‘Halloween Baking Championship’ Might Actually Help Viewers Learn to Bake
Food Network leads the frontline when it comes to providing its viewers with food-related entertainment. From cooking competitions to bake-offs, there is nothing any foodie might not get from Food Network.
On its list of incredible programs, there are two baking competitions which are the flag bearers for the network. These shows are the Halloween Baking Championship and Halloween Wars.
The two shows may sound and look similar, but many fans seem to find one more exciting and full of insight than the other. Read on to find out which baking show has fans glued to their screens.
What is the ‘Halloween Baking Championship’?
Halloween Baking Championship is a baking competition on Food Network that runs for a couple of weeks in October making it one of the network’s seasonal shows. From its name, the Halloween Baking Championship places its focus on Halloween-themed treats and desserts.
Every episode on the show consists of two rounds. The first one is called the ‘Preliminary Heat’. Here, the bakers are informed of the themes chosen for them, and accorded different cook times depending on the desserts they’ve been assigned.
The treats are usually in the form of cupcakes or cookies. Once the first round’s winner is determined, they aren’t told until the next round. The winner of the first round is usually given an advantage going into the next round. The advantage typically varies with each episode meaning that it is difficult to determine what the advantage would be until they are told.
In the next round, the ‘Main Heat’, the contestants get longer hours to make a delicious treat. The winner of the ‘Main Heat’ advances to the next episode while the loser goes home except in the final episode. The final episode consists of 4 chefs competing for the grand prize of $25000. The winner also gets a spot on Food Network Magazine.
What is ‘Halloween Wars’ all about?
Halloween Wars is also a seasonal program running over a five weeks course period on Food Network. The show features advanced level cake sculptors, pumpkin carvers and sugar artists pitted against each other to get the best Halloween-themed cake display.
Much like the Halloween Baking Championship, Halloween Wars features two rounds in each episode. The first round is called the ‘Small Scare’. In this round, the three-person team is given 45 minutes to come up with what they consider a spooky-themed treat.
The winning team in the ‘Small Scare’ is awarded an assistant for the second round. In the next round, the ‘Spine Chiller’, the contestants are given 5 hours to come up with large-scale confectionary sculptures from a new theme. The themes provided to the teams in the second round are usually based on the episode’s title.
Why fans can learn more from ‘Halloween Baking Championship’ than ‘Halloween Wars’
While most of the shows on Food Network are usually for entertainment purposes, some provide viewers with helpful knowledge and insight into creating delicious meals. From the premises of the two shows mentioned above, it goes without saying that viewers can learn more from Halloween Baking Championship than from Halloween Wars.
This is because, in the former, the contestants create regular-sized pastries and treats, which can be easily recreated even if one isn’t a seasoned baker. In Halloween Wars, most of the contestants are pastry artists with vast knowledge on how to bake real-life delicacies and sculpt anything out of a cake.
Most of the cake designs on Halloween Wars are challenging to recreate given that many of the network’s viewers aren’t actual bakers. The concern for the same is evident in one Reddit thread where many fans seem to feel as if the outrageous cake designs made on Halloween Wars are usually made for television and lack personality compared to the creations on Halloween Baking Championship.
As one fan wrote: “I like everything about Halloween Baking Championship better. The contestants are less whiny, the final products change from week to week and I’ve picked up a bunch of baking tips over the seasons.”
