# The Great American Baking Show season 1

The first season of The Great American Baking Show, released under the title The Great Holiday Baking Show, premiered on ABC on November 30, 2015 as part of ABC's holiday programming schedule. Six amateur bakers competed in twelve challenges throughout the competition for the title of America's best holiday baker.
This season was hosted by husband and wife duo Nia Vardalos and Ian Gomez. The judging panel consisted of original The Great British Bake Off judge Mary Berry and American pastry chef Johnny Iuzzini. As with the British series, this season was filmed in Welford Park with slight holiday decorative modifications made in the set known as "The Tent".
After four weeks of competition, Lauren Katz was crowned the winner with Nicole Silva and Tim Samson as runners-up.

## Bakers

| Baker | Occupation | Hometown |
| Ainslie Forsum | Account manager | Los Angeles, California |
| Eddie Downs | Vocalist | Chicago, Illinois |
| Grace Langan | Hospital administrator | Staten Island, New York |
| Lauren Katz | Housewife | Ashburn, Virginia |
| Nicole Silva | Teacher | Hampton, Georgia |
| Tim Samson | Marketing director | Wildwood, New Jersey |

## Results summary

Elimination chart :
| Baker | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Lauren | SB | SB | | WINNER |
| Nicole | | | | Runner-Up |
| Tim | | | SB | Runner-Up |
| Ainslie | | | OUT | |
| Eddie | | OUT | | |
| Grace | OUT | | | |
Color Key:

## Episodes
### Episode 1: Cookies

For the first signature bake, the bakers were given two hours to make two unique batches of ten cookies, with one batch having icing. Later in the technical bake, bakers only had one hour to bake sixteen brandy snaps according to Mary Berry's recipe. The final bake of the week called the showstopper required bakers to bake a structured gingerbread with decorative designs and cookies around it within five hours.
Color key: Eliminated Star Baker Winner
| Baker | Signature (Cookies) | Technical (Brandy snaps) | Showstopper (Gingerbread 3D scene) |
| Ainslie | Linzer Cookies and Iced Orange and Cardamom Sugar Cookies | 5th | Gingerbread Beach House |
| Eddie | Hot Chocolate Gingersnaps and Iced Brown Butter Spice Cookies | 2nd | Grandma's Gingerbread House |
| Grace | Marble Butter Cookies and Iced Peppermint Candy Cookies | 6th | Gingerbread Hospital |
| Lauren | Rugelach and Iced Tangerine-Chai Sugar Cookies | 1st | Gingerbread Pagoda |
| Nicole | Iced Mint Chocolate Chip Santa Cookies and Christmas Breakfast Cookies | 4th | Gingerbread Eiffel Tower |
| Tim | Czech Nut Cookies and Iced Sour Cream Sugar Cookies | 3rd | Gingerbread Carousel |

### Episode 2: Cake

Festive holiday bakes continued in the tent as bakers had two hours to create a yule log sponge cake with a sweet filling of their choice. The technical bake was based on the recipe of Johnny Iuzzini's tiramisu cake with ladyfinger crisps. For the final showstopper bake, the bakers created a "Twelve Days of Christmas" fruitcake that revolved around one of the verses from the traditional Christmas carol.
| Baker | Signature (Yule log) | Technical (Tiramisu) | Showstopper ("Twelve Days of Christmas" Fruitcake) |
| Ainslie | Coffee & Cream Yule Log | 1st | Five Golden Rings Fruitcake |
| Eddie | German Chocolate Yule Log | 5th | Two Turtle Doves Fruitcake |
| Lauren | Traditional Chocolate Yule Log | 2nd | Three French Hens Fruitcake |
| Nicole | Pumpkin Spice Yule Log | 3rd | Partridge in a Spiced Pear Tree Fruitcake |
| Tim | Rosemary Almond Yule Log | 4th | Partridge in a Pear Tree Fruitcake |

### Episode 3: Pastry

In the semifinals, the bakers created two batches of breakfast pastries with any holiday flavor of their choosing. The technical tested the skills of the remaining bakers in Mary Berry's Christmas fruit tart. For the final pastry bake, the bakers created a centerpiece made from cream puffs and pastry pieces for a spot in the final three.
| Baker | Signature (Breakfast pastries) | Technical (Fruit tart) | Showstopper (Pate a choux) |
| Ainslie | Apple Butter Pinwheels and Raspberry Chocolate Twists | 1st | Butterscotch Cream Puff Stacked Present |
| Lauren | Pumpkin Maple Spice Pastries and Cranberry-Orange Pastries | 3rd | Pâte À Choux Christmas Tree |
| Nicole | Pumpkin Pops and Honeyed Fig Tarts | 4th | Pâte À Choux Reindeer |
| Tim | Cranberry-Orange Danish Puffs and Rohlicky | 2nd | Chocolate Peppermint Reindeer Choux |

### Episode 4: Final

The final three begun with the signature bake, a holiday pie, to be baked under two-and-a-half hours. The pie also had to be accompanied with a delectable sauce on the side. In the technical, the bakers baked a candy cane-shaped bread with delicate icing and fruit. The final showstopper of the season lasted five hours, as bakers built up to make a three-dimensional presents cake.
| Baker | Signature (Holiday pie) | Technical (Candy cane bread) | Showstopper (3D presents cake) |
| Lauren | Bourbon-Raisin Caramel Apple Pie with Salted Caramel Sauce | 1st | Spumoni Surprise Cake |
| Nicole | Sweet Potato Pie with Pecan Praline Sauce | 3rd | Nativity Surprise Cake |
| Tim | Apple-Cranberry Pie with Maple Custard Sauce | 2nd | Holiday Lights Cake |

## Ratings

Viewership and ratings per episode of The Great American Baking Show season 1 :
| No. | Title | Air date | Rating/share (18–49) | Viewers (millions) |
| 1 | "Cookie Week" | November 30, 2015 | 1.2/3 | 4.38 |
| 2 | "Cake Week" | December 7, 2015 | 0.9/3 | 3.72 |
| 3 | "Pastry Week" | December 14, 2015 | 0.9/3 | 3.33 |
| 4 | "Final Week" | December 21, 2015 | 1.1/4 | 4.46 |