Great British Baking Show holiday special was just what we needed

Great British Baking Show: Holidays is back for season 3

While this season of The Great British Baking Show might be over, season 3 of the holiday special has just arrived and it’s just what we all need to get into the Christmas spirit! This season features two episodes, one with bakers from past seasons and one with the cast of The Derry Girls. Is it more fun to watch than the season that just aired? Yes.

Since these were filmed pre-2020, host Sandy Toksvig is still on the show along with Noel Fielding and judges Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith. The first episode brought back Briony and Terry from 2018, Yan and Tom from 2017. Their first challenge was to make cake pops. Pretty simple, right? Not so much.

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While most of the bakers had delicious cake pops, their presentation wasn’t all that great. Let’s just say they wouldn’t be winning any awards for design. But overall, they were fun, the bakers clearly had fun, and most importantly, they tasted good!

Next was the technical challenge where the bakers had to make a sausage roll wreath. It’s pretty much just sausage covered in puff pastry and formed to make a wreath shape. Most of the bakers did really well, but Briony’s was under baked and Terry’s puff pastry was more of a shortcrust instead of a puff pastry. Tom (surprising himself) came in first place.

Past bakers and The Derry Girls were featured on season 3 of Great British Baking Show: Holidays

The showstopper challenge was what you might expect from a holiday baking challenge. It was all about gingerbread! The bakers had to make a place that was special to them around the holidays all out of gingerbread. Briony made a Christmas train, Terry made the Chrysler building, Yan made her own house, and Tom created a building he loves in Edinburgh.

Tom, Terry (who had Paul and Prue as dancing Santas on his gingerbread building), and Briony’s creations turned out beautifully while Yan didn’t have enough time to finish hers. In the end, Briony came in first place overall.

The second episode with the cast of The Derry Girls provided the silliness and the laughs that so many of us needed this year. Saoirse-Monica Jackson, Nicola Coughlan, Jamie-Lee O’Donnell, Siobhan McSweeney, and Dylan Llewellyn all gathered in the tent to see if they had what it takes to win the bake-off.

The challenges included making a trifle for the signature, salmon and beetroot blinis for the technical, and making a 3D cake based on their favorite decade for the showstopper.

While the cast had originally deemed Nicola to be the best baker of them all, it was Jamie-Lee and Saoirse who ended up doing the best with Saoirse taking the top spot overall. It seemed like she even surprised herself with how well she did.

But while the bakes weren’t all spectacular, the humor and the fun that was had between the cast, the hosts, and the judges made it such an enjoyable episode.

If you’re feeling down or lonely this holiday season, watching these two episodes are sure to make your feel at least a little bit better.

What did you think of this season of The Great British Baking Show: Holidays? Let us know in the comments below!