The Biggest Mistake Prue Leith Says People Make When Baking - Exclusive

Baking is both an art and a science; as such, a lot of things can go wrong. Anyone who has encountered issues while baking knows that it's easy to make a mistake, but some slip-ups are more common than others. We spoke with Prue Leith, judge of "The Great American Baking Show," in an exclusive interview to find out the most common baking mistake she sees — given that her life is spent judging different bakes, no one knows better.

From her experience on the show, she said, "The most common mistake is running out of time." The proportion of time-related troubles to other issues is mind-blowing: "Nearly everything, a good three-quarters of our problems, are that somebody hasn't been able to finish properly." This is not a problem that is specific just to baking against the clock in the "Baking Show" tent, however. Even while baking at home or for an event, just trying to speed things up can have disastrous results in almost every baking situation.

Prue Leith further explained to us that time-related issues can take many forms. "['The Great American Baking Show' contestants] either had to take something out of the oven too soon and it's not properly baked, or they're having to skimp on the decoration." While these may not seem like significant concerns, both overbaked and underbaked goods can be unpleasant — and, in some cases, inedible. But even when a baked good is made correctly, if cooling time hasn't been adequately factored in, the best-cooked cake can still fall apart. "Most often," said Leith, "they're having to put chocolate or icing or buttercream on top of a hot cake, which means that the decoration slides off or it melts or it makes a mess."

The best way to avoid these baking disasters is to stick to the instructions. Most instructions will give an estimated time it takes to complete a recipe, both for baking and until the baked good is complete. "You need to have a time plan," Leith said. "If they follow the instructions, the chances are it's going to taste great." So follow the directions, and try not to rush your bakes!

"The Great American Baking Show: Celebrity Holiday" is available for streaming on the Roku channel.