The Country Women’s Association knows a thing or two about great recipes. For more than a century, its cookbooks have been a mainstay in kitchens across Australia, the tried-and-tested recipes helping guide generations of home cooks to culinary greatness.

Now the organisation is teaming up with Adam Liaw and Pia Miranda for a charming new cooking contest, in which 10 Australians from all walks of life showcase their favourite recipes for a chance for their food to be crowned Australia’s first Recipe Of The Year.

As Miranda explains, those CWA women don’t muck around: the judges they’ve called on to help assess the contestants’ weekly creations know what they’re talking about — and they mean business.

“I was in the car with (them) on the way home from filming one day, and I called a biscuit a cookie, and let’s just say that I will NOT be making that mistake twice,” Miranda laughs.

Each week, as well as bringing their own recipe ideas to the show, the contestants will be called on to tackle a classic CWA recipe — think scones, jam rolls, or sponges — for a chance to take home a CWA ribbon.

Along with Liaw and Miranda, the show is presided over by CWA champion baker Ellice Shrader, who has been generous with her knowledge and expertise.

“Ellice just sent me a sponge cake recipe, actually, because I said to her I have been trying to make my nan’s sponge cake,” Miranda says. “I now want to make it and enter it into a competition and try and win!”

Picking up tips and tricks while filming has been a perk of the job for the self-confessed food-lover, who has scored ideas not just from the CWA judges, but also from the contestants.

The show has cast a diverse bunch of people, who bring a wide array of recipes and cultural backgrounds to the contest, and Miranda, a keen home cook herself, gobbled up their expertise.

There’s a 19-year-old cannoli entrepreneur, a Sydney builder whose mother’s food provided “comfort during wartime”, a teacher cooking her late mum’s recipes, and a Malaysian-born home cook sharing the flavours of home — each bringing their own unique style of cooking.

“I am not saying this just because I am doing an interview, but I am about to go downstairs and marinate some chicken and make a recipe that one of the contestants made on the show,” says Miranda, who points out showcasing accessible dishes was always the series’ main reason for being.

“What we are looking for are beautiful recipes that encapsulate what it means to be Australian, and what Australian recipes have become — it’s a way to celebrate that with food.

“I think the food definitely tells a story in this show, and we want people to be able to go home and make the recipe.”

The show is created by Liaw’s i8 Studio. Did Miranda’s co-host have her in mind when casting his new show?

“I have done The Cook Up (Liaw’s cooking show on SBS) quite a few times, and I guess a lot of my interest and vibe is around cooking,” Miranda explains.

“So when Adam was talking to me about (this show), he said, ‘We really want someone who represents the audience, so someone who really loves food, can cook, is a big cook but not necessarily a professional chef’.”

Miranda fit the bill — and she’s relished her part in the series.

“It’s weird, my manager said to me earlier this year, ‘In your dream job, what would you really love to do?’ and I said, ‘I would love to host a cooking show’,” she says.

“And that was literally the beginning of this year!”

The stars aligned and a few months ago, Miranda, best known for her acting work as well as for winning Australian Survivor in 2019, began filming the show at a charming rural property in Camden, on the outskirts of Sydney.

An old barn was converted into a custom cooking space, and like another favourite of the genre, The Great British Bake Off, the show leans heavily into its hokey, “homespun” wholesomeness.

“It does feel a little like that show,” Miranda admits. “It’s got that happy vibe that show has.

“Like on Bake Off, the contestants tend to want to help each other and see each other do really well, and I feel like there was the same sort of vibe between the contestants with us.”

All in all, it’s one great big warm hug of a show, and audiences are likely to love spending time with the CWA, the contestants, and the show’s charming co-hosts.

“I hope so,” Miranda says.

“My husband and I watched the first episode together, and he just loved it — he was so proud and excited about it.”

Miranda shares his enthusiasm.

“I’m so happy that I get to be a part of something that is so positive and nice,” she says.

“I think that is a really lucky spot to be in — that I can add to the landscape of the world in a good way.”

Recipe Of The Year starts Sunday October 11 at 7.30pm on ABC and iview.