Halloween Baking Championship - General Discussion

[libgirl2]

1 minute ago, DEL901 said:

When Aaron’s cake was shown to the judges and he mentioned “ancient aliens” , I think it was Zack who said Egypt was the first thing he thought off when he heard the theme…as if Aaron had made a smart choice, but it was literally shown to him when that theme was given.  

That said he did a good job, but happy Manny won, particularly with h8m battling through the pain. 

I expected more from Aaron. It wasn't bad but it wasn't a great final cake. Hollie's was a mess and Joel over did it again. Manny's just hit all the right notes. And when he mentioned he was in pain, I just knew he would win. 

[CrazyInAlabama]

New 10/28/2024, Season 10 Episode 7, Finale

Remaining Bakers: Aaron Davis, Joel Gonzalez, Manny Martinez, Hollie Rivera

“The final bakers take on two very difficult challenges inspired by the past -- all leading up to a time-traveling monster mash! In the Dissection Lab, John Henson works on some gross anatomy, and he asks the bakers to create desserts with gummy hearts that will be "dissected" by judges Carla Hall, Zac Young and Stephanie Boswell. Then in the Quantum Physics Lab, John hops into a time machine and journeys to the ancient past for inspirations like medieval vampires and early aliens for time travel cakes. The best baker heads into the future with the Halloween Baking Championship title and the $25,000 prize!”

Thriller Challenge: Desserts with Gummy Hearts dissected by the judges.  Desserts are dissected, with a gummy or gelatin heart the judges will dissect from the creature.   I feel queasy watching this.  Aaron's is OK. Joel's is too complicated, too many parts.  Hollie's is cute, but the decorating isn't good.   Manny's is great, and he gets the final advantage.

Killer Challenge: Medieval aliens and vampires inspired by time travel.

Aaron- not impressive

Joel- Not a great effort, taste is good, bad decorating.  He just puts too many elements on every dessert he does. 

Hollie-Another messy effort, not up to the finale standards.

Manny-Fantastic effort, especially with a knee problem, he looked like he was suffering a lot.

(How is Carla eating with the chicken head with fangs costume?               

 Winner of Halloween Baking Championship:  Manny  Congratulations to Manny for winning, and the other three for making the finale.  

Edited October 29 by CrazyInAlabama

[dleighg]

2 hours ago, DEL901 said:

I think it was Zack who said Egypt was the first thing he thought off when he heard the theme…as if Aaron had made a smart choice, but it was literally shown to him when that theme was given.

I noticed that as well. I also noticed that there just "happened" to be some extremely specific molds of hieroglyphic tablets available to him. So I don't give him special props for being able to put those in his "cakescape." I also thought his pyramids were a bit wonky-- one of them looked more like a listing cube than a pyramid.

I thought Manny's looked amazing (complaining about the back of the moon not being decorated seemed like one of those "required nits on the eventual winner.")

The other two looked like a bit of a mess, particularly Frankenstein. 

[libgirl2]

20 minutes ago, dleighg said:

I noticed that as well. I also noticed that there just "happened" to be some extremely specific molds of hieroglyphic tablets available to him. So I don't give him special props for being able to put those in his "cakescape." I also thought his pyramids were a bit wonky-- one of them looked more like a listing cube than a pyramid.

I thought Manny's looked amazing (complaining about the back of the moon not being decorated seemed like one of those "required nits on the eventual winner.")

The other two looked like a bit of a mess, particularly Frankenstein. 

I thought the same as well. Honestly, the back looked fine to me. 

Those pyramids were not impressive. 

[Madding crowd]

Manny’s vampire looked like a dinosaur to me but the flavors sounded good. I’m a huge pumpkin fan and wanted to taste Aaron’s the most.

[libgirl2]

3 minutes ago, Madding crowd said:

Manny’s vampire looked like a dinosaur to me but the flavors sounded good. I’m a huge pumpkin fan and wanted to taste Aaron’s the most.

Yes, I give you that, it kind of did. But the whole cake was very elegant and still had a creepy and gory vibe to it. The pumpkin did sound good. 

[mojoween]

Hollie said she can’t do animal shapes.  I believe her.

Aliens have fuckall to do with Halloween, I’m just saying.  That choice was not on par with the other three options; good on Manny if he thought that too when he made the decision.

Joel and Manny got to shout out their families, did Aaron and Hollie get to as well?

[libgirl2]

8 minutes ago, mojoween said:

Hollie said she can’t do animal shapes.  I believe her.

Aliens have fuckall to do with Halloween, I’m just saying.  That choice was not on par with the other three options; good on Manny if he thought that too when he made the decision.

Joel and Manny got to shout out their families, did Aaron and Hollie get to as well?

He played the advantage quite well. 

[Frost]

I really like Joel, but I'm very happy with Manny's win.  Joel just can't stop putting on extra stuff!  His Frankenstein's Monster looked great, and then he just had to do the stupid pitchfork and dirt and whatever else he slapped on there.  He needs to follow Coco Chanel's advice:  once you think your jewelry is perfect, take one piece off. 

I thought Aaron's cakescape was lame.  The pyramid didn't even have a peak and the alien spaceship was just a wonky cube.  And whoa, he ground up graham crackers and spread them all over!  Not a good effort.

Hollie's scale was way off.  Her werewolf was three times the size of the supposed houses.  

I thought this season was fine.  The laboratory wasn't as much fun as the hotel or camp themes.  Ready for Holiday Baking Championship!  (although I'm not thrilled to see Nancy)

[dleighg]

3 minutes ago, Frost said:

the alien spaceship was just a wonky cube

Ah, I clearly wasn't paying attention :) I thought it was a terrible pyramid.

[libgirl2]

2 minutes ago, dleighg said:

Ah, I clearly wasn't paying attention :) I thought it was a terrible pyramid.

so did I! 

6 minutes ago, Frost said:

I really like Joel, but I'm very happy with Manny's win.  Joel just can't stop putting on extra stuff!  His Frankenstein's Monster looked great, and then he just had to do the stupid pitchfork and dirt and whatever else he slapped on there.  He needs to follow Coco Chanel's advice:  once you think your jewelry is perfect, take one piece off. 

I thought Aaron's cakescape was lame.  The pyramid didn't even have a peak and the alien spaceship was just a wonky cube.  And whoa, he ground up graham crackers and spread them all over!  Not a good effort.

Hollie's scale was way off.  Her werewolf was three times the size of the supposed houses.  

I thought this season was fine.  The laboratory wasn't as much fun as the hotel or camp themes.  Ready for Holiday Baking Championship!  (although I'm not thrilled to see Nancy)

I thought the theme would be more steampunk and a bit more fun. It was okay. 

[Rammchick]

3 minutes ago, dleighg said:

Ah, I clearly wasn't paying attention :) I thought it was a terrible pyramid.

There are a whole bunch of Mesoamerican pyramids that look like that -- think Aztec, Maya, etc.  But no, not Egypt 😏

[MerBearHou]

I was really happy for Manny's win and you could see the joy his fellow bakers felt for him too.  And battling through that knee pain only added to the sweetness of the win.  What a talented baker and humble guy -- his win was well-deserved.  

Joel overdid again.  Aaron's was underwhelming.  Hollie was way out of her depth last night.  

Fun season as always -- I just get a kick out of this show.  Halloween and Fall are a happy time of year and John, Carla, Stephanie and Zach are just part of it.  I do hope next season they don't tell the bakers to basically guffaw at everything John says -- it's so annoying and unnecessary.  Yes, he's funny, but keep it real, people.

[libgirl2]

9 minutes ago, MerBearHou said:

I was really happy for Manny's win and you could see the joy his fellow bakers felt for him too.  And battling through that knee pain only added to the sweetness of the win.  What a talented baker and humble guy -- his win was well-deserved.  

Joel overdid again.  Aaron's was underwhelming.  Hollie was way out of her depth last night.  

Fun season as always -- I just get a kick out of this show.  Halloween and Fall are a happy time of year and John, Carla, Stephanie and Zach are just part of it.  I do hope next season they don't tell the bakers to basically guffaw at everything John says -- it's so annoying and unnecessary.  Yes, he's funny, but keep it real, people.

I agree on the over reactions of the bakers to everything John said. It is interesting because I can see when they are having an actual real reaction (the gummy heart last night that he ate for example). 

Manny's win was sweet. His cake was gorgeous and I loved his squashed bug. 

[Dirtybubble]

YAY to Manny!  I was so happy he won!  I had Aaron pegged as winning almost to the point where I almost wasn't going to watch the finale because it was so obvs he was going to win.  Aaron's was kinda boring, Jo-el's was confusing, and I am still beyond shocked Hollie was even there.  No offense to her I'm sure she's a great baker but I can't remember a single thing she's done.

Bye-bye John, you'll be missed

 

Onto the Christmas baking show with Jessie 😍

[libgirl2]

8 minutes ago, Dirtybubble said:

YAY to Manny!  I was so happy he won!  I had Aaron pegged as winning almost to the point where I almost wasn't going to watch the finale because it was so obvs he was going to win.  Aaron's was kinda boring, Jo-el's was confusing, and I am still beyond shocked Hollie was even there.  No offense to her I'm sure she's a great baker but I can't remember a single thing she's done.

Bye-bye John, you'll be missed

 

Onto the Christmas baking show with Jessie 😍

I didn't care for Aaron's first bake in the thriller. A giant eye? Meh. Manny's bug was so much better. I even like the little bit of brains leaking out. Cute touch. 

[tennisgurl]

I'm surprised that Manny won, but I'm happy about it! He seems like such a sweet guy and his last cake was excellent. I was sure Aaron was going to take it, I feel bad that he lost again after getting so close, but his alien cake just wasn't up to snuff, especially compared to Manny's bake and even most of his past bakes. Manny has been consistently good but a bit more in the background, so I am happy to see him get the win. 

Joel has been my favorite for awhile, but he really should listen to Coco Channel's advice about removing one accessory before going out, he could have done a lot better I think if he had just focused on one big thing instead of a ton of things. Hollie was never going to take it home, I thought that the werewolf was cool but the houses were nothing special, I like her but she really wasn't the best. 

Love all the judges costumes, Carla as the chicken was hilarious!

I'll miss Halloween Baking, its one of my favorite shows to watch during spooky season, but now we get tons of shows all in a row. I'll miss you John, see you soon Jessie!

[libgirl2]

7 minutes ago, tennisgurl said:

Love all the judges costumes, Carla as the chicken was hilarious!

 

That got the biggest laugh of the night from me. 

[dleighg]

19 minutes ago, tennisgurl said:

Carla as the chicken was hilarious!

She's a good sport. Did you see how awkward it was getting the food past that beak?

[libgirl2]

19 minutes ago, tennisgurl said:

Hollie was never going to take it home, I thought that the werewolf was cool but the houses were nothing special, I like her but she really wasn't the best. 

 

Overall, I think the women were weak this season. 

[starlightlost]

5 hours ago, dleighg said:

Ah, I clearly wasn't paying attention :) I thought it was a terrible pyramid.

I did too LOL oops...

The ancient aliens theme was boring but he really left it kind of flat. It needed more height at the very least. And more color?

 

Hollie's was also weird dimensions and the buildings were blah.

 

I actually loved the Frankenstein, I only thought he needed to airbrush him a little green coloring.

 

I really thought this would be narrowed down to either Aaron or Joel but boy was I surprised. And I'm glad Manny won. His cake was great.

 

Overall, I'm getting kind of tired of the gore. The dissecting hearts from animals was really gross. I would love if they could do at least half of the challenges in a traditional or cute Halloween decor. Then throw in the standard vampires, ghosts, even a little blood splatter for the scarier decor.

 

Now onto Holiday Baking Championship! 🎄

Edited October 29 by starlightlost

[libgirl2]

6 minutes ago, starlightlost said:

Overall, I'm getting kind of tired of the gore. The dissecting hearts from animals was really gross. I would love if they could do at least half of the challenges in a traditional or cute Halloween decor. Then throw in the standard vampires, ghosts, even a little blood splatter for the scarier decor.

 

Now onto Holiday Baking Championship! 🎄

I don't mind the gore but they do need to mix things up a bit or it will go stale. Maybe each week have a theme and have the bakers do it both ways, cute/traditional and then twisted. 

20 minutes ago, dleighg said:

She's a good sport. Did you see how awkward it was getting the food past that beak?

That was so funny! The camera zoomed in on that. 

Edited October 29 by libgirl2

[Splashy]

1 hour ago, starlightlost said:

I actually loved the Frankenstein, I only thought he needed to airbrush him a little green coloring.

I kept asking "When is he going to color the face green?"

When I saw Manny's finished cake, I said, this has to get him the win! That was a gorgeous Halloween cake. It was beautifully spooky/eerie. I like that he went with the Nosferatu type vampire rather than the typical Dracula one. 

I actually liked Hollie's werewolf face and the dark/comic-book look of it all, but it was just strange how its face was like. . . the front part of a building?? Coming out of the building? I wasn't sure what was happening. 

Congratulations Manny!

I can't believe this is over already. This is my favorite time of year, so of course it all just flies by. I'll be watching The Great Pumpkin tonight (my sister gave me the DVD). 

On to the Holiday BC!

Edit: Now that I think of it, I guess the Nosferatu vampire was because of the medieval theme? Was the Bela Lugosi Dracula look created in the 20th century for those films? Clearly I need to do some vampire research 😛

 

Edited October 29 by Splashy

[Pi237]

7 hours ago, MerBearHou said:  I do hope next season they don't tell the bakers to basically guffaw at everything John says -- it's so annoying and unnecessary.  Yes, he's funny, but keep it real, people.

Seriously! I loathe fake, forced merriment and Hollie spent half this season with her mouth gaping wide open in surprise. I don’t remember the bakers being so over the top fake before. Maybe one per season, who was really trying too hard, but all of them were bad-acting their way through every challenge description. Super cringe. Stop that, immediately! It’s part of why I can’t watch Halloween Wars anymore/all the fakeness. Please don’t ruin this show, too because I love it! 
 

When they praised Aaron’s eyeball, I thought-‘he’s winning this,’ because that eyeball was ridiculous.  Manny’s got mad piping skills. Hollie’s was a mess. If Joel could’ve edited himself, he might have won this, but he just couldn’t help himself. When he added the huge pitchfork, I just shook my head, laughing. 

[TVbitch]

Finally got to see the finale. Agree with all y'all's comments. Rooting for Joel, but as the Emperor said about Mozart... "too many notes!" (I disagree with the Emperor about Wolfie, though!)

If I were going as a conspiracy theorist this Halloween, I would be thinking the producers told Aaron to throw this thing, cuz that is the only way I can see him putting up that totally lame ass looking cake, which was his worst of the season. They said Manny injured his knee during a previous episode. I'm guessing that happened during some "race to grab your flavor" nonsense. Maybe they made it all copecetic by letting Manny win but giving them all some money, which was why they all seemed super cheerful. I'm speculating like a witch drunk on brew, of course, but it just seemed like something spooky was going on. 🤫 😁  

 

[mlp]

35 minutes ago, TVbitch said:

giving them all some money, which was why they all seemed super cheerful

I don't pretend to know what actually happens behind the scenes but it has seemed to me for years that the FN producers ask/tell/require the contestants on every competition to act deliriously happy for every winner of every episode and to participate in a group hug of the loser even when there are seven or eight people left and the pile on looks ridiculous.  I was very relieved when they stopped doing it during the pandemic but they went right back to it when it was over.  It's nice for winners and losers to look like good sports and all but I don't need to see them absolutely overjoyed when they're probably not.

[libgirl2]

7 hours ago, TVbitch said:

Finally got to see the finale. Agree with all y'all's comments. Rooting for Joel, but as the Emperor said about Mozart... "too many notes!" (I disagree with the Emperor about Wolfie, though!)

If I were going as a conspiracy theorist this Halloween, I would be thinking the producers told Aaron to throw this thing, cuz that is the only way I can see him putting up that totally lame ass looking cake, which was his worst of the season. They said Manny injured his knee during a previous episode. I'm guessing that happened during some "race to grab your flavor" nonsense. Maybe they made it all copecetic by letting Manny win but giving them all some money, which was why they all seemed super cheerful. I'm speculating like a witch drunk on brew, of course, but it just seemed like something spooky was going on. 🤫 😁  

 

I think Aaron was more likely overconfident in his talent. 

[dleighg]

I was offended :) that Aaron didn't even attempt to make the bricks match up at the corner of the pyramid. I mean you're using a template for the bricks; at least TRY to line them up.

[Flip Flops]

Manny seems like a nice guy so I'm okay with him winning. However, did anyone else think his vampire looked more like a T-Rex? 

[Dirtybubble]

 

 

Maybe a little but it was attention to detail that sold me on the cake.  The iron fence, the shading, the blood spilling over the cake then pooling at the bottom *chef's kiss* and it looked delicious.  And how cute that he's going to use the money for a down payment on a new home for his fam ❤️

9 hours ago, TVbitch said:

Maybe they made it all copecetic by letting Manny win but giving them all some money, which was why they all seemed super cheerful.

Well a couple of things could be going on.  First you don't want to look like a spoil sport and give yourself a bad name so yeah everyone is going to be super happy for him.  Plus other than the free advertising of your baking skills I'm sure everyone in the final 4 got some sort of cash prize with the winner taking the lion's share.  

 

Edited October 30 by Dirtybubble
forgot something

[GeorgiaRai]

I was hoping for an Aaron win but by the end, felt it couldn't be anyone but Manny. I also got dinosaur vibes (Reptar from Rugrats, anyone?) but I've never seen a vampire so for all I know, he could be spot on!

[libgirl2]

51 minutes ago, GeorgiaRai said:

I was hoping for an Aaron win but by the end, felt it couldn't be anyone but Manny. I also got dinosaur vibes (Reptar from Rugrats, anyone?) but I've never seen a vampire so for all I know, he could be spot on!

Honestly, vampire or dinosaur aside, the cake itself  was really lovely. It was spooky and had just that touch of gore with the blood. 

Edited October 30 by libgirl2

[Grizzly]

The vampire was the weakest element of Manny's cake. Although the trees weren't as good as they could have been. But I'm fine with him winning since his flavors were the only cake I wanted to eat.

A few things that struck me: Zac said something about he knew Joel did the Frankenstein without being told. Leads me to believe the judges get to give the desserts a once over before judging. Not earth shaking, just a detail never expressed before. And secondly, they never have 4 in the finale. I wonder why the change.

[libgirl2]

7 minutes ago, Grizzly said:

The vampire was the weakest element of Manny's cake. Although the trees weren't as good as they could have been. But I'm fine with him winning since his flavors were the only cake I wanted to eat.

A few things that struck me: Zac said something about he knew Joel did the Frankenstein without being told. Leads me to believe the judges get to give the desserts a once over before judging. Not earth shaking, just a detail never expressed before. And secondly, they never have 4 in the finale. I wonder why the change.

I'm sure they see the desserts before the final judging. From where they sit, how can they get a good look at them. I think they all go around to each one (with the bakers out of the room) and take a look all around. Zac mentioned the back of Manny's moon, so they must have seen that up close. 

[Rammchick]

33 minutes ago, Grizzly said:

 And secondly, they never have 4 in the finale. I wonder why the change.

They sometimes do, but the fourth person is eliminated after the first challenge.

[libgirl2]

5 minutes ago, Rammchick said:

They sometimes do, but the fourth person is eliminated after the first challenge.

That is true. I wonder why they changed it. I do suspect if anyone were to have left, it would have been Hollie, but they wanted a woman in the finale. 

[Dirtybubble]

1 hour ago, Grizzly said:

Zac said something about he knew Joel did the Frankenstein without being told

I took that to mean that because Jo-el's cake had a lot going on, what appeared to be dirt on the side, etc., meant he knew that it was Jo-el's cake before anything was said.

IDK maybe they are told ahead of time but it doesn't really make a difference to me.  And I would assume they get up and look at each cake more closely for a proper judging.🤷‍♀️

 

[mlp]

4 hours ago, libgirl2 said:

I'm sure they see the desserts before the final judging. From where they sit, how can they get a good look at them. I think they all go around to each one (with the bakers out of the room) and take a look all around. Zac mentioned the back of Manny's moon, so they must have seen that up close. 

Yes.  I've always assumed that the judges look at all bakes prior to the judging we see for exactly those reasons.  They often comment on little details they can't possibly see from where they're sitting.

[lavenderblue]

Going in I was sort of rooting for Joel, but Manny did such lovely work in both rounds that I was pulling for him to get the win and happy he did. His cake was so elegant in contrast to....a lot of the other things we've seen this season (and this episode). 

I don't think Hollie or the producers quite got the memo on the werewolf theme. First, I think the idea of the werewolf in history as a pop culture concept is more popularly associated with the early modern period, so while this is not the sort of show that's going to use terminology like that, you could still ask for "17th century werewolf" or "European village werewolf" or something. But that nitpick aside, Hollie also realllllllly missed the brief on making something that resembled an ancient village...