‘The Big Nailed It! Baking Challenge’ Has Stolen My Cakey Heart
After seven successful seasons of the Nicole Byer-hosted baking competition series Nailed It!, Netflix has introduced a spinoff “experiment” co-hosted by Byer and master chocolatier Jacques Torres called The Big Nailed It! Baking Challenge. Whatever your feelings on the original series, Baking Challenge is a whole different ballgame.
Taking inspiration from shows like The Worst Cooks in America, The Big Nailed It! Baking Challenge introduces 10 contestants—some of whom have previously competed in the Nailed It! kitchen—seeking to better their baking and ultimately win a $100,000 cash prize.
In each episode, contestants learn a skill from coaches Erin Jeanne McDowell and Robert Lucas, with the best-performing baker winning an advantage in that day’s “Big Cake Bake.” The baker who struggles the most gets the infamous “panic button,” which gives them five minutes to work on the challenge or get help from their mentors while everyone else has to complete a silly task before they can continue working.
Then, the “Big Cake Bake” winner gets a $1,000 cash prize while the least-improved baker is sent home. Before they go, they’re allowed to nab a bunch of equipment to further their hobby (or hopeful career), and everyone is generally very kind to each other. It’s a wholesome viewing experience enhanced by the personalities of its contestants, co-hosts, and coaches, and it’s absolutely worth watching all 10 episodes as soon as you can.
Why I love The Big Nailed It! Baking Challenge
Competition reality TV shows centered around cooking and/or baking are some of my favorites. I’m always eager to check out new series and see what they’re bringing to the format, and even if I end up disappointed, I often still find things to like about any given show. When the original Nailed It! premiered, I enjoyed it mostly for the chaos, but I haven’t watched in several seasons. It’s not that I think the format fails or even that Netflix should have ended it sooner: for me, it just got stale after a while.
That said, there’s something comforting about hearing Nicole Byer and Jacques Torres talk about baking, and Byer’s impassioned cries for producer Wes (who’s a full-blown character on the show at this point) never fail to make me laugh. When my partner turned on The Big Nailed It! Baking Challenge, I found myself in a whole new world surrounded by familiar faces on a familiar set—and I instantly fell in love.
Drawing upon the best parts of Nailed It! and other contemporary baking competition shows, Baking Challenge incentivizes its contestants to try their best and never give up, whether their cakes won’t stay stacked or their molding chocolate melts all over everything. In each episode, the bakers are challenged to learn and apply new skills while building upon what they’ve learned already. Flavors and texture are key focuses for the judges, but so are competitors’ decorating skills and their determination. No one is an island, despite The Big Nailed It! Baking Challenge being an individual contest.
Plus, as the series progresses, we get to know each baker a little more and discover why they want to improve their baking skills. Some want to make baked goods their family can eat and be proud of; others want to achieve lifelong dreams of owning their own bakeries. Whatever the dream, The Big Nailed It! Baking Challenge provides the tools and structure for contestants to learn and grow as bakers, hopefully equipping them with what they need to achieve their dreams off-set.
This viewing experience is ultimately incredibly comforting and very heartwarming. And outside of the kitchen, it’s fun to see the segments where Byer and Torres are “hanging out” in her dressing room or working together on the same skills the bakers are learning from their coaches. The whole series feels fun and frivolous and sweet, which is exactly how it should be.
How The Big Nailed It! Baking Challenge compares to other competition baking series
The original Nailed It! felt like a retooled version of Food Network’s The Worst Cooks in America, which is currently in its 26th season and hosted by chefs Anne Burrell and Jeff Mauro. Worst Cooks splits a dozen or so self-proclaimed terrible cooks into rival teams led by each host chef, who attempt to teach them cooking basics so they can make edible meals. At the end of each season, the most-improved contestant wins a cash prize and a cooking set.
The Big Nailed It! Baking Challenge is a more direct descendent of Worst Cooks because it adopts basically the same premise. The difference here is that each daily challenge winner takes home $1,000, and each eliminated contestant including the runner-up gets a one-minute speed-shop of the Nailed It! set and pantry, allowing them to grab equipment, set pieces, and whatever else they like to take home. In the first season, nearly everyone grabbed stand mixers and/or food processors, as well as their individual name placards.
Further differentiating The Big Nailed It! Baking Challenge from The Worst Cooks in America is how genuinely wholesome it is. The coaches are always gentle and kind, and the judges are generous.
In this way, The Big Nailed It! Baking Challenge takes several pages from less aggressive cooking competition series like The Great British Baking Show and even The Big Brunch. We see the contestants chatting about the competition, asking each other questions at their stations, supporting each other’s progress, and encouraging each other when the chips are down. It makes for a very human viewing experience that’s far less stressful than other US cooking competitions (even the original Nailed It!, which is a little too heavily based on schadenfreude).
The Big Nailed It! Baking Challenge season 1 is currently streaming on Netflix.
(featured image: Netflix)
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