Cake Wars - General Discussion

[needschocolate]

My favorite part was the lady with the flame explosion thing "dropped" her pan of sugar onto the floor and then fixed it by jabbing the broken pieces into the cake. When they showed her "running into" the teammate with the pan and "dropping" it, you can see the cake with the broken sugar pieces already jabbed into it, on the edge of the screen. ... Right. Also, her characters looked nothing like anything.

 

That whole "dropping" scene was so fake.  I just kept rewinding and rewatching and laughing at the fakeness of it.  

 

What we are supposed to think happened - Woman X grabs the pan with the sugar sheet on it, bumps into woman Y and drops the pan, breaking the sugar into pieces.  

 

What actually happened -  Woman X grabs the pan and looks at Woman Y - it was out of the corner of her eye, but she definitely looked right at her (it is hard to tell, but I think she looked at Y twice).  Woman X realizes that she isn't close enough to Y to bump into her, so she leans in and bumps Y. It seems like a fairly hard bump, but X is still firmly holding the pan after the bump.  A few seconds later, X "drops" the pan.  It happened too quick to time it, but it was long enough to tell that the bump did not make her drop the pan.  I can't decide if she just lets go of the pan or if she sort of throws it to the floor - it appears to be dropped with some force. Then, as was mentioned (and I missed this originally, probably because I was laughing to hard) the camera pans over enough that you can see the sugar pieces sticking out of the side of the cake - even though they are supposedly still on the floor.  

 

I enjoy unscripted shows better if I can convince myself that they are unscripted, so I am going with the theory that she really did bump the other woman and drop the pan. The camera crew didn't get it on tape, so they re-created the "disaster."  By the time they had a new pan of sugar to drop, they had already put the original sugar into/onto the cake.  I hope that someone in production made the second pan of sugar, it wouldn't be fair to make the contestant take the time to make it.  

[JessDVD]

Things I would really like to know: Do they actually have to use cake that they bake *that day*? I've watched bunches of cake shows and all of them use cake that doesn't have to cool in time. It seems like an excessively unnecessary wrench to throw into the show.

 

And, do they actually serve the competition cake, both for the judges in round one, and the people in round two. Every other cake show I've seen, they serve sheet cakes separately.

 

Tonight's excellent fakery: the fishbowl cake coming out of the pan. They clearly removed the cake, then put the pan back on the cake and the camera recorded them lifting the pan off the cake. Come on, FN, you never felt the need to fake up Challenge, right?

 

The guy's details weren't great. Too much of the black lines. Dr Seuss books are picture books, not 4" tomes like what he made. Girl who presented second missed the mark on the characters. Girl who presented at the end is the clear victor IMO and as the judges had nothing negative to say in what they aired, they should agree. Her books were perfect.

 

I'm ready for the salted caramel craze to die down.

 

I love how they say "Ten. THOUSAND. DOLLAAAAARS" like it's some big life changing chunk of cash, not more like $7k after taxes that you should really split with your teammate and if Cake Wars is anything like Chopped, also has to pay for your travel expenses.

[LittleIggy]

There were too many black lines on that guy's cake. The Lorax looked as if he had pubic hair. The modeling wasn't great either. The Cat in the Hat looked like a monkey. The winner deserved her win. I would love to taste all of the cakes. They sounded scrummy!

[AKA...CJ86]

Star Wars...and all the cakes beginning to end were a travesty, my opinion of course.  I love Star Wars and was flipping channels and caught the episode...and...I remember the grandeur of so many FN Challenges past...the detailing, the work...back to the Star Wars episode, I recall one of the judges looking to the cake and saying it looked like a freeze frame shot of the film, I was thinking maybe if the reel was dragged through the dirt...sorry to be negative.

 

...I missed the introductions, are the competitors actual bakers as in they own some type of establishment...or amateurs?

 

I caught the tale end of The Simpsons themed episode and those were a step up, my opinion of course, IDK, maybe it was just a bad day for the Star Wars gang of bakers?  Again, I haven't seen to many episodes but caught Dr. Seuss themed episode, that seemed a step up as well...

 

STILL LOVE Ron Ben-Israel!

Edited January 19, 2016 by CyberJawa1986

[needschocolate]

Tonight's excellent fakery: the fishbowl cake coming out of the pan. They clearly removed the cake, then put the pan back on the cake and the camera recorded them lifting the pan off the cake. Come on, FN, you never felt the need to fake up Challenge, right?

 

I have always enjoyed watching people decorate cakes (I generally like watching people make things), but I think my biggest reason for watching this show is to catch the things that were "re-enacted" for the camera.  It is easy to find them because it is always the big calamity of the episode - "Oh no! I dropped the sugar creation!"... "Oh no! I ruined the cake!"  And they give you twice the time to observe it, because they will show it before and after the commercial break. 

 

With Star Wars, it was the dropping the pan of sugar, this time it was the bowl cake.  There is no way they took off the bowl and there were cake crumbs nicely smashed on top of the cake - and the pan was absolutely clean.  For it to happen the part the fell off the cake would have had to crumble itself up and turn itself over while still in the pan.  I will go with the theory that they took one cake out of the pan and the only half the cake came out - the rest was stuck to the pan, sot he took the stuck part out and cleaned the pan.  Then a cameraman came over and said "This might be the best big calamity we get, can you just shove everything back int he bowl and act like you are taking it out for the first time?"  

 

They also re-enacted when they took out the successful bowl cake - When they first show it, still in the pan, the top of the cake is level with the top of the pan, then she touches it and it goes down into the pan, and now there is a inch or so of space.  Plus, once again, the bowl was spotless.  

 

They have plenty of other flubs too - like when the woman was frosting the giant Cat int he Hat, the amount of frosting she spread on the cat kept changing - it was partially covered, then almost bare, then almost entirely covered, etc...

Edited January 22, 2016 by needschocolate

[JessDVD]

Yep, pretty much. FN, the concept of people making large cakes is interesting enough on its own without contriving drama out of it. Mr. DVD and I introduced Mr. Roger's Neighborhood and Reading Rainbow to our kids, remembering how much we liked both as kids ourselves, not remembering that quite a lot of them have segments about "How People Make _____", which we concluded was the precursor to "How It's Made", which we both like to watch now as adults. Because that idea is *interesting* to people (or at least, some people) and if I wanted to watch drama, I'd tune into daytime TV or something. Just let me watch the people make the cakes.

 

But now that the obvious, obvious fakery has happened 2 weeks in a row, I will be paying special attention in the weeks following to spot it because it's inevitable.

[Rammchick]

I'm always astounded by the "Today's challenge is....(duh duh duh)....Dr Seuss (etc) cakes!" and the contestants look totally shocked and either thrilled or not so.  There is no way that they could pull any of that off in 4 hours if a) they didn't know the challenge theme beforehand and b) have the necessary equipment, decorations, etc. with them to do it.  What I can't quite figure is why so many of them fall apart in the Batter Up round if that's the case.  Do they have the first round, which IS a surprise, then send them off for two days to plan, then bring them back? 

[JessDVD]

And then they're all, OMG I just LOOOVE Dr. Seuss to each other when they get back and draw their obviously for the sake of the camera "plan" for their cake, like they didn't already make it.

 

I think the biggest issue with Batter Up is that they have to bake cakes in that time also, and I wouldn't be surprised if they aren't told the ingredients they have to work with, so there actually is some planning time. They must know that round happens since the show isn't brand new anymore, but I could see that they aren't told what the challenge will be, like Panda-ize yourself or whatever.

 

Kung Fu Panda Or Dreamworks Is Paying For This Show In Hopes That More Than Three People Will Show Up To See Their Lame Movie Threequel Since Pixar They Are Not (or something like that): Meh. I watched the lady "drop" her cake twice, trying to figure out if that was made up for TV or actually happened. Uncertain. You'd think if she actually needed to put that cake on that pan, that she'd have the guy bring the pan to right next to where the cake was rather than "Let me awkwardly move this cake by hand over 5 feet", but still unsure.

 

Bummer that Eliminated First At End didn't get a better scene because her characters of a lame B-movie were quite good. I thought the rest of them were pretty underwhelming.

[needschocolate]

I'm always astounded by the "Today's challenge is....(duh duh duh)....Dr Seuss (etc) cakes!" and the contestants look totally shocked and either thrilled or not so.  

 

I had to laugh when they announced the Kung Fu Panda theme - The host says something like "Kung Fu Panda 3 will premiere in theaters on January 29" and they show the bakers oohing and aawing, looking so thrilled that there is going to be a Kung Fu Panda 3.  I know it was supposed to be that they were excited to get to decorate Panda cakes, but, to me, it looked like they were excited that the movie was coming out.  

 

 I watched the lady "drop" her cake twice, trying to figure out if that was made up for TV or actually happened. Uncertain. You'd think if she actually needed to put that cake on that pan, that she'd have the guy bring the pan to right next to where the cake was rather than "Let me awkwardly move this cake by hand over 5 feet", but still unsure.

 

That was this weeks Big Catastrophe - they must have not had much to work with this time.  I suppose that is because no one had and sugar art on their cake - sugar work is almost always the star of the Big Catastrophe.  

 

I think the cake dropping we saw was a re-creation because the amount cake that was on the floor (some partially hidden by the table) seemed to be a lot more than what we saw fall off.  And they had to bake a lot more pans of cake to make up for the dropped part (though it was probably comparable to the amount shown on the floor)

[CherZ]

Re: The Star Wars episode.

 

The "young" girl was sooo not nearly as good as the others and it showed. She kept on talking about how young she was, but 24....you can be talented at 24. I half expected her to break out the "I'm like, ALWAYS getting carded". She made such a deal out of her age.

 

The batter-ups were terrible. But I did like Consequela's final cake. Glad it won.

 

I don't think the talent is there compared to previous people really.

[mlp]

I just discovered that there's a forum for this show.  I'm glad to see that everyone above is saying things I've been thinking.  I've wondered if I'm just getting too cynical from watching FN competitions.  

 

So far, I haven't seen a single cake in the whole season that could hold a candle to the cakes made on Challenge by people like Richard Ruskell and Bronwen Weber.  I know the Challenge competitors had more time but still....................  Most of the contestants own bakery businesses of some sort and the examples shown of their work look very good so I don't quite understand why they have so much trouble doing clean work even considering nerves and time.

 

I adore Ron Ben-Israel so I'm happy to watch him do anything.  I like Waylynn Lucas also although she has an uncanny resemblance to Daphne Oz whom I can't stand so I have to keep reminding myself that they're not related.  Jonathan Bennett is goofy but I like him too.  

[Eliza422]

 So far, I haven't seen a single cake in the whole season that could hold a candle to the cakes made on Challenge by people like Richard Ruskell and Bronwen Weber.  I know the Challenge competitors had more time but still....................  Most of the contestants own bakery businesses of some sort and the examples shown of their work look very good so I don't quite understand why they have so much trouble doing clean work even considering nerves and time.

I was a devoted fan of the old food network challenge shows, which I had kind of forgotten until people mentioned here.

I think there were two critical differences - beyond the casting, which is just ridiculous. First, they usually had eight hours to do the cake, and I do remember some that had two days! Second, and I think the bigger factor, is they were able to pre bake their cakes.

My absolute biggest problem with this new style of decorating show is that cake takes a long time to cool completely. Normal home recipes typically tell you to bake for whatever time (typically 30 - 45 minutes, depending on the cake), cool on a rack for 10 minutes, then let cool for 2 hours before finishing. That's the only way a cake's crumb will be strong enough to handle normal handling, let alone the absurd stuff we see here.

There will never be the quality of design and execution we saw in the past until they remove that element of these competitions.

[backgroundnoise]

ITA.  Until they give more time to allow the cakes to cool, we will continue to see lumpy, sloppy fondant and cakes falling apart.  Why do TPTB think it's entertaining to see people constantly yelling about not having enough time?  I'd rather see wow-factor cakes.

 

I felt sorry for the team where the character fell down, but, boy, did that look unstable from the get-go. 

[needschocolate]

I am not into minecraft, so I watched this episode mostly to catch the "Big Catastrophe!" - and there were two of them this time!

 

In the first challenge we got the "oh, no, we need to put on the head, but the cake is crumbling!" Big Catastrophe.  I am pretty sure this one was re-enacted for the camera.  First, the cake he was supposed to put the head on wasn't even frosted all the way yet.  Second, the "head" he was trying to put on was not very professional looking - it was lumpy and lop-sided.  Third, the "head" he was supposed to put on didn't look to be the correct size, like it was made out of leftover pieces (this is compared to the drawing, I forgot to notice how big the head was in the finished cake).  Last, and more important, as they stand there complaining that "the cake is crumbling and they don't know what they will do now" you can see him digging into the cake with his fingers, trying to make it crumble.  

 

The second catastrophe - the character collapsing, I think was actual footage of the actual catastrophe, not a re-enactment.  I felt sorry for them, it seems to me that, had their cake held up, they would have been the ones taking home the $10,000.

Edited February 3, 2016 by needschocolate

[backgroundnoise]

Valentine's episode:

All three cakes were better than any other cake so far this season.  Well done.  I think tree cake (my favorite) would have won if it tasted better.

 

It's stupid to taste judge with a savory ingredient thrown in, when it's not a requirement in the party cake, IMO.

[mlp]

I thought the cake with the hanging hearts and silhouettes would win easily so I was a bit shocked when it didn't.  I liked the married couple who made it too so I was sorry they didn't get the prize. 

 

In the other show with the wedding cakes, I wanted them to eliminate the nasty woman right away just based upon her behavior in the kitchen - knowing she was on camera.  Maybe you had to be there but I thought her final cake looked awful with no features that stood out.  It was just a white tilting mass of mess on my screen.

 

Jonathan Bennett is such a goofball............but I like him anyway. 

[needschocolate]

The valentine episode had cakes that were much better than the ones on the previous episodes. The Batter Up cakes were better, too, so I don't think it was because just they got a chocolate artist (although I am sure it helped - if only because it gave them more hands).

 

I think these bakers were better prepared or more experienced or just plain better than past contestants.  Proof of this is the lack of a "Big Catastrophe" this week. They kept trying to find one - "Oh, I forgot to put the pipe in the cake.  We need to add it now" and "Oh, I can't find the pipe because the cake is bigger than I thought" - but they weren't catastrophic enough.  

 

The closest thing to a "Big Catastrophe" (which is always the "disaster" shown before and after a commercial break) was the frosting not sticking on the trunk. Usually, I try to figure out if the "Big Catastrophe" was re-created or if it was filmed live.  This time, I was trying to figure out if it was an actual problem/disaster/catastrophe.  While they were talking about how the frosting wasn't sticking, they were showing the cake with frosting covering the side - the frosting that wasn't sticking was sticking to the side of the cake.  Maybe they were talking about the frosting not sticking to the top, that it was pulling off crumbs/cake when they tried to spread it (that can happen with a carved cake - hence the reason for crumb-coating before putting on the final frosting).  They could have tried softening the frosting or piping it on instead of spreading with a spatula.  I get the feeling that they decided to have the chocolate guy do the trunk texture so they made up the "frosting won't stick" story.  

[Josette]

The Batter Up round: That one cake reminded me strongly of a Cake Girls' creation from 2009.

[JessDVD]

For the first time since cake wars started, I recognized a face! One of the chocolatiers, Charity, was on ultimate cake off on TLC and Halloween wars too.

They actually managed to find some decent talent this time! That chocolate bear in the first round was adorable and all the other ones were great. Even the lady eliminated wasn't terrible, although I thought her roses were kind of pathetic.

No fake catastrophe too... Is this even cake wars?!

[gryphon]

I really liked the white tree with hearts....lovely.  I didn't think the details were distracting at all.  I also liked their conversation heart mini cake.  I thought Renata's cake was too busy...I wish I could taste them.  I love cake. 

 

Jonathan is ok...he seems to have a lot going on in his crotchal area...rather distracting at the beginning.  Never noticed that before.

[needschocolate]

Well, I had a lot of trouble paying attention this episode. Not much there to hold my interest. Had to rewind to see the (first ) Big Catastrophe - "Oh no! The cake is crumbling!" - which consisted of a tall stack of cake layers and the one on top was broken.  Must have been a re-enactment because they just kept fussing with it while most people would have just said, "Can't use this one" and tossed it, or saved it for th top.  Plus they made it sound as is the whole cake was falling apart and it was just one layer - although, it seemed like more than one when showed the garbage can.  And the editing was wonky because the numbers of layers on the cake kept changing.  

 

The cake is crumbling ended up not being the Biog Catastrophe, it was just the foreshadowing to it.  The real BC was the shark head falling apart as she put it on the cake.  Not sure what went wrong there (I wasn't paying much attention), but it looked to me like that pole was much to long for the shark head. I don't know what they were planning to do with the rest of the pole if the head did go all the way down (that last sentence sounds R-rated).

[mlp]

Once again, I didn't understand the final decision.  The brown cake was ugly and covered with too much stuff and the shark wasn't featured nor did it look a lot like a shark (as one of the judges even mentioned earlier).  The other cake had a wonderful shark and nice clean work.  I didn't think the slight lack of clarity in the "glass" aquarium sides was worse than the winner's inferior shark.  

 

For maybe the first time, I liked every one of the contestants and felt sorry for the ones eliminated even though it was clear why the first two teams went home.

[JessDVD]

I missed half of the middle due to puking kid, but I did catch the shark head Big Catastrophe, and I think something was wonky in that because there is no possible way they were just planning to put that 1 foot tall shark head onto that 2 foot tall pole remainder.  I went back and watched the cake crumbling part and agreed, it was ridiculous, contrived, and probably re-enacted. But that lady was pretty much sunk from the get-go.

 

I love when the judges can't come up with anything to criticize in someone's design, so they say things like "She might be showing off too much". Right.

[Spunkygal]

Once again, I didn't understand the final decision.  The brown cake was ugly and covered with too much stuff and the shark wasn't featured nor did it look a lot like a shark (as one of the judges even mentioned earlier).  The other cake had a wonderful shark and nice clean work.  I didn't think the slight lack of clarity in the "glass" aquarium sides was worse than the winner's inferior shark.  

 

For maybe the first time, I liked every one of the contestants and felt sorry for the ones eliminated even though it was clear why the first two teams went home.

That was my favorite too. And it is so cool to see how the male baker could select a design and size of design and feed the fondant through the machine which then cuts it out just like he wanted. And the painting they did to finish off the jellyfish and other designs that had been cut was so well done. Oh, and the waves at the top of the cake under the shark was gorgeous. I really like the judges on this show. The host is ok, but I prefer the previous one (Jason?).

[mlp]

 

The host is ok, but I prefer the previous one (Jason?).

 

Justin Willman.  I was very fond of Justin so I was disappointed when I realized he seemed to have left FN.  Jonathan is sort of Justin 2.0 only a lot sillier.  

[backgroundnoise]

I liked the winning shark cake the best. I thought it was beautiful and intricate.  The second place one had too many things that were just flat painted cutouts instead of actual 3-D figures. 

 

The judges seemed so intent on having a big shark on the top, but that just threw the proportions off for me to have a huge shark on top and then a little undersea world.  That's one reason I liked the winning cake the best--the shark was proportional to the undersea.

 

I'm probably going to hell for this, but I so wanted that King Shark head to stay on top even after the neck fell off, just to see a dismembered head sitting on the top of that pole. 

[backgroundnoise]

Re Shrek episode:

That must have been some pretty weak wasabi if it couldn't be tasted.  Using wasabi in a cake if you don't have to is nuts, IMO.  Yuck.

 

All three cakes were great looking.  I liked the winning cake the best, but it was close. 

 

After watching the Kid's Baking Championship and then this show, I want to taste chai tea cake!

Edited February 23, 2016 by backgroundnoise

[JessDVD]

I thought Megan was getting an edit to be the plucky young overcoming all odds to win - but her cake was also the best so there we go. The lady who was eliminated first at the end had really great clean work, but I thought her characters weren't all that accurate, especially Shrek and Fiona. I wasn't super impressed with the runner up's characters either. At least all 3 had clean, complete cakes.

 

I totally believe that Dreamworks was throwing a 15 year anniversary of Shrek party. Oh wait, no I don't.

[needschocolate]

I can't decide if the Big Catastrophe - dropping the cake layer on the floor - was a re-creation or filmed live.  It sure looks like she tipped 90 degrees right before it fell, but she didn't need to do that in order for it to "slip out of her hands and fall to the floor" which leads me to believe that it was actually how it happened and was filmed live.  It does appear that the footage of her smoothing the fondant on the new layer is the same footage of her smoothing the fondant on the layer that fell.  

 

The contestants seem to be getting better.  Except for the guy that went home first, everyone seemed better than the ones in the first few episodes of this season.  When the guy said that he did a bad decorating job (and he wasn't lying) and he hopes the flavors are good enough to take him to the next round, I thought "You hope the flavor of your burnt cakes save you? Keep dreaming, buddy."

[backgroundnoise]

They really need to stop with the "unexpected" disasters.  These people are bakers, not actors.  "Lah di dah, I just put this fragile piece of sugar for the lake that I absolutely need on my cake right here in front of where I'm rolling fondant.  La, la, la, I'm looking up and around and anywhere BUT right in front of me, and OMG, my priceless piece of sugar just got pushed off my table and smashed to smithereens!"

 

TPTB:  We viewers are not stupid.  Stop making your contestants do sh*t like that.

[JessDVD]

If one is not totally paying attention, the first time of the Big Catastrophe might appear to be legit, but then they immediately replay it and it's totally obvious it's faked. 

 

I didn't think any of these cakes were much of anything to write home about, really. And listening to Ron and Waylynn harp on the non-creativity of carrot cake got old fast too. If you want them to not use carrots, don't give them carrots. And really, use cabbage where you would carrots? GROSS.

[needschocolate]

They really need to stop with the "unexpected" disasters.  These people are bakers, not actors.  "Lah di dah, I just put this fragile piece of sugar for the lake that I absolutely need on my cake right here in front of where I'm rolling fondant.  La, la, la, I'm looking up and around and anywhere BUT right in front of me, and OMG, my priceless piece of sugar just got pushed off my table and smashed to smithereens!"

 

TPTB:  We viewers are not stupid.  Stop making your contestants do sh*t like that.

 

And they didn't even edit it to make it sound like more of a catastrophe.  They say there are 3 hours left, she breaks her priceless isomalt piece, she remakes it, and they say there is 2 hours left.  If she would have broken it in the last half hour, it would have seemed like more of a catastrophe. 

[JessDVD]

And one would have thought they'd have plenty of material for contrived catastrophe with the guy who almost didn't finish too.

[LittleIggy]

I had to laugh when the zoo guy said that the "hippo" on that one cake looked like an octopus. I thought the exact same thing! It looked nothing like a hippo!

[needschocolate]

And one would have thought they'd have plenty of material for contrived catastrophe with the guy who almost didn't finish too.

 

The had a few things they tried to work into catastrophes, in addition to the broken hippo pool and they guy who almost didn't finish.  One team had the "Oh no! Our fondant isn't large enough to cover our supposed-to-be-an-African-tree!  What will we do? Oh yeah, we will roll out a larger piece" wannabe catastrophe."  And another woman had the "My modeling chocolate won't cover my cake! What will I do? Oh yeah, I will use fondant instead" wannabe catastrophe.

[JessDVD]

I thought the modeling chocolate catastrophe looked re-enacted, the way she was putting it on and taking it off.

 

By the way, next week is Sesame Street cakes and if they do not get Mike McCarey on there to make his Big Bird again from the Challenge days, I will be sad. Since there's no way that's going to happen, I'll just go ahead and be preemptively sad.

[Eliza422]

I thought the modeling chocolate catastrophe looked re-enacted, the way she was putting it on and taking it off.

 

By the way, next week is Sesame Street cakes and if they do not get Mike McCarey on there to make his Big Bird again from the Challenge days, I will be sad. Since there's no way that's going to happen, I'll just go ahead and be preemptively sad.

Yeah, those glory days are in the distant past...we won't see the likes of Mike again.

[JessDVD]

Yeah, those glory days are in the distant past...we won't see the likes of Mike again.

 

Sigh. I console myself by "liking" his page on Facebook and admiring the amazing creations he continues to make. It bums me out hardcore that FN isn't bringing back any of those greats for these shows. I think I'll submit a request for Cake Wars to do a special ep with 4 of the greats. I'd love to see Mike McCarey show up on a random ep of Cake Wars but he'd clean the floor over the people on there, so they probably wouldn't do that. A show with 4 of them would be more evenly balanced in ability and would be a fun viewer special sort of thing. And if they got Kerry Vincent to be the guest judge next to Ron and Waylynn...!

[needschocolate]

There wasn't even a real attempt at a Big Catastrophe this week.  The closest we got was "Oh, I didn't make enough batter and have to make more and now I overcooked the cakes and have to make the batter again" and the typical "I hope our cake doesn't fall when we move it"

 

The cakes weren't too bad - they did a pretty good job on the Sesame Street characters, for the most part.  I can't understand why everyone used fondant for Cookie Monster in the first round.  I would think his fur would be so much easier to do with buttercream and any one of several decorating tips (star, the one they use for grass, etc...)

[mlp]

I don't understand the judging criteria I guess.  The fellow who came in second had a great cake with excellent characters and his workmanship was impressive.  During the judges' discussion, Ron said that the girl who won had flaws in her fondant, etc.  But they gave her the win because the guy's wasn't "fun" or something.  I know I'm not a cake expert and I'm not there but this is the third or fourth time recently that it looked to me like the best cake didn't win.

[Eliza422]

I don't understand the judging criteria I guess. The fellow who came in second had a great cake with excellent characters and his workmanship was impressive. During the judges' discussion, Ron said that the girl who won had flaws in her fondant, etc. But they gave her the win because the guy's wasn't "fun" or something. I know I'm not a cake expert and I'm not there but this is the third or fourth time recently that it looked to me like the best cake didn't win.

I agree...I thought the guy's wAs the best. The judges were full of crap.

Edited March 12, 2016 by Eliza422

[hjmugillecuty]

The guy who came in second had the best Sesame Street characters I have ever seen on a cake show. Especially Elmo. Everyone gets Elmo's head wrong, even the so-called Cake Boss. Both of the women in this episode had given Elmo a round head, instead of a football shape. They both had Ernie right, which is nearly the same shape, so I don't get why Elmo was so wrong.

[Spunkygal]

The Willy Wonka episode: loved the winning cake! So brilliant with the Oompa Loompas! The design and construction were just so clever and RBI said the buttercream rivaled his. Hope to see this team again in the future. I won't comment on the fake disasters because...it is what it is.

[mlp]

I was very fond of Jason when he was on one of the baking shows so I was delighted when he won.  His cake seemed best to me but the last couple cakes I thought were best didn't win so I was worried.  I was impressed by the way a couple of them made Oompa Loompas that were right on.

[caci]

So I was reading a Food Network magazine and there was a short article on the host and his kitchen. I had no idea he is the actor that played the cute boyfriend in the movie Mean Girls. I thought he looked vaguely familiar but never bothered to check his filmography.

[JessDVD]

On October 3rd, he asked me what day it is.

[Spunkygal]

Too bad that one baker's illuminated Archie sign wouldn't stay on the pole. Her design, especially her characters, were awesome. I thought the characters on the other two cakes looked like crap. And I like her rotating record on the jukebox. Too bad she didn't give more thought as to how she could get that sign to stay on the pole.

[mlp]

^^^^^^^  Totally agree.  That gal's characters put the others to shame.  I thought she had the best cake by far despite the unfortunate pole. 

 

I was surprised that none of them did more of the main characters like Jughead in particular or even Moose and Reggie and the principal (whose name I know but can't recall just now).  The all seemed to be doing much the same thing. 

[needschocolate]

Another week with very little attempt at giving us a Big Catastrophe.  The closest they got was "Oh dear, the cake is crumbling too much to make a beach ball.  I will have to use rice cereal treats.  Using cake would have been faster."  I don't know if I am happy or sad that the editors seem to have given up the Big Catastrophe.  On one hand, I enjoy trying to figure out whether the Big Catastrophe was recreated or shot live.  On the other hand, the Big Catastrophe was usually pretty stupid.  

 

Too bad that one baker's illuminated Archie sign wouldn't stay on the pole. Her design, especially her characters, were awesome. I thought the characters on the other two cakes looked like crap. And I like her rotating record on the jukebox. Too bad she didn't give more thought as to how she could get that sign to stay on the pole.

 

Hers was, by far, the best decorated.  If there really was a big party for the 75th Anniversary of Archie, I don't think a pole, that they could doctor up (balloons, paper sign) or cut off (bolt cutters, hacksaw) for the party, would have been enough to keep it from winning.  However, the judges also said that the frosting was not mixed well - it had chunks of butter in it.  

 

I was surprised that none of them did more of the main characters like Jughead in particular or even Moose and Reggie and the principal (whose name I know but can't recall just now).  The all seemed to be doing much the same thing. 

 

I am guessing that none of them were very familiar with Archie and the Gang.  They all made the same sort of comments and at least two of them referenced Josie and the Pussycats - who started with Archie, but aren't really what most Archie comic lovers would think of right away if they were listing Archie characters - they weren't part of the gang.  I am guessing that they were given reference material (which shoots down my notion that they are told the topic in advance).  I mean, really, how can you have Archie and the gang at a party and not have Jughead devouring a big plate of burgers?

[mlp]

 

I am guessing that none of them were very familiar with Archie and the Gang.  They all made the same sort of comments and at least two of them referenced Josie and the Pussycats - who started with Archie, but aren't really what most Archie comic lovers would think of right away if they were listing Archie characters - they weren't part of the gang.  I am guessing that they were given reference material (which shoots down my notion that they are told the topic in advance).  I mean, really, how can you have Archie and the gang at a party and not have Jughead devouring a big plate of burgers?

 

I think you're right.  I stopped reading Archie comics long before those young people were even born.  I don't remember any Josie or Pussycats so I think they must have come after "classic" Archie.  Or I just forgot them.

 

I've always thought that the bakers on both Cupcake Wars and this show are given the subject in advance.  I've often wished they'd just dispense with the fiction that the team leader comes up with an idea and fully formed plan on the spot and then they just happen to find non-standard molds and other things they need in the pantry.

 

Someone way back there pointed out that a big difference between this show and the old Challenge is that, on Challenge, the bakers brought cooked and cooled cake layers with them.  Then the teams could concentrate on assembly and decorating which are a lot more interesting to watch than someone trying to frost a hot cake.  More time to do those things would allow them to do better work.  Most of the contestants have successful businesses and, judging from the pictures of past cakes they've made, have real talent.  Having to bake first slows them down.  Of course, they couldn't pre-bake cake layers that fit the theme unless the show admitted that they're given that information ahead of time.

 

I also wonder every week why the judges aren't given a little elbow room and better seating.  That narrow table with stools can't be comfortable.