I believe Daniel’s vision on The Great American Baking Show deserved more praise

The Great American Baking Show season 3 wrapped up with its finale episode, released on April 11, 2025, on Roku. The season followed amateur bakers as they faced intricate challenges, from mastering tarts to creating elaborate landscape-themed cakes. The finale featured finalists Kim Goldfeder Clarke, Adela, and Daniel competing for the winner’s title, with Kim ultimately crowned the champion.

However, while Kim’s victory was well-earned, I believe Daniel’s vision and creativity in the finale deserved more recognition. Daniel’s showstopper creation—a fairy tea garden landscape—showcased not only his technical skills but also his imaginative storytelling.

His toffee pudding cake, sausage breakfast pie, and almond shortbread cookies brought together a unique blend of flavours and concepts, making his presentation stand out. Even judges Prue Leith and Paul Hollywood praised his “imaginative” concept, yet it felt like the finale overlooked how much thought Daniel put into balancing creativity with execution.

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Daniel’s showstopper had the most imaginative concept in The Great American Baking Show finale

In the final challenge of The Great American Baking Show season 3, the bakers were asked to create a spring landscape centerpiece featuring a cake and two additional bakes, one of which had to be savoury.

Daniel’s approach stood out for its creativity—he designed a fairy tea garden landscape that included a toffee pudding cake, a sausage breakfast pie, and almond shortbread cookies. His concept was cohesive and inventive, creating a whimsical scene that connected all his bakes into a single story.

Prue and Paul were clearly impressed, calling his design “imaginative” and applauding the ambition behind it. The judges praised Daniel’s flavours, with Paul calling his almond cookies “spectacular” and acknowledging the overall strength of his idea.

However, they critiqued the breakfast pie for being “overseasoned.” While this feedback was valid, it felt like a small flaw in the context of Daniel’s overall performance. The effort he put into developing a clear, creative vision—something that combined baking skill with visual storytelling—was a key highlight of the finale.

In a competition where storytelling through food is part of the appeal, Daniel’s ability to merge taste, technique, and theme should have been given more weight in the final decision.

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I believe Daniel deserved more credit for his creative approach

Reflecting on Daniel’s journey throughout The Great American Baking Show season 3, I believe he brought more than just baking skills—he brought heart, creativity, and a unique perspective. From the start, Daniel wanted his bakes to tell a story. Whether it was his winter wedding-inspired tart or the playful flavours in later challenges, his bakes felt personal and thoughtful.

His finale showstopper, the fairy tea garden, was the perfect example of this approach. It combined a toffee pudding cake, a sausage breakfast pie, and almond shortbread cookies into a single, imaginative theme. The ambition to create a cohesive, story-driven centerpiece was impressive.

While Kim’s polished bakes secured her the title, I believe Daniel’s creativity deserved more credit. His ability to balance multiple elements, while sticking to his theme, showed a level of artistry that set him apart. The judges gave feedback on individual bakes, but there wasn’t enough focus on the bigger picture—how Daniel’s final creation worked as a whole.

For me, Daniel’s work captured what The Great American Baking Show is all about—baking as an art form and a personal story. His efforts deserved more recognition in the finale.

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Stream the latest season of The Great American Baking Show streaming on The Roku Channel.