Kids Baking Championship - General Discussion

[librarianbeck]

I must be the only person who dislikes canned biscuits. No matter what you do to them, they've got that processed taste. 

Davis is really a talented artist. That freehand  monkey was as cute as his goat, if not as perfect. 

I didn't care for the way Valerie spoke to Madison (or was it Paige?) "Because you've been to so many volcanoes?" It was just sarcastic and kind of mean sounding. 

Edited February 19, 2019 by librarianbeck

[docmatt]

2 hours ago, bkathi said:

Not sad to see Madison go - she was getting really annoying

I have not liked her for a while. And her baking is not on par with the top few.  It was pretty obvious she was done the whole episode, her editing went from sassy to outright brat this week. 

As far as baking Davis is the best, as far as personality, it's gotta be Meadow.

Edited February 19, 2019 by docmatt
hit return too early

[trudysmom]

7 hours ago, Eliza422 said:

Paige (?) or Madison (?) constantly opening her oven for the second week in a row,

I think Paige is the only baker using the conventional oven right in her station.  The others are using the smaller convection ovens (?) away from where they are mixing.  Could this be the difference?  I understand her wanting her product close by and if she's never used the other kind of oven, to be wary of it, but yeah, the repeated opening the door and checking it will be her undoing.  

Glad I'm not the only one who thinks Valerie was a bit too snarky this week. I don't think it's appropriate to joke with kids in the same way  you would with adults, they don't always know how to take it and it makes you look mean when they don't.  

[LegalParrot81]

15 minutes ago, trudysmom said:

I think Paige is the only baker using the conventional oven right in her station.  The others are using the smaller convection ovens (?) away from where they are mixing.  Could this be the difference?  I understand her wanting her product close by and if she's never used the other kind of oven, to be wary of it, but yeah, the repeated opening the door and checking it will be her undoing.  

Glad I'm not the only one who thinks Valerie was a bit too snarky this week. I don't think it's appropriate to joke with kids in the same way  you would with adults, they don't always know how to take it and it makes you look mean when they don't.  

Meadow was also using the oven at her station.  She, unlike Paige, struck the Great British Baking Show pose,  squatting in front of her oven, nose right up to the glass, without getting burned and lightly tapping on the glass, while praying it baked through.

I do like Meadow.

[trudysmom]

1 minute ago, LegalParrot81 said:

I do like Meadow.

I do too.  I'd like to see her with her hair down, I bet it's gorgeous. 

[librarianbeck]

Meadow is my favorite. She seems like a nice kid and a good baker. She's adorable, too!

[theatremouse]

Madison showed a pattern on this show: if she didn't like the ingredient she got, she wasn't into it, and when she wasn't into it, she didn't try. She did the same thing last week (pepper grinder anyone?) She didn't even think of it.

I think she showed she was possibly more familiar with monkey bread than the rest since she went straight to all the cinnamon, which for sure she shouldn't have, given the tropical angle of the challenge. But unlike the others who did a straight swap of tropical-thing-in-the-sugar, it seemed like Madison had decided if it wasn't cinnamon it wasn't monkey bread? Maybe? She also put maybe a teaspoon of mango in that. So she should've known there was nowhere near enough mango. Her personal desire not to taste it made her overlook the fact that the judges clearly need to taste it for it to count.

She was also bonkers on the unsweetened chocolate. This kid must have no sweet tooth? If mango is inherently too sweet for her and she decided rice krispie treats are also too sweet so unsweetened chocolate would balance them out? Oh honey, find some 80% dark chocolate and call it a day.

I DID appreciate that she was all "I ain't usin' no prefab candy rocks" and it did bug me a little that because she put in more effort to make her own "rocks" she also got dinged worse because they actually tasted her rocks, but didn't taste almost any of the extra decorations from the others, save the green grass coating chocolate. So it seemed a little like a cop-out that the other kids' decorations got to look good and taste didn't matter, but they tasted hers. On the flipside of that though, I guess it's like when chefs do a duo on Top Chef and one dish is great and the other sucks, and the judges are like "you only had to do one". She missed on taste with both here, but if her monkey bread had been more mango-ey I think she's still probably lose on that unsweetened chocolate.

[mlp]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who wasn't sorry to see Madison go.  I just loved her at first but it seemed like she was getting much too pleased with the attention and the idea of being on camera.  Her baking wasn't great and she kind of wore out her welcome.

I wish the producers would stop with the gimmicks and also with telling the kids very specifically what to make right down to the flavors they must use.  I wish they'd just tell them to "Make a birthday cake" or something like that and then let them be creative.

I thought Valerie was harder than necessary on Davis wrt his monkey.  From what I could see, the only part that wasn't good was the face.  The body and tail looked just like a stylized monkey.  

[hookedontv]

I’ll be happy as long as Nyah doesn’t win. I can’t put into words why not, I just haven’t enjoyed her on the show. 

Sorry Nyah, it’s not you - it’s me. 

Lol. 

[camom]

I knew Madison was gone when she used the unsweetened chocolate.  Anyone who has done any baking should know better than that.

[TomGirl]

It’s nice to see Davis finally loosening up a little bit and sometimes actually acting like a regular kid!

[justjen]

8 hours ago, hookedontv said:

I’ll be happy as long as Nyah doesn’t win. I can’t put into words why not, I just haven’t enjoyed her on the show. 

Sorry Nyah, it’s not you - it’s me. 

Lol. 

I think I know what it is, at least for me. That *maybe* she's usually always the youngest, most precocious and she kind of over does the "I'm adorable-ness." Now that I'm starting to explain it I'm sure it doesn't make sense...but like she's used to always being the cutest and she is cute, but - you're right I can't put into coherent words.

[jlc]

21 hours ago, docmatt said:

I have not liked her for a while. And her baking is not on par with the top few.  It was pretty obvious she was done the whole episode, her editing went from sassy to outright brat this week. 

I agree 100%! I for one was really happy she left, now if Nyah goes next week I will be ecstatic! I really hope Paige wins!!!!!

15 hours ago, hookedontv said:

Sorry Nyah, it’s not you - it’s me. 

No, it is Nyah, not me! I am not a fan at all of Nyah, and haven't been all season! 

[jlc]

20 hours ago, LegalParrot81 said:

Glad I'm not the only one who thinks Valerie was a bit too snarky this week. I don't think it's appropriate to joke with kids in the same way  you would with adults, they don't always know how to take it and it makes you look mean when they don't.  

I have thought Valerie was a bad choice from her first season. When did Valerie become a pastry chef and not just a home cook? I hate how she is trying to talk over Duff as if she is more experienced than he is, and her interactions with the kids are not funny or helpful! I have seen Duff many times when seeing one of the kids in distress actually give them help - not grabbing their arms and wiggling them and laughing! She, in my opinion, is a lousy job and very self absorbed!

[justjen]

41 minutes ago, jlc said:

I have thought Valerie was a bad choice from her first season. 

I have thoughts on this, too. Duff is the camp counselor of KBC and Valerie is the former child star clinging to some sort of relevancy on a highly-specific basic cable channel.  (I'm having a very grumpy day today...)

[trudysmom]

I think Nyah is an adorable girl, but she talks way too fast.  I have a hard time keeping up with what she's saying most of the time.  

I liked that Davis asked to see his sauce when they critiqued it, he didn't just say 'ok' like I guess they've been coached to do when criticized for something. He said the banana stuff looked strange when he used it, I thought why not just mash up some fresh banana? Maybe the stuff he used was more concentrated or something?  

[theatremouse]

When he was kvetching about it, it looked to me just like mushed up banana (or probably it'd been in a blender). So I don't think it would've made a difference if he used the pre-pureed vs smashed it himself. Plus the judges were saying his stuff was already sufficiently banana-ey and he should've just done a caramel-caramel sauce or something else that was a different flavor. It wasn't just the texture they took issue with.

[blueray]

On 2/19/2019 at 9:48 PM, mlp said:

I thought Valerie was harder than necessary on Davis wrt his monkey.  From what I could see, the only part that wasn't good was the face.  The body and tail looked just like a stylized monkey.  

I was confused about that. Was she being sarcastic? His monkey was amazing though a bit over the top given the challenge.

I felt bad for Madison as she mostly got "chopped" because of using the cinnamon which is the normal flavor of monkey bread. Though, I suppose she didn't do the challenge right. I think it should have been the one with the under cooked one. Paige, I think?

Edited February 21, 2019 by blueray

[Destiny74]

I don't know why Madison didn't chop up a mango and put it in her monkey bread. I know she doesn't like the flavor, and that's fine, but she also knew the judges NEEDED to taste the mango. She didn't have to eat the monkey bread, just bake it. But using unsweetened chocolate was unforgivable. Sorry.  I learned early in life that ALL unsweet chocolate needs some help (when I swiped a piece from my mom, she let me eat it, I was IMMEDIATELY sorry I ever did that.  ðŸ˜†

Paige has got to leave her oven alone.  It's starting to grate on my nerves.  I have no idea how many times she actually checked her bread but the AMOUNT of time she left the oven open killed me. She just let all the heat out of the oven!  Has no one ever explained this to her at home?  If you want to really check something, take it out, close the oven door and you can take a bit more time without letting all the heat escape.

I loved Davis's monkey.  Valerie has issues.  I would bet dollars to donuts that she couldn't create a better monkey with pencil and paper, not to mention Davis's was in chocolate.

Edited February 22, 2019 by Destiny74

[Shenanigan]

Quote

Confirmed - 1 stick of butter.  My recipe also calls for 3 cans of biscuits - 10 in each can.  My recipe is also ancient so the cans of biscuits these day may be bigger than they used to be so you may be able to use fewer cans.  You just need enough quartered pieces to almost fill a bundt pan.

Great, thank you!

[goldenpuppy]

Madison was cute and funny at first , but she bordered in a bit obnoxious and annoying after a while .

It seemed like she just didn’t care to try because she didn’t like Mango . 

I didnt think that Valerie was rude to Madison, especially since Madison was very snarky and sarcastic herself . She  must get a lot of laughs for her sarcasm, but she can get annoying. 

I think the criticism of Davis’s monkey was a bit much . His work still looked good .

I like Valerie and Duff . I think they are Both nice and perfect for a show with kids .

[BigBingerBro]

The only monkey bread I've ever enjoyed was the first time I had it.  After that, it just felt like I was eating lumps of dough, sugar. butter and cinnamon, which is great but pretty gross if you overdo it.

I too was growing tired of Madison, so I wasn't upset she had to go.  A little of that deadpan, sarcastic attitude goes a long way.

Maybe Paige has some eyesight issues.  I can't understand why she has to pull the bake all the way out of the over to check if it's done, when it clearly LOOKS like it's NOT done.  I also was wondering if her oven might be malfunctioning.

Nyah can go next.  I know she's a kid, but her constant baby-talk is getting annoying.  She's been pretty lucky so far.

Jaxsun (sp?) was kind of "meh" this week.

I thought that for sure Meadow was way overdoing it with the coconut flavors in her sauce, but apparently it worked out.  I'm not a massive coconut fan, so I have no idea.

Poor Davis, he really is well above and beyond the others in terms of time management and skills, his too-thick sauce (caramel!?) was way better than Nyah's mango juice.  

I've never been a fan of "dessert imposters" as nothing ever looks appetizing.  It should be interesting however!

[NJKBCFan]

Season 5 marathon on all day today!

[ExplainItAgain]

I just started watching this after I caught a random episode. I wonder why, being kids and still learning a lot about baking, the kids don't taste along with the judges? Wouldn't it help them identify when things are under/over baked, lacking flavor/texture, etc? I know they can taste as they go but with some things, like the cheesecakes, there's just no way of knowing. Obviously in some cases they couldn't (like with the vegetarian in the bacon challenge or Paige's allergy to almonds) but it just seems like the kids could taste along and really understand what Duff and Valerie are critiquing?

Paige is adorable, but hopefully she'll calm down as she gets older. I could totally see Meadow being a baker if she continues. Poor Davis is wound so tight, I hope he puts that pressure on himself and it's not coming from his parents. He obviously has a lot more in his baking arsenal than the others. He seems quite studious.

[springbarb]

I liked Madison and was sad to see her go, though it was certainly a bad week for her. She managed to do chocolate and peanut butter OK a few weeks ago, even though that isn't what she wanted. It didn't seem like she was trying this week.

Davis's monkey looked really good on the table when he made it, but standing up, it looked...not great. I think part of it is that proportionally (compared to the "volcano") it was huge. And the head looked weird. He's the one to beat, even if he's my least favorite.

[BusyOctober]

I haven’t been watching every week, but I just don’t like any of these kids. None of them stand out like some of the kids from previous seasons.  I find the last ones standing super annoying...especially Nyah.  God help me, but I think I kinda hate a little kid.  Her voice, her mannerisms, her way of speaking...she talks like a kid trying to do an impression of a very young Shirley Temple.  She has that same kind of “cutesy pouty” baby voice.  I can’t explain it well either.  She just irks me, so I’m glad she’s finally off.  Enjoy the trip back home on the Good Ship Lollipop, dear.

 Paige reminds me (her looks and dramatic faces mostly) of a girl who was in my daughter’s Girl Scout troop.  Very alpha, very all-around kid who seemed like she could do everything well.  Art, athletics, academics....she was a good student and was very polite and charming to adults. I assumed she was Queen Bee and popular, but the other girls told me she was actually pretty mean and condescending when she was with other kids.  She always had to be “the BEST” at everything, and if she wasn’t, she would find a way to get a dig in about the kid or project that did better than she did.  She tattled and trash talked her perceived rivals to the principal and teachers.  Paige just gives me the same “Eddie Haskell” vibe.

Looks like Davis will be the winner, or maybe Meadow.  

[BigBingerBro]

The Taco Impostors challenge was full or drama as expected.  I missed the first ten minutes, were they assigned the way to make the taco shell or did they come up with it themselves?  Nyah's "method" did her no favors.  She certainly was aware that she did the worst job.  

I did some quick googling and was surprised to see that  Meadow is one of the youngest this season.  She's quite mature!  Davis is the oldest.  I'm sure he'll win it unless he makes a huge mistake.  

I'm predicting that Jaxson will go out next, leaving a Paige, Meadow, Davis finale.

[blueray]

4 minutes ago, BigBingerBro said:

The Taco Impostors challenge was full or drama as expected.  I missed the first ten minutes, were they assigned the way to make the taco shell or did they come up with it themselves?  Nyah's "method" did her no favors.  She certainly was aware that she did the worst job. 

They had to come up with how to make shells on their own. Which is where most of them struggled (at least the bottom 3).

It was clear going into this episode Nyah was probably going home. She definitely struggled and it was her time to go home.

[BigBingerBro]

Nyah is definitely creative as she's come up with good ideas and use of flavors and ingredients, but she's taken a lot of risks and was VERY lucky up to this point.   A few times she got more praise than she deserved.

[hookedontv]

8 hours ago, BusyOctober said:

I find the last ones standing super annoying...especially Nyah.  God help me, but I think I kinda hate a little kid.  Her voice, her mannerisms, her way of speaking...she talks like a kid trying to do an impression of a very young Shirley Temple.  She has that same kind of “cutesy pouty” baby voice.  I can’t explain it well either.  She just irks me, so I’m glad she’s finally off.  Enjoy the trip back home on the Good Ship Lollipop, dear.

Thank you for putting words to describe what I couldn’t. Nyah does have a cutesy, pouty, trying to sound like a very young Shirley Temple voice. That’s it exactly. Tap dance away, Nyah, tap dance away. 

[justjen]

What was up with Jaxson wanting to keep churro making a secret? He could have been less jerky about it and why he wasn't being helpful. I know it's a competition, but there is no way giving Nyah more details would have resulted in her making a better churro then him since she's never made one. 

[ChicksDigScars]

I know he's a kid, but, Davis? Stop with the facial expressions. You can't be that shocked (every time) when every other kid is staring right at you as Duff and Val announce the winners of each challenge. And FROSTING monkey bread? Like it isn't sweet enough. I notice that they called out Jaxon for the extra sweetness on HIS volcano, but not Davis. 

I was watching a past season's finale that they showed prior to this week's episodes, and they are really sabotaging these kids, trying to come up with new ideas. Just let them bake something good. Stop setting them up to fail, and trying to force them into using the LAST things anyone would want to eat. This isn't Chopped. 

[BigBingerBro]

The shocked and surprised facial expressions that Davis makes remind me of the annoying expressions that Youtubers make on clickbait-style videos.  I can imagine him practicing them in front of a mirror.

[40Love]

7 hours ago, hookedontv said:

Thank you for putting words to describe what I couldn’t. Nyah does have a cutesy, pouty, trying to sound like a very young Shirley Temple voice. That’s it exactly. Tap dance away, Nyah, tap dance away. 

Doubt Nyah knows who Shirley Temple is. Maybe that's just her personality, which I find adorable. I have a soft spot for Nyah because she reminds me of one of my young cousins. No affect, just who she is. I get that can be annoying to some folks. But, I think she's a cutie and a sweetheart. Those tears she had for Madison and her elimination seemed sincere to me. 

I was critical of Jaxson over his treatment of Madison a few episodes back. But, I have no issues of him these last few episodes. He seems like a talented little baker. I think this is Davis' to lose. He's a notch above of the other kids. 

[camom]

Quote

I know he's a kid, but, Davis? Stop with the facial expressions. You can't be that shocked (every time) when every other kid is staring right at you as Duff and Val announce the winners of each challenge.

He's the best baker, but those fake expressions are driving me crazy.

[MerBearHou]

I get the feeling about Davis in his polite, controlled demeanor and his fastidious appearance that he is a perfectionist and always in his own zone rather than being social. I do like the little moments I’ve noticed with Paige where she brings him out of his shell and he goofs around a little bit.  She is really good with him.  He gave Meadow a hug when she won which I haven’t seen Davis initiate all season.  Also his immediate sad expression when Nyah was eliminated and him rushing over to her and hug her really warmed my heart because it seems like that this show has helped Davis relate to other kids, inch by inch, bit by bit.  I do hope he wins it all, though I love Meadow.  

[trudysmom]

I was intrigued by Davis' goat cheese tart from that past episode so I instagram stalked him, and man he is an amazing artist. Sketch, paint, baking, he really has a talent.  

I don't want to think bad things about the kids, they're just kids, but I do wonder about the personalities that we don't see.  One of the past season's winners, Linsey, has a ton of behind the scenes pictures of the kids from her season and how they hung out , played games.  Several of them got together to do demos at events.  I get the impression that when they say they hate to leave because they've made friends there, it's really sincere.  

As I mentioned before Nyah talks so fast her voice got to me but I did admire that even when she was struggling, nothing was working for her, she kept trying to get something on the plate.  I was practically yelling at the tv for her to turn her 'shells' over on the upper part of the taco stand thingy, it might have worked.  I agree with everyone who says they should stop with the insane timed challenges, crazy ingredients, twists just to make things harder.

[augmentedfourth]

I agree that it's Davis's to lose at this point. (Honestly, it's been that way all season.) I thought Jaxon might be a dark horse and could swoop in at the end, especially after Madison left, but he really whiffed this week. Generally, I think Jaxon has great baking skills, but sometimes lacks in creativity, whereas Meadow has had great ideas, but sometimes just doesn't have what it takes for the execution. I don't dislike Paige, but I think she's gotten lucky a number of times - the weeks where she really didn't do well, she benefited from someone else doing noticeably worse.

[ExplainItAgain]

I agree 100% @augmentedfourth. Jaxson and Meadow together would make a great baker! I think Paige is a little too all over the place to win so I'm imagining a Davis win too.

Edited February 28, 2019 by ExplainItAgain

[NJKBCFan]

Wasn’t able to watch this week’s episode until tonight. While I appreciate that Davis had the best taco shell and creatively attempted the most things, honestly I didn’t think his was the best “imposter”. For me, Meadow had the most successful imposter, followed by Paige. Jaxon and Nyah both definitely struggled the most, and while I agree with Nyah’s elimination, I wouldn’t have been surprised if it was Jaxon who was sent home.

As far as the challenge overall, this was a pretty good one, although this is supposed to be a baking championship, not a deep-fry championship. 

[HyeChaps]

I am surprised that Meadow was the only one who dyed coconut green for lettuce. 

[theatremouse]

I thought Paige did the same?

[NJKBCFan]

So far, Davis does seem like he's head and shoulders ahead of the other kids in terms of his creativity and thinking, but it also seems like he hasn't had a week where everything really came together (other than maybe the tart challenge). So I don't think it's quite the slam-dunk for him to win. Like we've seen in previous seasons, semi-finals have had some front-runners stumble and get eliminated. That said, it sounds like with the nature of next week's challenge being so focused on decorating, it does seem likely he gets through to the finals.

[NJKBCFan]

One comment about the Imposters challenge. It does seem like with this being the 6th season with this challenge, a lot of the ideas of how to make things (like using crumbled brownies for ground beef, shredded coconut with green food coloring for lettuce, blondies for turkey/chicken, cake pop shapes for fried items, etc) are pretty well-known now. I remember watching past seasons and feeling amazed at the creativity, but this episode felt a little too familiar.

[kj4ever]

8 minutes ago, NJKBCFan said:

So far, Davis does seem like he's head and shoulders ahead of the other kids in terms of his creativity and thinking, but it also seems like he hasn't had a week where everything really came together (other than maybe the tart challenge). So I don't think it's quite the slam-dunk for him to win. Like we've seen in previous seasons, semi-finals have had some front-runners stumble and get eliminated. That said, it sounds like with the nature of next week's challenge being so focused on decorating, it does seem likely he gets through to the finals.

The only reason I think it's a slam dunk for him is the winner is always the one that can decorate the best.  They always do a cake for the finale and which ever one looks the best always wins.

[NJKBCFan]

1 hour ago, kj4ever said:

The only reason I think it's a slam dunk for him is the winner is always the one that can decorate the best.  They always do a cake for the finale and which ever one looks the best always wins.

You could argue that Abby in Season 4 had a better looking cake, but Linsey won because hers tasted better.

[luvapickle]

1 hour ago, NJKBCFan said:

One comment about the Imposters challenge. It does seem like with this being the 6th season with this challenge, a lot of the ideas of how to make things (like using crumbled brownies for ground beef, shredded coconut with green food coloring for lettuce, blondies for turkey/chicken, cake pop shapes for fried items, etc) are pretty well-known now. I remember watching past seasons and feeling amazed at the creativity, but this episode felt a little too familiar.

I think for kids, & the time limit-it's a little harder to come up with something more creative. I know for me, even though I do this for a living-if I need to do something I have not done & be creative-I need the time. But I also would never be competing 🙂

[NJKBCFan]

25 minutes ago, luvapickle said:

I think for kids, & the time limit-it's a little harder to come up with something more creative. I know for me, even though I do this for a living-if I need to do something I have not done & be creative-I need the time. But I also would never be competing 🙂

I’m not saying they need to do anything different. But for example, the kids in season 2 didn’t have so many examples to get ideas from as they do in season 6 (I’m assuming all the current kids probably watched most of the prior seasons before coming to the show). And as a viewer, as soon as the kids got the taco challenge, I had a pretty good sense of how all the kids would do their imposters.

[Lunula]

On 2/26/2019 at 8:49 AM, justjen said:

What was up with Jaxson wanting to keep churro making a secret? He could have been less jerky about it and why he wasn't being helpful. I know it's a competition, but there is no way giving Nyah more details would have resulted in her making a better churro then him since she's never made one. 

I must say, and I know they are children, but this is the second time I can recall being really unimpressed with Jaxson's attitude. The first time was the duo challenge when he literally forced Madison into doing the stuff he didn't want to do and when she tried to assert herself, he refused to listen and did exactly what he wanted. That's when I turned on him. It felt entitled, petulant and bullying. No surprise that he wants to also be a jerk about helping the other bakers. 

[snarkylady]

On March 1, 2019 at 10:08 AM, Lunula said:

I must say, and I know they are children, but this is the second time I can recall being really unimpressed with Jaxson's attitude. The first time was the duo challenge when he literally forced Madison into doing the stuff he didn't want to do and when she tried to assert herself, he refused to listen and did exactly what he wanted. That's when I turned on him. It felt entitled, petulant and bullying. No surprise that he wants to also be a jerk about helping the other bakers. 

I completely agree.  Jaxson is not getting a good edit, hopefully they are being fair to him, but we can only evaluate based on what we are shown.  I've been hoping that his parents will give him some guidance.

I would only be surprised to see Davis go home this week but of the rest I'm sort of expecting Jaxson to go.