Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Baker’s Dozen’ On Hulu, A Feel-Good Baking Competition Show Where Pros Go Up Against Home Bakers

If there’s any gift streaming has given us, it’s an endless offering of baking competition shows; from The Great British Baking Show and Sugar Rush to Zumbo’s Just Desserts and Nailed It!, there’s some kind of culinary entertainment for everyone out there. Hulu has cooked up something new and exciting with Baker’s Dozen, a competition series hosted by Sister, Sister star Tamera Mowry-Housley and former White House pastry chef Bill Yosses. 

BAKER’S DOZEN: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: We get quick glimpses of beautiful pastries before we’re introduced to our hosts.

The Gist: Thirteen bakers – some avid home bakers, others trained professionals – arrive ready to bake their little hearts out. Each of the bakers get their own little outdoor station for this first round, and only five of them will advance to the Bake Shop – the large, tent-covered kitchen of pastel dreams. These bakers range from bakery owners and chefs to wedding deejays and former personal trainers, from self-taught (there is some delightful banter about attending “YouTube University” and “Pinterest Tech”) to highly trained. In the first round, the bakers are tasked with decorating a bouquet of cake pops and are judged on creativity, presentation, and execution. Here, it’s less about the taste and more about eating with our eyes.

The bakers all do their best to create some truly memorable cake pop bouquets, but only five advance to the next round, where they have a shot at getting advice from a surprise guest judge, and taking home the golden rolling pin and $5,000. The second round sees our contestants tasked with baking a baker’s dozen of 13 identical pastries – and they’ll be judged on taste and uniformity this time, too. After they serve up their beautiful batches of various pastries, only 3 bakers advance to the final round, where they meet this week’s surprise guest judge and must concoct a creative dessert mashup. Only one can take home the grand prize, but it sure is sweet to be along for the ride!

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Baker’s Dozen will bring to mind other baking competition series like The Great British Baking Show, Sugar Rush, Zumbo’s Just Desserts, as well as other competition shows, like The Big Flower Fight and Full Bloom.

Our Take: There’s something inherently soothing about shows like Baker’s Dozen; this isn’t a competition series where the judges are there to humiliate the contestants for whatever terrible kitchen mishaps go on, or where the contestants are at each other’s throats in pursuit of some crazy grand prize. Instead, it’s a sweet, upbeat show as easy on the heart as its pastel color scheme is on the eyes. Baking competitions are everywhere these days, but rather than attempting to emulate the dulcet, extremely English tones of The Great British Baking Show or the fast-paced high stakes of Sugar Rush, Baker’s Dozen finds its own easygoing feeling, largely thanks to the easy, breezy chemistry between its two hosts. Tamera Mowry-Housley and Bill Yosses are both gentle judges with a good sense of humor, making even the cheesier scripted moments fun – and their respective experiences in the kitchen only help to make the show more interesting for viewers.

What stands out to me about Baker’s Dozen is how kind it all feels; everyone genuinely seems to be rooting for each other, and you don’t really want anyone to fail. There are no villains on Baker’s Dozen, just a group of pastry-loving people trying their very best. Baker’s Dozen doesn’t do anything particularly innovative, but it doesn’t need to; viewers who experience cravings for baking competition series know what they want, and Baker’s Dozen delivers; delightful judges, endearing contestants (who occasionally make a very human mistake in the kitchen), and mouthwatering shots of beautiful baked goods. You can’t really ask for more.

Sex and Skin: None.

Parting Shot: Baker’s Dozen celebrates its first winner and bids us farewell with one more look at the tent-housed kitchen from above.

Sleeper Star: I was almost immediately won over by Albert, the former personal trainer who has become an accomplished confectioner by teaching himself. Every round, he does something totally out of the box, a big smile across his face the whole time, delighted just to be there and be able to share his kooky creations with the rest of the world. Half of what makes these kinds of shows so fun to watch is the quality of its contestants, and there is no shortage of characters on Baker’s Dozen.

Most Pilot-y Line: Baker’s Dozen has such a sense of who it is that even the introduction of the rules and the way the show works don’t feel pilot-y or unnatural. No complaints here.

Our Call: STREAM IT. Baker’s Dozen is as comforting as a warm pastry, a delightful, big-hearted take on a familiar format likely to please baking show fans and casual viewers alike.

Jade Budowski is a freelance writer with a knack for ruining punchlines, hogging the mic at karaoke, and thirst-tweeting. Follow her on Twitter: @jadebudowski.

Stream Baker's Dozen on Hulu