procrastibaker' takes national stage in The Great Australian Bake Off

After years of whisking away in her kitchen, this Riverina amateur baker is serving up her best on the national stage as a contestant on The Great Australian Bake Off.

Temora’s self-proclaimed “Procrastibaker”, Dimi Jayawardene, began her baking journey in university as a way to avoid studying. It became her creative outlet when she entered university as a mature-aged student at 28.

“I was always into cooking before that, but baking started as ‘procrastibaking,'” Dimi told Region.

“Procrastibaking – the art of baking instead of doing uni assignments or anything else that you should be doing.”

Growing up in a family deeply rooted in cooking and baking, Dimi was influenced by her parents, Shan and Dilini Jayawardene – Temora’s fine dining culinary duo.

“They have been a huge part of this culinary journey,” she said. “They’ve been extremely inspiring and have been my biggest supporters and fans.

The 40-year-old didn’t know about The Great Australian Bake Off until years into her baking journey.

“When I discovered it, I thought this show is pretty cool,” Dimi said. “It’s outrageous baking and not my style of everyday baking. I questioned whether this was something I could do.

“I was more about challenging myself and was ready to meet like-minded people and be inspired.

“I love the whole environment, even though the baking wasn’t my style. I added it to my vision board.”

With the goal of entering the competition, the early childhood teacher continued to hone her skills and took the plunge and applied in 2023 despite her self-doubt.

“I didn’t feel 100 per cent ready,” Dimi said. “There were things I wasn’t great at… even my family was like: ‘Are you sure it’s the right time to apply?’.

“I’m a firm believer that whatever is meant to be will be. I was meant to be on there, even if I didn’t know how to make bread properly.

“It’s about pushing and challenging yourself. I’m always looking for opportunities to grow and become better.”

Dimi’s application process began in April, and the results were revealed at the end of June. She recalled the moment she found out she was accepted into The Great Australian Bake Off – after work while walking to her car.

“I saw a missed call from the producer and called her back.

“She said ‘I thought I’d let you know you made it onto The Great Australian Bake Off’.

“And I said ‘Are you serious?’ I wish I had a photo of that moment because I documented everything from the get-go.”

Dimi said she initially thought she would feel nervous on the TV set but quickly grew comfortable with the cast and crew.

“It’s very much each to your own in that moment,” she said. “We did 12 to 14-hour days of filming.

“Everyone was doing their thing on their benches, and you have no idea what everyone else is doing until the end when you turn around and see what everyone has done.”

Dimi found Bread Week on the show particularly testing and repeatedly motivated herself to get through the challenge.

“It was honestly the biggest and scariest episode,” she said. “I kept saying to myself: ‘Just make it through Bread Week.'”

Looking ahead, Dimi said the experience had given her the confidence to take on any challenge.

“Being on a show like that makes you dream bigger,” she said. “It makes you realise that no dream is impossible. But you have to work hard.”

Baking has now become her creative outlet to influence and bring joy to others.

“Food is my love language, and it’s nice I can share that with people,” she said. “And hopefully inspire them to do the same.

“Food is the common denominator that people get excited about at the end of the day.”

Dimi’s advice to aspiring bakers is to keep baking, learning and surrounding themselves with better bakers.

“Don’t be intimidated by people who are better bakers than you are. They’re the people you need to be around, and you need to be learning from.”