Kids Baking Championship - General Discussion

[theatremouse]

I was worried Alex was a goner for a minute there since he seemed genuinely surprised by some of the criticisms he got. I mean, he took them very well, but he seemed kinda "oh I hadn't realized that, I see your point" in his reactions.

It was odd to me Aditya tasted his steeped milk with lavender, knew enough to know it wasn't lavendery enough, but instead of putting more in that or steeping it more....he chucked a half ton of it into the batter. Just, way to overcorrect, dude. And he knew from last week that if he used too much it'd be soapy. So he just threw caution to the wind. The edit sort of made it obvious he lost though. In his TH before the judging he said something...I can't remember the exact phrasing he used but something to the effect of he wasn't proud of it but hey at least it was finished and too late to try to fix it. It sort of screamed something you'd say after you knew you'd lost. Not an un-self-aware statement, but telegraphed the loss.

[40Love]

2 hours ago, mlp said:

From this point on, I'm going to be sad for every one of them as they get sent home.  All the kids left are cute and delightful in their own ways - and I'm not even a big fan of little kids.  Alex cracks me up.  He talks like an adult with a child's voice.  He seems to be foundering a bit though.  I hope Linsey makes it to the end.  She's just darling.

Alex is one of my favorites. I think he probably spends a lot of time with adults... who never really talked to him like a kid.. I say that because he doesn't come off as precocious. It's just his personality and it seems genuine. 

 

I do feel bad for the kids when they start to cry. Just want to give them a big hug! I glad Valerie goes over to comfort them and motivate them not to give up. 

[TomGirl]

Alex, with his wide-eyed look, reminds me of a young Fred Savage on The Wonder Years.

[jcbrown]

Linsey is my fave, followed by Brynn, followed by Alex.  I think Luke is the next out. Aditya was absolutely the right choice to go home, He has been over the whole thing and coasting (while actively ignoring aspects of the challenges) for several weeks.

[kj4ever]

11 hours ago, jcbrown said:

Linsey is my fave, followed by Brynn, followed by Alex.  I think Luke is the next out. Aditya was absolutely the right choice to go home, He has been over the whole thing and coasting (while actively ignoring aspects of the challenges) for several weeks.

I'm thinking Luke too, and I'm glad.  Not because I don't like the kid, but because he gets this look on his face like he's fighting back tears every once in awhile and it's heartbreaking.  

This is a weird season.  With the exception of the girl with the Little Dutch Boy haircut there really haven't been any kids that I want to throw some shade.

Edited February 7, 2018 by kj4ever

[NJKBCFan]

I was surprised by Abby this most recent episode. Until now, I’ve viewed her as the front runner with a couple of wins and generally coming across as the most experienced baker on the show. But in this episode, she seemed like she was at a complete loss for ideas, and her cake ended up looking pretty ordinary. Wasn’t sure about Linsey before, but she stepped up pretty big and seems a lot more relaxed than in earlier episodes. Bryn looks strong, Julia and Luke are solid. Alex is a rollercoaster, so he could do great or he could be the next to go.

[NJKBCFan]

All the bakers from the show have an Instagram account that is pretty fun to follow:  https://www.instagram.com/_kids_baking_championship/

You can find most of the individual bakers' accounts from there, too; click on "Following" on that account to see them.

Edited February 10, 2018 by NJKBCFan

[TomGirl]

These kids are so stinkin’ cute!  I like all of them, but Bryn cracks me up the most with those facial expressions.  Did you notice the music they played when she came out for the judging?  I think it’s from some old 1950s TV show.

[MerBearHou]

3 minutes ago, TomGirl said:

These kids are so stinkin’ cute!  I like all of them, but Bryn cracks me up the most with those facial expressions.  Did you notice the music they played when she came out for the judging?  I think it’s from some old 1950s TV show.

Bryn is my favorite.  She’s just a hoot without trying to be.  Great kids and I’m amazed at their baking skills, even when they don’t ace the challenge.  

[magdalene]

I still think Abby has a decent chance of winning this.

[docmatt]

These kids as a group seem a lot more competent and less affected than previous seasons. That makes this season so much more enjoyable.

And I think Duff and Valerie are probably one of the best judging panels FN has.

That almost gets me past my discomfort about pushing kids in the spotlight in general.

[tobeannounced]

I too really like this group of kids, but for what is usually one of the most fun challenges, this was kind of a snooze for me. Except for Bryn, everyone had sandwiches or wraps. I wish they would have mixed it up more.

[justjen]

I still really like Linsey as the winner. All the kids just seem so much more mature than they have in previous seasons (except Beverly, but to be fair she is pretty young). They should call this Older Preteen Baking Championship.

I also really like Duff's unicorn tattoo - I'm super into unicorns and a couple of weeks ago I even said if I was to get a unicorn tattoo it would be a fat lazy looking one. I really liked the placement, right above his waffle tattoo from last season.

As for the actual challenge, Luke was dead in the water from the start. It's hard to make a tuna fish imposter look appetizing, there are other things kids bring to lunch. Like Lunchables or grilled cheese or anything else that could possibly look appetizing. Unrelatedly related, I can't stand the Canadian kid at all. I wanted to, but now I'm over that.

[NJKBCFan]

Luke definitely got a raw deal with the tuna salad. Alex has dodged too many bullets not to be going home. I thought Linsey and Bryn were the top 2 in this challenge. Abby's looked good and tasted good, but her jam was technically not an "imposter". Someone in season 2 got nachos and was making tortilla chips when Duff told her "those aren't imposters" and tripped her up. Julia staying solid. I'm all in for Linsey as much for her commentary as for her baking.

[Rammchick]

Maybe I'm in the minority but Alex is my favorite.  He's so serious and mature.  He reminds me of myself at that age.  I hope he has a better day next week.

[Aquarius]

Alex isn't my favorite but I do like how serious and mature he is.  He reminds me of my nephew.  The only thing that has rubbed me the wrong way about him was the whole "Oh, I LIKE my bread cut too thick to eat" shtick.  I know he's a kid but I just hate when anyone passes off mistakes as something they meant to do.  PeeWee Herman aside.

Makes me feel sorry for Alex and Bryn what lunch food must look like in their homes.  Bryn did not seem to really understand that both her chicken nuggets and fries looked practically raw, and that must be some weird-ass DayGlo pressed lunchmeat that Alex has been getting on the 'ham' and cheese sandwiches he eats for lunch all the time.

I don't have HD television, and Duff's tattoo looked more like a porcupine to me than a unicorn.  It was cute how fat and lazy it was though.  He even remembered that its name was Fred.  :-)  This show has made even my previously Duff-hating husband admit that "he does seem nice with the kids."

Luke was the right choice to go, even though I liked him.  He did get a bum choice (just the thought of putting my mouth on a sweet tuna salad imposter makes me ill, and I love tuna salad).  I thought it was hysterical that both his side dish imposters were not imposters, though.  "For my imposter side dish, I'm going to make applesauce made of applesauce."  When that turned out to look like barf (who woulda thunk?), he made the genius decision to make granola . . . made of granola.  I can't remember the other challenge where he did not like what he drew, but it seems like that really threw him when he draws a bad choice. 

[backgroundnoise]

I was trying to figure out how to make the imposter tuna salad, and the only thing I could think of was to color the flaked coconut pink and mix with creamcheese/frosting?

PBJ was not a good thing to include in the group.  It's practically dessert itself.  How can you make a fake jam without it being jam? 

I like the impostor challenge, so this was fun.  I'm at the point of not wanting to see any of the kids leave.

[mlp]

Luke was the right choice for dismissal although I can't think of anything that would resemble tuna salad myself.  The mayonnaise would be easy but canned tuna?  

I thought the criticism of Alex for not having dressing on his salad was a bit unfair.  If he'd put anything liquidy on it, he would have had a goopy mess and they would have criticized that.  The only thing I can think of that might have worked would have been to spray it with oil to give it a sheen - but then it wouldn't have tasted good.  I thought his salad looked fine as it was.  I really like Alex so I wish he was doing better.

[needschocolate]

18 hours ago, MerBearHou said:

Bryn is my favorite.  She’s just a hoot without trying to be.  Great kids and I’m amazed at their baking skills, even when they don’t ace the challenge.  

I think the twists prevent the possibility of anyone acing the challenge.  It is bad enough that they made them incorporate juice into the dish, and insisting that they had to be able to taste the juice, but they told them about this twist after most of them had already baked whatever they were baking.  

 

I think the kids are great.  I think Duff and Valerie make great judges.  If they would jsut stop throwing in twists, this show might be perfect.

[stormy]

I still think Bryn's chicken nuggets were amazing.

I'm not so sure that Duff hasn't had the unicorn tattoo long before he revealed it last night.

[The Bullpen]

9 hours ago, mlp said:

I thought the criticism of Alex for not having dressing on his salad was a bit unfair.  If he'd put anything liquidy on it, he would have had a goopy mess and they would have criticized that.  The only thing I can think of that might have worked would have been to spray it with oil to give it a sheen - but then it wouldn't have tasted good.  I thought his salad looked fine as it was.  I really like Alex so I wish he was doing better.

He could have made an imposter Caesar salad dressing and put it in a container on the side.  No need to put it directly on the imposter salad!

[mlp]

Good point ^^^^^.  I didn't think of that.  Apparently, Alex didn't either.

[theatremouse]

On 2/13/2018 at 11:10 AM, mlp said:

I thought the criticism of Alex for not having dressing on his salad was a bit unfair.  If he'd put anything liquidy on it, he would have had a goopy mess and they would have criticized that.  The only thing I can think of that might have worked would have been to spray it with oil to give it a sheen - but then it wouldn't have tasted good.  

I thought their complaint was that it did look fabulous, but it tasted meh because it was pretty much just dried coconut and nothing else and that's not really interesting to eat.

I also thought it was silly that they had to plate two sides, but only one of the two actually needed to be an impostor. What's the point of an impostor challenge where you're allowed to plate a thing that isn't an impostor? Actual carrot sticks and celery, I am looking at you. If they only had to make one side thingy, they should've only had to plate one side thingy.

[Mrs. P.]

So who do we think is eliminated tonight? Little Canadian Alex? That would leave the 4 girls who have proven to be strong bakers. Of those 4, I have no idea who will win.

[mlp]

Quote

So who do we think is eliminated tonight? Little Canadian Alex?

I think that's probably a good bet based on recent concoctions but I hope not because he's one of my favorites.  I like all the kids who are left so I'm going to hate to see any one of them leave.

[LeighLeigh]

Hello, I am the Canadian who previously wrote about spoilers. Now, I look forward to them. There weren't any here, so off to Wiki I went. To my shock, (spoiler alert) I read that Julia went home. Sad to see her go.

I love all of the kids, but I think that the big winner will be either Linsey or Abby. What do you think?

[MerBearHou]

14 minutes ago, LeighLeigh said:

Hello, I am the Canadian who previously wrote about spoilers. Now, I look forward to them. There weren't any here, so off to Wiki I went. To my shock, (spoiler alert) I read that Julia went home. Sad to see her go.

I love all of the kids, but I think that the big winner will be either Linsey or Abby. What do you think?

I think it’s between Bryn and Linsey to win.  I think Abby should have gone home tonight but it was probably a toss-up with Julia.  Alex is a dear and has a great little grown-up personality, but I don’t think he’s the strongest baker left.

[stormy]

I wasn't suprised that Julie went home.  She had a few mess ups before last night.

Although Abby's cake pops weren't well executed and her sun fell apart, this was the first actual failure for her.

[NJKBCFan]

Linsey is the only one who has not been in the bottom, and Abby has won the most challenges, so I would have to say they are the two front runners.  Bryn is definitely a really strong baker so I would be shocked if she isn’t in the finals too. 

[docmatt]

None of these kids are without skills, none of them are obnoxious so I'm actually Ok with any result next week. I do think that Alex gets a demographics pass to the final but Linsey wins overall. She seems to have the highest ceiling and the fewest fails.

[justjen]

The Sun. Alex was (surprisingly) creative, but I'm having a hard time figuring out how to make an edible sun without using fondant and the other thing they weren't allowed to use AND not making rice crispy treats like the other girls. In fact, I am spending an awful lot of time thinking about this when I have actual work I could be doing. A Google search led me to learn that edible sunscreen exists...sorry getting off topic.

[NJKBCFan]

32 minutes ago, justjen said:

The Sun. Alex was (surprisingly) creative, but I'm having a hard time figuring out how to make an edible sun without using fondant and the other thing they weren't allowed to use AND not making rice crispy treats like the other girls. In fact, I am spending an awful lot of time thinking about this when I have actual work I could be doing. A Google search led me to learn that edible sunscreen exists...sorry getting off topic.

The sun didn't have to be spherical, did it? Could have done a 2D sun?

[theatremouse]

Yeah, I was half expecting someone to do poured sugar when they said no fondant/gumpaste. Although, really,  if coating chocolate/modeling chocolate are allowed...that's just as easy an out as fondant/gumpaste. I think they also didn't say it had to be a different food substance than the main bake? So, for example, I bet Julia could've done one "sun" cream puff to go along with her other "galactic" cream puffs. She still wouldn't have finished...and in other challenges I'd expect reusing one's existing dough to be kind of a cop out, but in this one with the nature of the twist, it'd probably have actually been more interesting to eat than what everyone else were doing.

[CrazyDog]

I loved Linsey's beautiful cookies, and the cake Alex made was very pretty - loved their enthusiasm for this challenge! I'll be sad to see anyone not make it into the finals, (I think Alex is adorable) but I think it's kind of between Bryn and Linsey. I don't remember who's won what, but they just seem to get the most praise in general. I've really enjoyed this season. 

[NJKBCFan]

15 hours ago, theatremouse said:

Yeah, I was half expecting someone to do poured sugar when they said no fondant/gumpaste. Although, really,  if coating chocolate/modeling chocolate are allowed...that's just as easy an out as fondant/gumpaste. I think they also didn't say it had to be a different food substance than the main bake? So, for example, I bet Julia could've done one "sun" cream puff to go along with her other "galactic" cream puffs. She still wouldn't have finished...and in other challenges I'd expect reusing one's existing dough to be kind of a cop out, but in this one with the nature of the twist, it'd probably have actually been more interesting to eat than what everyone else were doing.

Alex made his sun with leftover cake batter.

[Destiny74]

I like the kids this season.  And I think they are talented cake bakers.  I was suprisingly glad Alex retried his tie dye cake and improved. I am also glad he used his leftover cake to make the sun because it was different from everyone else's.

I felt bad for Julia.  I thought she'd go to the end, she really did well at the beginning of the season. She also did something different with the cream puffs.  I was thrilled to watch these kids make something besides cake and cookies.  And, she's a sweet girl.  I hope she gets her giant, pink stuffed cat soon.  

[backgroundnoise]

I think Abbey got by based on past performances, because head-to-head with only last night's entries, I think she should have been out.  Those cake pops did not look good on the inside and sounded like they tasted like dough.  I wonder if she would have had time to make a bigger cake pop for the sun, had she known about it earlier. 

I've resigned myself to the fact that this season is basically a dessert decorating contest rather than testing different baking skills, and I enjoyed it last night mainly because the kids were so excited about it.  Linsey's cookies looked professional grade. Wow!

[grisgris]

Linsey's cookies were gorgeous!  It's so hard to root for just one of the contestants. I'm thinking it will come down to Linsey vs. Brynn.

[GeorgiaRai]

I've liked this season much more than any recent ones, but like many, wish they'd get rid of the "twists" - or at least make them less...stupid?!  I'm fine with adding a decoration or a side item, but (1) give them additional time, and (2) never make them add something to an item they've already mixed or baked.  

I'm hoping for a Bryn/Linsey final two.  Abby is competent but my impression has come to be that she copies/asks others for ideas a little too often.  Note I said "my impression" because I haven't bothered to review and confirm if my recollections are correct.  I mean, I care - but not that much.

[Destiny74]

5 hours ago, GeorgiaRai said:

I've liked this season much more than any recent ones, but like many, wish they'd get rid of the "twists" - or at least make them less...stupid?!  I'm fine with adding a decoration or a side item, but (1) give them additional time, and (2) never make them add something to an item they've already mixed or baked.  

I'm hoping for a Bryn/Linsey final two.  Abby is competent but my impression has come to be that she copies/asks others for ideas a little too often.  Note I said "my impression" because I haven't bothered to review and confirm if my recollections are correct.  I mean, I care - but not that much.

That's the thing that always annoys me with the twists on all these type shows.  They give the twists after the baked item is in the oven, for most bakers.  Usually, the twists would work well incorporated into the dish but it is usually to late to do so.

[mme ginger]

Agreed on bing annoyed ny the twists. I was a little annoyed when Valerie was giving Alex props for being the only one who didn’t make a “rice cereal” sun. In my head, the girls were secretly rebelling, saying under their collective breath, “Screw you, I’m going to do the easiest thing for these stupid late twists you insist on!”

[NJKBCFan]

14 hours ago, mme ginger said:

Agreed on bing annoyed ny the twists. I was a little annoyed when Valerie was giving Alex props for being the only one who didn’t make a “rice cereal” sun. In my head, the girls were secretly rebelling, saying under their collective breath, “Screw you, I’m going to do the easiest thing for these stupid late twists you insist on!”

That said, Linsey and Bryn’s  suns were absolutely gorgeous!

[Mrs. P.]

This elimination surprised me.  I really thought Bryn would make it to the finals and might actually win the whole thing. Too many small mistakes, I guess. My heart broke for her during the final judging as she tried not to cry.

[MerBearHou]

Darn it.  Bryn was my girl.  I really felt like Abby should have gone home tonight — I actually thought she should have been cut last week over Julia.  It feels mean to say this, but I’m not an Abby fan.  Can’t even explain why.  I can’t predict who will win — Linsey or Alex.  Alex cracked me up with his virgin pina colada talk.  He said what we’ve all been saying — he’s an adult in a kid’s body.  He’s a hoot.

Edited February 27, 2018 by MerBearHou

[magdalene]

I didn't agree with the judging tonight, I thought Abby should have gone home, not Bryn.  And last week Abby was borderline and should probably have gone home then. If she manages to win this next week I won't feel good about it even though I thought she had winning potential for quite a while.

This is starting to smell like the teachers pet being advanced at all cost. I will also say I felt that there were some weeks earlier where Alex was being advanced more on personality than his actual baking.  But he has really improved lately while Abby's bakes have gone down in skill and quality.

I am now rooting for Lindsey to win. Those cookies of hers last week were stunning.

[stormy]

I wasn't suprised that Bryn got eliminated because she and Abby didn't do a good job on their sand castles.  Bryn's mistake was that Duff and Val said they couldn't taste the pineapple.

If not for that, it was a toss up and a hard call.

[NJKBCFan]

First and foremost, I thought the challenge in this episode was stupid. This is a baking championship, and rice cereal castles have nothing to do with baking. So from that perspective, I thought Bryn got robbed getting eliminated on a challenge that had nothing to do with baking. But ok, accepting the nature of the challenge, I agreed with the decision mostly because Bryn's was just too simple. Abby did something different with her castle by using fruit cereal, and her only mistake was not re-greasing her pan after throwing out the peach cobbler. Bryn  didn't do anything unique with her rice cereal treat, and her cookie needed something to make them memorable.

I'm rooting for Linsey to win it all.

[justjen]

After catching some of the pre-marathon before the new episode aired (the last few episodes of Season 2), I realize how much more enjoyable it is to watch with slightly older kids (12-13). A Teen Baking Championship would be great...or even Middle School Baking Championship. Linsey is...rad (I can't think of a better word, she's awesome). Abby annoys me for zero reasons, maybe it's the ponytail? I have started ignoring the actual baking portion talking heads because listening to them explain what they're doing is tedious and boring. Maybe that's my fault, though, for watching too making Food Network competition shows all at once?

[GeorgiaRai]

^ Yes, it's the pony tail!  And the way she walks to purposely make it swing wildly from side to side.  lol

Sad to see Bryn go, but I get it - her simpler cookies should've left more time to make a decent castle.  The whole castle part of the challenge was a waste, and, of course, we get another twist (a/k/a sabotage) after the kids had decided on their ideas/recipes.  Side-eye at the judges saying "oh, that's so risky to start over at this point"...

Hoping Linsey pulls off the win - I like both her skills and her personality.

[backgroundnoise]

I wish they could have had more time, another hour or so.  I'd much rather see more accomplished results than stuff falling over.  It was a tossup for me between Abbey and Brin, but I think Abbey's upside down cupcakes edged ahead in originality.  Maybe Brin could have cut out her cookies to make them look more like starfish and not just stars?

Although I've enjoyed this season, I think this show has lost its way.  Cereal treats are not baked goods.