The Best Series To Awaken Your Inner Baker

"I've had a lot of success; I've had failures, so I learn from the failure" - Chef Gordon Ramsay

Like all things in life, some things just come easier to others. For professional bakers/chefs like: Gordon Ramsay, Sylvia Weinstock, or even Rachel Ray -- these individuals worked long and tireless hours to learn what it takes to bake/cook. While they may seem intimidating, they carry the same spunk and passion as anyone else. If you are willing to create your savory perfectionist vision into reality, you can and will. However, perfection is not key, it is practice.

While I would not consider myself to be an avid baker, I jump on the opportunity to test myself in the kitchen. I can remember being a young child, not much taller than the counters themselves, watching my grandmother peering across her kitchen as she tried to follow a recipe on: The Food Network. While she tried to follow the recipe by gathering the necessary ingredients, she always sighed defeated, writing the recipe down to follow and create on her own the next day. While my grandmother feared that I would burn myself, she would always allow me to do one thing with her: bake cookies. This tradition has stuck with me for as long as I can remember. While time has passed on, my grandmother cannot bake or cook as much as she used to -- so, she takes my place. She watches me gather the ingredients, set the timer, and I begin to bake.

But, not every recipe that I have ever tried has been perfect. Whether you throw in too much baking powder when it should be salt or insert flour when it should be sugar, you learn from your mistakes and hope that you do not make them again.

However, you should never feel sorry for baking nor should you feel bad about the mistakes which you have made. 

Netflix's Nailed It is a reality-competition baking series focusing on the lives of passionate bakers who strive to be crowned the next best baker. While there can be only one winner, no judge takes the Ramsay approach. All judges collectively consider the outcome of the confectionary presentations and judge them on: appearance, taste, and accuracy. In the end, each individual must reveal the sweet which they have created in their allotted time, but not before exclaiming: Nailed It! 

While the average viewer will most definitely gasp, cringe, and laugh till their heart's content -- to a baker, this show is inspirational and informative. 

While each individual narrates how they will recreate their given presentation, each judge will explain how it should be properly made. Not only will it have you intrigued by the hard-work which went into making it, but it will also help you become more accustomed to baking terminology, techniques, and much more. 

The best part about watching: Nailed It!? No episode has to be watched in order. Feel free to jump around and find an episode that looks most intriguing to you. Look for a cake for your next holiday party. Find a new way to make cake pops. Whatever it is, I am sure you will be pleased by the results of the professional bakers (and just might applaud the contestants themselves for their hard work too).

If you love Nailed It!, you may also want to check out the other two spinoffs of the existing show: Nailed It! Holiday! and Nailed It! Mexico (the newest addition).

Until Next Time!

-- Alicia