My family absolutely loves watching “The Great British Baking Show” together. It’s the one thing I can “bribe” my kids with as we fold laundry and I will do almost anything to get out of folding laundry for six people by myself. We enjoy watching the creative bakes, salivating over the treats, love learning about the British culture and seeing the lighthearted competition between competitors turned friends. After watching a few seasons together over the past few months my kids started talking about creating our own baking competition to mimic the show.
Bake Off Challenges
The “Great British Bake Off” as it is called in Great Britain, takes place over the course of many weekends. One episode covers a Saturday and Sunday of competition. Participants compete in three challenges:
- Signature Bake
- Technical Challenge
- Show-Stopper Challenge
Because we have so much time on our hands right now with kids home from school, we have been looking for some creative ways to have fun, so I decided to acquiesce to the request and make our very own “Great Family Bake Off” competition. This would also make for a very fun birthday party, extended family reunion challenge or just something to do on a Saturday afternoon or summer weekday. In the spirit of fun and to give you something to make a long “Covid-19” day not so long…I give you everything you need to create your own “Great Family Bake Off!”
In creating this competition, I wanted to keep the three original challenges but tone some of them down a little to meet the abilities of my grade-school kids. I needed bakes that we could accomplish in a few hours and not a few days. After thinking it over, I came up with our version of “The Great Family Bake Off.”
Judging
You will need to find a moderator/judge(s) to be in charge of the event. This will preferably be a couple of adults. They will make sure to have all of the ingredients needed, prepare the secret technical challenge and judge the competition. You can print this printable for a rundown of the moderator/judge’s responsibilities.
The Bakes
Signature Bake: Finger Sandwiches
- The signature bake is finger sandwiches. You need four identical finger sandwiches with tasty fillings. Judging will be based on presentation, taste and meeting the time requirement. You have 20 minutes for this challenge and the bread will be provided for you.
Technical Challenge: Personal Pan Brownies
- In this challenge we take one basic recipe with the same ingredients and instructions and ask you to produce a perfect finished product. The moderator/judge will prepare the ingredients and kitchen tools beforehand. Then they will hand out the recipe (with no instructions or bake time!) and start the timer for 45 minutes. The brownies will be judged blind with no clues as to who made what.
Show-Stopper Challenge: Cupcake Art
- This is the final challenge to showcase your skill and talent. Judging will be on the professional appearance of your signature bakes. Judges will be looking for the most impressive and elaborate creations. The challenge is cupcake art. Use 4 cupcakes, icing and decorations. The cupcakes, icing and decorations will be provided for you. You have 30 minutes to perfect your show-stopper creations.
The challenges give enough hands-on creativity to be fun but don’t take hours to complete. Only one of the bakes requires an oven. You can change these up to fit your own family dynamic as you wish. Plan for a total time of 3-4 hours to complete this entire Great Family Bake Off! It will take some time but is so much fun and you will make awesome family memories. My kids are still talking about it!
So what are you waiting for?
Download the moderator/judges guide here:
Download the planning worksheet (so the kids can plan their signature and show-stopper bakes ahead of time) here:
Download the technical challenge recipe here
Check out our family’s “Bake Off” on youtube here or watch below:
Ready, Set…BAKE!
Please share this post if you enjoyed it. If you plan to host your own “Great Family Bake Off” we’d love to see it! Tag me @amybakesbread on Instagram or share your video clip in the comments section.
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