The Great British Baking Show is known for being the most positive food competition around.

With cozy bakes, endearing contestants, and hosts who come across as gentle & friendly, The Great British Baking Show is like a blanket on a cold night: comforting.

However, as the years passed, viewers have increasingly taken issue with a certain aspect of The Great British Baking Show. The challenges bakers are expected to complete have become increasingly ridiculous.

And, no pun intended, the bakers rose to the occasion. It reached a point where it was difficult to believe the bakers on The Great British Baking Show were amateurs. In some ways, it felt criminal that they didn’t run bakeries.

However, this year’s bakers actually feel like amateurs again. And yes, that does technically mean they aren’t quite as good as some of their predecessors. But I think that’s amazing.

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Mishaps and Mayhem

For starters, there has been no shortage of accidents and panic in the tent this season, and we’ve only had two episodes.

Now, I don’t wish for fallen cakes and unfinished bakes. I really don’t!

What I do want to see from The Great British Baking Show is a group of people who feel like they’re amateurs and maybe, one day, if I started working really hard, I could join them.

The Great British Baking Show was at its best when it was aspirational. You watched home bakers creating something lovely — but not “I’d pay big money for that at a bakery” level of lovely.

The bakes were attainable, (mostly) polished, and would make any house guest “ooh” and “aah” with admiration if they were served such a wonderful treat.

But perfection to the point of looking as if everyone in the tent secretly went to patisserie school doesn’t elicit that same feeling of aspiration. Instead, you sit on the couch with your Oreos and say, “Wow, I’d never be able to do that.”

And while I love watching talented people do amazing things that I will never manage myself, that’s not what I look for on The Great British Baking Show. There are plenty of other places to admire professionals on television.

So yes, a few spills, some mishaps that lead to remaking a dough, and the occasional “I forgot to turn the oven on” are key to the show’s success.

After all, we’ve all forgotten to turn the oven on before. It’s relatable. And one of The Great British Baking Show’s best attributes was that very relatability.

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Easier Tasks

This season, the bakers have also been presented with easier tasks than in recent seasons.

Thank goodness for that!

At least, so far, this is the case. We’re only two episodes in, and the promo for week three featuring seemingly edible hats and handbags is making me nervous.

Despite easier challenges, the bakers haven’t served up utter perfection yet. In other recent seasons, the first few weeks were stunning. Bakers plated food that was beyond reproach, waiting for even tougher tasks to be foisted on them.

Meanwhile, this season we’re seeing people finish with lovely bakes, but nothing that makes me think they need to quit their day job and open a pastry shop.

(I will say the bakers deserve a little more time. Lack of time often causes most of the bakers’ issues, but that’s an argument for another day.)

So far, I’ve loved the technical challenges this season. Rather than naming an esoteric dessert that most people living in the UK have never heard of and demanding the bakers “figure it out” with a mostly redacted recipe, they’ve been given references.

The heart of the technical was originally meant to test that the bakers had the knowledge and skills required to bake standard foods without fully relying on a recipe to know what ratios and timings would work best.

Then they devolved into madness.

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This year, in both of the episodes that have aired so far, the bakers have been given some form of reference. In episode one, they were given a diagrammed picture, and in episode two, they were each given three tiny biscuits to poke, sniff, and taste at their own discretion.

Then the task is to recreate the bakes they’ve been shown.

Not only does this give bakers a chance to create something that resembles what the judges have in mind, but it also tests their technical knowledge once again. You know, the whole premise of the technical challenge.

They’re Amateurs, and That’s Good

So yes, I would argue that perhaps this season’s bakers on The Great British Bake Off aren’t quite as phenomenally talented as some of the other recent seasons.

But I celebrate that!

The bakers are still wonderfully talented, and I know they would bake circles around me. (I’m always going to grab a box mix whenever it’s available.)

But their baking doesn’t make me feel like I’m watching professionals who have faked being home bakers just to be on the show.

I think this year’s casting has really helped to recreate some of the magic many feel went missing from The Great British Baking Show.

With lovable contestants and a few rustic bakes, I’m having a lot more fun this year.

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What do you think? Who’s your favorite baker so far this year?

And would you have figured out to put the iced gems back in the oven after decorating?

Let me know if you’re enjoying the season so far, if you appreciate the less-polished contestants, and if you’d ever consider putting yourself on camera as a baker!

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