The Untold Truth Of Kids Baking Championship

Listed by IMDb as having just finished up its eighth season, Kids Baking Championship is a cooking competition show produced by the Food Network. The Cooking Channel describes the premise of the show as a group of eight young bakers who, after being selected during a nationwide search, compete in baking challenges to win a grand prize and be crowned the Kids Baking Champion for their season. 

The prize package generally includes a set of Food Network brand baking products, a profile in Food Network Magazine, one of their original cakes featured at bakery Charm City Cakes, and $10,000. The He Said She Said Experience describes an episode of the show as a simple competition, where the bakers are given a task tailored to their age group, with a twist added midway to keep them on their toes. Once completed, the judges choose the best and worst baked goods from the set, and eliminate some contestants from the competition.

The Hollywood Reporter notes Kids Baking Championship is hosted by Food Network alum Duff Goldman and actress and cookbook author Valeri Bertinelli, and describes the show as a breath of fresh air compared to other cooking and baking competition shows. They praise the young competitors for being polite and caring towards one another, helping out and lending ingredients or a hand when another child finds themselves in need. 

They explain the hosts and judges are more compassionate than usual as well, seeking to have the contestants learn and grow from errors instead of simply criticizing them. While they do not sugarcoat mistakes, there is an air of kindness in each critique levied at the baked goods. While the article asserts that the show can be melodramatic and the youngsters seem a little coached when delivering lines, fans of the show on Amazon love how it inspires kids to learn a new skill and practice following directions.

In an interview on Double Talk, host Duff Goldman said he learned a lot working with the children on Kids Baking Championship, noting that they taught him the value of perseverance and that it is never too late to start over when something isn't going well. He said that working with the contestants reminds him to keep trying new methods and to strive to have an open mind when confronted with new information, and states that mentoring the competitors on Kids Baking Championship is the coolest thing the Food Network allows him to do.

If you think you or your kid would be perfect for the Kids Baking Championship, you can apply through the official casting website, Baking Championship Casting, to be considered. They highly recommend you record and upload a video of your entrant showing their stuff, and require photos of three baked masterpieces and a headshot. In an interview with M Live, season two contestant Jane Haviland described the process of being selected for the show. She said after applying she was interviewed over a Skype video call, then sent in an audition tape, had a second interview over the phone, and finally flew to Los Angeles for a test run which she referred to as a "live bake," before receiving a phone call from the Food Network offering her a slot as one of the kid bakers in their second season.