The Great British Bake Off : Rule Britannia Sweets

Competitions are usually thought of as a solely American idea. After all we compete with each other on everything, from survival to dress design. However the British  are just as blood thirsty - yet in a very polite genteel way.Watch The Great British Bake Off on PBS and you'll see  that in action.

I loved the American version shown here during the summer of 2013. That was hosted by the funny and folksy Jeff Foxworthy, with the great British baker and judge Paul Hollywood and Mexican chef Marcella Valladolid. The British version, where the American  one stems from has Mr. Hollywood and Mary Berry, a very genteel lady who's kind of like the Margaret Thatcher of judging. Rounding out this are an English comedy duo.Mel Guidroyc and Sue Perkins. The last  two have a sharper repartee with the contestants than Foxworthy and at times it seems they're almost mocking the contestants.. The bakers  come from all over the UK which means a variety of different accents. Some are easy to understand, some you just scratch your head and ask :what did he or she just say ?"Like their American counterparts , they are passionate about baking, being experts in a variety of different categories.Thankfully the losers are gently let go despite the sometimes brutal and acerbic critiques. One truly refreshing aspect of this are the contestants' attitudes towards each other. Instead of being rivals, they are more like a caring and supportive team. That could just be the genteel British nature.

What I love about the show is the different English sweet and savory bakes. I thought that they and the American recipes were similar but no. Both Yankee and Brit versions of the show  are divided into three sections.There is the signature challenge, a bake using a tried and tested recipe that the amateurs bakers make for their friends and families. Then there is the technical bake which is one using the same ingredients and recipe provided by Hollywood and Ms Berry. This is perhaps the most grueling because the finished product has to be exact, a sometimes difficult trick, The last is the  showstopper a bake designed to impress the judges with both looks and taste. The recipes are completely different from what was on the CBS show.. There are lavish meat pies, filled with everything from haggis to prunes and pork to the quintessential meringues. There are also sponge cakes as well as baked puff pastry wrapped pears, unusual here in the States. I'd love to seefuture contestants conquer true American recipes like chocolate chip cookies, pecan pie and cornbread.Most of the English recipes are French influenced as well  and not as hearty, or as as rustic as ours. They look elegant in a Jane Austen tea party kind of way  and have definitely sparked my urge to make them at home.

The Great British Bake Off is on every Sunday at 4PM.EST.If you have time or are tired of football or ice skating watch this. It's interesting on so many levels,a truly well baked show

Must See Bake TV

There's yet another reality  competition  show out there and it's actually pretty sweet. It's called The American Baking Competition and it' a great summer diversion. CBS, did well with putting this on the air.All the contestants need to be is savvy  and creative in the kitchen. Best of all, they're not pros, just folks like you and me who just love to create sweet treats in their kitchen.

The show is a take off on a British reality show aptly named The Great British Bake Off which has spawned Comic Relief and wedding cake bake offs in England. One of the judges, Paul Hollywood becomes a judge here on the Yank version as well.He is a top professional baker in the UK and here  on the CBS show alternates between gruff and sweet. The other judge is Marcela  Valladolid who is famous for her show Mexican Made Easy on The Food Network. Not only is she a chef but she trained as a pastry chef at Paris' famed Escoffier School. Rounding this out is the host, surprisingly enough Jeff Foxworthy. He checks in with the contestants,  encouraging them like a folksy Tim Gunn.

I like this show. The contestants are real and don't come with the usual drama and tears that other realty show contestants have. They';re also not as backstabbing too. Another fun thing are the competitions. There are three within each show , focusing on on theme (the first was pies, this last week was cookies). Whoever gets the highest marks in all three is the winner, the one who gets the lowest sadly does have to go home.It should be interesting as the weeks go by to see who will survive or not. Hopefully there will also be recipe book too with this and a long life like Project Runway.

The summer TV season is usually lackluster with very few hits. CBS , however has definitely a full baked idea with The American Bake Off. This is must see TV at its' best.