The Great British Bake Off (or Baking Show, in the U.S.) is a competitive baking show that started its sixteenth season this week. This show follows a group of amateur bakers through a series of baking challenges, and one contestant is eliminated in each round, until a winner is chosen from the final three bakers. The series was inspired by competitive baking events in traditional village fêtes in England.
One aspect I enjoy about the show is the camaraderie of the contestants, and the fact that the judges, while truthful, are not mean-spirited. Since this is traditional British baking, there are often desserts that I have not heard of, and at least one weekly challenge allows the bakers to put their own spin on the recipe called for. For the first seven seasons, Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood were the judges; since 2017, Prue Leith has served as the second judge. All three of the judges, as well as the show itself, have published cookbooks. The cookbooks, as well as other tie-ins to the television show, are listed below. With the new season beginning, and the weather turning to Fall, you might like to pick up a baking book and try your hand at a new recipe or two.
Cookbooks
- How to Bake by Paul Hollywood (2012)
- Everyday: 100 Foolproof Recipes by Linda Collister (2013)
- Paul Hollywood’s Bread (2013)
- Baking with Mary Berry (2015)
- The Great British Bake Off: Perfect Cakes and Bakes to Make at Home by Linda Collister (2016)
- The Big Book of Amazing Cakes (2019)
- Entertaining with Mary Berry and Lucy Young (2020)
- A Bake for All Seasons (2021)
- Mary Berry Cooks to Perfection: Step by Step (2021)
- The Great British Baking Show: Favorite Flavors (2022)
- Bake: My Best Ever Recipes for the Classics by Paul Hollywood (2022)
- Bliss on Toast: 75 Simple Recipes by Prue Leith
- Mary Berry’s Baking Bible: Fully Updated with over 250 New and Classic Recipes (2023)
- The Great British Baking Show: Comfort Bakes (2024)
- Life’s too Short to Stuff a Mushroom by Prue Leith (2024)
- Celebrate: Joyful Baking All Year Round by Paul Hollywood (2025)
Other nonfiction
- The Story of the Great British Bake Off by Alison Singh (2017)
- The Great British Baking Show Game
DVDs
- Mary Berry’s Ultimate Christmas (2023)
- The Great British Baking Show (multiple seasons)
New at the Library
Fiction
- The Ghostwriter by Julie Clark
- The Correspondent by Virginia Evans
- What About the Bodies by Ken Jaworowski
Nonfiction
- Cleaning House: The Fight to Rid Our Homes of Toxic Chemicals by Lindsay Dahl
- Mostly French: Recipes from a Kitchen in Provence by Makenna Held
- Born in Flames: The Business of Arson and the Remaking of the American City by Bench Ansfield
Children
- Stompie the Zombie by Margery Cuyler
- How Do You Build a Bridge? by Bryan Langdo
- The Haunting of Bellington Cottage by Laura Parnum
