S01.E07: The Rise and Fall

[The Crazed Spruce]

Quote

The bakers head back into the kitchen to take on a new delicious challenge.

 

[CrazyInAlabama]

The three teams from each group now join up to compete.  

Emma & Leslie (mother and daughter)-Sweet Dough Wreath ring (dough looks raw, judges won't touch it).   

      2nd round-Macaron Tower pink ombre with hibiscus infused ganache.  

Cory & Donte (infamous for soupy apple pie last week)-Pecan Cinnamon Rolls.

     2nd round-Macarons around a Chocolate Dacquoise. (round cake)

Lorie & Jason (she has pink and blue hair)-Sweet Orange Cinnamon Rolls. 

     2nd round-Macaron tower.

Luis & Natalie (Las Vegas)-Chocolate Orange Babka. (not baked, judges won't eat it).  

     2nd round-Macaron Tower

Amanda & Erinn (military vets)-Cinnamon Rolls. 

     2nd round-Macarons three colors of pink going up a cone shaped tower. 

Cathy & Thomas (his mother)-Sweet dough Wreath.   Clue is Pink triangle three colors of varying shades, Thomas decides the dessert is a triangular, 3 layer ombre cake.     I find him insufferable. 

       2nd round-Triangle Ombre cake  decorated with Macarons.

Dessert round:  Sweet Bread Wreath (baked by Cathy & Thomas, Emma & Leslie,) advantage to:  Cathy & Thomas. 

Showpiece dessert is:   Macaron Ombre Tower with chocolate and lavender scented chocolate ganache.  Lorie and Jason win

Eliminated Team:     Cory & Donte

Edited July 8, 2021 by CrazyInAlabama

[Driad]

If you're getting ready to bake something, and realize that you won't have enough time to bake it thoroughly, can't you make your product smaller or thinner?

[Maya]

They sure make a lot of towers on this show. 

[Tdoc72]

45 minutes ago, Maya said:

They sure make a lot of towers on this show. 

I think they make too many desserts. It’s not called Crime Scene Dessert Kitchen. I want to see them figure out dinner. Was it angel hair or ziti?  What toppings did they pile on the burger?  Mozzarella or provolone in their calzone?  Do they use vinegar in their deviled eggs ?  (My daughter and I had this “discussion” on the 4th—LOL)

I really like Lori & Jason. I want them to win so they can get a house. I really like the mom in the mother son team but in their second episode, he went from confident to overly cocky (without backing that up) and lost me. 

Edited July 8, 2021 by Tdoc72

[Angeleyes]

This show proves time and again that if there are clues written on paper or drawn on parchment they are important. The only red herrings that I had questions about tonight was the loaf pan in the dishwasher and whether the cocoa was used. I’m glad they showed later that the cocoa wasn’t even open. 
The mother and son were lucky that they won the first round. I’m not sure how they could confuse styrofoam with isomalt. Once they figured out macarons were being made they should have realized that was the star of the dessert. 
 

I think Cory and Donte have talent, but the judges had to have remembered how bad their pie was the previous week. That put them on the bubble for this round to either perform excellent or leave. 

[mertensia]

Man, what a joy to see Thomas brought down a peg!

I liked Cody and Dante but they were not the best at deciphering the clues.

Is hibiscus that distinctive that people could ID it?

[AZChristian]

6 hours ago, mertensia said:

Man, what a joy to see Thomas brought down a peg!

How embarrassing . . . he's trying so hard to look smart that he assumed that an inedible common thing (styrofoam) was something rare (isomalt).  I can just imagine that the whole time he was working with it, he was thinking, "I'll be the ONLY person here who will know how to work with isomalt."  Well, he may have, indeed, been the only one.  But four out of the other five teams correctly used styrofoam.  And - to add insult to injury - he had an extra clue that no other team had.  

[vibeology]

14 minutes ago, AZChristian said:

How embarrassing . . . he's trying so hard to look smart that he assumed that an inedible common thing (styrofoam) was something rare (isomalt).  I can just imagine that the whole time he was working with it, he was thinking, "I'll be the ONLY person here who will know how to work with isomalt."  Well, he may have, indeed, been the only one.  But four out of the other five teams correctly used styrofoam.  And - to add insult to injury - he had an extra clue that no other team had.  

Not only that, but I'm pretty sure that the bowl on top of Cory & Donte's dacquoise was made of isomalt.

I just don't understand how they could have been so, so, very wrong. It's like they missed the parchment in the garbage, the almond flour, the large round piping tips, the egg white bowl in the sink, the remaining egg yolks in the fridge and probably a few other things that I missed. The only reason he figured out to do any macaroons at all was because he heard someone else tapping the air out.. What the hell did they look at that screamed white cake with strawberries? (I think that was in the filling?) Other than the ombre, they had no clue.

I'm not going to suggest that Cory and Donte were robbed in any way since they should have gone home last week after their apple soup, but at least they made an almond flour based dessert. 

[blackwing]

Thomas is insufferable.  His catty comments about being the best, etc.  His smug expressions.  That voice.  

I hated that he heard other teams hitting a pan and knew that they were making macarons so he decided to copy them and make some macarons.  I've been wondering if teams can hear each other talking.  They certainly can see the teams across from them and what they are doing.  I wish the judges would have called him out on this.

I also wish the judges would have criticised him more for getting the extra clue and still being completely wrong.  he saw the pink ombre triangle and thought three layer cake.  It was obvious that this was meant to be a tower.  He made his triangle cake but then didn't do the layers as pictured in the triangle.  If he had, the layers would have been vertical layers on their side, which seems impossible unless he baked the cake, cut it into a triangle, and then laid it down on its side.

I loved seeing his face falling as team after team brought out a macaron tower.  I especially hated how gleeful he was in that confessional when Cory and Dante brought out a cake.  I am sure that scene was filmed after the elimination, but it was obvious it was meant to convey that as soon as one other team was wrong, it meant that he was for sure safe.

I'm even more pissed now that Cory and Dante were kept over Shania and Hope.  I'd like to think that Shania and Hope would have been able to figure out the macaron tower and then we could have been rid of Thomas.

I'm quite certain that Erin and Amanda will go out next.  It seems likely that the final is going to be Thomas and mom, Elf Girl and mom, and the Las Vegas couple.

9 hours ago, Tdoc72 said:

I really like Lori & Jason. I want them to win so they can get a house. I really like the mom in the mother son team but in their second episode, he went from confident to overly cocky (without backing that up) and lost me. 

I don't care for Lori and Jason (Unicorn Hair and Beard) and I wish they would stop mentioning their desire to get a house.  I hate when people go onto reality shows thinking and telling us that they need to win to change their lives.  This isn't a charity.  The worst was Bopper and Mark, the team from Kentucky that went on Amazing Race and then constantly had to remind everyone how poor they are with constant interjections of "WE SO PAWR" and then when the one got eliminated on his second try he bitterly said "I guess God doesn't want me to win a million dollars".  Pfffftttt,

I get that they lost their house in a fire, so they now live in a trailer, but with their skills, wouldn't they be able to get good jobs and be able to get a loan to get a house?

 

Edited July 8, 2021 by blackwing

[AZChristian]

34 minutes ago, blackwing said:

Thomas is insufferable.  His catty comments about being the best, etc.  His smug expressions.  That voice.  

I also wish the judges would have criticised him more for getting the extra clue and still being completely wrong.  he saw the pink ombre triangle and thought three layer cake.  It was obvious that this was meant to be a tower. 

Thomas is one of those insufferable people who - even if the clue had been the picture below - probably would have gone ahead and made something that he wanted to make, forcing the clues to fit HIS idea.  LOL.

One guy in an earlier episode seemed to be that way, too.  Pretty much everyone else figured out cannoli right away, but he seemed determined to make doughnuts - even though his partner suggested it might be cannoli.  He's watching from home now.

[heckkitty]

1 hour ago, blackwing said:

Thomas is insufferable.  His catty comments about being the best, etc.  His smug expressions.  That voice.  

I hated that he heard other teams hitting a pan and knew that they were making macarons so he decided to copy them and make some macarons.  I've been wondering if teams can hear each other talking.  They certainly can see the teams across from them and what they are doing.  I wish the judges would have called him out on this.

I also wish the judges would have criticised him more for getting the extra clue and still being completely wrong.  he saw the pink ombre triangle and thought three layer cake.  It was obvious that this was meant to be a tower.  He made his triangle cake but then didn't do the layers as pictured in the triangle.  If he had, the layers would have been vertical layers on their side, which seems impossible unless he baked the cake, cut it into a triangle, and then laid it down on its side.

I loved seeing his face falling as team after team brought out a macaron tower.  I especially hated how gleeful he was in that confessional when Cory and Dante brought out a cake.  I am sure that scene was filmed after the elimination, but it was obvious it was meant to convey that as soon as one other team was wrong, it meant that he was for sure safe.

I'm even more pissed now that Cory and Dante were kept over Shania and Hope.  I'd like to think that Shania and Hope would have been able to figure out the macaron tower and then we could have been rid of Thomas.

I'm quite certain that Erin and Amanda will go out next.  It seems likely that the final is going to be Thomas and mom, Elf Girl and mom, and the Las Vegas couple.

I don't care for Lori and Jason (Unicorn Hair and Beard) and I wish they would stop mentioning their desire to get a house.  I hate when people go onto reality shows thinking and telling us that they need to win to change their lives.  This isn't a charity.  The worst was Bopper and Mark, the team from Kentucky that went on Amazing Race and then constantly had to remind everyone how poor they are with constant interjections of "WE SO PAWR" and then when the one got eliminated on his second try he bitterly said "I guess God doesn't want me to win a million dollars".  Pfffftttt,

I get that they lost their house in a fire, so they now live in a trailer, but with their skills, wouldn't they be able to get good jobs and be able to get a loan to get a house?

 

Yeah, he's a real pain.  I thought it was very interesting that he could only view that triangle in one dimension and couldn't think of it as possibly a tower. It's also really weird that they missed so many clues.  He's annoying, but he and mom, who is great, usually catch things others don't.  Also what is the deal with him and also the mom/daughter daughter being so concerned with needing other people to see them as a threat. That literally has zero impact on the game. all you need to do is figure stuff out and bake. what others think of you has no bearing. 

[AZChristian]

9 minutes ago, heckkitty said:

Also what is the deal with him and also the mom/daughter daughter being so concerned with needing other people to see them as a threat. That literally has zero impact on the game. all you need to do is figure stuff out and bake. what others think of you has no bearing. 

Absolutely.  It's not like the other bakers will have a chance to vote you out of the kitchen!  Keep your head down, get the clues right, and produce something closer to the target than any other team.  

[blackwing]

24 minutes ago, heckkitty said:

Yeah, he's a real pain.  I thought it was very interesting that he could only view that triangle in one dimension and couldn't think of it as possibly a tower. It's also really weird that they missed so many clues.  He's annoying, but he and mom, who is great, usually catch things others don't.  Also what is the deal with him and also the mom/daughter daughter being so concerned with needing other people to see them as a threat. That literally has zero impact on the game. all you need to do is figure stuff out and bake. what others think of you has no bearing. 

 

14 minutes ago, AZChristian said:

Absolutely.  It's not like the other bakers will have a chance to vote you out of the kitchen!  Keep your head down, get the clues right, and produce something closer to the target than any other team.  

Because he has this need to be perceived as the best, and I suppose he thinks that if everyone else acknowledges that he is the best baker, then perception is reality and the judges will always think he is the best.  It's why he constantly says things like "I'm not used to being in second place".  But the weird thing about this show is that there is (at least on camera) zero interaction between the teams.  They just stand there in a group at the beginning and the end.  There isn't any discussion between the teams during the actually baking/cooking like on Top Chef or The Great British Baking Show ("whatcha making there Tommy Boy?").  There's no trash talking like on Lego Masters ("you're copying our build!").

None of the other teams are going to hear any of these comments until the show airs, so I just don't understand what the point of him saying all that was... other than to make him look even more neurotic and irritating than he already is.

I was surprised and disappointed when Elf Girl said that, she seems like someone who can just focus on what she is doing, but I guess as she said, the Crime Scene Kitchen is getting to her.

 

I did find it weird that female Las Vegas baker was sick and wasn't able to be there to present that disastrous babka.  I wonder what it was... was it just a bad bout of diarrhea or something else?  I wonder if there was a delay in shooting the second half of the episode so she could recover from whatever it was.  I guess I've never seen contestants on a reality show disappear in the middle because of some illness and then come back.

[cardigirl]

Aww, poor Thomas.  Now I kind of want to root for him, given how everyone here is against him. LOL. 

[AZChristian]

Did I hear correctly?  Is Ken Jeong going to be next week's celebrity guest?  Why?  There was no celebrity guest last night, and everything was fine.  He's in the top 5 of annoying people on television (IMO).

[cardigirl]

4 minutes ago, AZChristian said:

Did I hear correctly?  Is Ken Jeong going to be next week's celebrity guest?  Why?  There was no celebrity guest last night, and everything was fine.  He's in the top 5 of annoying people on television (IMO).

Ken Jeong is on all the Fox fake reality competition shows. And he and Joel get along great. Should be very entertaining. I love him.  ❤️

[blackwing]

21 minutes ago, AZChristian said:

Did I hear correctly?  Is Ken Jeong going to be next week's celebrity guest?  Why?  There was no celebrity guest last night, and everything was fine.  He's in the top 5 of annoying people on television (IMO).

I used to like him but his schtick on "Masked Singer" has gotten so old.  He popped up on "Lego Masters" this past week as well, and said something about how he is continuing his run of appearances on all Fox reality shows.  I think he must have naked pictures of some Fox exec or something, because I agree with you that he has gotten way beyond irritating.

He and Joel do seem to be good friends.  I watched them on the Fox New Year's Eve special this year, and they were both disastrously drunk.

The only thing that would redeem Ken Jeong on this show for me is if in his dessert round he makes his "favourite dessert" to be something so completely ridiculous with such weird combinations that nobody will ever get it and some people would outright disastrously fail.  I mean, something like a parfait with cantaloupe rutabaga pepper cake alternating with layers of lima bean grape mousse and topped with caramelized hot dogs.

[AZChristian]

9 minutes ago, blackwing said:

The only thing that would redeem Ken Jeong on this show for me is if in his dessert round he makes his "favourite dessert" to be something so completely ridiculous with such weird combinations that nobody will ever get it and some people would outright disastrously fail.  I mean, something like a parfait with cantaloupe rutabaga pepper cake alternating with layers of lima bean grape mousse and topped with caramelized hot dogs.

Which sounds EXACTLY what his favorite dessert would be.  LOL.

[Lisapooh]

Another week, another episode. I do wish there was more interaction between the teams. They just stand there and whisper about each other—weird!

For the first round, I would NOT have made a wreath! I would have done orange rolls. I really don't enjoy making bread that much. However, when the mom did come up with the wreath idea, I knew she was right. There's just no way I would have gotten there on my own. And I would have screwed up the proving somehow. I always do! 

A macaron tower seemed really obvious. My Aunt Jeannette, the best baker I ever knew, taught me to use cream of tartar in my meringue topping for pies. It's super gratifying for me to be watching at home and go..."must be meringue" at the same time the contestants do, lol. 

I thought Thomas thinking to make a triangle shaped cake with that clue was bizarre. And when he HEARD other bakers slamming their pans down to get the air out of their macarons and decided to make a few, how could he not have said "wait, maybe that's a tower and not a triangle." It was his mom that got it right this week, not him. I no longer find his uptight primness endearing at all. He must be exhausting!

I guess I'm routing for the mother/daughter team and the veterans. The "we lost everything and live in a trailer" couple grate on my nerves for some reason. The Las Vegas duo aren't compelling or interesting at all and well Thomas can kick rocks and his mom can adopt me. 

[bad things are bad]

Quote

 

Is Ken Jeong going to be next week's celebrity guest?  Why?  There was no celebrity guest last night

 

I guess it's time to Chang things up (props to those who get the reference)

[tennisgurl]

I know the name of the episode is a baking pun, but it could also apply to Thomas, who got way too cocky this week and ended up getting taken down a peg after totally messing up on guessing the right dessert. I admit, I got a lot of schadenfreude out of watching his smug smile fall as he realized how badly he screwed up. He flew a bit too close to the sun trying to be clever with his isomalt instead of the much more obvious styrofoam, hearing zebras instead of horses because he decided that he was the smartest guy here. Even with the extra clue, how embarrassing. The only reason he even got the macaroons was because he heard another team making them, which he very noticeably didn't mention when he explained his baking process. 

I like Cody and Dante, but I knew that they would pick Thomas and his mom over them, they have just been more consistent. 

I swear, Ken Jeong must have some seriously damaging blackmail on some Fox executive to be on this many of their reality shows. I am super over Ken after a whole season of his annoying schtick on The Masked Singer that we just finished, but at least he'll be working with Joel, who he really vibes with. Ken's best comedy by far was when Joel was guest judging on Masked Singer, they play off each other well.  

[Tdoc72]

6 hours ago, blackwing said:

Thomas is insufferable.  His catty comments about being the best, etc.  His smug expressions.  That voice.  

I hated that he heard other teams hitting a pan and knew that they were making macarons so he decided to copy them and make some macarons.  I've been wondering if teams can hear each other talking.  They certainly can see the teams across from them and what they are doing.  I wish the judges would have called him out on this.

 

I, too, have wondered how much or if they can hear their neighbors in the kitchen. But the kitchens are in a row, not across from each other. I think it’s sideway crime scene kitchen, then 3 kitchens, the space for trams to walk in and out, and then the last 3 kitchens. 

[eel21788]

6 hours ago, vibeology said:

I just don't understand how they could have been so, so, very wrong. It's like they missed the parchment in the garbage, the almond flour, the large round piping tips, the egg white bowl in the sink, the remaining egg yolks in the fridge and probably a few other things that I missed. The only reason he figured out to do any macaroons at all was because he heard someone else tapping the air out.. What the hell did they look at that screamed white cake with strawberries? (I think that was in the filling?) Other than the ombre, they had no clue.

Once he saw the sheet pans in the dishwasher he decided it was a cake. He let all the other clues keep leading him back to that thought.

We didn't get an explanation at the end as to what the sheet pans were supposed to have been used for, or if they were just there as a red herring.

[DanaK]

Some of these contestants either know way less than they should or are too cocky and think they know more than they do

[blackwing]

1 hour ago, Tdoc72 said:

I, too, have wondered how much or if they can hear their neighbors in the kitchen. But the kitchens are in a row, not across from each other. I think it’s sideway crime scene kitchen, then 3 kitchens, the space for trams to walk in and out, and then the last 3 kitchens. 

I thought there were three on either side of the room?  When the camera is in one of the stations and shooting outwards towards the common area, it seems like there are three kitchens on either side?

I'm still curious as to whether the other teams are actually in the common area when each team is in the crime scene kitchen, or if it just looks like it.  Because if so, that's a huge advantage for the team that goes last, they can see others pulling clues out of drawers, the trash and the dishwasher.

59 minutes ago, eel21788 said:

Once he saw the sheet pans in the dishwasher he decided it was a cake. He let all the other clues keep leading him back to that thought.

We didn't get an explanation at the end as to what the sheet pans were supposed to have been used for, or if they were just there as a red herring.

I thought the sheet pans were for the macarons?  They dripped batter in a circle and then smashed the pans to get the air out or to flatten them?  Thomas realised the sound he was hearing and then did the same.  I find it odd that he didn't contemplate a macaron tower after knowing there must be macarons.  He was so sure he was right with "triangle cake" because of the extra clue.

"Triangle cake", so dumb, that's not even a thing, that's a cake cut into the shape of a triangle... if the cake really was supposed to be a triangle then surely there would have been a clue about triangles in the actual CSK, it would have been completely unfair if the only reference to triangle was in the secret clue.  But Thomas is just oh so proud of himself that I'm sure he was gleefully thinking "I am so awesome, and I'm going to be the only one that gets it right because none of the rest have this clue that it's a triangle hahahaha I am the greatest".

Edited July 8, 2021 by blackwing

[eel21788]

11 minutes ago, blackwing said:

I thought the sheet pans were for the macarons?  They dripped batter in a circle and then smashed the pans to get the air out or to flatten them?  Thomas realised the sound he was hearing and then did the same.  

I thought the macarons were put on cookie sheets, not sheet pans. However, I admit that I really wasn't paying that much attention and could have easily been mistaken.

[mertensia]

1 hour ago, eel21788 said:

I thought the macarons were put on cookie sheets, not sheet pans. However, I admit that I really wasn't paying that much attention and could have easily been mistaken.

For me they're interchangeable.

 

Macarons are usually piped. 

[Chyromaniac]

Is this the third time the secret clue has sent a team off course so far?  Besides “triangle cake” there was the team that used their obvious gingerbread house patterns to make “house shaped decorations” - and I think the birch bark clue resulted in that weird (but well made) bucket cake. It’s almost like knowing they have the bonus info coming is causing teams to lose focus in the kitchen, and miss other more pertinent info.  Definitely feels like lots of confirmation bias going on - either that or the show needs to be a little less oblique with the hints: “it’s pound cake, dummy.”

20 hours ago, Tdoc72 said:

I think they make too many desserts. It’s not called Crime Scene Dessert Kitchen. I want to see them figure out dinner. Was it angel hair or ziti?  What toppings did they pile on the burger?  Mozzarella or provolone in their calzone?  Do they use vinegar in their deviled eggs ?  (My daughter and I had this “discussion” on the 4th—LOL)

I’ve been thinking about that as well- ultimately I think the scientific nature of baking just lends itself well to a forensic examination.  As we’ve seen so far, there are specific tools, ingredients, patterns, and so on that *should* lead to specific dessert outcomes.  I assume we’re also getting desserts over other baking because they are inherently “showy”- in a previous thread I mentioned that it’s hard to make a dramatic reveal with, say, zucchini bread.  Plus, our lead judge made her bones as a cake YouTuber, so there’s that.

Perhaps there’s some way to adapt the format to other cookery methods- I kind of picture a Masterchef style mystery box, with clues leading to the desired dish.  We’ll have to see- I have no idea what ratings have been like, but it’s been surprisingly entertaining.  I hope we get more, whatever it ends up being.

[CrazyInAlabama]

I've been surprised at the huge missed guess by a lot of the cooks.     The guess by Thomas this week was bizarre, and absurd, what did he expect?  A 3 D pop up with a photo of the ombre macaron cone?     

I bet the one woman feeling ill meant that she had to have a Covid test result before continuing.    

I really hoped Thomas and his nasty remarks would be eliminated, but Cory and Donte were the right ones to go.   In fact I was surprised that Cory and Donte weren't booted after the Apple pie soup incident.   

 

[Rosieroo]

Did I hear correctly? When someone was presenting their tower to the judges and mentioned hibiscus,  did Thomas turn to his mother and say "Did YOU miss something?"  Or do I just dislike him so much I'm hearing smug hypocrisy in every comment?

I'll miss "my guys" but their time had come.  (apple soup) Its a shame because I really like them.   Now its just down to hyper and mom, smug and mom and the rainbow coalition.  I love the military women but they don't seem like they're long for the show either. I'll be rooting for them anyway until they go, then I guess I'll be rooting for Vegas. I don't love them but their work is always beautiful. 

[eel21788]

19 hours ago, eel21788 said:

I thought the macarons were put on cookie sheets, not sheet pans.

17 hours ago, mertensia said:

For me they're interchangeable.

 

The temperature of the cooked items aren't the same if you put it on a cookie sheet versus a sheet pan.

Somehow, I still remember from a high school Home Economics class that if you want to bake cookies and only have a sheet pan, you're supposed to turn it upside down and put the dough on the bottom of the pan. Without the surrounding edges the cookies are supposed to reach the correct baking temperature. (Kodachrome by Paul Simon playing in the background)

[lark37]

On 7/8/2021 at 8:47 AM, blackwing said:

Thomas is insufferable.  His catty comments about being the best, etc.  His smug expressions.  That voice.  

I don't care for Lori and Jason (Unicorn Hair and Beard) and I wish they would stop mentioning their desire to get a housr. I hate when people go onto reality shows thinking and telling us that they need to win to change their lives.  This isn't a charity.

I get that they lost their house in a fire, so they now live in a trailer, but with their skills, wouldn't they be able to get good jobs and be able to get a loan to get a house?

 

I like Lori and Jason but i agree that i dislike their sob story about the house fire. Good grief, didn't they have insurance? 

As for Thomas and Cathy, I knew as soon as I saw their extra clue that it was a tower not a triangle. Geez, he's a pastry chef so one would think he would have thought about a macaron tower especially with the almond flour and cream of tartar clues.  I saw him a few seasons ago on Chopped Sweets and he got chopped the first round. Apparently, he's a reality tv junkie. That made me start routing against him even before he started making smug remarks.  I hate when people make the rounds of reality shows to get their 15 minutes of fame. I don't mind Ken Jeong. I think its cool that he gave up his physician career that his parents wanted for him to pursue his own dream of comedy.