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I may have a slight addiction to Cooking Competition Shows. My favorite ones are Hell’s Kitchen and Master Chef. I did try to watch others but they just don’t hold my attention. I also love The Next Food Network star, even though this season none of the contestants are speaking to me. A few weeks ago I happened to catch this link, it was just a little link, on a site. It said, The American Baking Competition. Anything that has the word baking in it captures my attention so naturally I clicked on it. By doing so I found my newest favorite cooking competition. If you haven’t seen it yet, what are you waiting for? I am totally in love with it ( and no, it has nothing to do with Paul Hollywood being a judge, even though he is SOOO easy on the eyes!) and I actually can’t wait for it to come on each week.
The set up is the same with most cooking competitions. You get a group of people together and they cook to the death. Okay, not to the death but until only one of them is left at their stove. I am not sure who the casting director was but they did an excellent job of picking out contestants not only based on talent but on personality. Hell’s Kitchen and Master Chef thrive on drama. Which is really unfortunate for Master Chef because it wasn’t always like that. If you look at the earlier seasons you will see that it was about the food, not what dramatic thing someone could pull. Hell’s Kitchen wasn’t always that dramatic. In the beginning it was fun to watch Gordon go all crazy but this last season has really, really brought out the drama and even a die hard fan like me has had trouble watching. So far The American Baking Competition has not had much drama but don’t think that makes it boring because it doesn’t. There has been enough kitchen/baking snafus to keep you interested for sure.
Jeff Foxworth is the host and he does bring some comedy to it. I love how the judges are moving on to judge the next dessert and he is still eating the last one. I hope he is watching the calories though because some of those concotions are loaded with calories, especially Francine’s. Francine is that down home southern ( did I mention this is filmed in Georgia?) lady that you know would give you a big hug the minute you walked through the door and then offer you some sweet tea. The judges are Marcella Valladolid ( an amazing chef that brings her Mexican roots to her creations. I adore her, she is so sweet and was a fan even before this show.) and Paul Hollywood ( a second generation pastry chef that knows his bread and is considered the George Clooney of the baking world. May I just say, oo la la.). They judge three round each episode:
- The Signature Bake- there is a theme each week and during this round the bakers are allowed to pick one of their favorite recipes that centers around that theme and make it for the judges. So far there has been Pie, Cookies, and Cake.
- The Technical- This is where it gets interesting. The bakers are given a recipe picked by one of the judges. Sounds easy right? Well the recipe only includes the ingredients and very little instruction. If they have never made the dessert before it can make for some funny TV. Last week was a Chiffon Cake and a few didn’t know not to grease the pan. There were some Chiffon Cakes falling all over the place!
- The Showstopper- Again, the judges give instructions but this is where you need to shine. If you have done bad the first two rounds, this could be the round that doesn’t get you sent home. Or it could be the round that does, even if you did great job the first two rounds.
At the end they announce the person going home and the star baker of the day. I love how they do that because there is a little bit of happiness to the end of each episode. My favorite so far is Elaine. She is so sweet and just reminds you of your Grandmother. I am really rooting for her to win! My second favorite is Francine, she is just fun!
If you haven’t seen the show, you really should catch it. It is on Wednesdays @ 8:00. Just one little piece of advice, have some fruit or something handy while you watch. If not, all those sweet creations will have you hunting down the nearest piece of cake in a 5 mile radius!
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