Summer Baking Championship - General Discussion

[laredhead]

Remember, that's $25,000 before taxes, so they probably don't take home much more than $20,000.  I'm not a tax expert, nor have I ever won $25,000, but I would bet that at least 20% is taxed.

[DEL901]

18 minutes ago, laredhead said:

Remember, that's $25,000 before taxes, so they probably don't take home much more than $20,000.  I'm not a tax expert, nor have I ever won $25,000, but I would bet that at least 20% is taxed.

In the US, I believe it is 30-35% for federal taxes.   Terrible prize.  For the Christmas cookie show, Chopped, etc., it is $10,000 for only one win. 

[dleighg]

no way is it 30-35% for federal taxes, unless they are already at the top of the income scale. https://www.irs.gov/filing/federal-income-tax-rates-and-brackets

A high tax state (CA, NY, MA) might take another 5% or so depending on income.

[RoxiP]

I guess the contestants think the exposure that they are going to get from appearing on the show will be a boost in their business (and from what I've heard that is generally true).  In addition, usually people get an appearance fee in addition to the grand prize and a per diem.  

I didn't realize how tall Carla was until the judges were standing at the end (or maybe I just didn't realize how short Duff is!).

[libgirl2]

1 hour ago, RoxiP said:

I guess the contestants think the exposure that they are going to get from appearing on the show will be a boost in their business (and from what I've heard that is generally true).  In addition, usually people get an appearance fee in addition to the grand prize and a per diem.  

I didn't realize how tall Carla was until the judges were standing at the end (or maybe I just didn't realize how short Duff is!).

Very good point, they might end up even being a guest judge on FN. 

[tennisgurl]

I knew Rob had it in the bag when the only criticism the judges had to offer was that the inside of his cake looked pink instead of red. Good for Rob, Stephanie was my underdog favorite but Rob was a great choice for winner. He's been consistently a great baker and I really liked his 4th of July cake, it looked so festive! I would have been happy with any of the three winning, they are all very talented and seem really nice. 

I loved Rob's cake, the fireworks and the skyline looked so festive and it looked tasty. Stephanie's cake looked great and apparently tasted good, but it looked way more spring baby shower than 4th of July in New York. Chris's cake looked a little more sloppy than I expected but was also very fun and festive, even if those were kind of odd flavors for summer. 

I guess its time to catch up on Paris Master Baker, we have a pretty long break before Halloween! The turn around from spring to summer was so quick its weird not to have a weekly baking show to enjoy! 

[bigmag]

On 7/2/2024 at 7:09 AM, AZChristian said:

Anyone else so distracted by Jesse's trousers that they couldn't NOT look at them?  They looked like women's slacks.  NO room for the junk in his trunk, legs too slim and short. 

LOL - glad it wasn't just me!  I could barely look away from Jesse's pants to look at the bakes.  Give those boys some room to breathe!

[Ohmo]

23 hours ago, Pi237 said:

but, come on! Give them at least $50,000!

They used to give them $50K back when the Championship series of shows.

Stephanie's "poofs" of icing were distracting to me. That's her decorating style, but she did it throughout the competition. It became tiresome.

Rob's was the cake I'd buy for a party, so I'm glad he won.

[carrps]

17 hours ago, AZChristian said:

Otherwise, don't sweat it!!! 

Yeah. I know. But I wanna be perfect!😇

[HyeChaps]

This is the first week I did not like Jesse's outfit at all.

[mscool]

I don't understand why none of them were able to get what American's consider true patriotic red and blue -- true red and a darker blue.  I find hard to believe the only food coloring provided to them is the "4 colors for $2.00" brand, but that's sure what it looked like.    There are other brands like AmeriColor that make a darker blue and red that look so much more like an American flag. 

 

 

[Pi237]

I wondered that, too-why their colors are always so muted. I thought maybe it was my tv. 

 

[Splashy]

On 7/3/2024 at 9:20 AM, RoxiP said:

I guess the contestants think the exposure that they are going to get from appearing on the show will be a boost in their business (and from what I've heard that is generally true).

I think part of it, too, is just the ego boost of winning. It's a nice thing to put on a resume or brag about 😁 You could have a nice sign made for your shop or workspace.

On 7/3/2024 at 9:20 AM, RoxiP said:

I didn't realize how tall Carla was until the judges were standing at the end

She used to model!

On 7/3/2024 at 11:56 AM, tennisgurl said:

The turn around from spring to summer was so quick its weird not to have a weekly baking show to enjoy! 

I know. I'm already going thru withdrawal symptoms 🙃

 

[meep.meep]

It was great to see all three finalists hold it together - often someone just tanks the finale.

Jesse's shorts didn't bother me, but his acted enthusiasm for the 4th of July did.  He spends so much time reminding us that he is Canadian.

And no more twists!

[kirklandia]

3 hours ago, Splashy said:

I know. I'm already going thru withdrawal symptoms 🙃

 

The show filling the slot is BBQ Brawl. Yeah, it's not baking (and personally I don't care about BBQ).

But I watch it for Carson Kressley, he's a hoot!

[carrps]

Carson Kressley (and I like him) is not enough reason for me to watch a show with Bobby Flay.

[Gramto6]

Isn't Sunny Anderson also on that show? She is enough reason all alone to keep me far away!!

[Salacious Kitty]

5 minutes ago, Gramto6 said:

Isn't Sunny Anderson also on that show? She is enough reason all alone to keep me far away!!

Yes and agree. 😀

[mojoween]

Someone started lighting off fireworks in the neighborhood and the hubby says “let freedom ring!” and I said “because it doesn’t knock!” and then I laughed and laughed.  He looked at me like I lost my marbles.

[CheshireCat]

On 7/2/2024 at 9:18 AM, RoxiP said:

I thought the black fondant layer of Chris's cake was spectacular with his piped fireworks. 

I liked the idea. I wasn't sure about the execution. It looked kind of rushed. However, all three cakes kind of did. How much time did they have? I thought it was four hours but it seems like at least the buttercream-decorated cakes would have looked neater in four hours. Unless, the fireworks took a lot more time to make than I think they have.

 

On 7/2/2024 at 3:30 PM, carrps said:

Glad to see if wasn't just me! Oh, and I've seen Carla wear that silly flower bustier before. Didn't like it then; don't like it now. Looks like something from a Lego person's wardrobe.

I thought the style looked like something straight off the runway, you know, the kind of clothes designers design but that aren't really ever worn by the average person.

 

On 7/2/2024 at 3:30 PM, carrps said:

Stephanie was my sentimental favorite, but her cake just didn't fit the theme as well. I really wanted to taste her tahini buttercream. Sounded delish!

I think in terms of flavor, Stephanie had the most interesting sounding while Rob had the most safe-sounding and least original. The cake might have tasted good, still, it's a lot easier to combine lemon and raspberry than poppy-seed-olive oil, orange and tahini. 

I thought it was interesting that the flavor really only applied to the cake since Chris used orange in his filling. I'm still not sure how I feel about that. If you're given exclusive use, shouldn't it be completely exclusive? (I know Jesse said sponge, I'm just musing if it shouldn't have been exclusive of that flavor, period. It's not much of an advantage when someone else can still use that flavor, is it?)

 

On 7/2/2024 at 3:30 PM, carrps said:

Chris's was beautiful, but my eyes were drawn to that band of red perforated fondant he had around his white layer. It was crooked! Obviously very crooked.

Same here. Although, Rob's skyline didn't convince me either. I'd give him points for not using the cutter and, therefore, being able to make it bigger. However, he had 3 or 4 connected rectangle and I think if they critiqued Stephanie for it, they should have done the same for Rob as well (and if the judges did, the show should've left it in). 

I wonder if the cutter was all that the show had because city skyline stencils are available and they're larger. While it might have been tricky to get the buttercream hard enough for a stencil, they could have used it on fondant and they probably could have used it on baking paper, put it in the fridge and then transferred it on to the cake. 

I was kind of disappointed with all three cakes. As said above, all three looked rushed, so, I thought it was natural that it would come down to flavor. 
As much as I liked Stephanie for doing a risky and more complex flavor combination, I thought the stars she had piped on were too big as in, she used a piping tip that was too large. I did love the flames she created, though. 

Between Rob and Chris, I liked the idea of Chris' cake more. It was lacking in execution, however, I agreed with the judges that he had the best skyline. I also thought it was the most interesting/exciting design and since he also had a slightly more complex flavor, I probably would have given it to him. For me, it would probably also have worked in his favor that he didn't dye his dough. 

 

On 7/2/2024 at 10:04 PM, mlp said:

The only real complaint they had about Rob's cake was Damaris' nit-picking the pinkish red that was inside the cake

I thought was weird. On my TV, it looked as red as Chris' fondant did. Even if that wasn't an accurate depiction, I thought the comparison to the raspberry was strange because raspberry aren't red-red. They're, well, raspberry-colored and there's always magenta mixed into the color which means there's a blue part in it. 

Unfortunately, since I heard more than watched the other episodes, I have no real idea how the three bakers did throughout the show. I had no favorite, so I'm okay with the winner. 

[CalicoKitty]

On 7/3/2024 at 6:20 AM, RoxiP said:

I guess the contestants think the exposure that they are going to get from appearing on the show will be a boost in their business (and from what I've heard that is generally true).  In addition, usually people get an appearance fee in addition to the grand prize and a per diem.  

I didn't realize how tall Carla was until the judges were standing at the end (or maybe I just didn't realize how short Duff is!).

Correct on both counts.  Carla is nearly 6 feet, and Duff is less than 5'6", I think.