Carolyn Young Larmore (Chapman; Google Scholar) & Abigail Patthoff (Chapman), Flour, Fondant & Feedback: What the Great British Bake Off Can Teach Us About Critiquing Student Legal Writing: 

We've all been there: a stack of legal memos towering, grading deadlines approaching, and suddenly that British baking show on Netflix seems irresistible. But what if your "Great British Bake Off" binge could actually make you a better legal writing professor? As it turns out, this delightful distraction serves up more than just a sweet escape from grading—it offers a surprisingly apt model for critiquing student work.

What is the Great British Bake Off?
The Great British Bake Off, or GBBO as it's affectionately known, has become a global phenomenon, capturing hearts even across the pond in America. While it hardly needs an introduction, we’ll briefly set the scene. Each season, twelve amateur bakers from across Great Britain compete in a giant kitchen tent on the lawn of a picturesque manor home. Weekly themed challenges, such as "French Patisserie Week" or "Bread Week," test the bakers' skills in timed trials. Two witty hosts provide commentary and narration, while judges Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith offer critiques and determine the bakers' fates. Each week, one baker is eliminated and another is crowned "Star Baker." There's no cash prize at stake; the ultimate winner receives only a commemorative cake plate and bragging rights—yet the show's popularity endures.

So what does this baking show have to do with legal writing? GBBO serves up a masterclass in project feedback—a crucial aspect of our roles as legal writing instructors.

While Prue and Paul didn't whip up this feedback recipe from scratch, and scholars in our field have long explored effective critique methods for law student writing, viewing these practices through the GBBO lens lends a fresh perspective. This article offers a tasting menu of best practices: for new teachers, it's a starter course in effective feedback; for seasoned professors, it's a novel way to model critique techniques when training teaching assistants. So, let's don our aprons and dive into the key ingredients for giving feedback on student writing, as inspired by the Great British Bake Off.

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