REGION — Oceanside native Mackenzie Rubish was sitting on her phone scrolling through Instagram one night last May when an advertisement popped up in her feed calling for amateur bakers to apply to the second season of “The Great American Baking Show.”
“It happened to be May 4, and I literally said to myself, ‘Well, may the fourth be with me,’ and I applied,” Rubish said. “I clicked ‘submit’ and I didn’t really think anything of it. Then, all of a sudden, the texts and the phone calls started coming in.”
Rubish, 38, a resident of Fallbrook and graduate of Oceanside High School, will compete in the six-episode second season of the American spin-off of the popular televised amateur baking competition in the United Kingdom. The season will be available for streaming on the Roku Channel.
Rubish will compete against seven other amateur bakers in weekly cooking challenges to vie for the title of “America’s Best Amateur Baker.”
Rubish said watching amateur bakers on the U.K. version (“The Great British Baking Show”) inspired her to test her own baking skills, which have been her passion since she was young.
“A lot of the shows that you see on TV are of people that are classically trained; they went to culinary school, but for me, it was just something that I picked up at home because it just made me so happy to bake,” Rubish said. “So when the British version came out, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, these people are just like me; they’re doing what I do. This is amazing.’”
Born and raised in Oceanside, Rubish, a first-generation American Samoan, said she comes from a large Polynesian family. She said she learned to cook by observing her “aunties” and cousins in the kitchen and learned about different cakes in her Samoan background from her father, who passed away when she was 19 years old, according to her contestant bio.
According to her bio, she celebrates her father’s memory by making puligi, a traditional Samoan steam cake.
“Baking is my love language. It’s how I share my affection, love, and comfort with all my friends and family,” Rubish said. “Growing up in the Polynesian community, a kitchen is the heart of the home.”
Rubish has a bachelor of science degree in environmental science from California Lutheran University and a master’s of science degree in environmental policy and management. She works as a quality assurance analyst at Carlsbad-based Viasat and has three young daughters, two dogs, a cat and a pet pig, according to her contestant bio.
In this season of “The Great American Baking Show” hosted by comedians Zach Cherry and Casey Wilson, English celebrity chefs Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith will judge bakers in a weekly three-part competition.
The contest will feature a signature round, where bakers show off their signature dishes; a technical round, where bakers attempt to make a surprise dish set by Hollywood or Leith; and a showstopper round, where bakers show their talent in baking and presentation.
There is no monetary prize for the winner of the show.
“I hope that Oceanside and San Diego County sit down and watch it,” Rubish said. “I hope they laugh along with the shenanigans that I’m sure they will show. I hope they’re highly entertained. I hope that I inspire somebody to learn to bake something.”
Follow Rubish on Instagram: @sweet.mackenzie.bakes. She posts tutorials, tips and recipes for different sweet and savory items for her more than 600 followers to try out.
