The Greatest Baking Competition Shows, Ranked
Everyone loves a good baking/cooking competition show. They are a bit of light-hearted drama, generally feature some educational baking tips, and always succeed in astounding with the creations their contestants come up with. Whether or not you are a baking enthusiast, baking competitions offer timeless fun for almost any audience.
What is best about these baking competitions is that they are more realistic and palatable than other reality shows. There’s little room for producers to manipulate or script the scene. Nor is there a whole lot of opportunity for over-the-top melodrama. Instead, it essentially just allows ordinary people the chance to share their talents with the rest of the world. Not only that but shows like the Great British Bake Off have been proven to increase interest in home baking. Whether you’re a baker yourself or not, you can’t help but be inspired by the passion and dedication these contestants show. Here are the best baking competition shows, ranked from worst to best.
15. Worst Bakers in America
Worst Bakers in America first premiered in 2016 and is a spin-off of Worst Cooks in America. The series follows 8-12 contestants each season with inferior baking skills. The contestants are paired with famous bakers, who have a limited time to mentor their rookies into cooking experts. The amateurs embark on a baking boot camp and, after six weeks, must demonstrate what they’ve learned.
Worst Bakers in America is an entertaining show in that it specifically selects amateur bakers with the worst cooking skills. However, the show lacks originality in that it is identical to Worst Cooks in America, merely featuring bakers instead. While sometimes funny, some bakers exaggerate their shortcomings, and others get a little too mouthy with their mentors. It’s entertaining but lacks originality and could be better than the original show.
14. Cake Wars
Cake Wars premiered in 2015 and ran for five seasons until 2017. The series features four contestants in each episode who compete against each other to create a cake worthy of being featured in huge celebratory events. These events could be celebrating anything from the release of Kung Fu Panda to the opening of a DC Comics headquarters to a special LEGO store event. Obviously, only one of the four cakes will be chosen, and the one chosen wins $10,000.
This show is undoubtedly fun to watch. You will be in awe of the cakes, especially with some inspired by your favorite TV shows, movies, and franchises. However, Cake Wars also lacks originality. It is almost identical in format to Cupcake Wars, which preceded it, and Chopped, which preceded Cupcake Wars. With a similar design, title, and host, the only real difference is that it focuses on cakes versus cupcakes. If it had been first in line, it would have been a pretty good show, but seeing the shows before makes it feel overdone.
13. Sweet Genius
Sweet Genius is an older cooking show, but it’s an enjoyable one to revisit if you have Prime Video, Hulu, or Discovery+. The show ran for three seasons between 2011 and 2013, with each episode following four professional bakers competing against one another to impress world-renowned pastry chef Ron Ben-Israel. It follows a similar format to Chopped but is unique in that it challenges contestants to use secret ingredients and have their desserts embody some inspiration.
Sweet Genius stands out from other baking shows due to its creativity. These pastry chefs have to get innovative when they’re given random ingredients like squid ink, duck fat, or hardboiled eggs to make desserts and given things like butterflies or diamonds as “inspiration.” Meanwhile, Ben-Israel can be almost too intimidating and strict as a host, but his high standards create much room for education in the show. The only real problem with this series is that it was canceled far too early and didn’t really have time to grow and improve further as a baking show.
12. Kids Baking Championships
Kids Baking Championship premiered in 2015 and is a competitive baking TV show where the contestants are all children. Each season features 8-12 contestants aged 9-13. In every episode, the kids are given a unique challenge and compete against each other to present the best dish to hosts Valerie Bertinelli and Duff Goldman. One contestant is eliminated per episode, with the winner receiving $25,000 and a feature in Food Network Magazine.
Naturally, the Kids Baking Championship wins the prize for the most adorable show on this list. We have many kids, some of whom are too short to reach the ingredients on the top shelf, donning aprons and hats and somehow out-baking most adults. Also, Val and Duff are excellent with the kids. They help the children, make them laugh, and step in if the situation is too stressful. For the most part, it is a wholesome series. However, at times, our entertainment comes at the expense of a child suffering a burn, bursting into tears, or breaking down from stress, and it just doesn’t seem entirely worth it.
11. Is It Cake?
Is It Cake? is a unique baking show from Netflix that premiered in 2022. The show is inspired by the internet trend of the same name, where viewers are presented with two objects and must guess which is made of cake and which is real. Hence, Is It Cake? tasks contestants with each creating a cake in eight hours, replicating some chosen object, such as a purse or hamburger. The cake objects are then placed beside real objects. Meanwhile, the cake the celebrity judges have the most challenging time picking out from the real objects is the winner. If more than one contestant tricks the judges, then the cake’s quality determines the winner.
The show is quite a unique way to turn an internet trend into a contest. There’s just something very entertaining about trying to decipher what’s real and what’s cake. Meanwhile, it’s mesmerizing to watch these bakers’ process as they create shockingly realistic-looking cakes. The contestants are very talented, and it’s fun to play along and guess what’s cake. However, sometimes, the judging doesn’t seem very fair, mainly due to an odd rule where contestants can alter the real items to make them look fake. The focus should be more on the best baking skills than on who can alter a decoy best. Plus, Mikey Day’s hosting leaves much to be desired, as viewers are not enthralled with his yelling and unfunny jokes.
10. The Great British Bake Off
The Great British Bake Off is a British reality baking competition that premiered in August 2010. This series follows a similar pattern to many baking competitions. Each season features a group of 12 bakers who compete against each other to impress a panel of judges with their final dish. One contestant is eliminated per episode, until a winner is chosen from the finalists. Interestingly, there is no prize money for winning the series. The winner essentially wins respect and prestige in the baking world.
The Great British Bake Off is an intriguing series that fosters interest in baking. Additionally, many of the winners have gone on to do great things—open restaurants, write cookbooks, and some have even gone on to write food columns for magazines. However, the show also boasts more controversies than most baking shows. These controversies are pretty wild and include unethical product promotion, accusations of favoritism, bakers sabotaging each other, and a judge accidentally leaking the winner beforehand.
9. Sugar Rush
Sugar Rush premiered on Netflix in 2018. Professional bakers compete in teams of two, and each episode features four teams. In each episode, they must race against the clock to create desserts in three different rounds. Round 1 requires them to make cupcakes, round 2 is confections, and round 3 is a cake. The creations are judged by Candace Nelson and Adriano Zumbo, as well as a different celebrity guest judge for each episode. Sugar Rush‘s winning team takes home $10,000.
This series is an entertaining and very nerve-wracking baking show. It’s always in the last few minutes of the round that the biggest blunders or disasters occur. Meanwhile, the show remains interesting with the addition of a fun celebrity guest each season. Still, the show does struggle a bit with originality, taking several elements from baking shows like Chopped and Masterchef.
8. Baking Squad
Baking Squad is a baking competition from Netflix. However, it’s pretty unique in featuring the same four contestants in each episode, every season. Chef and author Christina Tosi hosts this series, which follows four bakers, Maya-Camille Broussard, Ashley Holt, Gonzo Jiminez, and Christophe Rull. These four bakers are pitted against each other in each episode to create the best dessert for a particular client. Whoever makes the best treat gets to present their work to the client. These clients are usually looking for themed cakes or desserts for birthdays, gender reveals, or anniversary parties.
Baking Squad is different from most baking shows because its contestants are consistent throughout the series. Additionally, the bakers don’t compete for money, so the competition is a little less intense. It becomes more about these bakers refining and showcasing their skills while engaging in friendly competition. In many ways, it removes some of the problems with other baking shows in that there isn’t a lot of theatrics or drama. Viewers get to watch four bakers who know what they’re doing, challenging themselves because they love what they do. This baking show has positive competition, passion, and lots to learn.
7. Halloween Baking Championship
Halloween Baking Championship is a sister show to Holiday Baking Championship but with a special focus on spooky treats. As the title suggests, contestants on this show are tasked with creating Halloween-themed desserts. One baker is eliminated per episode after participating in two rounds of challenges. Meanwhile, the judges sometimes add to the Halloween spirit by showing up in costume.
Halloween Baking Championship is an entertaining baking show to watch in the fall and get into the spooky season’s spirit. The desserts these contestants come up with are extraordinary, and you’ll be blown away by all the unique takes on spooky themes. Plus, the judges dressing up also adds to the show’s fun. The only downfall is that it’s really a seasonal show, and some viewers may not be interested in watching it all year around.
6. Cupcake Wars
Cupcake Wars first premiered in 2009 and concluded in 2018 after 11 seasons. The show is modeled off of the same competition format as Chopped. Each episode starts with four contestants and has three rounds, with one elimination per round. The winner of Cupcake Wars gets $10,000. In the first round, the contestants must create cupcakes related to a theme using unusual ingredients. In the second round, the contestants make three different cupcakes related to the theme. Lastly, in round 3, the contestants must create 1,000 cupcakes featuring improved versions of the cupcakes from previous rounds and creatively display them.
Cupcake Wars is a fun show to watch. After all, the fact that these contestants can bake 1,000 cupcakes in just 2-hours is incredible. Meanwhile, the 1,000 cupcakes are usually donated, so no food goes to waste. The competition format is a little too close to Chopped‘s format. Otherwise, it’s a very entertaining and intriguing show to watch.
5. School of Chocolate
School of Chocolate is a Netflix baking competition series that serves as a cross between a contest and a cooking class. The series sees pastry chef and chocolatier Amaury Guichon take eight pastry chefs under his wing, teaching them via various baking challenges, usually involving creating chocolate sculptures. In each episode, the chef who performs best, utilizing what Guichon taught them, is named “best in class,” the lowest performing chefs will often sit out of the next challenge and have a one-on-one session with Guichon instead. At the end of the season, the overall best student wins $50,000.
School of Chocolate breaks the mold of typical baking shows by emphasizing education over competition. While, of course, there’s still high competition for the grand prize, every contestant walks away with something as Guichon teaches them. Viewers will find themselves learning alongside the contestants, plus they get to follow their favorite contestants for the whole season as there are no eliminations. It’s an interesting way to frame a baking show. The only problem is that School of Chocolate ran for just one season, and it will leave you wishing for more.
4. Nailed It!
Nailed It! premiered on Netflix in 2018 and jumps on the expectation vs. reality internet trend, focusing on people trying to replicate cakes they found online and failing miserably. Nailed It! gathers three contestants with poor baking skills and pits them against one another for a $10,000 prize. In the first round, contestants get to pick one of three treats to attempt to recreate. Round 2, however, is where things get fun when contestants are given an elaborate cake and told to replicate it with little direction.
This show is brilliant and cleverly capitalizes on the hilarious Pinterest fails trend. Now, though, we get to see these attempts’ actual, painful process instead of just the end result. Quite often, the results turn out to be little more than scary-looking blobs. There are far more fails than nails in this show. In fact, with the number and extent of failures, you sometimes feel the contestants are failing badly on purpose. After all, the show sets them up for failure as the time restraints and challenges are almost impossible for an amateur baker. Hence, the show is a bit unrealistic, but that doesn’t take away too much of the fun.
3. Zumbo’s Just Desserts
Zumbo’s Just Desserts is an Australian baking competition show that premiered in 2016. 10-12 contestants are selected each season to compete for a grand prize of $100,000. There are two rounds for each episode, with the first round being a standard challenge to create desserts based on a theme. To decide who gets eliminated, the two worst performers in round one get put into round two—the elimination round. In this round, the two bakers attempt to recreate one of Adriano Zumbo’s original desserts.
This show is extremely entertaining and offers some of the most unique themes of any show. From horror-themed desserts to treats with a secret inside them to desserts that capture a moment in time—the themes are always unusual and intriguing. And the unique themes, of course, then allow the contestants to create breathtakingly creative and beautiful creations.
2. Crime Scene Kitchen
Crime Scene Kitchen is a baking competition that premiered on Fox on May 26, 2021. The bakers compete in teams of two and, in each episode, are introduced to a new crime scene. The “crime” that has been committed is that someone has stolen a tasty treat. All the teams are left with are a few written clues, crumbs, and scattered ingredients. The teams must work backward, examining the crime scene to guess what the dessert was that was stolen and then try to recreate it to the best of their abilities.
This show brings together an unlikely but amazing combination of mystery and baking. The bakers have the added challenge of not knowing 100% what the dessert they are creating is. Instead, they have to compile clues, taste crumbs, and do a lot of deducting before they know what they’re making. It’s seriously challenging but also seriously intriguing. You will be impressed and will be analyzing clues right along with the contestants.
1. Baking Impossible
Baking Impossible premiered on Netflix in October of 2021. This unique baking competition seeks out both bakers and engineers. The contestants compete in pairs, with one contestant specializing in baking and one specializing in engineering. These teams are then pitted against each other to create tasty desserts that can withstand engineering stress tests. The winning pair takes home $100,000.
This series is one of the most unique and captivating baking shows. The challenges do seem impossible, but shockingly, many of the contestants pull it off, though it does typically take as long as 18 hours. Challenges range from creating a cake-based boat that can actually float, creating an edible mini golf course that you can actually play golf in, or creating an edible costume that a human can wear for the length of the runway. Instead of a 30-minute rush, bakers get 18 hours to showcase the full extent of their creativity, skill, and intelligence. This results in creations that are out of this world and prove that there’s no such thing as ‘impossible.’
(featured image: Food Network / Netflix)
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