Caroline Bologna is a senior lifestyle reporter at HuffPost. She began her career with the Webby Award-winning HuffPost Parents team before transitioning to HuffPost Life, where she now covers topics ranging from home and wellness to relationships and personal finance.
HuffPost turns reader contributions into real-world impact – uncovering injustice, challenging power, and inspiring change. Become a member and be part of the work that matters.The season finale of the hit competition show “The Great British Bake Off ” aired this week, capping off another delightful installment of amateur home bakers showing off their skills and sweetness.
Although the series takes place in the U.K. and centers on traditional sweets from across the pond, it has become a favorite comfort watch for countless American viewers as well. Longtime “Bake Off” judge and restaurateur Prue Leith has some thoughts on why U.S. audiences crave the cozy charm of the beloved show.“When I first started watching American television, I would watch competitive shows, and they were so aggressive. Everybody in them was really fighting for a prize, dissing their proponents and sabotaging them, and trying to hold the camera,” Leith told HuffPost while promoting her 12th cookbook,“And of course, they’d be fighting for a big money prize. As soon as you put money into the equation, people do get very competitive.”“The thing about ‘Bake Off’ is your prize, if you win, is an apron or a sort of cake plate ― I mean, it’s sort of $15 from Walmart,” she laughed. “It’s not exactly a huge prize, but they’re there because they’re bakers who are absolutely passionate about baking.”“The last thing we want is people who just want to be in telly,” Leith said. “We want people who can bake.” This genuine love for baking fosters an atmosphere of kindness and warmth — a welcome contrast to the cutthroat energy and casual cruelty that dominate much of American pop culture and politics today.“I think many Americans who watch ‘The Great British Bake Off’ have absorbed the English vibe of being friendly and helping each other and not being nasty to each other,” Leith said, pointing to the similar feel of the U.S. version of the show. “But it’s interesting that I’m often stopped in that street by Americans, and they tend to know me more from the British one.”“The American show has American presenters, and there’s a slightly different vibe ― less ironic, much more like a cheerleader. Bit louder, very friendly, very in your face,” Leith said. “You often don’t understand a word our presenters are saying, and their jokes are so obscure you have no idea what Noel’s on about. But you do know that it’s really funny.” “Americans like more sugar. When they put frosting on a cake, they sure as hell put frosting on the cake — there’s an inch of it on top!”During her interview with HuffPost, the “Bake Off” judge also opened up about her travels through the U.S., including the best and worst thing she’s eaten in the States. “We were driving from L.A. to Pensacola,” Leith said, recalling a “marvelous” two-week road trip she took with her husband John in 2022. “We stopped for lunch in Lubbock, Texas and saw one restaurant which had a huge queue outside it. So I thought, ‘Well, that must be good.’ When we got in, we looked at the food, and everything was deep-fried. I said to the waitress, ‘Have you got anything green?’ and she looked at me really puzzled.” Leith proceeded to ask if the restaurant offered any vegetables like broccoli or peas or any salad ― all of which were met with a no. Finally, she inquired about beans.“She said, ‘Oh yes, we’ve got beans,‘” the restaurateur recalled. “And so we waited, and these beans arrived. And they were tinned beans in some kind of sweet syrup. God, they were disgusting.’ They were very, very sweet and brown, they’d been in the tin a long time. Tinned food has to be cooked.” Still, not all was lost. She added that the best thing she had on her trip was also at the same establishment. “The restaurant was really good fun,” Leith said. ”The pudding ― or what we call pudding, dessert ― the dessert was pancakes covered in syrup and vanilla ice cream. And it was absolutely delicious! Really good. But talk about unhealthy.”Her road trip experience encapsulates the American sweet tooth ― a bit too decadent for her day-to-day liking. “Americans like more sugar. When they put frosting on a cake, they sure as hell put frosting on the cake — there’s an inch of it on top!” Leith said, noting that she enjoys the bread-themed week on “Bake-Off” because there’s less sugar involved.“I don’t think there’s anything more comforting than pasta. Even something simple with just garlic, some butter and fresh sage leaves ― it’s absolutely delicious,” she noted.As the holiday season approaches, stress levels are already creeping up for many families. The “Bake-Off” judge emphasized the importance of keeping things simple in their hosting. “The more you complicate it, the more time you take and the more stressed you’ll get ― and the more time you’ll spend away from your guests as you’re in the kitchen trying to remember every single complicated bit of your dinner instead of talking to your friends,” Leith said. “And you have to remember why your friends are there. They’re not Michelin-star judges coming here to give you stickers. They want to see you, and what they don’t want to see is you’re so flurried and harassed that you can’t listen to what they’re saying or be there.”In this day and age, she sees how stress and busyness have taken over so many people’s lives. “We have not been able to stop the tide of people getting busier and busier,” Leith said. “Social media ― which was supposed to save the world and give us lots more free time to spend with our families, have fun and follow our hobbies ― has actually just speeded up things up, so we’ve added more things to our agenda and do more work. It’s all crazy, so I feel a little depressed because I feel it’s all a losing battle.”Join Those Who Make It Possible HuffPost stands apart because we report for the people, not the powerful. Our journalism is fearless, inclusive, and unfiltered. Join the membership program and help strengthen news that puts people first.Thank you again for your support along the way. We’re truly grateful for readers like you! Your initial support helped get us here and bolstered our newsroom, which kept us strong during uncertain times. Now as we continue, we need your help more than ever.Thank you again for your support along the way. We’re truly grateful for readers like you! Your initial support helped get us here and bolstered our newsroom, which kept us strong during uncertain times. Now as we continue, we need your help more than ever.“We still have to fight the good fight ― to just help some people enjoy the pleasures of cooking and lasting benefit of family meals, or sitting down with your children or cooking with them,” Leith declared. “That is a true delight.”‘The Great British Bake Off’ Finally Drops 1 Element That Drew Widespread BacklashBy entering your email and clicking Sign Up, you're agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners. You are also agreeing to our
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