Copyright HuffPost
LOADINGERROR LOADING 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. Advertisement “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, “Life’s Too Short to Stuff a Mushroom.” “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.” That, she says, is exactly what makes “Bake Off” so refreshing to the Americans who have fallen for the series. Advertisement “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.” She emphasized that skill and passion for baking are the driving principles behind casting. “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. Advertisement “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.” Of course, “The Great American Baking Show” has developed its own personality as well. “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!” Advertisement 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. Advertisement “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.” Advertisement 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. And when she’s stressed, the food personality turns to pasta, not pastries. “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. Advertisement Leith added that for English people, true comfort often means “a great slice of Yorkshire pudding with gravy, or bubble and squeak ― the stuff you were given as a child.” 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.” Advertisement 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.”
