Season Four Episode Talk

[mlp]

I thought Joshua had the best season overall but I started worrying when he said he was going to make an ordinary stacked cake.  It looked great in the end but it wasn't as inspired as Jennifer's and his petit-fours were poor.  I'm just glad Stephany didn't win.  

I'm looking forward to next week because I saw Bill in the group.  I'm still annoyed that he was beat out by gushy, chirpy Erin.  I'm glad he's getting another chance.

Like suebee, I loathe Cheryl so I was dismayed to see her again.  

[Juneau Gal]

Some people, through no real reason, are just not likable. Stephany is one of those people. 

Was hoping Josh would win, but happy for Jennifer. 

[Maverick]

So you get 8 Maids a Milking and you don't do Tres Leches?  I get it's not a traditional holiday flavor, but add some kind of spice or bring the holiday element in your decor.  Do a tropical-themed Christmas cake.  When you have a milk theme Tres Leches seems like a no brainer.  

[GaT]

I knew that Jennifer's cake was going to get her the win, it was so imaginative. 

[Darian]

8 hours ago, susannot said:

I no longer dislike Jesse.  I think he has been a good host.  His enthusiasm for the bakers has grown on me.  Now I like him and think he is good-looking.

 

I don't know if I ever disliked Jesse, but I didn't like him as host at first. Sometime during the season, he won me over and I realized last night, I was really enjoying him.  As you said, he had enthusiasm for the bakers and seemed to enjoy the gig, Wouldn't mind seeing him host again. 

I came into the finale rooting for Joshua, because of his performance over the whole season (plus he's local to me), but Jennifer's cake made me so happy and I think she deserved the win. That cake was just delightful. Great season!

[Maya]

All three of them were a higher caliber than we normally see on these shows.

I have a feeling we’ll see Joshua again, maybe on Best Baker in America or wherever they regurgitate these people. 

Edited December 19, 2017 by Maya

[festivus]

I was rooting for Josh all season so I surprised myself by being really happy when they called Jennifer's name. Her cake was adorable and she deserved the win. I threw a pillow when they came in with that stupid twist that was ABSOLUTELY UNNECESSARY. Just think, we may have gotten cute snow drifts on Jennifer's cake if not for that stupid shit.  

[Frost]

I was rooting for Joshua but I'm still happy Jennifer won.  She really peaked at the right time.  If they were going to throw in the petit four twist, they should have given them an extra 30 minutes.  I'm sure they had all planned out their 5 hour working time meticulously, especially since this is the first time the show has thrown in a twist in the finale!  All of the petit fours were slap dash afterthoughts.  Not finale worthy.  Joshua reusing his leftover cake rather than at least slapping something new together, like Jennifer and Stephany did, might have cost him the championship.

Joshua's cake was stunning and Jennifer's was very imaginative and whimsical.  I'm not really sure what Stephany was going for.  The pail was the only creative part of her cake.  And pails don't exactly scream "Holiday!" to me...

[Rammchick]

It appears that I'm in the minority but I was rooting for Stephany, being a woman of a certain age myself.  I know we find it annoying when a contestant mentions their accolades for what seems to be the hundredth time but keep in mind that that is purely producer driven.  That being said, Stephany should be proud of her accomplishments.  All in all, a good season and a good finale -- congratulations, Jennifer!

[meep.meep]

I would have been happy with any of them winning, and actually thought that Jennifer's cake looked hideous.  But good for her for doing actual Christmas flavors.

The coffee crunch that Stephany made was from a famous cake from Blum's in San Francisco.  The store is long gone but people are still trying to find the cake and that coffee crunch.  I'm going to have to go back and rewatch to see how she does it.

[dewelar]

11 hours ago, Maverick said:

So you get 8 Maids a Milking and you don't do Tres Leches?

This was literally the first thing Mrs. Dewelar said when this came up during the show. We knew she wasn't going to win right then. She was going to make that cake that got her engaged or whatever it was no matter what the theme. That, plus the petit-fours that were supposed to be presents but weren't, and the sad-looking maids around the cake, all combined to sink her when she was probably the favorite going in.

 

Unlike most here, my wife and I never really liked Joshua (we were rooting for Ian), but would have been fine with him winning because he's definitely shown his skills. Unfortunately, he too shot himself in the foot with those cake-scrap petit-fours. Also, I thought his cake was the least-interesting looking of the three in addition to the least-interesting-sounding taste-wise.

 

Jennifer definitely deserved that win. She did the best job with the theme, did the best job at incorporating holiday elements (thus earning Nancy's vote), and did the best petit-fours. And we loved those geese! Yay Jennifer!

[Simon47]

By reading these comments, I hear Jennifer won!

[OoogleEyes]

On 12/5/2017 at 2:22 PM, jcbrown said:

Glad Amy is gone. I didn't like her for some reason. Her stupid hair bugged me

Ugh, me too. Reminded me of Kate Gosslin

[Cherry Cola]

Did Joshua remind anyone else of Bob Saget? He turned out to be my favorite of them all. 

[Mrs. DuRona]

On 12/19/2017 at 1:05 AM, Maverick said:

So you get 8 Maids a Milking and you don't do Tres Leches? 

Thank you!  I thought of something lighter, a more vanilla based with dulce de leche or something.  Never would have gone chocolate hazelnut coffee crunch or whatever it was.  Which actually sounds delicious, but not really with the theme.  Her design was horrible, too.  The bucket was cute, but that was it.  Her petit fours were ugly.  They didn't look "Holidays" at all, but rather something you'd see on the dessert table at a company party.

Jennifer's cake looked like a story book, and I loved it.  I loved her frosting tree on the side, the geese all doing something.  It was so different from what we usually see - Josh's cake (as much as I love him) was well executed, looked good, but kind of generic.  And the cake itself didn't sound all that exciting.  

I was good with either Jennifer or Josh winning (I really just didn't like Stephany at all for no good reason), and I was so happy to see Jennifer win!  I still totally want to go to Josh's restaurant and just order dessert next time I'm in the Boston area.

[dleighg]

31 minutes ago, Mrs. DuRona said:

I still totally want to go to Josh's restaurant and just order dessert next time I'm in the Boston area.

I've got a reservation with my daughter for January. My reward for driving 6 hours RT to deliver her cat home. Long story.

[Spunkygal]

51 minutes ago, dleighg said:

I've got a reservation with my daughter for January. My reward for driving 6 hours RT to deliver her cat home. Long story.

Please do report back on your experience!! Hope you get to meet him!

[MerBearHou]

Though Josh was my favorite, Jennifer's finale cake had warmth and beautiful detail and clearly exemplified the song line about Geese A'Laying.  She seems like such a sweet person and I was happy for her win.  Josh's cake was stunning but in my opinion, too sparse and lacked Christmas warmth.  Stephany's cake was weird -- those milkmaids had no faces and the spacing was off.  She bombed her last challenge which I'm sure is extra-tough on a "Master Baker".   

[Mrs. DuRona]

1 hour ago, MerBearHou said:

Stephany's cake was weird -- those milkmaids had no faces and the spacing was off. 

So creepy!  and the COW!  OMG, that thing was made of nightmares, haha.  

[Grommet]

Jennifer's cake was a lovely rendition of a story-book, something kids would love at the holidays. I agree that Josh's cake lacked warmth, though it was beautifully executed. And Stephany did indeed miss the mark. I understand the bakers are going to want to make something they do well, like GBBO's signature challenge, but I think Josh and Stephany had trouble turning that into something that met the brief.

I enjoyed this season. The quality of the bakers seemed generally good and they all seemed personable. Josh was fine, less intrusive than the Dean guy (Bobby?). If they would just stop with the stupid twists!

[RealityCheck]

Christmas Special Holiday Baking Championship : Runners Up Redemption Premieres Monday December 25 at 9PM

Quote

In the pre-heat, baking teams must use real letters to Santa to inspire a holiday dessert.  For the main heat, teams bake and decorate cupcakes before assembling them into one giant edible holiday tree.

[KAOS Agent]

I don't understand how any of the contestants could think that half assing anything in the final challenge would still lead to a win. They knew everyone else was highly skilled so the little mistakes were going to be the things that would decide it. Stefany made an obvious and very basic error and seemed like she thought it was no big thing. Would she be okay giving that to a customer who paid for it? Why not come up with something to fill that space once she realized the problem?

On Joshua's side, why would he think using leftover cake for the petit fours and then pouring some red icing over it would be acceptable? They looked terrible and he knew it. No one else had any time to do much either, but they got credit for at least trying. I just thought it was stupid that both Stephany and Joshua thought they had any chance against strong competition with such poor offerings.

Jennifer took the weirdest line of the three and somehow made six geese a laying into a whimsical holiday cake, which looked like it should have taken the longest of the three to create in terms of its details and somehow still found the time to mix up a quick chocolate cake and throw some basic decoration on them to offer delicious petit fours to the judges.

[niklj]

I'm late but how did Jennifer win the Hanukkah challenge with SNOWMEN? She didn't even meet the theme even a little bit. I had to turn it off.

[Wings]

On 12/21/2017 at 11:44 PM, niklj said:

I'm late but how did Jennifer win the Hanukkah challenge with SNOWMEN? She didn't even meet the theme even a little bit. I had to turn it off.

The finale wasn't the Hanukkah episode.  It was a 12 days of xmas theme and she got 8(?) geese a laying and made a beautiful cake.  They all had to make cakes.  

Edited December 23, 2017 by Wings

[niklj]

24 minutes ago, Wings said:

The finale wasn't the Hanukkah episode.  It was a 12 days of xmas theme and she got 8(?) geese a laying and made a beautiful cake.  They all had to make cakes.  

I know, I was behind and was watching an old episode.

[Qoass]

Six geese a-laying; eight maids a-milking...

[Rammchick]

Yay, Cheryl finally won something.  Maybe now she'll go away.

Edited December 28, 2017 by Rammchick

[Maya]

Bill seemed kind of angry throughout the whole thing.

[grisgris]

2 hours ago, Maya said:

Bill seemed kind of angry throughout the whole thing.

I picked up on that vibe, too.  He acted really put out and like he was doing everybody a big favor just being there. Go home! I'm sure there were others from that season who would have been happy to be on the show, just for the exposure. It sounds like most of the former contestants had somehow profited from their participation on the show, even if they didn't win.

I was rooting for Aldaberto (and Steve.)  I knew that Bill and Nyet were doomed as soon as he hot-glued the gingerbread bears to the cake stand. I think at that point, he didn't GAF if they won or not and just wanted to get out of there.

I get so tired of Nancy's harping on "It doesn't scream HOLIDAY!" as well as the constant booze references/jokes. The additional of alcohol to anything on a cooking show always draws a few chortles the first time around. This went on and on and on every week.  At least Duff and Lorraine seem a bit more open-minded to different interpretations of how "holiday" looks. The colors Aldaberto and Steve chose were perfect to represent the story they were telling.

I guess if you want Nancy's vote, use the gaudiest red and green possible and load the recipe with bourbon.

Did anybody else notice that the threesome shuttled out before the baking started and only Duff and Lorraine returned to watch and talk to the bakers? Lorraine seemed a lot more relaxed and fun during this episode. Maybe since was a redemption show, there wasn't as much pressure.

[mlp]

Quote

 I was rooting for Aldaberto (and Steve.)  I knew that Bill and Nyet were doomed as soon as he hot-glued the gingerbread bears to the cake stand. I think at that point, he didn't GAF if they won or not and just wanted to get out of there.

I really liked Bill but he didn't come across as well this time around.  I could see that Nylet was driving him crazy (just like she was me).  I didn't remember her being so bossy and pushy on her original season.  I also figured the hot glue gun spelled doom.

I wanted Adalberto and Steve to win too.  I thought their presentation was beautiful, much more attractive than Cheryl's.  Of course, I loathe Cheryl so I may be a bit biased.  

I can't stand Nancy Fuller and I thought she was especially annoying.  She doesn't really contribute anything of a "professional" caliber.  I did notice that Duff sort of walked her out and she didn't come back until judging.  

The snottiness between the two women isn't at all enjoyable to watch.  Nancy just relishes baiting Lorraine.  I wish the producers would put a stop to it.  I don't know how they can think it's entertaining.

[kj4ever]

I was really excited to see Bill and Aldaberto again.  They were my favorites in this series.  I wanted to punch Nylet in her face, so I can imagine how Bill felt having to actually work with her.

Red lips is just as annoying as ever, and it ticks me off that she won.

This show must not nearly be as popular as cupcake wars was.  Just being on that show and not winning for only one week launched a lot of businesses and all of these people didn't seem to do much more after being featured for weeks on the food network.

[Rammchick]

13 hours ago, grisgris said:

I get so tired of Nancy's harping on "It doesn't scream HOLIDAY!" as well as the constant booze references/jokes.....At least Duff and Lorraine seem a bit more open-minded to different interpretations of how "holiday" looks.

 

Lorraine isn't American, so her idea of Christmas or holiday or whatever isn't going to be the same to begin with.  And of course, Duff being Jewish, the holidays have a tendency to make us feel left out, although Christmas is primarily a secular holiday in the US.  As a young child, even though we got 8 nights of presents, I never quite got over the envy of the trees and the songs and all the hoopla.

[Mrs. DuRona]

we were kind of suprised - Steve & Aldaberto's tree was lovely, and they found no fault with their cupcakes except they wanted more of the filling.  They were doing a play on the Nutcracker - the colors were appropriate for the theme.  I got no baby shower vibe from it at all.  The winning team had really bad cupcake to frosting ratio (unless you ask my husband, he's a frosting fiend).  

I can't believe they used a hot glue gun!  Use hot sugar or royal icing, haha.  The bit about the gingerbread guys wearing sunglasses was sooooo "old married couple", and ending with Duff saying they should wear board shorts or sunglasses was pretty funny.  I appreciated that they didn't ding them for the Christmas in hawaii theme.  But man, eggnog just seems to trip everyone up!  

[tobeannounced]

This was a fun way to wrap up the season. It was good to see some quality work. 

Re Bill being Mr. Grumpypants, I thought t was really rude of Nylet to whisper to him at the beginning that she would carry him to the end, like he wasn't competent or something. Maybe that had something to do with setting the tone of their partnership.

[Jesse]

On 12/26/2017 at 11:06 PM, grisgris said:

I get so tired of Nancy's harping on "It doesn't scream HOLIDAY!" as well as the constant booze references/jokes. The additional of alcohol to anything on a cooking show always draws a few chortles the first time around. This went on and on and on every week.  At least Duff and Lorraine seem a bit more open-minded to different interpretations of how "holiday" looks. The colors Aldaberto and Steve chose were perfect to represent the story they were telling.

I guess if you want Nancy's vote, use the gaudiest red and green possible and load the recipe with bourbon.

Yeah, she makes me crazy with that. And the opening line about every kid writing to Santa! Um, pretty sure Duff never wrote to Santa. Or if he did, he never heard back, lol.

[Maverick]

Bill seemed pretty much like in his original season to me.  He was snarky there too.  But then he was having to deal with the chipper elf so who could blame him.  Nylet seemed much more arrogant and annoying this time.  I'm sure Bill wasn't happy with having to be paired up, much less with her.  

[Amarsir]

On 12/22/2017 at 1:44 AM, niklj said:

I'm late but how did Jennifer win the Hanukkah challenge with SNOWMEN? She didn't even meet the theme even a little bit. I had to turn it off.

Maybe they thought the snowman technically qualified as a golem?

I found it interesting that they went without a host for the Runners-Up special. I'd like to say it proves they don't need one, but truth be told even the most boring of hosts would have been preferable to them splitting the sentences in 3 like Shakespearean witches.

[dleighg]

On 11/28/2017 at 10:18 PM, dleighg said:

I already have plans to have dinner at his Cambridge restaurant next month when I visit my daughter :)

Just to report back on dinner at Harvest, the restaurant in Cambridge where Joshua is the pastry chef. This is a "special occasion" (i.e. expensive) restaurant. Apps and mains were very good, not mind-blowing, but very good. Dessert was the highlight of the meal! I guess this is what we had, but it doesn't really describe it to me.

dark chocolate mousse, maple cream, candied pecans & cranberry ice cream

It was (as is probably not surprising, having watched him) full of different and surprising textures and tastes. Little rice crispy treats, a nut tuille, some chocolate mousse and a bunch of other things.

[Little Sun]

I just bing-watched season 4 of Holiday Baking Championship and I can't stand the way Nancy behaved.  I mean what was with the harsh makeup, straight hair with bangs, her ridiculous, sarcastic banter with Lorraine and the continual references to wanting more alcohol?   I am hoping season 5, which starts in two days, will be a fun competition to watch. Just please no more Mauves and Michelles and Erins..... 

[Jaded]

2 hours ago, Little Sun said:

I just bing-watched season 4 of Holiday Baking Championship and I can't stand the way Nancy behaved.  I mean what was with the harsh makeup, straight hair with bangs, her ridiculous, sarcastic banter with Lorraine and the continual references to wanting more alcohol?   I am hoping season 5, which starts in two days, will be a fun competition to watch. Just please no more Mauves and Michelles and Erins..... 

Nancy along with the casting of more obnoxious bakers are two things that have made me loose interest in these competitive baking shows on FN. 

[mojoween]

I’ve only ever watched Halloween Wars on FN but lately I’ve gotten sucked into their holiday marathons.  Yesterday this season was on and I watched the whole thing.

Jennifer’s last cake was cute, but as a whole and based on his entire body of work I felt Joshua should have won.  He was never in the bottom and if part of the reason he lost was because of his petit fours, well that’s stupid because it was an unnecessary, arbitrary twist.

Also I’m still salty that Jennifer won the preheat with her Hanukkah snowmen.  Ian’s footballs got better reviews other than their shape.

[Jesse]

I totally agree Josh should have won. I work near him, and have never worked up my gumption to say anything to him, but with them re-running the season, this may be my time!