Paul Hollywood reveals his biggest issue with American baking

Paul Hollywood has revealed his biggest gripe with American baking versus British baking.

Following the release of The Great American Baking Show: Celebrity Holiday, Paul Hollywood – along with fellow Great British Bake Off judge Prue Leith – recently spoke about the differences between American baking and British baking in an interview with Eater.

When it comes to baked goods, the GBBO host admitted that American desserts are “a little bit sweeter” than British baking. Although Hollywood said he appreciates how American bakers celebrate their history or culture through baking, there is one aspect of American baking that he isn’t particularly fond of.

“I also think that American bakers tend to celebrate whichever area they’re from in the United States,” he told Eater. “They celebrate their local food, from the Mississippi mud pie to pecan pie, and I like that. I like the fact that they promote whatever they have at hand.”

However, the judge maintained that both American and British sweets are “essentially very, very similar.

“The history of American baking has its original roots somewhere in Europe, and it’s changed over the years as it’s been passed down through the generations and been tweaked,” he added. “It’s become a specifically American thing.”

Although American baking tends to be sweeter, Hollywood said: “I just can’t take the portion sizes that get offered. That’s all.”

The Great American Baking Show will return to television screens in 2023, streaming exclusively on the Roku Channel. In the re-vamped series, GBBO judges Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith will also appear together on American television for the first time.

In 2013, CBS aired a spinoff of the beloved British show, titled The American Baking Competition. The show was hosted by Jeff Foxworthy and featured Paul Hollywood and Mexican-American chef Marcela Valladolid as judges.

The series was unsuccessful and rebranded in 2015 as The Great American Baking Show on ABC, hosted by Nia Vardalos and Ian Gomez, with judges Mary Berry and American pastry chef Johnny Iuzzini. Then, Berry was replaced by Hollywood just before the show was pulled off the air during its third season following sexual harassment allegations against Iuzzini.

Now, the Roku Channel has picked up the series and teased viewers with a special holiday-themed episode, The Great American Baking Show: Celebrity Holidays, which premiered on 2 December.

While speaking to Eater, Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith also addressed the backlash to Mexican Week on GBBO this season. The episode attracted criticism for its “offensive” depiction of Mexican food and culture, which many people called cultural appropriation.

Fans of the series also condemned the stereotypical use of sombreros and maracas, as presenters mispronounced Spanish words and made “tacky” jokes.

Hollywood said he felt “gutted” about the reaction because he had just come back from spending three weeks in Mexico before filming the episode.

“I spent a month over there with Mexican chefs, working with tacos and enjoying the food in Tijuana and Mexico City and Oaxaca and Cancun,” he explained. “I was all over the place, and we set the challenges based on what I’d seen there. The challenges were very good, and everyone did a good job. I was gutted. I mean, I was really upset about it.”

Leith added that “we never go out to be controversial” and they “didn’t mean” to cause offense with the episode.

“We try to be dead honest. It was quite unfortunate that quite a few people took offense, but we certainly didn’t mean it,” she said. “As Paul says, the thing about Bake Off is that it absolutely represents inclusivity and diversity and tolerance and togetherness. I don’t want to sound sentimental, but the fact is that the vibe of Bake Off is entirely cooperative and encouraging. So the idea that we were set out to insult anybody is ridiculous.”

The Great American Baking Show: Celebrity Holidays is now airing on the Roku Channel.