Season Four Talk: Spring Baking Championship

[jcbrown]

14 hours ago, mlp said:

I didn't like Jessica going in and then the flippant attitude followed by the drama, the crying.......................Gah.  I just wanted her gone.  Maybe next week.

Many of the floral creations looked a lot better when the bakers were working on them.  I suspect that they sat around under the hot lights too long and the edges of the petals started to soften up and lose definition.  The judges must realize that.

Nancy Fuller manages to make the judging unpleasant and uncomfortable every week.  I feel for Duff and Lorraine, the actual experts, having to put up with her.  I wish FN would get rid of her and substitute Valerie who is upbeat and who knows how to disagree nicely without acting like the other person is stupid.

I think Jessica should have gone home for damaging two of her competitors' work. I haven't liked her from the beginning and she seems incompetent. And the stupid hairstyle doesn't help.

I agree about Nancy Fuller. Can you imagine if a male judge had reached over and pinched a female judge as she did to Duff? That behaviour should not be tolerated. 

[dewelar]

2 hours ago, CherZ said:

I didn't mind Andrew, he was cute and took all the jabs at his 'tinyness' in stride.

Yeah, he seemed like a nice enough guy. He just wasn't cut out for this competition, so best to bounce him early.

[Barb1959]

I cannot stand to hear Khan speak.  His voice is so harsh...I don't know another word to describe it....

[Destiny74]

I don't like mirror glaze.  I mean, it's pretty to look at but the gelatin ruins the frosting for me.  I was not impressed by the taste of the mirror cakes I have had.

Jessica should've gone home.  At least Andrew's looked somewhat spherical.  Hers was a hot mess.  She's out of her league and I think she knows it.

Blue haired Baker is still somewhat annoying but she can pipe some BEAUTIFUL flowers.

I'd rather not have flower flavor in my desserts.  I can't recall ever eating a flower flavored dessert but I don't imagine I would like it.  Maybe the orange blossom or honeysuckle.  Not violet.  Not rose.  Not lavender.  I think the scent would turn me off.

Edited March 22, 2018 by Destiny74

[theatremouse]

Anyone who makes a cake pop in these competitions when the challenge didn't specifically require it, I'm ok eliminating. Cake pops are gross,a nd way easier to make, and way easier to make round than straight up cake. So if you do a cake pop on a challenge to make a sphere, and it's not even spherical, I'm totally OK with that getting the boot. I'm also generally ok with ugly-but-tasted-great staying over ugly-and-didn't-taste-great-and-used-easier-techniques.

[LittleIggy]

5 hours ago, Destiny74 said:

 

I'd rather not have flower flavor in my desserts.  I can't recall ever eating a flower flavored dessert but I don't imagine I would like it.  Maybe the orange blossom or honeysuckle.  Not violet.  Not rose.  Not lavendar.  I think the scent would turn me off.

I agree. Who wants to eat a perfumed sachet.

[Deskisamess]

21 hours ago, jcbrown said:

I agree about Nancy Fuller. Can you imagine if a male judge had reached over and pinched a female judge as she did to Duff? That behaviour should not be tolerated. 

I came here to say the exact same thing. I've never really liked her, but that sealed it for me. She pinched him HARD. That was way out of line.

[Simon47]

Notes about Episode 2:

- I agree with @mlp about Nancy Fuller. Why did she think it was a good choice to pinch Duff? She shouldn't have. She needs to know how she would feel if Duff pinched her right back. This is not a good show for her to be a judge. Replace her with Valerie Bertinelli.

- I now loathe Jessica after the incident where she ruined Dee Dee's and Caleb's cakes. I think she did do this on purpose to get on her nerves. She should've gotten emotional and felt sorry for what she did. She should've gone home and Andrew should've stayed.

Edited March 22, 2018 by Simon47
Used word "engine" instead of "gone". Replaced ? with .

[HyeChaps]

Rather than pinch, it appeared to me that Nancy plucked out one of Duff's arm hairs. 

[NYGirl]

Ugh Andrew.  I felt he thought he was being cute, not following direction and just doing what his take on the the task was.  That was a gnome?  

Jessica needs to go next...the crying...the mistakes causing other contestants to almost fail..the ugly cracked ball.. Need I go on?

[tobeannounced]

Did Jessica even make a mirror glaze? It looked like a regular glaze.

[cynicat]

On 3/20/2018 at 7:07 PM, Destiny74 said:

I'd rather not have flower flavor in my desserts.  I can't recall ever eating a flower flavored dessert but I don't imagine I would like it.  Maybe the orange blossom or honeysuckle.  Not violet.  Not rose.  Not lavender.  I think the scent would turn me off.

You're missing out.  When it's balanced, it is yummy.  Same with savory herbs like rosemary.  So good!

[Destiny74]

2 hours ago, cynicat said:

You're missing out.  When it's balanced, it is yummy.  Same with savory herbs like rosemary.  So good!

I could get behind savory herbs in dessert.  Savory herbs belong in my mouth (one way or another).  Flowers belong on my centerpiece or decolletage.  ?

[justjen]

Still don't like Jessica, I don't think making 3 things counts as meeting the challenge, but I'm not in charge. 

Rewatching last week, I think maybe Andrew never watched the show before and didn't realize it was much different than his baking style? 

[Ilovecomputers]

Another week, another stupid challenge. Nothing says spring baking championship like a cake made out of prosciutto, potato chips and beer.  I really thought Mr. Mustache and his partner were doomed—actually all the ingredients seemed dreadful—but I’m glad they pulled it off. Nacho seems nice enough and his wife was lovely, but he does not seem to be on a par with the other bakers.  His dessert filling was a millimeter high, but the whipped topping seemed to be several centimeters high.  Miss Awesome seems close to tears most of the time. 

Aren’t they supposed to incorporate the picnic ingredients into one dessert?  Somehow Jessica made three separate snacks (one was a salad) and got through to next week. Her partner seemed more talented. Maybe Jessica sabotaged her cake (just kidding). I’m routing for Blue Hair to win. Her piped flowers last week were gorgeous.   Lorraine seemed nastier than usual this week, but if I had to eat those desserts I’d be nasty too. 

[LittleIggy]

Those flavor combos sounded ghastly. 

[GaT]

So, Spring Baking Championship, Chopped version?

[stormy]

I hope I don't have to stop watching this because of the complete stupidity it's become.

About Deepa.  I did not see that coming and I was sorry to see her go.

Edited March 27, 2018 by stormy

[justjen]

I really like Canadian Guy. He's the right kind of funny without being all Dad Jokes. Jessica just infuriates me for no good reason; I feel like the closest she gets to a perfect baked good is the bun she wears and even that looks like a clip-on.

(I do not like her - at all)

[illini1959]

4 hours ago, stormy said:

I hope I don't have to stop watch this because of the complete stupidity it's become.

 

I know, right?

Why can't they just BAKE and see who executed the (normal) challenge the best, who decorated the best, which one tastes the best...?

*Cheese* is for pizza not baking shows ;)

[Destiny74]

I hate the Chopped-i-ness of tonight's episode.  Who in their right mind would ever try and make a dessert with olives, not olive oil, but fat, juicy olives?  I can see candying meat as a sweet/ salty thing but olives are entirely too salty and Briney.  Also, mushrooms?  What would you do with mushrooms?  I'd trash them.

Peanut Cherry Cola pie?  Nice try.  I get the flavor combo but I don't think it would go well in a pie.  I would've gone with a macadamia nut pie.  You can coconut those suckers up and make it more springy.  

If I knew I could do three different dishes and call it tapas, I would've done it.  I think Jessica skirted the rules.  It would've been relatively easy to create one dessert or finishing (fruit and cheese course) dish a piece with any if those ingredients.  The challenge was making them meld into one dish.

[Rammchick]

Truthfully, I don't understand why these bakers can't make savory items.  These baskets lent themselves to snacks for cocktail parties and the like, and those are not sweet.  After all, The name of this show is Spring Baking Championship, not Spring Desserts.  

[joanne3482]

3 hours ago, justjen said:

Jessica just infuriates me for no good reason; I feel like the closest she gets to a perfect baked good is the bun she wears and even that looks like a clip-on.

(I do not like her - at all)

Same. Since the first episode I've not liked her and I can't put my finger on what it is. 

I liked both Deepa and Nacho so I was sad to see either of them go.  I suspect this is either Ruby's or Caleb's to lose. 

[dewelar]

I haven't watched Chopped for a couple of years now, as I think the show's been stale for a while, so I certainly didn't need to see the format creep into this show. Once I saw that's what they were doing, I fast-forwarded to the judging, so I have no idea how Deepal's dish got to be so poor, but from the commentary she was (sadly) the right choice to go home. I agree with those who say Jessica skirted the rules, but it really does seem like Deepal's creation was borderline inedible. Hopefully Jessica is next out. I thought the Heather/Caleb team got the easiest combination of ingredients, and thus them being the top two was no surprise at all. Caleb's actually growing on me, which is unexpected, and he now joins Heather and Nacho as my favorites.

Overall, this show is the weakest of this cycle of Baking Championship (Halloween-Holiday-Kids-Spring) thus far, so hopefully things pick up. ISTR that last year's Spring edition was also the weakest of the lot, so my hopes are not exactly high, but it's not like I'm going to stop watching anyway.

[stormy]

Caleb's corn thing looked like cornbread at a BBQ restaurant. I didn't get it although the judges loved it.

Maybe instead of switching hosts they should find some new judges.

[GaT]

3 hours ago, illini1959 said:

Why can't they just BAKE and see who executed the (normal) challenge the best, who decorated the best, which one tastes the best...?

 

This is the thing that drives me crazy about all competition cooking shows, they can never just let them cook/bake, they always have to setup stupid things designed to help them fail.

[needschocolate]

On 3/13/2018 at 5:29 AM, Jillybean said:

The only time I've ever seen or heard of a naked cake is on one of these baking shows. Are they actually a thing? I can't imagine any circumstances under which I would order a naked cake instead of a fully frosted one.

At my house, we way that you divide people into two groups - cake lovers who think the only purpose for frosting is to keep the cake from drying out and frosting lovers who say that the only reason for cake is to have a place to put frosting.  Naked cakes are for that small percentage of cake lovers who don't care if their cake is dried out.  

 

On 3/13/2018 at 6:42 AM, Adiba said:

It's been said before, but I want to reiterate--I hate the stupid twists.

It cannot be said too often

 

On 3/13/2018 at 12:46 AM, GaT said:

 First, WTH is Ali Khan & why is he the host? Is there a reason they can't keep a host on this show? As for the contestants, how is it possible that so many bakers don't know what "naked cake" is? 

Perhaps, instead of replacing the hosts, they should replace the writers for the hosts.

 

On 3/13/2018 at 3:50 PM, oldCJ said:

It’s funny to me that no matter who the host it, they all seem to have the same haircut. 

And replace the hair stylists too

 

43 minutes ago, GaT said:

This is the thing that drives me crazy about all competition cooking shows, they can never just let them cook/bake, they always have to setup stupid things designed to help them fail.

If you haven't heard, The Great British Baking Show (or Bake Off, if you are outside the US) does just that - bakers baking with enough time, no twists, and the challenges weren't ridiculous.  It is wonderful.  Past Seasons can be found on Netflix.  

ABC had and American version called the Great Holiday/American Baking Show, which also had no twists or ridiculous challenges, but, unfortunately, it did have a judge who was a sexual harasser (not on camera) and they pulled the show after the first episode of the most recent season.  You may be able to find earlier seasons online.

Edited March 27, 2018 by needschocolate

[GaT]

17 minutes ago, needschocolate said:

If you haven't heard, The Great British Baking Show (or Bake Off, if you are outside the US) does just that - bakers baking with enough time, no twists, and the challenges weren't ridiculous.  It is wonderful.  Past Seasons can be found on Netflix.  

ABC had and American version called the Great Holiday/American Baking Show, which also had no twists or ridiculous challenges, but, unfortunately, it did have a judge who was a sexual harasser (not on camera) and they pulled the show after the first episode of the most recent season.  You may be able to find earlier seasons online.

I have watched all the US shown GBBS 3 times so far, plus the master classes :-) Watched the American version too.

[theatremouse]

2 hours ago, Rammchick said:

Truthfully, I don't understand why these bakers can't make savory items.  These baskets lent themselves to snacks for cocktail parties and the like, and those are not sweet.  After all, The name of this show is Spring Baking Championship, not Spring Desserts.  

In general, I think this show should have savory challenges more frequently, but in terms of this episode, I thought the point they were making was "take these usually savor things and still make something sweet". So, while I'm with you that they shouldn't only be baking desserts, it seemed the purpose of what they were tasked with here specifically precluded making something savory for this challenge.

2 hours ago, joanne3482 said:

Same. Since the first episode I've not liked her and I can't put my finger on what it is.

Did you watch the most recent season of Project Runway? She does a thing with her voice that reminds me of the twins. I found them irritating and thus the first time I heard her I also found her irritating, and her performance on this show has not been anywhere near good enough to overcome that knee jerk response.

[joanne3482]

15 minutes ago, theatremouse said:

Did you watch the most recent season of Project Runway? She does a thing with her voice that reminds me of the twins. I found them irritating and thus the first time I heard her I also found her irritating, and her performance on this show has not been anywhere near good enough to overcome that knee jerk response.

OMG! That IS it! Indeed. 

[justjen]

2 hours ago, stormy said:

Maybe instead of switching hosts they should find some new judges.

I didn't even think of that! It probably is time for some new judges. Maybe Carla Hall, Zac Young? I dunno... someone else (NOT DAMIANO)! Maybe their production schedule is such that those 3 have to be the judges, but then the different host thing doesn't make sense.

[40Love]

2 hours ago, needschocolate said:

ABC had and American version called the Great Holiday/American Baking Show, which also had no twists or ridiculous challenges, but, unfortunately, it did have a judge who was a sexual harasser (not on camera) and they pulled the show after the first episode of the most recent season. 

Thank you for this post! I thought it was my imagination that I watched one episode of this show and never saw it again. I really enjoy the Great British Baking Show... as well as the Canadian version. 3 baking challenges... straight forward themes, no tricks, no twists... just baking. I love it! 

I pretty much like all the bakers on the Spring Baking Championship, except the the crier. I'm not sure why.

[Snappy]

On 3/21/2018 at 12:48 AM, LittleIggy said:

I agree. Who wants to eat a perfumed sachet.

I've tried it and as long as you don't use too much, its not soapy. It gives the suggestion of a taste, rather than a definite taste used the right way.

I like Caleb (mustache man), and Nacho (first for the name, then he seems sweet), and Ruby. I can't remember anyone elses names. 

Not impressed with the new host. At least Bobby Flay had a connection to food and was funny. Jesse grew on me. Sad that he's gone; maybe his new show is taking too much time.

Edited March 27, 2018 by Snappy

[ruffy666]

I'm fine with the current judges, at least in a "people you love to hate" kinda way.  All of the other stand-in judges, including Carla and Zac and Sandra Lee, were worse.  It seems like pretty much every Food Network personality has a vocabulary of about 6 words and it's just the same comments over and over and over again.  How about a judge like Nigella Lawson, someone who really knows how to talk about food beyond "this cake is dry" or "i can really taste the orange."

[GaT]

26 minutes ago, Snappy said:

At least Bobby Flay had a connection to food and was funny. 

I think you mean Bobby Deen :-)

[dewelar]

1 hour ago, ruffy666 said:

I'm fine with the current judges, at least in a "people you love to hate" kinda way.  All of the other stand-in judges, including Carla and Zac and Sandra Lee, were worse.

Ron Ben-Israel judged one of these shows for at least one season. He was definitely not worse. I think it was him, Carla and Sandra, which was a pretty good combination. This group has gotten too pleased with its collective shticks, and could definitely use a shake-up.

[theatremouse]

We've got a judges topic for general judge discussion, folks. Please keep discussion in here to episodes in season four.

[Chit Chat]

6 hours ago, stormy said:

Caleb's corn thing looked like cornbread at a BBQ restaurant. I didn't get it although the judges loved it.

Nancy said that his dish looked like something that came fresh out of the garden and straight to a picnic!  Looked like he got his 3 ingredients baked into a delicious dish, and the presentation seemed to wow them too.  I'd love to be able to taste these things!  Some of them sounded awful though.  

 

5 hours ago, needschocolate said:

At my house, we way that you divide people into two groups - cake lovers who think the only purpose for frosting is to keep the cake from drying out and frosting lovers who say that the only reason for cake is to have a place to put frosting. 

That's so funny, needschocolate!  I fall into the latter group.  I like a little cake with my frosting, especially if it's chocolate.  Of course I love a good buttercream frosting too.  

[Snappy]

12 hours ago, GaT said:

I think you mean Bobby Deen :-)

Yup, him too. lol

[Destiny74]

I was watching the reruns of season 1 and 2 yesterday and it really made me nostalgic for Bobby.  He was witty but carried himself with a certain authority.  And he could laugh at himself.  Heck, I think I snarked in him when he was host but you don't know what you got until it's gone.

Oh FN... Bring back Bobby.

[suebee12]

On 3/13/2018 at 7:29 AM, Jillybean said:

The only time I've ever seen or heard of a naked cake is on one of these baking shows. Are they actually a thing? I can't imagine any circumstances under which I would order a naked cake instead of a fully frosted one.

I am someone who scrapes the icing off of a cake! My favorite cake of all time is a Mayonnaise cake! It is so chocolatey and moist, so no icing is needed. I usually put a doily on top and sprinkle confectionery sugar over it to make a pretty pattern! If you have never had one, look up the recipe and try it! YUM!

[CherZ]

Ugh - mushrooms? Seriously? And I'm not a fan of the host either.

Contestant wise,  Jessica irritates me as well. As for the rest, they're growing on me. I think Ruby might be a dark horse. She's young and isn't as "extroverted" as the other bakers but she seems to bake well.

[Rammchick]

23 hours ago, theatremouse said:

In general, I think this show should have savory challenges more frequently, but in terms of this episode, I thought the point they were making was "take these usually savor things and still make something sweet". So, while I'm with you that they shouldn't only be baking desserts, it seemed the purpose of what they were tasked with here specifically precluded making something savory for this challenge.

 

Sure, I get that, and I also understand that it shows a lot of creativity to be able to make a sweet dessert/cake out of savory ingredients.  But I don't recall -- and maybe that's just me watching it at 2:30 or 3:00 in the morning when I'm not sleeping! -- that that was specified.  It just seems to me that the sweet dessert is the fall back position in every challenge.  Even the one where the herbs were introduced -- the woman who got cilantro could've definitely done something savory with it.

[joanne3482]

3 hours ago, Rammchick said:

Even the one where the herbs were introduced -- the woman who got cilantro could've definitely done something savory with it.

Maybe... but the instructions were ombre cake with the herbs. 

Foodnetwork's site indicates that they were to make a dessert with their 3 items, but I can't remember what Ali said when giving the challenge.

[Ilovecomputers]

On ‎3‎/‎27‎/‎2018 at 12:14 PM, Rammchick said:

Truthfully, I don't understand why these bakers can't make savory items.  These baskets lent themselves to snacks for cocktail parties and the like, and those are not sweet.  After all, The name of this show is Spring Baking Championship, not Spring Desserts.  

Except they are always told to make "hand pies" or cakes.

[HoneyBadgerJr]

On 3/29/2018 at 8:57 AM, Ilovecomputers said:

Except they are always told to make "hand pies" or cakes.

But that doesn't preclude savory, necessarily - Empanadas, Cornish Pasties, Pastels (Senegalese fried fish pies), Veggie Patties (Jamaican), etc. are all savory options if the direction is "hand pie." Cake salé is a French cake/bread cross that is savory, and the add-ins are flexible, from what I've read. 

[backgroundnoise]

I think they specifically said picnic "dessert."  I thought the corn bread almost crossed the line, as I don't really consider even sweet corn bread to be a dessert.

I really wonder what that cream puff thing tasted like.  Sorry, but it sounded awful, and not much of a dessert either.

I thought the whole challenge was big snooze.

[Jessa]

I thought the tapas was a total cop out and that she would get blasted for it. Apparently not. 

 

I watch this show with my kids, but we’re all getting bored of it. We’re Canadian, so we’ll cheer for the Canadian guy. And Nacho because he seems like the underdog, and we liked his wife on her season. 

[Jaded]

I did what someone else mentioned and FF'd through this episode from the part where they were told what the "challenge" was until the judging started. I hope it gets better within the next couple episodes or I may just give up on it. The three episodes that have aired so far have been boring.

Edited April 2, 2018 by Jaded

[Simon47]

Dee Dee wasn't one of my favorites, but I was definitely sorry to see her go. She was bright, sweet and had a great personality.

 

The dishes this week. I don't think I'd eat any of them. They looked disgusting, boring, and unattractive. I think this would have been alleviated if the format of this show would have been much like GBBO, where there's none of this stuff. The name of the show is not The Most Disgusting Foods, it's Spring Baking Championship.

 

Replace judges: For Nancy, maybe do Aunt Sandy. Keep Duff. For Lorraine, maybe do Ina Garten.