In the Kitchen with Martin Sorge: Recipes, Reality TV, and Really Great Bakes

Great American Baking Show winner draws inspiration from local flavors

By Ellen Miller | Aug. 15, 2026

Celebrity baker Martin Sorge grew up making Bisquick biscuits with his mom. This might not seem like the most auspicious beginning (especially when you factor in his first solo baking attempt involved only flour, water, and a 20-minute microwave episode that ended in disaster). In fact, Sorge didn’t seriously pursue baking until he was a bit older.

“I was always someone who loved good food. I always got in the kitchen to help my mom cook, and cooked for friends in college,” he says, quickly adding, “but I wasn’t good at baking because I didn’t like to follow instructions or measure precisely.”

Eventually, Sorge thought to himself, “I bet if I actually measure accurately I can do this. Turns out I could!” he laughs. “Then I really got hooked with the alchemy of stirring things together and putting them in the oven, playing with flavors, and it took off from there.”

By “took off,” Sorge means that he became a bit of a baking master, eventually applying for and competing on The Great American Baking Show, the American version of the hit British television series, which aired in 2023. While the show stays true to its British format, Sorge brought his Midwestern sensibilities and tastebuds to the tent.

“My parents were foodies in the most unpretentious, Midwestern kind of way,” he reflects. “We went out to eat at local, independent restaurants, and didn’t go to the chain restaurants that were all the rage in the ’90s. We picked up sweet corn when it was perfectly ripe. My mom wouldn’t get it the first couple weeks because it wasn’t good enough.”

When Sorge talks about hyper-local, seasonal ingredients, the passion—and nostalgia—is clear in his voice. It’s those perfectly ripe ingredients that inspire the flavors that weave throughout his recipes.

In the Tent

American reality TV tends to be competitive, dramatic, and centered around a monetary prize. The Great American Baking Show, like the British version, rewards the winner with only a cake plate. The result? A wholesome challenge that sees contestants help their fellow bakers when they have questions and cry each week when someone goes home.

“All you win is a cake plate!” Sorge explains. “There’s no cash prize or kitchen renovation, and that changes the vibe of the competition. If you come in second place, you still won a lot in terms of the experience.”

The show is filmed in the UK with the same production company and judges (Prue Leith and Paul Hollywood) as the British version, and Sorge says what you see is what you get.

“It was exactly like what folks think it’s like,” Sorge shares. “It’s a collaborative and fun vibe with average people that are fun-loving and positive and maybe a little nerdy, baking in a tent together.”

Sorge, who describes himself as “not a competitive person,” simply thought it would be fun to be around fellow bakers and nerd out together about the challenges. “It was such an amazing cast of fellow bakers, I talk to all of them on a group chat pretty much every day,” he says. Sorge wasn’t the only contestant from the Midwest, and he also wasn’t the only one bringing Midwestern flair to the tent, as sweet corn and cherries popped up multiple times.

“I really put my heart into everything that I baked,” Sorge says. “I made little sour cherry hand pies, and my friend Sarah also made a tart cherry hand pie! We’re both from the Midwest and love Michigan cherries. There was no question we were both going to use those flavors, although sadly we couldn’t find the perfect Montmorency cherries from Michigan in the UK.”

If you’re familiar with the show, you know each episode includes a signature bake (chosen by the contestant), a technical challenge (chosen by the judges, with intentionally opaque direction to test the bakers’ skills), and a showstopper, the pièce de résistance.

“My final showstopper was a giant croquembouche that was corn flavored and corn themed. It was silly and absurd but I loved making that one!” Sorge tells us. “It was an ode to the idea that ‘Oh, the Midwest is just a bunch of cornfields.’ There’s a few flavor combos that we find super classic, like the flavor of perfect sweet corn, but the sweet corn in the UK isn’t as good as ours,” he says.

That meant that the American bakers had to do a bit of extra convincing when the judges weren’t familiar with or were uncertain about specific American flavors and flavor combinations, like sweet corn, deep dish pizza, and the combination of peanut butter and chocolate.

The judges might have been uncertain, but they ultimately were won over, naming Sorge the top baker of the season and sending him home with the treasured cake plate.

“When I came out on top, it was both a surprise and an acknowledgment that I know what I’m doing,” Sorge says. “I was so elated and honored to win out of such a great group of bakers.”

From TV Star to Cookbook Writer

When he got home, Sorge felt like “if I’m ever going to do a cookbook, now is the time.”

He had been writing down his recipes and sharing them with friends and family for years, but with the momentum of the show behind him, he wrote a book proposal with a dozen recipes that secured him a literary agent, and she helped him refine his proposal (turns out, you don’t just become a celebrity and have publishing houses chasing you!).

Thanks to his hard work, plus experience building his audience by writing for publications like Food & Wine to get his name out there, he landed a publishing contract. Great Bakes: Modern Classic Recipes from the Midwest released from Agate Publishing on Aug. 4.

And in good news for locals who have seen The Great American Baking Show or just want to know more about some of Sorge’s favorite recipes—he highlights a breakfast crisp, bagel and lox, Paris-Brest, and a malted chocolate pudding to start—Sorge is bringing his tour to northern Michigan.

Sorge, who is originally from northern Indiana, refers to northern Michigan as his “happy place.” A summer job at Interlochen brought him up north for the first time, and he was hooked on the scenery and on the flavors.

“I actually didn’t like cherry pie until I spent that summer up there and was like ‘Oh, that’s what it should taste like,’” he says. “The food up here is absolutely wonderful. I would come up for a week or two every summer and eat, go to the lake, and drink wine.”

Northern Michigan inspired recipes pack the cookbook. In addition to a classic cherry pie, one of Sorge’s favorites is a giant cherry pop tart.

“It’s two giant pieces of pie dough filled with cherry filling and glazed with icing made with cherry concentrate, which gives it a striking color but also cherry flavor,” he describes. “I’ve made it for so many parties and gatherings and it disappears. It screams northern Michigan to me.”

Made with fruit from local orchards, the quince paste is one of Sorge’s favorite additions to a charcuterie platter. And he’s a big fan of baking with whole grains, including in his 100 percent whole grain rye bread. “It makes some of the most flavorful, hearty bread you can have,” he says.

Sorge and his husband are now part-time NoMi residents and are always excited to explore more of the region’s food and wine.

“The ingredients up here are not just the cherries, but the apples, the flour from Farm Club near my house, the dairy products—it makes it easy to bake great things,” Sorge says. “The culinary scene, from the farmers who have been here forever to the new folks who are innovating…to me, that makes this region one of the most exciting food places in the country.”

Great Bakes Come North

This month, meet the author and pick up a copy of Great Bakes at:

Aug. 17, 12-2pm: Signing, The Find North, Leland
Aug. 18, 1-3 pm: Meet & Greet, McLean & Eakin, Petoskey
Aug. 20, 10-11:30 am: From Mill to Table: Baking with Whole & Stone-Ground Grains, a demonstration at the Traverse City Food & Wine Festival, Traverse City
Aug. 21, 4 pm, National Writers Series, Traverse City
Aug. 22, 12-4 pm, The Grand Tasting at the Traverse City Food & Wine Festival, Traverse City

And save the date for Oct. 24, at 5pm, when Sorge will return Up North for a conversation and book signing at Bay Books in Suttons Bay.

For event specifics & tickets, visit martinbakes.com/events

Photo by Kevin Miyazaki