Beth Hoy, 38, ordained Baptist pastor, mother of three, all-round creative, and now crowned winner of Great Australian Bake Off 2025. From winning Star Baker in the first episode with her ‘Thyme for Peace’ imprime roll and epic upside-down cake, to ten weeks later taking out the title of Australia’s Best Amateur Baker in Season 8.
“It’s a time for peace, and a time for cake,’ Beth shares in the first episode. Faith is the most important part of who Beth is, and through her experience with Bake Off she was able to share her faith with the nation. Beth can’t separate her love of baking from her faith, and believes every opportunity God gives us can be missional and used to further His kingdom.
Beth grew up cooking with her mum. “Mum’s a really good cook,” she explains. On weekends and school holidays they’d spend time together baking. “ I loved making chocolate cakes and biscuits,” she remembers. Beth would pick from her mum’s old recipe books and they’d give whatever she liked the look of a go. Beth reflected, “that was really fun memories for me.”
Now Beth cooks and bakes with her own three children, a daughter aged nine and two sons aged six and four. “ I love cooking with my kids,” she says. They love baking simple things together like muffins and biscuits, but the kids’ favourite is decorating their creations. “They particularly love anything that involves decoration like cupcakes and gingerbread.”
It was Beth’s sister who encouraged her to apply for Bake Off. The pair have always loved the show, and because Beth had been making highly decorated cakes, her sister sent her the application. “I assumed she was joking,” Beth admits.
But the thought wouldn’t leave Beth’s head. She started the application but shut it down before submitting. She then received a text message from the casting agency encouraging her to finish her application. Beth thought, “Why not? Since they went to the effort of texting.”
So, between responsibilities at home, Beth sat down with a cup of tea and submitted the application. To her shock, she received a call the following day inviting her to the next round. “The most surprised I was throughout the process, between application and being in the shed, was the phone call I got the next day,” Beth remarks.
One of the greatest lessons Beth learned through this process was that if someone’s saying you’re capable of something, don’t decide for yourself that you’re not. “What I learned through being in the audition process is actually I did have the skills and I had them at a higher level than I had understood.”
On her experience on Bake Off, Beth exclaims “it was so much fun!” Being able to invest in baking in a way that she hadn’t been able to do before was a joy. “In the shed, you’ve got an entire environment that exists for the purpose of helping you bake the best stuff you can possibly bake. So you’re given permission to really invest in something that I find really life-giving and creative,” Beth explains. Through the experience she was able to try new recipes and work with different ingredients, gaining new skills and broadening her baking repertoire: “I learned heaps and I’m so grateful for that.”
Another highlight for Beth was the relationships she made with the other bakers and people working on the show. Without missing a beat when asked about her highlights, she says, “the relationships I made.” Throughout filming the bakers spent a lot of time together, sharing about their families and lives outside the show. “I’m a highly relational person and I just did what I would always do, which is to show love and respect for people.” Through these connections, Beth was able to share about her faith and about her vocation as a pastor.
Likewise, on the show, the bakers are encouraged to tell a story with each creation and have it say something about them. Beth’s faith is so core and central to who she is, those stories would flow from that place. She says, “I was really grateful for the opportunity to share who I am and to allow my faith to naturally be the most important part of who I am.”
Looking forward, Beth hopes to use whatever influence she may be gifted from this experience to encourage others that they too can cook and bake, and that it can be fun and delicious. Her motivation is that all people are valuable and they matter to God. Beth explains, “life should be given dignity and respect and I believe food and taste to be a gift from God for our enjoyment.”
Beth doesn’t know exactly what the future holds. “I’m open to anything that God would lead me in and always trying to find ways to connect it back to who He’s called us to be as His followers.” And she encourages anyone who is a follower of Jesus not to disregard any opportunity to be missional. She says, “as long as the context doesn’t compromise our faith, anything can be an opportunity. It’s just about being humble, caring for people and being authentic.”
These qualities are something Beth truly lives out, from her calm and collected presence on the show to how grateful she is for the opportunities God has given her. She says, “The whole time I was like, wow, God, here’s this really new and unique way that You are giving me the opportunity to share who You are with the world.”
Beth says not to think of things as separate to our faith. “God’s going to use anyone, not just a pastor on a baking show, but any follower of Jesus in any context can be used powerfully for His kingdom.”
See more of Beth’s bakes and family cooking tips on her Instagram @ohbhoyfood →
Words by Lucy C. Budzynska
Glen Osmond Baptist Church
