Holiday Baking Championship: 2.2 "Holiday Craftiness"
After Joe was sent home last week for searching an under-baked apple pie, the remaining bakers were on edge as they listened to the details of the next obstacle between them and $50,000.
In the pre-heat, the bakers were asked to create a delicious dessert featuring one main ingredient: Candy canes. Sounds easy enough, right? Apparently not.
Poor Melody struggled through this challenge. Lucky for her it was not an elimination round. She changed her dessert from a creme brulée to a chocolate lava cupcake with just 20 minutes left, and it ended up looking like a melted mess.
Susan the bed & breakfast owner knocked it out of the park once again with a cute Santa hat peppermint scone dipped in white chocolate ganache. Knowing that one of the judges, Lorraine Pascale, is from London and knows her way around a scone or two, Susan was super nervous about her opinion. Can’t say I blame her, Lorraine is a tough judge, however, Lorraine gave her stamp of approval, which made it clear Susan was going to win this challenge.
For the main heat challenge, the bakers had to create a beautiful wreath-inspired dessert. Now, when I think of holiday baking and wreaths, I think of lots of color, bows and glitter. Not the “forest floor” or “rustic fruit”.
Let’s talk beauty.
John, who can’t seem to quit putting “toothpaste” on his plate after the judges have told him every single challenge it doesn’t work, managed to make a wreath that looks much like a a kindergartner’s craft project.
Maeve created a wreath that had a beautiful (if unconventional) idea behind it, but the finished product was fairly ugly due to her rushing around to finish her trifles.
The judges loved Adalberto’s wreath, but I didn’t. It looked like a muddled mash of colors. Perhaps the beauty was lost in translation from seeing it in-person to seeing it on-camera. Either way, it definitely wouldn’t have been my first pick.
I did, however, love Steve’s wreath. He decided to make several types of cookies I’ve never heard of and create a monochromatic wreath with white piping. It looked like a beautiful winter wonderland wreath, which is probably why he won this week’s main heat challenge.
Unfortunately for John, he was sent home just a week shy of the point when his brother was sent home last season. As nice as his effort was, he just couldn’t take the judges' advice, and it cost him in the end.
Watch Holiday Baking Championship at 9pm ET Sundays on Food Network.