'Tis The Season For A Halloween Baking Series

It’s that time of the year when Food Network rolls out its spate of holiday themed shows. They’re fun to watch with a lot of cool bakes and high-drama. If you’re into culinary art or any art, this is an exciting time of year. 

The first two are Halloween Wars and Halloween Baking Championship. The former brings together a team of artists to create a Halloween themed diorama. The latter is comprised of single competitors trying to outbake each other. Both are judged by a panel of culinary experts who are accomplished in their respective culinary disciplines.

The competitors are professional pastry chefs as well as amateur bakers. They are all talented and passionate about their craft with a lot of energy and emotion.

So let’s talk about the 800lb macaron in the room. Food Network and HGTV have been justly criticized for their lack of representation over the years. The competitors and judges all pass the “paper bag test”and while Black critics were screaming about the homogeneity, the networks themselves have been conspicuously quiet.

Someone over there must have been listening because, little by little, there has been increased inclusion. However, their version of inclusion feels little more than a tick above tokenism, since anyone who is melanated rarely gets past mid-season. On the other hand, there has been an increase of Hispanic competitors.

Here’s the rub.

Hispanic competitors are comfortable doing recipes from their respective cultures but the African-American competitors just do whatever fancy-shmancy, French recipe the Caucasian competitors are doing…and not well. It is disappointing when Black competitors fail to do any recipes from African-American cuisine. 

These series also tend to be loosely formulaic. The host always facilitates the stress level by acting worried and nervous about the competitors finishing the challenge in the allotted time. 

They always finish.

The dramatic cut-aways are a typical occurrence after a competitor says or does something evocative like drop their bake on the ground and then exclaim, “I have to start all over.” They all keep you guessing for an hour or so about who will win the challenge. 

Then there’s the cash prize. In the past it’s been “life-changing money” they can use to expand their business or take their significant other on a cruise which endears them to the viewer. More recently they have switched to awarding payouts for each individual challenge.

If you watch the shows for what they are, they’re entertaining. It’s a good way to spend an uneventful weeknight relaxing on the couch. The shows in September lead up to Halloween and the shows in November lead up to Christmas. A three month rollercoaster ride that will have you craving cakes, cookies, and pies.