The Great British Bake Off

I love cooking/baking shows.  One of my favorite shows to watch in England is The Great British Bake Off.  It is a bake off where 13 amateur bakers are selected to test their baking skills and compete to be crowned as the best baker.  Each week there are 3 challenges:

• Signature Challenge – a bake using a tried and tested recipe that the amateur bakers make for their family and friends. (Wikipedia)
  

• Technical Challenge – a bake using the same ingredients and recipe provided by the judges Berry and Hollywood. The recipe however has missing instructions and is designed to test the knowledge and skill of the bakers. The bakers are not told beforehand what the challenge might be, and the judges do not observe the baker at work and judge the result blind. (Wikipedia)
  

• Showstopper Challenge – a bake designed to impress the judges. (Wikipedia)
  

This brings me to my next point, the judges and the hosts.  There are two judges and two hosts.

L to R: Paul Hollywood, Sue Perkins, Mel Geidroyc, and Mary Berry

Judges:

Paul Hollywood:  He is the stickler judge.  He is hard to please, but when he is pleased it means a lot to the contestants.  He is one of the UK’s leading artisan bakers.

Mary Berry: She always tries to be sweet even with criticism.  My favorite word she uses is “scrummy.”  She has been cooking for over 60 years and studied at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris when she was 17.

Hosts:

Sue Perkins: She is a writer, presenter and broadcaster.  She has been on British television for 15 years.  Her and Mel are very funny together and try to lighten the mood when things get tense.

Mel Giedroyc: She is a writer and performer.  She had her first big hit with the successful show, Mel and Sue (Sue from above).  They work really well together.

There have been 4 seasons so far.  I highly recommend you watch them.  For more information about The Great British Bake Off, go here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b013pqnm

Ready, set, BAKE!

(Pictures taken from google.com image search)