A sweet treat: ‘Great American Baking Show’ spreads holiday joy on ABC

from The Brainerd Dispatch TV Week December 8th 2019

by Brainerd Dispatch and Echo Journal

Cover Story this week Love is all around

By Michelle Rose TV Media

Ifyou’re a fan of “The Great American Baking Show,” get ready to enter the tent this week. ABC’s baking competition returns for a fifth season on Thursday, Dec. 12, and it will be baking up holiday cheer.

If you’re not familiar with the series, this is an American adaptation of the BAFTA award-winning program “The Great British Bake Off,” which is a big hit in the United Kingdom. You might have seen it on PBS and Netflix, too, though the import’s title was changed to “The Great British Baking Show” in the U.S. to avoid trademark infringement.

Either way, “The Great American Baking Show: Holiday Edition” is just the kind of family-friendly fare that’s a sweet treat for the eyes this time of year. Spice Girls member Emma Bunton (aka Baby Spice) is back as host along with former Chicago Bears defensive tackle Anthony “Spice” Adams, while pastry chef Sherry Yard (a three-time James Beard Award winner) joins returning veteran Paul Hollywood.

The Dec. 12 episode begins with an introduction to 10 amateur bakers from across the country. They’ll quickly be put to the test in different challenges (six per week) that will send some competitors home.

A lot can go wrong when you’re whipping up meringues in an overly hot tent (more on that later), but you’re not going to see any Gordon Ramsay-style yelling here. This is one of the friendliest competitions on TV — after all, the grand prize is a glass plate and national exposure. Despite the (refreshing) lack of drama and duplicity, tensions can still run as high as a croquembouche when you’re racing against the clock. But the judges are known to be honest and fair, and you’re more likely to see the bakers supporting and encouraging each other throughout the competition. Call me sentimental, but that’s the kind of caring that exemplifies the spirit of the holiday season, at least on a food-themed competition show.

The season premiere airs right after “Frozen” and “Toy Story” holiday specials, so it seems right to focus on sweet cakes (and bread, too). Future challenges will include sweet and savory/spiced creations, more delicious desserts, pastries (my favorite to watch and eat) and cookies.

Despite all those holiday decorations, treats and themed challenges, “The Great American Baking Show: Holiday Edition” filmed this past summer at Pinewood Studios, in Buckinghamshire (United Kingdom). It filmed during a heat wave, too, and those high temperatures and humidity must have added a whole other layer of difficulty to working with dough, yeast and sugar in a tent full of ovens, appliances and studio lighting.

So who will triumph? Tune in to ABC on Dec. 12 and keep watching every Thursday until “America’s Best Amateur Baker” is crowned in the Jan. 2 finale.

Sunday, Dec. 8

1:00 p.m. (8) WDSE Beatrice

Ojakangas: Welcome to My Kitchen

Monday, Dec. 9

1:00 p.m. (11) KARE The Rachael Ray Show

10:00 p.m. (8) WDSE Beatrice

Ojakangas: Welcome to My Kitchen