There are very few shows that I eagerly anticipate, watch every week as they drip out ever-so-slowly, and then buy products from that show. “The Great British Baking Show” is the exception.
I love that show!
Season 14 begins for U.S. viewers on Netflix on Friday. You can bet I’ll be watching — probably at 5 a.m.
If you’ve never heard of “The Great British Baking Show,” first, where have you been?! Next, let me tell you a little about it. Set in Great Britain, where it’s called “The Great British Bake Off,” the show begins with 12 amateur bakers who compete against each other in a big white tent. Each episode has three parts: A signature bake, a technical challenge and a show-stopper. Each week, one baker is named “Star Baker” and one baker is eliminated until the 10th week. Then, the show wraps up when the final three contestants go for top place.
It is much nicer than most (all?) American baking shows that can be cutthroat and downright mean. There are tears almost every week — some happy, some sad — and contestants often remain friends long after the show is over.
Where is it filmed?
The big white tent is set up in Welford Park in Berkshire, England, where it’s been since 2014 (except for two COVID-19 years when it was filmed at a resort hotel).
According to Country and Townhouse, filming typically commences in April, stretching for 10 weeks into the height of summer — when there’s inevitably some baking challenge with ice cream or chocolate that ends up in a gooey mess.
The park originally housed a monastery before Henry VIII called for its dissolution in 1536. He later used Welford Park as his hunting lodge before giving it to a courtier, Sir Thomas Parry, as a gift. You could say it’s been around for a while.
Who is on the show?
Last year’s judges are both returning — Paul Hollywood and Dame Prue Leith.
According to Hollywood’s website, he came from a long line of bakers. Originally trained as a sculptor, Hollywood was persuaded by his father to join the family business. He went on to become head baker at some of the U.K.’s most exclusive hotels, gaining a reputation as an innovator and one of the country’s finest artisan bakers. In 2005, he published a bestselling book, “100 Great Breads,” a book that currently sits on my cookbook shelf. He has been with “The Great British Baking Show” since its inception.
Leith is originally from South Africa, where she owned several restaurants and started two culinary schools. She has written 12 cookbooks and seven novels. Her latest cookbook (which I do not own) is “Bliss on Toast,” a cookbook with 75 recipes involving — you guessed it — toast. She joined “The Great British Bake Off” in 2017.
This year’s hosts are Allison Hammond, new to hosting, and returning host Noel Fielding.
This year’s 12 amateur bakers include the first deaf baker, a participation officer; a deli manager; an English literature student; a database administrator; a mom; a chemist; a retired flight attendant and an accountant. They range in age from 21 to 60 and all are “in it to win it.”
What do they win?
A cake plate, flowers and bragging rights. That’s it.
There is no cash prize, believe it or not. It is up to each winner to parlay their win into ... something. Nadiya Hussain has turned her win into several TV shows, cookbooks and ongoing public appearances. She also baked a birthday cake for the late Queen Elizabeth’s 90th birthday.
Other winners have published cookbooks, written newspaper columns and one, Candice Brown, changed jobs, going from PE teacher to pub owner.
Pandemic baking
I first discovered “The Great British Baking Show” during the early days of the pandemic. I, like many others, spent a good deal of time baking, looking both for something to do and for the comfort that feeding people I love gives me.
According to The Wall Street Journal, reporting in early 2021, nearly one-third of U.S. adults said they were baking more often and planned to continue to do so.
Some of my recipes were from “Great British Bake Off” cookbooks. I’ve tried making a Victoria sponge, which is basically a two-layer sponge cake with raspberry jam and whipped cream in the middle. Mine looked like a vampire cake — my whipped cream looked like pointy teeth, dripping red jam. It tasted good, though.
I’m a bake-for-a-crowd kind of baker, which usually means not mind-bogglingly elaborate. Still, I am totally enthralled watching amateur bakers create fantastic and inspiring food.
On your marks, get set, bake! Oh, and watch out for soggy bottoms!