By Eva Siminiceanu

Every year, a group of amateur bakers from across Great Britain enter an iconic tent in Welford Park Estate for a journey filled with baked goods, technical challenges, and heartwarming camaraderie. The journey in question is the The Great British Bake Off, which just concluded its 14th season on Netflix.

Season 13’s winner holding her prizes. Photo credit: @britishbakeoff on Instagram.

The Great British Bake Off features 12 amateur home bakers competing to win by partaking in challenges centering around various types of baked goods. The show is an elimination-based competition, with each week’s episode focusing on a clear theme, like cake, biscuits, or custard. This season included Cake Week, Biscuit Week, Bread Week, and Chocolate Week episodes. The show is known for its lighthearted tone and low-stakes environment, as the bakers are not competing for a cash prize, but rather a branded cake stand and bouquet of flowers. 

Each week, the bakers have three rounds to demonstrate their skills: the signature round, the technical round, and the showstopper round. The signature round features a small-scale treat, like a vertical layer cake or an ice cream sandwich, that the bakers were informed about the week before to give them time to prepare. The goal of the signature challenge is for each baker to put their own unique spin on the dessert while still honoring its key components. The technical round is a mystery to the bakers before they arrive for the challenge, and they are tasked with creating a precise rendition of a dessert, like a custard cream or a macaron. The technical challenge is judged blind, so the judges do not know which baker created each dessert, giving them the ability to objectively rank the quality of the treats. 

The hosts and judges. From left to right: Leith, Hammond, Hollywood, and Fielding. Photo credit: @britishbakeoff on Instagram.

At the end of each episode comes the showstopper challenge, which is a large, planned-out dessert. The showstopper prompts are typically very vague, like making a cake in the shape of an animal, to give the bakers the opportunity to fully show their creativity and skill. After the showstopper round, the judges reflect on each baker’s performance and choose one person to eliminate and one person to name “Star Baker,” or the best baker of the week. 

This season featured multiple changes to the show’s lineup. Along with a new group of 12 contestants, the show had a new host, television personality Allison Hammond. Overall, this change was very beneficial for the show. Hammond’s lighthearted and enthusiastic sense of humor is a perfect fit for the show’s tone, and she contrasts well with the other host, Noel Fielding, who is usually more deadpan and sarcastic. Hammond’s predecessor, Matt Lucas, was also understated and snarky, so at times it felt that both hosts were delivering similar jokes that were not as entertaining overall as Hammond and Fieldings’ jokes are now. The judges, Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith, returned for their ninth season together.

Tasha and her robin-shaped showstopper cake. Photo credit: @britishbakeoff on Instagram.

This season featured a notably qualified group of bakers, but some stood out due to their talent and creativity. Tasha, a travel enthusiast and ex-ski instructor, was Biscuit and Bread Weeks’ Star Baker. During Biscuit Week, she received high praise on her Milo-inspired signature, earning a handshake from judge Paul Hollywood, which is among the highest honors a contestant can receive. Early in the season, I thought that Tasha had the best chance of winning because she was ambitious with her projects and creative with her flavors, encapsulated by her highly successful tahini-flavored, robin-shaped showstopper during Cake Week. Although she had a slightly rocky start, with a vertical layer cake that looked like it was “sat on,” according to Hollywood, she quickly turned it around and definitely had the potential to be a finalist. 

Josh, named Star Baker in episodes six and nine, was also a tough competitor. He is a post-doctoral researcher whose precision and attention to detail helped carry him through the early episodes. He received a handshake for his showstopper during Biscuit Week, which was a realistic-looking hamburger and fries made entirely from different types of cookies. His clever ideas also impressed the judges, like his ideas to use melted hard candy in the “tomato” cookies of his burger showstopper to make them look translucent and shiny. 

Josh and his burger-shaped cookie showstopper. Photo credit: @britishbakeoff on Instagram.

The Great British Bake Off is very popular, even among those who do not typically watch cooking shows. Harper Hailes (’24) says, “I like the Great British Baking Show because it’s relaxing, and I really like all the extravagant desserts and seeing how they’re different from American ones.” The relaxing and lighthearted tone of the show, which is intentionally established by having no significant prizes and having comedians like Hammond and Fielding on set, sets the show apart from more serious and tense baking shows. Additionally, most cooking shows’ contestants are either professionals or complete beginners, so the amateurs on the Great British Baking Show are relatable to an average person but also possess the skills to make appealing desserts. The show also spotlights many British desserts that are unfamiliar to Americans, as well as a wide array of flavors and techniques that come from each baker’s individual background and culture. Getting to see not only delicious-looking desserts but also British baking terms like “sponge” and “biscuit” makes the show seem new and exciting but also comforting. 

Senior Olivia D’Ambrosia (’24) also enjoys watching the Great British Bake Off. She says that it’s “fun to see all the interesting people.” The contestants are definitely among driving forces of the show’s success. Each baker is distinct among the group but is also very likable. There are also a wide range of cultures represented among the group so that each viewer can connect with at least one contestant each season, whether it’s through their heritage, personality, or way of approaching the tasks.

Although Josh and Tasha were my favorite contestants early on, Tasha was eliminated in episode nine, and Josh lost to ultimate winner Matty in episode ten, the season finale. 

Featured image credit: @britishbakeoff on Instagram.