The American Baking Competition
Ten amateur bakers compete for the title of best in the US.
It was an American adaptation of the British series The Great British Bake Off. The show sought to identify the best amateur baker in the United States.
Quick Facts
- Genre
- Baking; Reality
- Presenter
- Jeff Foxworthy
- Judges
- Marcela Valladolid; Paul Hollywood
- Country
- United States
- Language
- English
- Seasons
- 1
- Episodes
- 7
- Executive producers
- Jay Bienstock; Richard McKerrow
Facts from the source article.
Format
The series aimed to find the best amateur baker in the United States among ten contestants. Each episode featured three challenges over two days: a signature bake using the contestant's own recipe, a technical challenge with a provided recipe missing instructions, and a show-stopper designed to impress the judges. After all challenges, the judges selected a Star Baker and eliminated one contestant. The finale had three bakers, from whom a winner was chosen. The technical challenge was the only round where rankings were directly revealed, though that ranking did not constitute the total score. The competition was held in a single location inside a specially constructed marquee. Short videos on contestant backgrounds, baking history, and location visits were interspersed. The entire season was filmed over one month.
Broadcast
Eastern/9 p.m. Central. Eastern/8 p.m. Central to accommodate Big Brother, airing its remaining three episodes there. Both timeslots placed it opposite Fox's MasterChef.
Episodes
The signature bake required an American pie in two hours. The technical bake was a free-standing savory pie using Paul Hollywood's recipe with hot water crust pastry, also two hours. The showstopper was 36 sweet tartlets in three hours.
Reception
The American Baking Competition received mixed reviews from critics. Liane Bonin Starr of HitFix called the series "surprisingly nice" and mellow, noting that judges Marcela Valladolid and Paul Hollywood provided some acidity, and praised the food focus. TV Line's Michael Slezak described it as "half-baked," saying there was insufficient time to know the contestants or their baking philosophies, and found the pilot's outcome predictable. The series premiered to a 1.0 rating in Adults 18-49 and 5.11 million total viewers, the worst Wednesday premiere for a CBS show. Ratings rose for the first two weeks, a rare occurrence, but did not improve after moving behind Big Brother. The last two episodes declined slightly, harming renewal prospects.
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