Why we all love the Great British Bake Off

You still have time to catch up for tonight’s final…

A couple of weeks ago my friend Gela and I met at our local, during which time we caught up about work, family and — naturally — what happened in the latest installment of the Great British Bake Off. A good portion of the evening was spent discussing the dishes that contestants make as well as their personalities and big disasters (oh, those are almost the most delicious of all).

We laughed at how addictive the show is, then walked outside to go our separate ways. There, we overheard four 20something guys with tattoos and beards discussing…suet pudding. They were proferring ideas to each other on why it went wrong for this baker or that and what they wanted to try.

At my daughter’s school, the kids chat about the Great British Bake Off the way that adults stand around and talk about Mad Men. At a friend’s daughter’s school, watching the programme is as important as liking the “right” music or other social indicator.

At the weekend, I met a seasoned caterer — a friend of my in-laws — who told me her pick of the bunch and how interesting she found the dishes. “Bavarois was something we did every week when I was at catering school. It was old-fashioned even then,” she said.

I’m looking forward to seeing tonight which of the three ladies passes the technical, creates a show-stopping show-stopper and earns the bake off crown. But unlike a lot of people, I don’t care which one wins. I don’t think the appeal of the show is its “irony”.

The reason we all love it is not only does it celebrate something so simple as lovely baked food.

It also dishes out heaps of national pride and nostalgia, as well as a bit of rubbernecking at the bizarre or esoteric things people actually go to the effort of creating. That’s what makes it appeal to Brits from age 8 to 80. Like so many others (8 million, I hear?), I’ll be enjoying the final installment. You could say, I’ll be eating it up.

About Jennifer Howze

Jennifer Howze is the Creative Director and co-founder of BritMums. She blogs about family travel at Jenography.net, tweets at @JHowze and Instagrams at @JHowze. Previously, she wrote the Alpha Mummy blog at The Times and as a journalist has contributed to The Times, The Guardian, The Independent, The Wall Street Journal, Travel & Leisure, Budget Travel, CNN.com, Allure, SELF and Premiere, among others. She won The Maggie Award from the Planned Parenthood Federation of America for a health article in Seventeen magazine.

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