What happens to the bakes from Heel Holland Bakt?

Sure, Janny and Robert can eat a lot, I imagine. But eat all the bakes every single filming day? Nobody can do that. So what happens to the leftovers when the cameras stop rolling?

I asked Corina Schoonen, a contestant on season 2 of HHB (the season Menno de Koning won; Corina came fourth).

“Until the judges have tasted your bake, it is kept chilled. After that, the tastiest bake—which isn’t always the winning bake—is eaten by the entire crew. There are buckets with forks on every workstation, so everyone can dig in straight away. It’s not like everyone attacks it like a bunch of savages, though; people simply ask nicely.”

And the rest?
“The rest is taken home by the baker. Or people taste and exchange bakes among themselves.”

How come the winning bake isn’t always the tastiest?
“Who wins depends on more than one factor: did you stick to the assignment? How beautifully is it finished? There are five to seven different criteria for each assignment. Taste is only one of them.”

How does practising at home work—does everyone get a specific baking budget?
“No, you pay for everything yourself. So how much you practise and which ingredients you use depends on your budget. But that doesn’t mean you’ll win faster if you have a bigger budget. Often, such a ‘limitation’ actually leads to more creativity. And more and more expensive ingredients aren’t always better for the taste.”

Maybe a bit cheeky, but how much weight do you gain during a competition like that?
“Well, not that much. On the contrary; you’re so busy all the time that you have to remember to eat and drink enough!”

And finally: who draws the short straw and does the washing-up?
“That’s done by the ‘runners’, a kind of assistants on set. There is a crate next to your workstation; you put your things in it, and it is collected every half hour, washed, and brought back.”

Read also:

• André van Duin returns with a new season of the baking show Doorbakken
• 5 things to keep in mind when baking with chocolate
• Replacing sugar when baking? Well…