Dec 21, 2015 by Sarah Moffatt
When I get invested in reality competition shows, it’s very rare my favorite contestant makes it to the finale let alone 3 of my favorites! This was the first time in my personal TV history I would have been sincerely happy for whomever won.
On the season finale of season 2 of Holiday Baking Championshion, the final three bakers – Maeve, Steve and Adalberto – were put to the test to create their most delicious and beautiful work yet.
In the pre-heat, the bakers were asked to create two dozen cookies to hang like ornaments from a tree.
Steve created orange-vanilla bean sugar cookie stars decorated with white and gold icing. Up close, the stars were beautiful and incredibly detailed, but from a distance –aka where the judges judge... Read More
Dec 14, 2015 by Sarah Moffatt
Normally, the practice of re-gifting – taking a gift one has received but doesn’t like and gifting it to someone else – is generally frowned upon in polite circles. But when it comes to the Holiday Baking Championship, it’s an inventive way to challenge our final four bakers, who this week were given the task of re-purposing ingredients for both challenges, starting with a candied apple.
Adalberto picked an apple covered in white chocolate and dried cherries, and made a beautiful apple frangipane tart accompanied by a cherry and a glaze. It was a really pretty plate – not the prettiest in this round, but apparently the tastiest, as he won the advantage heading into the main heat challenge.
For the main heat, the... Read More
Nov 18, 2015 by Sarah Moffatt
I will never, ever look at the whoopie pie the same way again.
In this week’s pre-heat challenge, the remaining 8 bakers were asked to put their spin on a traditional whoopie pie using Thanksgiving themes they drew at random.
Now, when I’m given a theme I must follow to put my own spin on a traditional dessert, I immediately think, “I should transform this to represent my theme!” According to the judges, that was not what was intended. I mean, how do you make a whoopie pie represent fall foliage without making it look different from a normal whoopie pie! I don’t get it and the judges literally complained about this to every single person. Yes, there were some pies that looked like two muffins stuck together – ahem,... Read More
Nov 18, 2015 by Sarah Moffatt
It seems Thanksgiving has gone from being a holiday centered around the pilgrims and the Indians breaking bread together to being an annual competition to see how much you can eat without exploding. (My personal best: four full plates, 2012.)
Because food is pretty much the best part of Thanksgiving (and every day in general, if you ask us), we’ve giving you a schedule of the best Thanksgiving or holiday-themed shows leading up to the big feast. May these shows serve as inspiration to cook, create, and consume.
Happy eating!
Monday, November 23
Cake Wars: “Christmas: Santa’s New Ride” - The 5 remaining teams are given the task of creating toys the elves would only make unsupervised. Plus, the teams reimagine Santa’s method of transportation.(9pm)
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Nov 09, 2015 by Sarah Moffatt
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... Read More
Oct 27, 2015 by Sarah Moffatt
The first Halloween Baking Championship has come to an end and we have our dark horse champion.
Going into the finale, Ashlee, Scott, Rudy, and Jason were the last bakers standing. Per usual, they were given a pre-heat challenge, which was to create a dessert that looks like a haunted house character they drew out of a jar, however, this challenge was turned into an elimination round.
Ashlee created a mummy-themed crepe cake with bloody buttermilk syrup. She struggled to get the crepes perfect, but the judges loved their crispiness in the end. The cake didn’t look much like a mummy, however, which was a big hit to her chances of making it to the final round.
Scott made a super gross-looking zombie head pastry deconstructed with a brain Bavarian... Read More
Oct 19, 2015 by Sarah Moffatt
And then there were four.
This week’s Halloween Baking Championship started with five bakers and ended with four heading into next week’s finale.
In the pre-heat challenge, the bakers were asked to create creepy donuts in 75 minutes.
Having attempted donuts last week, Ashlee was wary of this challenge, and I can’t blame her – those donuts were a disaster. She did better this week, with an apple pie-filled yeast donut, which has to have time to rise a couple of times and then bake, but it still wasn’t great. She knew it was risky and probably wouldn’t work, but she charged ahead anyway.
Audrey went outside of the box and created an intestine cruller filled with cream. I personally loved her innovation, but it sort of looked muddled... Read More
Oct 19, 2015 by Sarah Moffatt
Bradley Cooper has come a long way from the days of a struggling actor working as a doorman at Morgans Hotel to sort of make ends meet. He has been nominated for an Academy Award four times in the last three years: two for Best Actor (American Sniper, Silver Linings Playbook), one for Best Supporting Actor (American Hustle), and one for Best Picture as a producer (American Hustle). He has also taken the Great White Way by storm, too, receiving a Best Actor in a Play Tony nomination for his role in Elephant Man.
To promote his newest film, Burnt, which hits theaters Friday, October 23, Cooper will appear in the new Food Network special, Burnt: In The Kitchen with Bradley Cooper, where he takes us behind-the-scenes of his new... Read More
Oct 06, 2015 by Sarah Moffatt
With the rising popularity of Food Network’s various baking championship shows, from Kids Baking Championship to Holiday Baking Championship, it was only a matter of time before they introduced the Halloween Baking Championship.
Here’s how it works:
Seven of the best bakers across the nation compete to become the Halloween Baking Champion and take home $25,000. Each week the contestants are given two different tasks – the “pre-heat” and the “main heat” – to impress the panel of judges, including pastry chef Sherry Yard, dessert expert Ron Ben-Israel, and chef and TV host Carla Hall.
This week, the contestants were asked to present their best take on Halloween-inspired cupcakes as well as utilize a classic Halloween candy in their cakes for the pre-heat challenge.
It was a... Read More
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