Kids Baking Championship - General Discussion

[mlp]

Darn.  Misha was one of my favorites but I can't argue with the decision.  

I give Duff and Valerie credit for tasting some of those creations.  Those flattened out and squished green things one of the girls made looked absolutely disgusting.  

Davis reminds me of Matthew who was on FN Star a couple times too often.  I hasten to say looks alone, not personality.  I like Davis.  

[luvapickle]

Ok-last night's ep-Paige? She has the almond allergy, 7 the other 2 times she had no choice. Why did she choose, of her own free will, to use almonds again??

Something is a bit hinky: almond-gate. Other than that-these kids are really taking it all in stride.  But I agree with most of them-no likey macarons. And I'm a pro baker.  I prefer macaroons myself :).

[justjen]

Jaxson reminds me so much of my nephew - in looks, age, sound of voice, personality - that it kind of creeps me out but he is also my favorite. The only kid that kind of annoys me, for no reason she just does is Jenna. Macarons look so difficult and I expected a full cast melt down! 

I think this is the first season where none of the kids are overly obnoxious? 

[nowornever]

Last night I noticed that the kids must be given clean aprons before they present their dishes.  We were laughing because while they were baking they were all just COVERED in flour, food coloring, etc.  Karthik even had something in his hair. 

Davis was spotless, which just made it even funnier.

But Jenna dodged a bullet again.  Oh my goodness, what was that?  Misha's weren't baked, so I can't argue his departure, but yikes.  I'm not sure why they put Paige in there.  I don't she was quite at the same level of disaster that the other two were.  I feel like it's unusual to have three people called on the carpet.  

And Valarie almost backed over a kid!!!!

[augmentedfourth]

I can't believe Misha went home instead of Jenna. I don't think I would have been brave enough to even put Jenna's...creation into my mouth. I can only hope they tasted good. 

 

I think in the end it's going to come down to Davis and Madison. (Madison is the little one with the glasses, right?) Meadow's pretty good too, but maybe just a baby step behind them. All the others are good kids with a lot of talent, but I don't know if they're on the same level. But a lot can change in the coming weeks! 

[jcbrown]

On 1/22/2019 at 11:29 AM, mlp said:

I don't have a favorite so far.  I do get a kick out of the little girl with big glasses.  I think her name is Madison.  

Madison is my favorite. And I agree with those who said this group of kids is uniformly more likeable than past seasons.

[kcrabtree06]

Does anyone else wish when they choose who to eliminate, they would look at everything they’ve done so far that season (like how they look at all 3 rounds on an episode of Chopped) vs just that particular day? Misha obviously had a really bad day yesterday, but I definitely feel like he’s better than most of the bakers left. 

Edited January 30, 2019 by kcrabtree06

[Grumpbump]

26 minutes ago, kcrabtree06 said:

Does anyone else wish when they choose who to eliminate, they would look at everything they’ve done so far that season (like how they look at all 3 rounds on an episode of Chopped) vs just that particular day? Misha obviously has a really bad day yesterday, but I definitely feel like he’s better than most of the bakers left. 

Yes, I definitely thought Misha should have been safe, as just last week his blondies were good enough to save half of the field of contestants!   Jenna has been in the bottom at least once before.  I was very sad that he was eliminated.  

[blueray]

I agree, they should at least explain why they made their decision. Nicely of course. I was surprised that Karthik was safe, but I guess he managed to get it done in time. Or it tasted good.

[NJKBCFan]

Bummed about Misha. He was my pick to win it all after the first episode. At this point, I feel like Davis is going to be this season’s Bryn or Cole, a favorite to win but eliminated in the semifinal. Agree that he’s definitely got skills. Personality-wise, he reminds me a little bit of Beverley from Season 4.

I know macarons are known to be difficult to make, but it still surprised me how much trouble a lot of the kids had with this challenge. Maybe it was because of all the pre-season hype about how good these kids were supposed to be, but after this episode I feel like they are pretty similar in skill as previous seasons. Personality-wise, I still put Season 4 ahead as no one is as adorable as Linsey or Bryn, but agree that all of these kids are very likable.

[theatremouse]

12 hours ago, luvapickle said:

Ok-last night's ep-Paige? She has the almond allergy, 7 the other 2 times she had no choice. Why did she choose, of her own free will, to use almonds again??

Macarons are normally made with almond flour so she was going to be almonded no matter what in this challenge.

[carrps]

I was also totally bummed about Misha. I thought he was a shoe-in for at least final three. OMG, Jenna's were disgusting looking! But Val and Duff really REALLY seemed to like the taste, and not cooked should be the worst sin always. Poor Misha.

I've ragged on Paige's mugging before, but this time those tears were real. But every kid had some kind of meltdown/problem. My sister and I were yelling at Karthik -- that's really egg whites 101 -- even a teeny tiny speck of yolk will prevent the whites from whipping. Wonder if that was Jenna's problem, too, but they didn't get it on camera? Because her batter was so runny. And she said they sometimes turned out o.k. when she had batter like that???

[Destiny74]

Bummed about Misha.  I kept telling the TV to put those dang macarons in the oven!  

Duff expressed exactly how I feel almost every week... "I would sooooo win the Kids Baking Championship".  I love his sense of humor!  Of course these kids don't bake as well adults and I know my commentary needs to soften a bit because they are kids and are just starting their baking journey.

However, when your cookie calls for whites to be at stiff peaks, there is a reason for it.  If your egg "whites" aren't fluffing up, you really need to start again.  I was annoyed at Karthic and Jenna both because they kept on with ingredients that we're never going to work.  

Underbaking is an issue.  These shows want the contestants to use good time management and it is a good skill to master but I think bad usage of time is less an issue these kids than continuing a recipe when you've failed the first step.  In general they can take their sweet time making macarons but if they don't whip the whites the right way, they'll never make a decent macaron.  Hence, I feel Jenna should've gone home.  Not to mention she's been in the bottom before.

Madison is adorable.  Enough said.

[theatremouse]

In the grand scheme of the show, most of these macarons were trainwrecks, so this is probably nitpicky, but I was annoyed at how many of them made vanilla shells and relied on buttercream/whatever filling for more interesting flavors AND I was double annoyed at how many of them referred to theirs as "regular" flavored and then clarified that meant vanilla. I know, they're small children, but they're small children who supposedly bake. "Vanilla" <> "regular". On the one hand, vanilla is a flavor, but on the other, by referring to it as "regular" they're basically admitting they did a totally boring macaron.

[blueray]

^that's why I was glad that they acknowledged the one kid who took a chance by using Lavender? He at least tried something different. I was glad that they put him through right away.

[AAEBoiler]

So, we're bummed that my daughter's friend's little brother (I think I have that punctuation right) Misha was eliminated in the last episode. Now that Misha's gone I'm all "Team Madison" ... which probably means she's gone next week.

[NJKBCFan]

8 minutes ago, AAEBoiler said:

So, we're bummed that my daughter's friend's little brother (I think I have that punctuation right) Misha was eliminated in the last episode. Now that Misha's gone I'm all "Team Madison" ... which probably means she's gone next week.

Darn! Even more bummed now! Did you ever get to talk with him about his experience on the show? Would love to hear about it, particularly with regards to some of the questions being asked here about things like did they have recipes, did they know about the challenges beforehand and how much did the producers coach them?

[AAEBoiler]

1 hour ago, NJKBCFan said:

Did you ever get to talk with him about his experience on the show?

No, I have not run into him since all of this began.

[ShelleySue]

On January 29, 2019 at 8:18 AM, luvapickle said:

Ok-last night's ep-Paige? She has the almond allergy, 7 the other 2 times she had no choice. Why did she choose, of her own free will, to use almonds again??

Something is a bit hinky: almond-gate. Other than that-these kids are really taking it all in stride.  But I agree with most of them-no likey macarons. And I'm a pro baker.  I prefer macaroons myself :).

 

On January 29, 2019 at 8:43 PM, theatremouse said:

Macarons are normally made with almond flour so she was going to be almonded no matter what in this challenge.

I've been very vocal about this because I have a food allergy.  I was positive Food Network was doing Paige a disservice by forcing her to use almonds.   I couldn't believe they had a macaron challenge because it uses almond flour. Unlike the other two times (marzipan and almonds being her ingredient) she didn't say anything about macarons.   I was literally screaming at the tv.  But then Paige VOLUNTARILY CHOSE almonds.  I just shook my head in disbelief.  I give up.  Even if she was already almonded (my word of the day Theatremouse), you'd think that she'd choose some part of her challenge that she could at least taste.  I know that when I bake I like to taste things to make sure the combinations are proportions are good.

[40Love]

On 1/31/2019 at 9:02 AM, NJKBCFan said:

Did you ever get to talk with him about his experience on the show? Would love to hear about it, particularly with regards to some of the questions being asked here about things like did they have recipes, did they know about the challenges beforehand and how much did the producers coach them?

I don't think we're ever going to get an answers to these questions. Contestants are under strict orders not to reveal anything about the procedures, timing and production of the show. A contestant from the adult Baking Championship show mentioned she wasn't allowed to share that kind of information.

[luvapickle]

20 hours ago, ShelleySue said:

 

I've been very vocal about this because I have a food allergy.  I was positive Food Network was doing Paige a disservice by forcing her to use almonds.   I couldn't believe they had a macaron challenge because it uses almond flour. Unlike the other two times (marzipan and almonds being her ingredient) she didn't say anything about macarons.   I was literally screaming at the tv.  But then Paige VOLUNTARILY CHOSE almonds.  I just shook my head in disbelief.  I give up.  Even if she was already almonded (my word of the day Theatremouse), you'd think that she'd choose some part of her challenge that she could at least taste.  I know that when I bake I like to taste things to make sure the combinations are proportions are good.

It would have been interesting if she ever tried using ground white chocolate instead of almond flour for the macarons. It's a great sub for the high fat content.

[BigBingerBro]

Macaron Madness!!  Immediately after watching, I was ready to snark pretty hard on some of the disasters in this episode, but I thought better of the situation.  I mean they are kids and macarons are super tricky.  On one hand they could have provided more time so that some of the kids could have started over without time restraints, but then it probably would have been TOO  perfect.   I was amazed how many of the kids just plowed tight along (some through tears) and managed to get something on their plates.    I wonder if the production staff gave them a pep talk and told them to just produce something no matter what happens.  Had I been in their place I would have ran off the set and demanded my parents take me home immediately!!

I am furious that Misha was sent home.  Yes, what he presented was raw and sloppy, but he was historically not this bad.  The curly brunette girl is consistently all over the place.  She should have been sent home last week.

It looks like next weeks team opposites cake challenge is going to produce some better bakes!

 

Oh and what's up with not letting the winner drive the golf cart??   Why not let them take it for a spin around the set??

[Chit Chat]

Oh no he didn't!!  Jaxon, you don't ever raise your finger to someone's face and shush them!  Yay for Madison for winning the challenge after he basically dictated what she'd do.  Also, kudos to Madison for keeping her cool and working with what she had.  Best reply ever to the judges when she told them why she had the land theme.  

The fire and ice cake was nicely done too.  Good job ladies!   

[MerBearHou]

Finally Jenna is gone.  Weeks overdue.  I thought her decorating skills were terrible  — IMO her cupcakes early on looked like they had piles of poop on them!   And I think she should’ve gone last week for her macarons as well. Karthik and Jaxon did not behave well as young men trying to dominate and man-splain (or as Karthik incorrectly said man-splait!), but Meadow and Madison handled it so coolly like little pros.  Love both of those two.  Madison is like a clever and adorable, dry-witted, older woman in a small body and Meadow is just lovely with a darling personality, poise and humor.  I loved Paige calming down Davis (and I’m not a Paige fan) and her partnership with Nyah was wonderful.  Duff and Valerie are the best host duo on Food Network, I think.

Edited February 5, 2019 by MerBearHou

[suebee12]

I really like Madison but in this case I am glad Jaxson "made" her take the peanut butter(even if she doesn't like it)....that peanut butter made her great chocolate cake even greater! I was a little surprised that she didn't grab it right away but I guess her personal dislike won over. Yes, those boys were a little over the top but in this case, it worked out great!

11 hours ago, ChitChat said:

Best reply ever to the judges when she told them why she had the land theme.  

I had to laugh when she told the truth!!

Now for what I thought was a big miss....Big and Little. Why didn't Davis made a large cake and then have Jenna make a teeny cake and place it on top? Of course, then Jenna's poor decorating might have taken away from the large cake but I think Davis with all of  his talent could have over-come that. I really didn't see Big and Little the way they decorated.

Edited February 5, 2019 by suebee12

[40Love]

Not a fan of Jaxson after seeing him repeatedly steamroll Madison. He was pretty condescending... and that little grin on his face when he was talking down to her...so irritating. Grrrr!

 

Karthik didn't win any points with his behavior 1either. But he seemed to be playing more to the cameras.

 

Loved Paige and Nyah together!! Great teamwork!!

 

Davis is one wacky dude. His faces are cracking me up. His OTT expressions during the 2nd confessional with Jenna were wild. He may be consuming too much sugar. Heh! But, I think it's genuine; just him marching to a different beat. 😊

[mlp]

I wasn't sorry to see Jenna leave.  I like all the kids who are left.  Madison cracks me up.  I love her.  Nyah is a beautiful child and just delightful.  Of the boys, my favorite is Karthik.  Davis is wound so tight that I wonder if his parents put a lot of pressure on him to excel at everything or if that's just his nature.

I enjoy listening to these kids talk.  They all use grammatically correct English and they all sound intelligent.  They give me hope.

[augmentedfourth]

Finally, Jenna is gone. She's not a bad kid, but was definitely way behind the others in terms of skill. I still think she should have been the one to go home last week. With her gone, I don't see a really clear choice as to who's going to be next to be eliminated. Nyah or Karthik, maybe. (Again, great kids, but they've had some little missteps before.)

 

In the end, I think it's going to come down to Davis and Madison. My prediction is one of the following scenarios happens - 1) Madison doesn't do anything "wrong", but she doesn't take big enough risks, and that's what loses the championship for her, or 2) high-strung Davis finally explodes and screws up massively near the end of the competition. 

 

I loved the look of the fire and ice cake, but I was seriously questioning the combination of mint and lemon. I guess it does work!

[Rammchick]

As Nyah said, lemon and mint is a combination you often see in cough drops, and if she'd used more mint flavor, it might not have been as successful.

But really, boys?  Jaxon and Karthik both lose in the woke department.  I wanted to slap both of them.

[NJKBCFan]

And suddenly, I don't like any of the boys! Jackson and Karthik were bullies, and Davis was pretty rude (tho at least it appeared that he tried to be polite). Madison is now my favorite, as she handled it with maturity. Glad she won it!

Paige and Nyah definitely deserved the team win. They really nailed the challenge. And I loved how well they got along, including saying everything in unison! Very cute, and a great counterbalance to the rudeness seen in the boy-girl teams.

Jenna - yeah, time to go. I feel bad for her because I bet she is a much better baker than she was able to show in this show. Similar to Soleil in Season 4. Maybe something about being from New Jersey? lol

I think this was the first week where I really enjoyed the challenge. Gave them room for creativity, both with flavor and decorating, some nice techniques. Great job, bakers!

[LegalParrot81]

It really was time for Jenna to go, probably even past time.  

Madison won for best deadpan line of the week.

Davis always looks like somebody just gave him a wedgie every time they call his name.   I did have to laugh at Paige when she called him on his being shocked.   

Edited February 5, 2019 by LegalParrot81

[luvapickle]

I finally figured it out: Davis is a mini/young Matthew Grunwald(FNS)-but sweet:). They both always seem like they're on a sugar high. Love Madison-agree she seems like an adult in a little one's body.  I have one issue: Duff says the sun was not smooth like the real sun(although in the recap he says it's not spherical). Um, technically the sun has millions of fiery explosions of gases occurring on it's surface. That sun was actually more accurate than most people draw, form.

[jcbrown]

Jaxon certainly came across as a little twerp this episode. I agree that Karthick was playing it up a bit but he doesn't get a pass from me, either. Jaxon can go home anytime. 

[mlp]

Quote

I finally figured it out: Davis is a mini/young Matthew Grunwald(FNS)-but sweet:).

I said the same thing last week.  He does remind me of Matthew although just looks and expressions, not personality (thank heavens).

[blueray]

The only boy I noticed as rude was Jaxon. Him and Madison clearly don't get along as it is. Putting them in a team together wasn't a good idea. I did like that Madison ended up doing a better job as the boy was so arrogate and controlling toward her. But she ended up with the best chocolate & peanut butter the best combo ever.  I know he is just a kid, so hopefully he will grow up eventually.   As for Davis and Karthik, I don't recall them being rude to their partner or anyone else. Davis was to busy being nervous or maybe a perfectionist, but he never took it out on Jenna from what I saw. And Karthik, had that one comment (which I missed the beginning of), maybe that was rude.

 

Anyhow, I am glad that Jenna went home (nothing against her personally) but she doesn't have the skills the other kids have.

Edited February 5, 2019 by blueray

[OoogleEyes]

Yeah, Jaxson is going to grow up to be "that guy". I hope he's not getting his attitude and treatment cues from his dad. 

[Iseut]

This episode made me both laugh and cry. Loved watching Madison's arc of getting "steamrolled" by Jaxon, then speaking her mind and letting her frustration show more and more until she actually won in the end! Good for her. (On the one hand, I guess he kind of helped her win by suggesting that peanut butter would be a good complement for her chocolate cake and the peanut butter cream cheese frosting she put together does sound like heaven; on the other hand, let her figure out her own shit, bro! I'm sure she would have rocked a chocolate-chocolate chip cake too.)

Karthik seemed to alternate between being overbearing and mansplain-y to acting like a hyperactive little brother, with all the annoying questions. Meadow held her composure better than I would have!

So frustrating to watch guys keep dominating girls though. Generation after generation. Uggggghh. And boooooooo to Jaxon not even smiling or offering a "good job" when his partner won the challenge. I hope that was editing for drama, but given how much they like to show these kids high fiving and jumping up and down and helping each other out, I'm going to say that editing was not at fault this time.

[Aliconehead]

1 hour ago, Iseut said:

!

So frustrating to watch guys keep dominating girls though. Generation after generation. Uggggghh. And boooooooo to Jaxon not even smiling or offering a "good job" when his partner won the challenge. I hope that was editing for drama, but given how much they like to show these kids high fiving and jumping up and down and helping each other out, I'm going to say that editing was not at fault this time.

Right?!  It’s like it’s in boys DNA. You would think that this behavior would be quashed by moms but maybe they are the oldest or have no sisters. 

I noticed that Jaxon didn’t congratulate Madison but also had this unpleasant/angry look on his face with Duff and Valerie were complimenting Madison. 

Madison is my favorite. She is just so droll, sarcastic and deadpan. She is so tiny I forget she is 11 or 12. 

[Chit Chat]

18 minutes ago, Aliconehead said:

Madison is my favorite. She is just so droll, sarcastic and deadpan.

She says it with that little half smile, but you know inside she's probably screaming "a pox on you!"  Maybe one day we'll see her as a professional baker and a blogger.  Don't you know she could bring the snark!   

Meadow and Paige have sweet personalities too.  Paige mentioned in her first intro that she has juvenile arthritis.  I hate to see anybody with a chronic illness, and especially one so young.  She seems to enjoy baking, and she's been fun to watch.  I was glad that the fire and ice cake won for nailing the theme, but I was also happy to see Madison win for best tasting cake.  I do wish she would've added something to the top of her cake though.  Maybe a little beach umbrella, or palm tree, or something along those lines, but overall I think she and Jaxon did a great job too.  I would happily taste any of those cakes.  ;)

[NJKBCFan]

34 minutes ago, Aliconehead said:

Right?!  It’s like it’s in boys DNA. You would think that this behavior would be quashed by moms but maybe they are the oldest or have no sisters. 

I noticed that Jaxon didn’t congratulate Madison but also had this unpleasant/angry look on his face with Duff and Valerie were complimenting Madison. 

Madison is my favorite. She is just so droll, sarcastic and deadpan. She is so tiny I forget she is 11 or 12. 

The boys from the previous seasons were not like this.

[theatremouse]

What Jaxson did and Karthik did were totally different to me. Jaxson was being totally self-absorbed. He wasn't mansplaining; he just wanted what he wanted and was OK steamrolling to get it, and Madison, as she noted, didn't want to argue about it so she let him have it rather than sit through his hissy fit. Which is what he did. With his "I HAVE to make a vanilla cake!" He was having a very Veruca Salt moment.

Karthik on the other hand Thought He Had Great Ideas For the Team. Maple was his doing and it overwhelmed both their cakes. Meadow may have been the one to put it in? Which might be why she seemed to get the bigger ding for it since it totally obliterated any chance of tasting the apple. But he was all MAPLE ON THE WHOLE OUTSIDE. And he was mos' def' mainsplaining and then mainsplained mansplaining.

The big/small team in a way had both the easiest and hardest. They could do ANYTHING to represent those opposites and seemed to get totally stuck because it wasn't as obvious as something like night and day. Davis' decorations were "big" in the context of how large cake decorations generally are, but they weren't big in general. That was a life-sized coffee cup and chocolate bar. Normal size for the actual things. And Jenna's "small" decorations were not remotely small enough for it to read as small by comparison. Plus she was chocolate dipping actual raspberries....so...that's also life-size of the object it was. If they wanted to do decorations that communicated the flavors of each side they needed to really go drastic on the size differential. She needed to be doing tiny, like currant-sized lemons and raspberries. And he needed a giant cocoa and espresso bean or something. Like, one of each taking up that whole side of the cake. Otherwise, they needed to not be so focused on the decorations having anything to do with the flavors. They didn't even satisfy the opposites challenge as far as I'm concerned. Not at all. Even if her royal icing whatever it was she was aiming for worked, or were good or they did the original drip cake idea....they didn't fulfill the challenge. Heck, they could've done something similar to the fire and ice cake and done HUGE rosettes on one side and piped tiny star tips all over the other side. Done. (They might not have had time to do something that involved, but my point is they could've done anything to represent big and small and they didn't do it at all).

[carrps]

11 hours ago, luvapickle said:

I finally figured it out: Davis is a mini/young Matthew Grunwald(FNS)-but sweet:).

We think he's auditioning for Randy Rainbow's job (check his youtube channel if you've never seen him before -- hilarious).

Agree with everyone that it was Jenna's time to go. Her decorations were horrible, and adding the white chocolate to her royal icing made it disgusting-looking. And, yeah, the Big-Little dichotomy was not illustrated at all.

I used to really like Jaxon. Not so much now.

I haven't been a big Paige fan, but she and Nyah were great together. How cute that they were saying the same thing at the same time.

[mlp]

Quote

my point is they could've done anything to represent big and small and they didn't do it at all

Agreed.  What they should have done was make big and small versions of the same thing so the size difference was obvious.  A tiny coffee cup might have been beyond Jenna's capabilities but they could have done big ducks, little ducks or big fruit, little fruit - anything as you said.  Jenna's cake may have still been a mess but at least the decorations would have made sense.

[Mrs. Stanwyck]

Jaxson was very pushy to get/do what he wanted this episode and he got a little karmic payback by having Madison win instead of him.  Even though he didn't come off as a great kid in this episode, he's still the boy who chose a pink apron to honor his grandma so she would know he was thinking of her every time she watched.  He can't be all bad.

[Adiba]

I've only watched this show sporadically in the past, but do the judges state whether taste wins out over presentation? I would think fulfilling the challenge and taste would in out over something that tastes awful? Also, if the decorations weigh heavily in the judging, maybe they could have a "decorating challenge?"

Personally, I don't think Jenna's and Davis' decorations needed to make sense to an adult--a coffee cup is bigger than a raspberry, so to a kid that would've made sense. Not saying that Jenna didn't need to be the one eliminated--her skills seemed the most lacking. 

What matters most to me as a consumer of baked goods is taste--I've had some awful-tasting, but expensive and perfect-looking decorated cupcakes and I've peeled off beautiful but disgusting-tasting fondant from special occasion cakes.

On a very nit-picky note: I don't know why, but it irritates me when the contestants constantly use the word "my" as in, "my butter, my eggs, my flour" --why not just say "butter, eggs and flour?"

[TomGirl]

As a native Minnesotan, I’m very proud of my girls, Paige and Meadow.  They are both adorable, talented and Minnesota Nice.

But - Madison for the win!!

[NJKBCFan]

7 hours ago, Adiba said:

I've only watched this show sporadically in the past, but do the judges state whether taste wins out over presentation? I would think fulfilling the challenge and taste would in out over something that tastes awful? Also, if the decorations weigh heavily in the judging, maybe they could have a "decorating challenge?"

Personally, I don't think Jenna's and Davis' decorations needed to make sense to an adult--a coffee cup is bigger than a raspberry, so to a kid that would've made sense. Not saying that Jenna didn't need to be the one eliminated--her skills seemed the most lacking. 

What matters most to me as a consumer of baked goods is taste--I've had some awful-tasting, but expensive and perfect-looking decorated cupcakes and I've peeled off beautiful but disgusting-tasting fondant from special occasion cakes.

I think over past seasons Duff and Valerie do tend to reward taste and fulfilling the challenge over presentation. The only exception I can remember was in the Season 2 finale where Yashimabet appeared to definitely win the flavor/moistness thing but Rebecca won with a more ambitious presentation.

[HyeChaps]

Big polka dots on one side, small polka dots on the other side. Done. 

[Iseut]

15 hours ago, Adiba said:

On a very nit-picky note: I don't know why, but it irritates me when the contestants constantly use the word "my" as in, "my butter, my eggs, my flour" --why not just say "butter, eggs and flour?"

That bugs me too, especially since it's so obvious that they're coached to say it like that, and in the present tense, even though they're obviously describing something that already happened. "I mix my eggs into my flour mixture, then I add my vanilla..." The contestants on the adult FN baking shows have to talk like that too. I don't know who decided to make them all do that. 

[jcn35]

I agree with all of you that Jaxon was unlikeable in the last episode, but it seems that a lot of you are forgetting about the episodes before where Jaxon wasn't as bad.

Also, I'm glad Jenna finally went home.  She was likable, but her skills weren't on par with the others.  I'm still baffled on how the judges sent Misha home over her the week before.

Literally, next episode, it could be anyone that goes given the past episodes.  I would of predicted Nyah if it wasn't for her doing really well this past week.  I find it a bit stunning that some of you want Jaxon eliminated next just because of his behavior in the last episode.  What if he goes back to being likable just like he was prior to this past episode?

Edited February 9, 2019 by jcn35