S02.E08: The Finals

[Athena]

Quote

The final two bakers face the three most difficult baking challenges; one will be named America's best amateur baker.

[SirOsisOfLiver]

I got faked out. I was sure the other would be named the winner. I have to say, I found the fawning over Queen Mary to be a little excessive, particularly by Johnny. That needs to be dialed back if there's a sequel.

[Kohola3]

I really like both of them so much that I kind of hoped for a tie.  I though it was nice that Amanda helped out Steph at the end. Such a lovely difference from the normal cutthroat cooking challenges with all of their trash talking and braggadocio.  I would have killed for a bit of any of those beautiful desserts!

[AZChristian]

So who won? My DVR didn't.

[Mrs. P.]

17 minutes ago, AZChristian said:

So who won? My DVR didn't.

Amanda.

[dubbel zout]

Amanda won. After the showstopper, I thought she would. Steph had a few too many criticisms to win.

[AZChristian]

Thanks for the info!

[GaT]

No surprise, Amanda was looking like the winner since the start. I think I've gotten used to Nia & Ian, hopefully if the show has a season 3 I'll actually start liking them LOL.

[rose711]

Congrats Amanda. 

[Rammchick]

Yay!  A really lovely competition and congratulations to all, most especially Amanda.  I think the lack of a monetary prize is what makes this show (and the British version) a cut above.

[mertensia]

I was rooting for Stephanie but can't disagree with Amanda's winning it.

Battenburg cake looks delicious.

[BusyOctober]

Stephanie was my favorite, but I knew Amanda would win when she brought out her show stopper display.  It looked clean and impeccable.  Despite all the "perfect" praise Johnny and Mary put out there for Stephanie's macrons, they looked gray to me & unappealing.  Too bad her pot de creme didn't set.  Both ladies are definitely talented and either could have won.

This season was a vast improvement over last year's in regard to the talent level.  Last year's crew was full of novices compared to this cast.  I hope this gets renewed, but can we please forget the pretense of it being a "holiday" show?  Why can't they just bake an assortment of things and use different skills like the UK versions?  If they want to make one of the week's themes "Holiday", that's fine.  But I don't want to see people walking around with scarves & gathering around bonfires while the trees & flowers are all a-bloom in the background.

[Thadeeeyus]

This is my first time watching the American show, but I'd watch again.  I liked these contestants.  Congrats to Amanda!

[Maya]

2 hours ago, BusyOctober said:

Despite all the "perfect" praise Johnny and Mary put out there for Stephanie's macrons, they looked gray to me & unappealing.  

I'm curious about the taste of those macaroons.  I wish the judges had described the flavor. The color was very unfortunate. 

[Primetimer]

The finale comes down to Good Baker/Nice Person versus Good Baker/Nice Person! Two will enter the tent, but only one-- Wait, I'm being informed that both will leave, and will still be very good friends when they do so.

View the full article

[theatremouse]

2 hours ago, BusyOctober said:

Stephanie was my favorite, but I knew Amanda would win when she brought out her show stopper display.  It looked clean and impeccable.  Despite all the "perfect" praise Johnny and Mary put out there for Stephanie's macrons, they looked gray to me & unappealing.  Too bad her pot de creme didn't set.

I think it was more likely Stephanie's eclairs that did her in, more so than the macaron. Those eclairs were a mess. I've seen grey macaron before, so while I don't doubt some people may be put off by the grey, if it fits the flavor, it's a thing.

[Kohola3]

They were a black sesame macaron hence the color.  Steph mentioned that was something her family used a lot in the kitchen which is why she went for that flavor.

[dubbel zout]

I thought the timing for the Signature and Technical bakes was coming really close to being unworkable. I know for the former it's on the bakers to choose something they can do within the timeframe, but given some of the parameters (making puff pastry, for instance, which needs time to chill), things come awfully close to not being finished. Which I suppose is intentional, so that there's some suspense. But timing is something I think the British show cheats, as well, so it's not limited to this version.

[Dobian]

I could tell when they brought their trays up that Amanda would win.  Her first two tiers were razor sharp and looked totally professional.  The pastries on her top tier was just a little lumpy looking, like they said, but that was a minor criticism.  The insides looked perfect.

I don't get all the hate that has been leveled at this show.  It follows the British format pretty much exactly, down to the theme song and the tent in Teletubby Land.  It has the same charm.  It has Mary, and Johnny was alright, just an American version of Paul Hollywood.  The hosts are no Mel and Sue and could sometimes be annoying (I noticed at various times the bakers and even Johnny and Mary wishing them away with their expressions and body language), but they weren't all that bad.

I'll watch again next year.  I just wish the British version would be licensed to Netflix or Amazon, there are seasons I have never seen because you have to depend on PBS and you never know what they are going to play and when.  And I don't want to watch on You Tube because this show really looks good in high def.

[dgpolo]

I was a bit surprised that the items weren't decorated more for a 'holiday party' showstopper? I was expecting more Christmas type decorations, especially on Amanda's chocolate cake. While everything looked good, nothing screamed Holiday Party to me.

[andromeda331]

3 hours ago, BusyOctober said:

Stephanie was my favorite, but I knew Amanda would win when she brought out her show stopper display.  It looked clean and impeccable.  Despite all the "perfect" praise Johnny and Mary put out there for Stephanie's macrons, they looked gray to me & unappealing.  Too bad her pot de creme didn't set.  Both ladies are definitely talented and either could have won.

This season was a vast improvement over last year's in regard to the talent level.  Last year's crew was full of novices compared to this cast.  I hope this gets renewed, but can we please forget the pretense of it being a "holiday" show?  Why can't they just bake an assortment of things and use different skills like the UK versions?  If they want to make one of the week's themes "Holiday", that's fine.  But I don't want to see people walking around with scarves & gathering around bonfires while the trees & flowers are all a-bloom in the background.

I admit I'd really love if they did both.  A holiday baking contest and a regular one where their not having to conform to holiday bakes and really get creative.

[Ilovecomputers]

3 hours ago, BusyOctober said:

If they want to make one of the week's themes "Holiday", that's fine.  But I don't want to see people walking around with scarves & gathering around bonfires while the trees & flowers are all a-bloom in the background.

I noticed during one of Amanda's TH interviews, and one of Jerimiah's too, you could clearly see their breath, so the nights must have been cold.  During the day it seemed to rain quite a bit.  Anyone know where this is filmed?  Mary's estate?  It was nice to see the other contestants at the party.

I was really rooting for Stephanie to win but every time Mary looked at Amanda, this look came over Mary, as if she was thinking, "She reminds me so much of myself."  Somehow I don't think I'd get along with Mary--she reminds me of an elementary schoolteacher I had who would hit our hands with a ruler if we spoke during class.  Next season, I hope they'll convince Paul Hollywood to join them and leave Johnny wherever he stays.

[Lady Iris]

I've only watched a couple of seasons casually so I was a bit surprised that the final show stopper seemed a bit easy, not that I could pull any of that off, but compared to some of the technical challenges it was a bit lacking to me YMMV.

[Grommet]

I liked both finalists but was happy that Amanda won. Her showstopper platter was impressive and everything looked tasty. Steph's, not so much, although her previous bakes were fantastic. They had a great batch of contestants this year and it was fun  to watch, though I agree that the winter coats/summer foliage disconnect was jarring.

[dubbel zout]

15 minutes ago, Lady Iris said:

I was a bit surprised that the final show stopper seemed a bit easy

The challenge here was having to bake three completely different desserts. And knowing that this was the final showstopper, the contestants couldn't punt and make chocolate chip cookies (as Steph wanted to do; I feel you, girl!). The results looked simple because they were done so elegantly; during the baking, we saw the effort that went into them.

[J-Man]

I hope that by the end of the episode, Stephanie finally mastered the proper pronunciation of "pot de crème."

[meep.meep]

It was interesting that they both had to start over on one dessert.

The families weren't there at the end, just the other contestants?  Wish they had let those who had to leave early say something.

[Kohola3]

1 minute ago, meep.meep said:

Wish they had let those who had to leave early say something.

They did, but just a word or two.

[Lady Iris]

28 minutes ago, dubbel zout said:

The challenge here was having to bake three completely different desserts. And knowing that this was the final showstopper, the contestants couldn't punt and make chocolate chip cookies (as Steph wanted to do; I feel you, girl!). The results looked simple because they were done so elegantly; during the baking, we saw the effort that went into them.

Well said. I think it was a british season I watched and they had to create 3-D bread sculptures which were phenomenal. I suppose I was thinking more showy for the final than something done to perfection.

[dgpolo]

3 minutes ago, Lady Iris said:

34 minutes ago, dubbel zout said:

The challenge here was having to bake three completely different desserts. And knowing that this was the final showstopper, the contestants couldn't punt and make chocolate chip cookies (as Steph wanted to do; I feel you, girl!). The results looked simple because they were done so elegantly; during the baking, we saw the effort that went into them.

Well said. I think it was a british season I watched and they had to create 3-D bread sculptures which were phenomenal. I suppose I was thinking more showy for the final than something done to perfection.

The thing is, if I went to a holiday party and saw these things on a table to eat, I wouldn't know how much effort was expended or how elegant they looked. I would think, cake, cookies, cream puff, custard, eclairs and macaroons. They all looked good, but elegant? I don't see it. And since my baking consists of box mixes, I wouldn't know what kind of effort was shown. I realize the judges do, but I still question this as a show stopper, especially a holiday one.

[Ilovecomputers]

16 minutes ago, meep.meep said:

Wish they had let those who had to leave early say something.

Yeah, like, "After the Final Bake"? 

They must give additional instructions that aren't shown on camera, because I listened twice to the last challenge, and all I heard was, "You must make three different desserts."  I didn't hear anything about how many people the desserts needed to serve, etc.  Of course, for the first challenge they were asked to make pastry, and I wouldn't have thought to call biscuits "pastry."

[rose711]

I could tell when they brought their trays up that Amanda would win.  Her first two tiers were razor sharp and looked totally professional.  The pastries on her top tier was just a little lumpy looking, like they said, but that was a minor criticism.  The insides looked perfect.

I don't get all the hate that has been leveled at this show.  It follows the British format pretty much exactly, down to the theme song and the tent in Teletubby Land.  It has the same charm.  It has Mary, and Johnny was alright, just an American version of Paul Hollywood.  The hosts are no Mel and Sue and could sometimes be annoying (I noticed at various times the bakers and even Johnny and Mary wishing them away with their expressions and body language), but they weren't all that bad.

I'll watch again next year.  I just wish the British version would be licensed to Netflix or Amazon, there are seasons I have never seen because you have to depend on PBS and you never know what they are going to play and when.  And I don't want to watch on You Tube because this show really looks good in high def.

The first 3 seasons are available for digital purchase on Amazon. At least they were yesterday.

[PaulaO]

I made macarons once, and they turned out wonderfully (according to those who ate them).  I didn't find them difficult to make, but you do need time to let them dry.  Therefore I was a bit puzzled when Johnny and Mary kept saying that the macarons were the most difficult thing made.  I couldn't make a pot au creme to save my life.....

[Ruprecht]

I think all three challenges were good - even equal to what they would have asked on the British equivalent (something I would not have been able to say for previous seasons). I think the element that was missing in the showstopper was some kind of constructed or decorative element which would have tested those skills (construction on cakes  is still something with which I struggle - I dearly hope Cake Wrecks can never locate any pictures). In previous seasons of the British version, the finalists had to make wedding cakes and those would definitely stress a contestant out. However, they may have felt the Battenburg cake challenge was enough to address that element. 

I loved, loved, loved the cooperation between the two ladies and the fact that both were encouraging each other through the stress. And aside from the announcement of the winner, I enjoyed the unexpected drama from the Technical challenge as I was unsure who had the right orientation when baking the cake. It looks like Amanda "chose wisely" and had she slathered on more jam, she might have won (I don't think the marzipan quality would have sunk her). I don't know why, but I was really rooting for Amanda even though I thought Steph was deserving and honestly had it in the bag. Amanda's tray and desserts looked so inviting and I really wanted to get the recipe for the chocolate bars. So when they said "Amanda", I teared up and was so happy for her.   

Overall, this season was a huge improvement over the last in participants and challenges. I know it wasn't highly rated but I was invested in the outcome and hope they bring it back again. 

[Frost]

I'm glad Amanda won.  I thought both bakers did wonderfully in the all three challenges, but Amanda's show stopper presentation was much better than Stephanie's.  I thought Steph's eclairs looked too dark and messy and the pot de crème looked greasy.  And the rack she selected was too heavy looking.  Amanda's all seemed to taste wonderful and look fabulous.

It's so much fun to watch a cooking/baking show where the drama comes from the food, not the 'personalities'.

[theatremouse]

58 minutes ago, PaulaO said:

I made macarons once, and they turned out wonderfully (according to those who ate them).  I didn't find them difficult to make, but you do need time to let them dry.  Therefore I was a bit puzzled when Johnny and Mary kept saying that the macarons were the most difficult thing made.

I can't speak to the specific macarons Stephanie made, but in general most bakers I know consider macaron to be a technically difficult thing to do, so the comment wasn't super surprising to me in general. That said, they also may have meant with regard to her specific choices adding degree of difficulty. If she's familiar with black sesame, maybe it's not so tricky, but off the top of my head I'm not sure if there are considerations to its impacting the texture of the batter, because I'm pretty sure they weren't just on top. They were in it.

[Winter Rose]

I saw the PTV headline before I got a chance to watch the episode so when I did watch, I thought it might be a tie. I wouldn't have minded if it was, I thought it could've gone either way. I'm guessing the criticisms of Steph's showstopper were slightly worse and that's what decided it. But I think both of them had a lot to be proud of, congrats to Amanda. Her display really was gorgeous.

I'd be happy to see the American version do a regular season of this show and not just try to tailor it to the holidays, especially if filming took place in the summer.

[Dobian]

3 hours ago, rose711 said:

The first 3 seasons are available for digital purchase on Amazon. At least they were yesterday.

Good to know, tx

[Mondrianyone]

6 hours ago, J-Man said:

I hope that by the end of the episode, Stephanie finally mastered the proper pronunciation of "pot de crème."

I noticed that also.  But then today I came across this bit of wisdom on Twitter, from a man named Morgan Housel, and I plan to keep it in mind:  "Never make fun of people for mispronouncing a word.  It means they learned it by reading."

[Kohola3]

6 minutes ago, Mondrianyone said:

"Never make fun of people for mispronouncing a word.  It means they learned it by reading."

Wow, I am really going to try to remember that!

[awaken]

Well, that was fun!  I came in late on this season, and enjoyed these last few episodes.  Well deserving finalists, and Amanda definitely earned the win!  Glad to know about GBBO on Amazon- I just discovered it as well, and haven't been able to find it easily.

[LaChavalina]

Truth be told I liked Steph more, but you could tell that Amanda listened to the judges from week to week and improved throughout the series. Plus, her showstoppers looked awesome!

My only complaint about this series is that ABC was evidently too cheap to fly over the finalists' families for the finale. Especially given that this is a holiday show, it's weird to not have them be able to share their triumph with the people closest to them. I also noticed that in the final celebration, the two contestants who withdrew from the show for "emergency" reasons were back. So, presumably, the network could pay to fly two contestants who quit the show back to the UK... but they couldn't pay for the two finalists' spouses at least? I'd love to see this back next year, maybe with just a bit more polish.

[Grommet]

The seasons available on Amazon are the PBS seasons 1-3, otherwise known as seasons 4-6. Those early seasons are elusive!

[Megan]

Does Amanda have a Black Flag tattoo on her wrist?

[mlp]

I was pulling for Amanda to win but I liked Stephanie very much too and wouldn't have been disappointed if she'd won.  Amanda's final display was just pristine.  

If they do this show again, I hope the producers suggest to Johnny that he shave and wash his hair.  He seems nice enough but I always sort of cringe at the idea of him handling food because he never looks clean.  I'll bet Mary isn't impressed with his appearance because she's used to working with Paul who always looks, in one of her words, "immaculate."

Somewhere along the line I got used to the hosts.  I now like Ian and Nia has ceased to annoy me.

[cherrypj]

I'm sad this show is over. It had this weird pacing (maybe it was the narration? the three challenges per episode?), but I enjoyed that. I was rooting for Stephanie at the end, but am happy for Amanda, too. 

I especially like that there wasn't a massive number of contestants. Generally, when everyone comes back at the end, you see some of the early eliminated, and you're, "Whozat?"

[dleighg]

I googled that Battenberg cake and interestingly all of the top results were much simpler, with a 4x4 checkerboard. It certainly ups the difficulty to have it be an odd number (so that the amounts of the two cakes are necessarily different).

[dubbel zout]

3 hours ago, cherrypj said:

It had this weird pacing (maybe it was the narration? the three challenges per episode?), but I enjoyed that.

The narration and the three challenges were lifted from the GBBO, so they weren't new. There should have been three people in the final, but we lost two bakers unexpectedly, and the show had only one episode where no one was eliminated.

[Bobcatkitten]

I really liked both of the finalists. But Amanda earned the win honestly. Her display was beautiful and no significant problems with any of the three. Steph's macaroons were apparently awesome but looked weird. Her eclairs were overdone and didn't rise and her pot de creme wasn't cooked fully. 

[jumper sage]

On 1/13/2017 at 11:06 AM, Dobian said:

I don't get all the hate that has been leveled at this show.  It follows the British format pretty much exactly, down to the theme song and the tent in Teletubby Land.

I agree!

23 hours ago, LaChavalina said:

My only complaint about this series is that ABC was evidently too cheap to fly over the finalists' families for the finale. Especially given that this is a holiday show, it's weird to not have them be able to share their triumph with the people closest to them. I also noticed that in the final celebration, the two contestants who withdrew from the show for "emergency" reasons were back. So, presumably, the network could pay to fly two contestants who quit the show back to the UK... but they couldn't pay for the two finalists' spouses at least? I'd love to see this back next year, maybe with just a bit more polish.

Where was this filmed?