How Junior Bake Off taught me to be a better adult (and make uglier cakes) | Barbara Speed

The imaginable of a televised title that pits knife- and blowtorch-bearing children against 1 different is not precisely a relaxing one. And so, for years, I stuck to nan big type of The Great British Bake Off, for fearfulness of seeing a nine-year-old group themselves connected occurrence aliases acquisition nan disappointment that was already devastating capable connected nan look of a 46-year-old banker from Brentwood. But, heavy into 1 of nan lockdowns, I gave it a go, and recovered I had been wholly incorrect – this was, successful fact, nan Bake Off that nan format was calved for, and it would alteration my outlook connected much than conscionable baking.

Where nan big title is now populated by quasi-professionals, nan bakes successful nan inferior shelter (whose latest bid concludes connected Friday evening) are often hideous, usually inedible, and only very occasionally impressive. The 2 hosts – Ravneet Gill and erstwhile big Bake Off contestant Liam Charles – merit immoderate benignant of tv grant for eating them each without gagging. (Then again, they are besides responsible for choosing nan challenges – you want to eat aggregate rounds of glutinous frogs poached successful syrup? Cooked by children? Really?) And yet contempt nan lurid mush they regularly service up to nan judges, these children look to beryllium made of steel. There are occasional tears, and downcast moments, but they bounce backmost instantly – they are, arsenic it turns out, acold much resilient than their big counterparts. On coming seventh retired of 7 bakers successful a challenge, this season’s Poppy shrugged and said: “At slightest I didn’t travel eighth!”

Junior Bake Off contestant Imogen and presenter Harry Hill successful bid four. Photograph: Mark Bourdillon/Channel 4 / Love Productions

Granted, Rav and Liam’s feedback errs connected nan generous side, but that still doesn’t explicate these children’s expertise to motion astatine a haggard “mosaic biscuit diorama” not moreover their ain mother would eat and state it to beryllium “excellent”. It’s communal for a contestant to look down nan tube of nan camera and state that, fixed they came past coming connected almost each metric, they are resolved to beryllium prima baker – nan champion baker successful nan shelter – tomorrow. No shame, nary fear, nary humility. “I americium making my jam,” 1 contestant narrated this season, “which is nan champion jam successful nan world.”

Yet nan much that I deliberation astir it, nan little astonishing it is. One point astir children get successful spades is nonaccomplishment – nan expected learning curve astatine property 9 is steeper than thing we look arsenic adults. Children effort things they’ve ne'er done earlier each nan time, specified arsenic learning nan English connection from scratch, aliases algebra, aliases immoderate “jazz tap” is. They’re utilized to getting things wrong, and being told they’re superb anyway. Yes, children connected a baking show mightiness not beryllium typical of their cohort – but if thing you’d deliberation their high-achieving ways would make them much delicate to nan difficult knocks of a nationalist competition, wherever personification has to triumph and everyone other has to lose.

Perhaps arsenic a consequence of their cast-iron confidence, nan inferior bakers are much generous than nan adults, too. Contestants thief each other, sometimes earlier their ain bakes are moreover finished. “Don’t worry, you tin do this!” rings retired crossed nan shelter arsenic 4 children crowd information a bench to decorativeness disconnected someone’s piping. The precocious property limit has only precocious been brought down from 15 to 12, yet nary of nan children seemed to announcement nan unfairness of mini children competing against teens doubly their height, who could feasibly beryllium their babysitter.

As nan children make correction aft mistake, covering themselves successful nutrient dye and creating haunting bread likenesses of Captain Tom, I regularly find myself mislaid successful admiration. I emotion baking, but tin easy extremity into perfectionism aliases obsession: it’s a chemistry much than an art. You can’t propulsion successful a pinch of this, aliases a pinch of that. You person to travel nan recipe. Tell that, though, to Charlie, who, connected realising he had added “all nan salt” alternatively than a teaspoon, shrugged and said: “Well, this is going to beryllium rather salty now.” Tell that to Fyn, who added a full cookware of chilli powerfulness to his breadstuff dough, “gassing out” everyone successful nan tent, and later told an interviewer he recovered nan full point “super-funny”. (“I had to remake it,” he added, successful lawsuit you were successful immoderate doubt.) In this context, it’s much than a small embarrassing that I, arsenic an big woman, tin walk a full time mourning an unset mousse.

I’m not judge erstwhile they thatch america to fearfulness nonaccomplishment truthful much, to springiness imperfectly completed, insignificant tasks nan powerfulness to upset us. Maybe it’s successful nan letter cover erstwhile they manus retired GCSE results. But for nan corrective you need, move connected Channel 4 astatine 5pm. And past whip yourself up a garish, collapsed, enthusiasm-filled cake.

• Barbara Speed is simply a Guardian Opinion lawman editor