Season Three Talk: Spring Baking Championship

[Emmeline]

On 3/20/2017 at 0:42 PM, wings707 said:

It was all about the Kentucky Derby which is coming up and a rose garland for the winner is as significant as mint jupleps and big hats. 

Just watch next week they have to make a cake hat! 

Jesse Palmer is doing okay, not a charismatic or knowledgeable host though.  I don't like Bobby Dean but he anchored the show well. 

Actually, I think the Hat Idea would be a great challenge!

[Eliza422]

Wow, those napoleons were train wrecks, one and all. Why the hell did they give them only 90 minutes to make their own puff pastry???

[zxy556575]

Unlike Lorraine, I could find at least one fault with Adam's brownie -- THERE WAS NOTHING SPRINGLIKE ABOUT IT! Yeesh.

I like senior John but he's really not up to the task here with his messy and simplistic presentations.

[Mittengirl]

It really felt like they were setting them up to fail with the napoleons.  I get making things challenging - 2 hours to make brownies would be more than enough - but 90 minutes to make puff pastry and then turn it in to a napoleon was ridiculous.  Why set up a challenge that is destined to end badly?

There is something about John that creeps me out - no idea what, though.  Maybe he reminds me of someone I don't like.

[GaT]

2 hours ago, Eliza422 said:

Wow, those napoleons were train wrecks, one and all. Why the hell did they give them only 90 minutes to make their own puff pastry???

 

11 minutes ago, Mittengirl said:

It really felt like they were setting them up to fail with the napoleons.  I get making things challenging - 2 hours to make brownies would be more than enough - but 90 minutes to make puff pastry and then turn it in to a napoleon was ridiculous.  Why set up a challenge that is destined to end badly?

 

Seriously, why give them impossible tasks? Why do they think that listening to judges complain about every puff pastry is interesting to us.

[dahling]

That was not enjoyable to watch.  What the hell? Did they run out of money to pay the crew for enough time to film this one properly?  90 minutes for puff pastry, fails all around. Bad TV.

At least we don't have to watch Fausto cry any more. So uncomfortable. 

Edited March 27, 2017 by dahling

[illini1959]

9 hours ago, Lord Donia said:

I like senior John but he's really not up to the task here with his messy and simplistic presentations.

The huge fondant decorations on nearly every one of his bakes is getting really old, too.

I think it was Nancy (?) who told Daniela to trim up her presentation (did I hear that right?) AFTER John's huge plop on a plate, which got no such comment?!?

He's always overdoing his presentations. Step away from the fondant, John!

I agree with comments above re: time given to bake. I get that it's supposed to be a challenge, but shouldn't it be a challenge to do WELL and be creative rather than who can throw together the most ingredients in a short amount of time? :/

It looked to me as if at least some of them didn't have butter in their puff pastry, or at least not nearly enough. I've seen puff pastry being made on the British baking show and there was butter everywhere.

Team Adam for me, too! :)

[Ilovecomputers]

Quote

The huge fondant decorations on nearly every one of his bakes is getting really old, too.

They reminded me of those non-skid flowers people used to put in their bathtubs. 

I have always wanted to make a Napoleon dessert, but the recipe I have for it seemed like an all day project. Having watched them make puff pastry on the Great British Baking Championship, I wondered how anyone could pull that off in 90 minutes. 

Was surprised Fausto dumped so much elderberry flavoring in everything without tasting it first. I don't like the flavor of roses or lavender in my food. His dessert looked like an IHOP creation. 

[LennieBriscoe]

Fausto was Aufed based on tonight and the past. Otherwise, Jordan's RAW dough was cause for elimination. So Jordan is officially on notice. Plus, he needs to stop with the twinkling eyes at the judges! (At me would be just fine, heh.)

And Napoleons are not round and not doughnut-shaped.

[Madding crowd]

At first I thought these bakers were inferior but now I it just that the challenges are bad. Making a Napelon in 90 minutes and in previous weeks expecting to make a horse rose blanket out of cupcakes and donuts decorated like vacation decorations.  I think judges are aware of this but still have to comment and judge. I was Ok Fausto going home because he did not make pastry dough-he made pita bread.  Adam will win.

[Amarsir]

7 hours ago, dahling said:

That was not enjoyable to watch.  What the hell? Did they run out of money to pay the crew for enough time to film this one properly?  90 minutes for puff pastry, fails all around. Bad TV.

I feel like they're almost daring us not to watch. Last week didn't Lorraine practically say "This is a baking competition. You can't make meringue on here!"

[Eliza422]

6 hours ago, Ilovecomputers said:

They reminded me of those non-skid flowers people used to put in their bathtubs. 

I have always wanted to make a Napoleon dessert, but the recipe I have for it seemed like an all day project. Having watched them make puff pastry on the Great British Baking Championship, I wondered how anyone could pull that off in 90 minutes. 

Was surprised Fausto dumped so much elderberry flavoring in everything without tasting it first. I don't like the flavor of roses or lavender in my food. His dessert looked like an IHOP creation. 

Most non-chefs would just use premade puff pastry. There are some excellent storebought ones, so unless you are a real stickler you could just focus on the other bits of the napoleon.

[theatremouse]

Even if they were expected to do a rough-puff, 90 minutes is pushing it. I'm not surprised most of them failed to make anything that could be believable puff in that timeframe.

3 hours ago, Amarsir said:

I feel like they're almost daring us not to watch. Last week didn't Lorraine practically say "This is a baking competition. You can't make meringue on here!"

I don't have it recorded anymore, but my hazy memory of the moment you're mentioning involved Lorraine saying it was a cookie challenge, hence the "why'd you make a meringue", plus something about not having time to do meringue right. Of course this week's challenge tells us the show doesn't intend to give them enough time to do things that are the challenge right, so it's sort of all out the window anyway.

[hula-la]

I am neither here nor there about Jesse's performance as a host, but have to give him props for his proper pronunciation of the word "liqueur". Drives me crazy every tine I hear a contestant mangle it!

[Maya]

I knew Fausto was going home from his very first talking head, because it looked like he'd been crying. I'm pretty sure they film all those talking heads after the fact. Poor guy! 

[BusyOctober]

Totally agree that the time limit of 90 min is ridiculous for scratch made puff pastry.  Ninety minutes would have been better used is they gave them pre-made puff and allowed them to really work on various fillings.  Actually, I'm shocked/impressed so many of these bakers were able to make all those curds and creams and mousses in 90 minutes!

I mentioned here after last weeks' excessive use of fondant and icing, but I will repeat myself...enough of over decorating simple desserts like brownies!  Fondant has no business being on the same plate as a well made gooey fudgey brownie!  I know some people like to up the decadence factor by topping brownies off with a ganache, but never fondant.  Almost no one likes to eat excessive amounts of fondant, modeling chocolate, gum paste, isomalt or gel icing.  Save all those tricks for "Cake Wars".

And Nancy can shut it with her emphasis on things needing to look "Spring-y". Just because the show is titled "Spring" doesn't mean every plate needs a bouquet of sugar flowers dumped on top of every damn cookie, bar, pie or pastry.  If that's how she feels, then her rule needs to be applied to every baker in every challenge. For example, in this episode, I definitely thought Adam deserved the win for his renovated brownie...it looked ah-mazing and sounded like something I"d OD on if his bakery was close to me. However, it in no way looked "Spring-y" per Nancy's definition.  No flowers, no pastel buttercream streamers, no colored sprinkles, just an awesome, professionally baked dessert.

[Mrs. DuRona]

Just got caught up.  The cookie challenge: are they not allowed to use a cookie press?  Because that's the first thing I'd think of - Spritz or other butter pressed cookies, in spring-like shapes and food coloured dough.  Maybe attach them and add extra decor with royal icing around it.  Or is that too "simple?"  

I think Fausto went home because he's a home baker.  I'm thinking the challenges are going to be more of stuff he doesn't know how to make, so they cut him loose early.  Jordan would have been top 2 or 3 if he had baked his puff pastry all the way through.  I've never attempted puff pastry, but even I was like "really?  From scratch?  90 minutes?!"

[Mittengirl]

Am I mistaken, or have I heard that if you are going to cut circles of pp with a biscuit/cookie cutter, that you have to cut straight down and not twist the cutter?  Because it seals the edges or something like that, preventing the dough from puffing correctly?  Looked like that is what happened to Fausto - the inside puffed but the edges did not.

[dahling]

Jason, a home baker, won the last season of Holiday Baking challenge. It can be done. But not by Fausto. 

[Eliza422]

2 hours ago, Mittengirl said:

Am I mistaken, or have I heard that if you are going to cut circles of pp with a biscuit/cookie cutter, that you have to cut straight down and not twist the cutter?  Because it seals the edges or something like that, preventing the dough from puffing correctly?  Looked like that is what happened to Fausto - the inside puffed but the edges did not.

I've heard that too.

[Irlandesa]

On 3/27/2017 at 4:27 PM, Eliza422 said:

Most non-chefs would just use premade puff pastry. There are some excellent storebought ones, so unless you are a real stickler you could just focus on the other bits of the napoleon.

Heck, many chefs would opt for the premade stuff, especially if their time limit was 90 minutes. 

I too hated the challenge this week.  It's like no one tried out the challenge to see if it was even possible to do.

[Mittengirl]

That is a good point - I wonder if someone does try out the challenges to see what kind of time limit there should be?  Like, a simple thing like drop cookies should go together in 10 minutes or so, depending on whether things like nuts are pre-chopped, with another 10-12 for baking.  Stirring together a cake shouldn't take long either.  But how much time to you allot for cooling and decorating, etc.?  Not to mention time spent answering the host's inane questions.

[Mrs. DuRona]

10 hours ago, dahling said:

 

Jason, a home baker, won the last season of Holiday Baking challenge. It can be done. But not by Fausto

 

Yes, it can be done, and we were so thrilled that he won!  Jason was our favourite!  But he could hold his own with the pros, Fausto just wasn't up to the task.  Which is why I think the comment of "We have a home baker vs. pro" even came up.  Going forward, would it be worth keeping the amateur who will just fail miserably at the next big challenge, or keep the pro who has at least attempted the upcoming tasks in his training?

[Mrs. DuRona]

On 3/27/2017 at 0:10 PM, LennieBriscoe said:

And Napoleons are not round and not doughnut-shaped.

Eh, I don't have a problem with that aspect, as they are encouraged to "reimagine" or do something different with the dessert they have to make.  

[Maya]

6 hours ago, Mittengirl said:

That is a good point - I wonder if someone does try out the challenges to see what kind of time limit there should be?  Like, a simple thing like drop cookies should go together in 10 minutes or so, depending on whether things like nuts are pre-chopped, with another 10-12 for baking.  Stirring together a cake shouldn't take long either.  But how much time to you allot for cooling and decorating, etc.?  Not to mention time spent answering the host's inane questions.

I think they want everything to be rushed and frantic because DRAMA! And hopefully someone will cry! Or throw things around the kitchen in anger like Matt on the holiday show! It's stupid. 

[tobeannounced]

I guess their must be an audience for the drama aspect??? Because, otherwise, they sure don't understand what most of us here want. I want to see some beautiful, creative baking. I'm getting so tired of seeing crap on a plate.

[Snappy]

On 3/13/2017 at 9:31 AM, DallasGypsy said:

Two reasons:  

More women in the viewing audience; we need eye candy.

The "hostess with the mostest" could be Tregaye!

Oh please no. Tregaye was way too over the top and annoying.

As for the contestants this season? As much as I like Fausto, he should have gone home for his entry last week, but I get the feeling the ptb want him to stay around a long time. Courtney annoys me because she seems like she's trying too hard to be cute. I'm not impressed with Daniella, but I do like the younger chef who studied in Paris, the oldest gentleman, and the one who won this week (Adam?). Next time I'm in Mystic, I'm looking for his bakery.

Edited March 29, 2017 by Snappy

[zxy556575]

And John scrapes through again by dint of one person screwing up slightly more! I like him and his food always seems to taste good, but he's been teetering RIGHT on the brink of the cliff for 2-3 episodes now.

Call me a 50s fuddy but the bread pudding and trifle were the only efforts I really wanted to taste tonight.

[theatremouse]

I get that his tasted really good and her chocolate was a bit messed up, but it really pisses me off when "yummy but not the challenge" stays over "good but has a mistake but completes the challenge". They did say hers tasted good, unless that was just pandering to soften the blow (and if so boooo since we can't taste and can only go off what the judges say). So to me, if hers was good but had a not well executed component, but met all three parts of the challenge, and his was great but didn't hit 2/3, he should've lost or they're saying the challenge doesn't really matter. If hers tasted straight up bad, it would've been a less frustrating outcome to watch for me.

[zxy556575]

I wonder if Duff's vote carries more weight? Or maybe he just talks Lorraine and Nancy into going along with him if they don't really care one way or the other? He seemed to be the most vocal about the trifle being messy and not meeting the "updated" part of the challenge.

[BusyOctober]

I'm happy to keep watching John over Courtney.  I can't pin down why I disliked her but she was just annoying.  And I never noticed before last night just how super teeny-tiny she is!  Is she even 5 feet tall?  She looked like a child compared to the rest of the group.

I hate maraschino cherries, so that ingredient alone would have made me throw in the towel.  After working so hard to make a beautiful, yummy dessert, you want me to desecrate it with those horrid things?  Maybe I could have used the juice somehow, but not the actual chemically violated cherries.  Blurgh.

At least we didn't have a fondant explosion this week. 

[stormy]

It seems like the things they're told to bake has gone down hill.   And it seems like the bakers are eliminated or not for either barely passing or not.

[theatremouse]

4 hours ago, Lord Donia said:

I wonder if Duff's vote carries more weight? Or maybe he just talks Lorraine and Nancy into going along with him if they don't really care one way or the other? He seemed to be the most vocal about the trifle being messy and not meeting the "updated" part of the challenge.

I thought Lorraine was the first one to say it was messy. I mean, the point of a trifle being in the type of glass container it's in is because you're supposed to see the way it's composed. Given hers wasn't a traditional one, I wouldn't have expected it to look exactly like a trifle, but she should've taken more care to how the layers looked through the glass in general. Even when she was piping in her cream cheese frosting I remember thinking "why is she doing half the circle? is this intentional?" and they framed it perfectly to show how asymmetrical it was, but I don't think it was intentional to achieve a certain look. I think she was trying to finish in the timeframe and thought it didn't really matter since it was lots of layers and as long as she had the right amount of each component it'd be good. And tastewise, she's right. I do think it worthwhile to ding for the look. But apparently it tasted totally awesome since she was still in the top.

[Winter Rose]

I figured it would be Courtney just because she had so many talking heads. Those are usually a giveaway. I also thought her dessert looked like Valentine's Day instead of spring but she did at least do the challenge.

Even if hers tasted good, I'm guessing they thought John's tasted a lot better than hers if that was enough to save him from going home.

[Maverick]

Finale next week?   They burned through this mess quick.  Not that I'm complaining.

 Adam's rather impressed with himself.  He reminds me of Matt from last season.   Adam seems somewhat more skilled, but it's still annoying.  

 I had to mute the poems.   So awkward and cringeworthy.   

[Ilovecomputers]

This season seems to be mimicking the Kids' Baking Championship; the kids not only had to bake, but have a story to go with it. Why?  It's a BAKING championship, not a creative writing contest. Next week I'm expecting they'll be asked to make edible phone apps with a story.   Why not just give them X hours to make a dessert that contains [whatever] and let them create it. No wonky twists, either. They could learn a lot from the British show. 

[mlp]

I also thought the poem part was ridiculous and cringeworthy.  Coming up with a couple corny lines while trying to concentrate on baking had nothing to do with cooking ability.

Adam is a bit arrogant but I think he's the best of the bunch followed by Jordan who seems to have real knowledge and skills and just lacks experience.  

I was very surprised when they gave John's birth date.  I had him pegged for quite a bit older.

Jesse Palmer wasn't quite as vapid this week but I still miss Bobby Deen.

[theatremouse]

It made me wonder if during the audition/screening process they asked them about their moms in some way before doing this, so they knew they had people who could even come up with something applicable. I very did not like Jesse's line at the beginning something to the effect of "everyone" first baking with mom or something. I admit I am probably just ornery, but when he said that I immediately hoped one of the remaining contestants had two dads, or never met their mother or something along those lines because I found the statement so presumptuous and trite. (also I think of more people learning to bake with grandma than mom, but hey why not pour on the sap) The poem schtick may it even more cringeworthy.

[Eliza422]

What's getting my goat about the whole mother thing is that all these people, save one, had moms that grew up in the 70s and 80s - at the earliest maybe the late 60s! The 50s have nothing to do with mothers these days. I don't know why they continue with that idea.

[cdp73]

The poem requirement was stupid.  They only need to be baking as it's a baking competition, not a writing contest.  If I were a contestant and asked to write a poem, mine would have been "I love you Mom with all my heart, so here I baked a fresh fruit tart."  Give me a stupid task, get a stupid response.

[Maya]

2 hours ago, cdp73 said:

 "I love you Mom with all my heart, so here I baked a fresh fruit tart."  

That's actually much better than anything they came up with last night! 

I was afraid that John's mom was going to be dead so I was relieved when she wasn't. 

[hookedontv]

My DVR cut off right before they announced the elimination. I was fine with either Courtney or John leaving so "meh" on the result. Kinda tired of this format-not a lot of time, an added twist, goofy themes. I much prefer the Amaerican Baking Championship (I think that's what it's called) on ABC. Just sayin'...

[Ilovecomputers]

Mom, I know that you love all kinds of berries,

but this stupid show made me use maraschino cherries. 

[Mittengirl]

Does anyone like maraschino cherries?  To me, they are like fondant - look, don't eat.  Seriously, has anyone ever said "You know what this needs?  Maraschino cherries."

[cdp73]

I like them on sundaes and pineapple upside down cakes.

[Mrs. DuRona]

My husband and I totally thought John was going to go, but after all was said and done, it came down to: John's food was delicious (per the judges). They loved it.  It just wasn't modern enough, and yeah, he didn't use the cherries.  While Courtney nailed the theme of the challenge, it was poorly executed.  Her pie crust cookies were overdone, and the chocolate mousse piece didn't come together right.  It was OK, but out of everyone's dishes, it was the one with the most faults.

We are really enjoying this season, though, because we don't actually hate anyone.  We're actually digging the apparent friendly competition going on between Adam and Jordan.  They know they are each other's competitions, but it doesn't feel malicious.

20 hours ago, theatremouse said:

I very did not like Jesse's line at the beginning something to the effect of "everyone" first baking with mom or something.

This didn't really bother me, but I turned to Mr. D and was like "Ummm... Mom doesn't bake.  Dad taught me".  But I get that "traditionally" people learn from their Mom/Grandma.  We totally thought they were going to pull a Top Chef on them and their mom's would be there...

[illini1959]

On ‎4‎/‎3‎/‎2017 at 7:38 AM, BusyOctober said:

At least we didn't have a fondant explosion this week. 

I was waiting for it though! ;)

The poems, bleh. I agree - why mess with it? One of them (Courtney?) wasn't even a poem unless I missed the part that rhymed.

Is the finale really next week already??

[Eliza422]

2 hours ago, illini1959 said:

I was waiting for it though! ;)

The poems, bleh. I agree - why mess with it? One of them (Courtney?) wasn't even a poem unless I missed the part that rhymed.

Is the finale really next week already??

My listings show two new episodes on Sunday night, and the second one is the finale.

[dahling]

Wow, they're burning it off fast. They started off the season with a 2-show block too, so it seems planned? I wondered why the Mother's Day themed episode was airing 2 weeks before Mother's Day. 

[illini1959]

14 hours ago, Eliza422 said:

My listings show two new episodes on Sunday night, and the second one is the finale.

Well that went by fast! Thank you!

14 hours ago, dahling said:

Wow, they're burning it off fast. They started off the season with a 2-show block too, so it seems planned? I wondered why the Mother's Day themed episode was airing 2 weeks before Mother's Day. 

Mother's Day is in May - wouldn't this have been early even if they hadn't had the 2 show block? As usual, I could be missing something though....

I do agree, though and wonder why? Why the rush?