[Note from Frolic: We’re so excited to have author Katana Collins guest posting on the site today! She has some great recommendations for anyone looking for a new baking show to watch. Take it away, Katana!]
Hey everyone and special thanks to Frolic for having me here today talking about one of my all-time favorite things… BAKING SHOWS! I have been a consumer of baking reality shows for as long as I can remember… seriously. GIVE ME ALL OF THEM. I love them so much that I even wrote one into my latest book, Beefcakes (but more on that later).
Thing is, most people who watch baking shows have likely binged ALL there is of Cupcakes Wars and Cake Boss… so I put together a little list of what I consider to be some of the best shows out there. And I filtered them into special categories…
1) The best bake-show if you hate bickering
Hands down, The Great British Bake Off.
Arguably, this might be my all-time favorite baking show. It’s just so lovely to watch. Everyone is kind to each other and I truly feel as though most of them become friends during filming. You see contestants help each other out when things go array, and there never seems to be sensationalized drama just for ratings.
Quite simply, I love it. I love the judges. I love the hosts (the original and the new hosts are all wonderful!). I love the contestants. And it is one of the more comprehensive bake shows where I actually feel as though I learn something about baking while I watch.
2) The show to watch after you’ve binged all of the Great British Bake Off
Zumbo’s Just Desserts
If you can’t tell already, Great British Bake Off is my absolute favorite. But much like after I finish an incredible book, I feel the same way when I end a season of GBBO. It’s like being hungover and depleted. If you binge GBBO and feel like something is missing from your life when there are no more episodes to watch, I encourage you to check out Zumbo’s Just Desserts. It is very similar, but based out of Australia and hosted by pastry chef Adriano Zumbo.
3) The best bake show to boost your ego
Nailed It on Netflix! You. Guys. This show usually has my husband and me rolling around laughing. Namely because I AM THOSE CONTESTANTS. The amount of times I see something on Pinterest and I think to myself: I could do that.
Spoiler alert: I cannot do that.
Usually, the result is buttercream in places where the sun doesn’t shine (how DOES one get buttercream on the back of their neck?? I mean, honestly) and a cake that is weirdly uneven and about to collapse.
What’s great about this show is the way the contestants are encouraged to laugh at themselves. A key trait in my life that has come in handy more than once! Laugh at yourself and roll with the punches! I just love it so much.
4) The best bake show you’ve never heard of
Chef’s Table: Pastry
Here’s the thing… if you’re like me, you’re probably skimming this list so far, nodding along, checking off all the shows like: Seen it, seen it, seen it…
But maybe here’s one you haven’t watched yet. Of course, we all know and love Netflix’s show Chef’s Table. And if you HAVEN’T watched Chef’s Table… omigoodness. Y’all. Get on that!
With the success of Chef’s Table, Netflix created a 4-episode season of the pastry edition of the show. Like its original format, the show is sweet (pun-intended), with beautiful imagery and an artistic style that fans have come to know and love. And there is always a little twist for ya.
5) The best bake show to watch with your significant other
Cooking On High
Yes… it is just how it sounds. People who are baked… baking. Well, also cooking. Technically, it is more of a cooking show, but man, is it enjoyable. And many they utilize their favorite, erm, herb as a main ingredient.
6) The best quirky bake show
The Curious Creations of Christine McConnell.
Christine McConnell may be my hero. She’s kind of weird in this amazing way and makes all kinds of spooky creations that are truly works of art. It is unlike any baking show I’ve ever seen AND her home is filled with Jim Henson creatures! It’s the kind of show you truly just have to experience yourself because no amount of description will do it justice!
7) The best family friendly bake show
The Big Family Cooking Showdown
This sweet show is just how it sounds… families working together to impress judges and claim the win. Somehow, it might even be more wholesome and earnest than The Great British Bake Off which is saying something! It’s sweet and endearing and definitely worth watching!
8) The best competition-driven bake show
Sugar Rush is fun, colorful, and one of the more intense competition baking shows I’ve seen. Sort of a combination of Cupcake Wars, GBBO, and Nailed It (If the Nailed It competitors had more experience!).
There you go! Let me know some of your favorite cooking and baking shows in the comments (because if there is one I have not seen, I will be ON THAT!)
About the Author:
As an author and a story-teller, it is the lifeblood to which my ideas take flight. And I believe in giving credit where credit is due. Occasionally someone (ie – my husband) will try to secretly switch out my beloved regular coffee for decaf. I always know the difference. ALWAYS (I’m looking at you, SEAN).
I am incapable of achieving the perfect ponytail. I’m dyslexic. I can never wear white without spilling on myself. And I’ve never read Pride and Prejudice (gasp!).
When I was younger and stole my mother’s Harlequins to read beneath the covers with a flashlight (seriously, did we ALL do this? I think we did.), I wanted to read about the tough as nails heroine. The perfectly imperfect girl with quirks and attitude and sass. And the anti-heroes who were anything but “Prince Charming.” Forget the knight on a white horse… give me the bad boy on a motorcycle.
So, now, I write those romance novels I craved to see on the shelves all those years ago—the sassy heroines. The badass heroes. I spend my days in the throes of my imagination, and am loving every minute of it. I can travel anywhere and become anyone I want to be. One day, I’m a mechanic in Boston and the next, I’m a vampire stripping in Las Vegas.
Since penning my first novel back in 2012, I’m now an international author with 15 published books, in a wide range of contemporary romance genres–(Paranormal, New Adult, Small town, Erotic Suspense… you name it!).
After living for a decade in Brooklyn, NY, I took the plunge and moved to beautiful (although kinda chilly) Portland, Maine. I now live full time in ‘Vacationland’ with a kind of mean cat, a mellow chihuahua, and a very NOT mellow lab-pittie mix. Oh, yeah… there’s a husband who draws comics somewhere in that mix, too. I can usually be found in a coffee shop with my nose in my laptop wearing fabulous (albeit sometimes impractical) shoes.
Connect with Katana:
Facebook: http://bit.ly/2R1qnq2
Instagram: http://bit.ly/2Ft8RFB
Amazon: https://amzn.to/35wm37j
Goodreads: http://bit.ly/2sMSMbj
Pinterest: http://bit.ly/2tCCD8b
YouTube: http://bit.ly/2T0o1dl
Join her reader group, Kat’s Kittens: http://bit.ly/2QvrP4P
Stay up to date with Katana by joining her mailing list: http://bit.ly/2QQe0wM
Website: http://www.katanacollins.com
Beefcakes by Katana Collins, out now!
I might as well permanently add the label “Ex” to my name. I’m an Ex-Mr. Universe. Ex-Mr. Olympus. An Ex-Hollywood Stuntman. But no one from my small hometown cares anything about that. They only care that I’m the ex-boyfriend to the beloved Mayor’s daughter, Elaina Dyker.
And now, ten years later, I’m back, helping my siblings run my mother’s bakery while she takes on chemo. What should have been a routine cupcake delivery turns into utter chaos when the bachelorette party thinks I’m a stripper. And what’s worse? Elaina is the maid of honor.
But the meme about us sure went viral fast. My small hometown has become positively infested with tipsy bridesmaids looking for my erotic cupcakes.
Now Hollywood’s knocking again—and this time they want me and my ex, Mr. Beefcake and Ms. Prude, to star in a reality show.
It could solve all my problems—except her.
