The prize pastry: Joanna Gaines hosts new baking competition for Magnolia
Lovers of puff pastries, cupcakes and scones unite! This summer is set to be full of delicious treats, as the talented Joanna Gaines welcomes hopeful bakers to the “Silos Baking Competition,” premiering Sunday, May 28, on the Magnolia Network. Filmed in front of a live studio audience at the Gaines’ Silos shopping complex in Waco, Texas, this new baking competition takes a different approach to the usual season-long competition format, instead welcoming a rotation of guest chefs during its duration. Each episode, Gaines welcomes five baking enthusiasts to the studio stage, offering them the opportunity to craft their best dishes for a panel of guest judges, including both Andrew Zimmern (“Family Dinner”) and Zoë François (“Zoë Bakes”). One winning dish will be chosen each episode, and in the finale, the five winners from previous episodes will return to compete, vying for the title of Baking Champion, the $100,000 grand prize and the chance to have their winning confection join the summer menu at Magnolia’s Silos Baking Company. Owned by Gaines, the Silos Baking Company has been running since 2016, offering sweets and treats such as biscuits, muffins and cookies to visitors and shoppers at the Silos. Many of the recipes were developed by Gaines herself, including “the prize pig” — a savory bacon and cheddar biscuit. A designer first and foremost, many of the owner’s concoctions bear fun names like “the shiplap cupcake.” While this will be the designer’s first competitive baking show, it is far from her first experience working on television. Joanna hosted “Fixer Upper” and its off-shoots alongside her husband, Chip, who also makes the occasional appearance in this latest venture. Aside from that, Gaines is also the co-founder of Magnolia (and its associated Magnolia Network and Magnolia Journal, of which she is also editor-in-chief), she is a New York Times bestselling author of multiple cookbooks, and, unsurprisingly, Joanna is quite the cook herself, previously having filmed an in-home special with the Food Network, “At Home With Joanna,” in which viewers watched as she made family favorites like zucchini bread, chili, chocolate cookies and more. She now hosts “Magnolia Table With Joanna Gaines,” much in the same vein, alongside this fledgling competition. With last summer’s one-off episode of “Silos Baking Competition: Holiday Edition” tallying more than 1.8 million views on premiere night, countless accolades and thriving businesses already under her belt, and ample experience in the kitchen, Joanna Gaines is set to impress yet again with “Silos’ Baking Competition,” premiering Sunday, May 28, on the Magnolia Network.