Sugar Rush: All sugar and little substance from this American cakes-for-cash show

It often takes being immersed in a foreign culture to stir any latent national pride.

Watching Netflix’s new baking competition show I begin to long for the Great British Bake Off. Things come to a head when the host, Hunter March, who is known in the US for fronting a channel called Awesomeness TV, attempts banter with a contestant.

Samantha tells him that she is making a cake in the shape of a celestial body because her significant other is “a big science nerd”.

March makes it weird, saying: “I wasn’t hitting on you, you don’t need to say that.” The atmosphere deflates like an undercooked soufflé. Mel and Sue, or even Noel Fielding and Prue Leith, would never have misjudged a joke so clunkily.

Still, Sugar Rush lives up to its name — all pounding nightclub music and headache-inducing saccharine colours. The premise is simple and capitalist. There are four pairs of bakers, three knock-out rounds against the clock and a $10,000 cash prize.

America brands itself as the land of opportunity, where a man with no political experience can end up running the country. It’s now a place where you can get rich just by baking a cake. If the bakers complete the first two challenges in under the allotted time, those precious saved minutes get added on to the final round — opening up the tactical dilemma of whether to take your time and make the perfect cake or rush and bank the time, risking being knocked out.

The judges are kind, sugar-coating criticism by always saying something positive first — watching them is a masterclass in constructive management. There’s Candace Nelson, founder of Sprinkles Cupcakes, the world’s first cupcake bakery with its own baked goods ATM. She is the neatest cupcake eater I have ever seen, taking a delicate bite so not a dot of icing is misplaced.

Adriano Zumbo has experience on the other side — he was a contestant on MasterChef Australia and went on to present the TV show Zumbo’s Just Desserts.

Then there are guest judges. First up is chef Nancy Silverton, who owns a pizzeria in Los Angeles and is disappointed that the cakes don’t have a savoury element.

The contestants are an engaging bunch. There’s a token man, Marvin, although his wife and childhood sweetheart Monique calls the shots. The best pair are punky Viviane and Samantha, who have tattoos and tease rivals Bonnie and Breanna for wearing tutus under their polka-dot aprons and always making pink cakes.

Their final cake is inspired by Samantha’s hero Carl Sagan and features his quote “We are all made of star stuff”. She proves my theory that baking isn’t actually about liking food but precise (or anal?) decorating — an outlet for many frustrated people, often women, to be creative when they are repressed in other areas of their lives.

Sam looks after the delicate piping, while the no-nonsense sergeant majorish Viv is timekeeper. At one point Viv goes off on a tangent, telling us how the first thing she baked was a cheesecake and that’s how she met her man: “So single ladies, bake cheesecake.” It’s not very feminist.

Meanwhile, their rivals in polka dots are embarrassed because the ice cream cone at the top of their towering pink confection is too cylindrical and looks like… well they don’t want to say it. “Just make it pointier,” suggests one.

This episode’s theme is “surprise” and the bakers are bold — there’s a lychee and sparkling-wine cupcake and red-wine chocolate cake, with added prosciutto for smokiness.

So there’s enough to fill the gap until Noel and Prue return but the UK is still where the star bakers are at.

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