Kids Baking Championship - General Discussion

[kj4ever]

1 hour ago, Destiny74 said:

This.  Totally.

i think they should have told that kid that he almost won but because he didn’t take the twist seriuosly, he came in second.

linsey made good bars and had a nice presentation with yellow chocolate lemons.  She should’ve won.

I was shocked when they announced that he won.  

I'm usually pretty good at picking who is going home, but this one really was a crap shoot depending on which offense the judges found the worst.  The bottom three really crapped the bed on this one.

[backgroundnoise]

At least they put a moratorium on lemon desserts.  This was a good way to do that.

The girl who made the white chocolate decoration for each bar should have won.  It was really dumb to give it to the kid who blew off the twist.  I'm sure everyone now understands how unimportant the twist is.  Just get rid of it, alright?

Edited January 18, 2018 by backgroundnoise

[mme ginger]

On 1/17/2018 at 1:25 PM, kj4ever said:

I was shocked when they announced that he won.  

I'm usually pretty good at picking who is going home, but this one really was a crap shoot depending on which offense the judges found the worst.  The bottom three really crapped the bed on this one.

I was especially annoyed because this is the second week in a row that this kid had NO idea how to satisfy the twist requirement and did the lamest, least thing he could... This week he throws a piece of lemon on the bars - last week he asked one of the girls what she was doing and just copied her! I wish he’d stop getting rewarded for this!

Re Duff saying boys have gone home 3 weeks in a row - haven’t only boys won the whole season previously?

[Jaded]

9 hours ago, mme ginger said:

I was especially annoyed because this is the second week in a row that this kid had NO idea how to satisfy the twist requirement and did the lamest, least thing he could... This week he throws a piece of lemon on the bars - last week he asked one of the girls what she was doing and just copied her! I wish he’d stop getting rewarded for this!

Re Duff saying boys have gone home 3 weeks in a row - haven’t only boys won the whole season previously?

Season 1 Winner: Hollis (Age 13 when she won)

Spoiler

Season 2 Winner: Rebecca (Age: 13 when she won)

Spoiler

Aidan (Age: 12 when he won)

Spoiler

Edited January 22, 2018 by Jaded

[jcbrown]

23 hours ago, mme ginger said:

I was especially annoyed because this is the second week in a row that this kid had NO idea how to satisfy the twist requirement and did the lamest, least thing he could... This week he throws a piece of lemon on the bars - last week he asked one of the girls what she was doing and just copied her! I wish he’d stop getting rewarded for this!

I totally agree. It was clear that he thought the challenge was lame and decided he did not want to do it and the judges did not seem to care. If it's optional for him, maybe all the contestants should agree just not to do the challenges. Be consistent, show.

Edited January 22, 2018 by jcbrown

[Mrs. P.]

So glad that Beverly is gone. She was beyond annoying.

I was worried about the cute little Canadian boy.  I really like him.

[Jillybean]

Wow, Soleil really lucked out. Her cake was a hot mess but Beverly was given the boot because of her non ice cream? May I remind the judges that this is a BAKING championship?

[penbrat]

I thought Beverly actually showed good sportsmanship and a pretty mature attitude for a 10 year old when she was booted.   I don't think any of these kids have shown that they are amazing bakers so far, but then again these challenges have been LAME this season.   However, I still like Duff and Val and none of the kids totally annoy me like several did from last season, so I am mildly enjoying this season so far.

[backgroundnoise]

I suppose a dry cake would be worse than an ugly one, since it is about the bake, but Soleil's cake looked like someone dumped a pail of dirty water on it.  If that was sitting on a dessert table, I doubt anyone would touch it.  I think she should have gone for that 1/2 inch of pink sugar she threw on top.

Valerie and Duff do seem to be more critical this season, which is GOOD.  I like how they try to make suggestions about what would improve their bake.  They aren't condescending.  I like them judging kids.

Only one kid was considered good enough to be in the top?  Cake is about as basic as you can get.  I wish they had given them more time so the final results would have at least looked better.  And, kid whose name I can't remember, blue icing with green drips on a peanut butter cake--what were you thinking?

I do like the kids this season.  They don't seem to be playing for the cameras as much as last time.

Edited January 23, 2018 by backgroundnoise

[Madtown]

I love everything pistachio and would've eaten Abby's entire cake! So glad she was top baker. I might be a bit biased too, being a Wisconsinite and all. :)

[mlp]

Beverly was my least favorite kid of this lot but I agree with Jillybean.  Soleil's cake was a total failure and that was the baking element.  I don't think the ice cream should have outweighed a baking failure either.

I like all the kids who are left but my favorites are Alex and the darling girl of Asian descent whose name I can't recall at the moment.

[penbrat]

I have never heard of a "drip" cake.  Granted, I am not a baker so maybe it is a thing and I just don't get it.  

Edited January 23, 2018 by penbrat

[Destiny74]

1 hour ago, mlp said:

Beverly was my least favorite kid of this lot but I agree with Jillybean.  Soleil's cake was a total failure and that was the baking element.  I don't think the ice cream should have outweighed a baking failure either.

I like all the kids who are left but my favorites are Alex and the darling girl of Asian descent whose name I can't recall at the moment.

They keep saving Soleil.  She had a hot mess pizza too.  

[KAOS Agent]

Beverly didn't complete the challenge last week either. She didn't even make bars and still got a pass, so I could see them shipping her home this week to give someone else a second chance.

[NJKBCFan]

2 hours ago, mlp said:

I like all the kids who are left but my favorites are Alex and the darling girl of Asian descent whose name I can't recall at the moment.

Linsey

[camom]

The thing that bothers me about this show (and the other like it) is the time limit.  These kids have to decide what to make, make it from scratch, decorate it, make it look good on the plate, and -- oh yeah -- there's the twist thrown in.  I've been baking for years, but I'd never try to bake and decorate a cake that has to be served in 2 hours.  Cakes need time to cool completely before they're iced.  It's no wonder there are so many underbaked and badly decorated creations.

[Destiny74]

Ok.  So.  Aditya, last week, phones in his lemon twist and just puts a slice of lemon as decoration and he wins the week.  However, this week, Beverly tries to make ice cream and it doesn't set and she gets the boot?  Seems like both of them messed up on the twist and one won and the other, adios.  Doesn't seem right.

BTW, why didn't Beverly's ice cream set?  I don't think we're told.  I assume she got it from the churner and put it in the deep freeze?  I'd like to know what went wrong.

Not that I lovvvvvvved Beverly or thought she had a snowballs chance, but I still think Soleil should've gotten the boot, if only for trying to hide her monstrosity under a foot of pink sugar.

Then again, I bake at home and would never go on a baking show because the stuff I make LOOKS VERY HOMEMADE (if ya know what I mean).

 

Oh. And I agree with Camom regarding the time limit.  Cakes that need to be frosted need to be cooled.  I get that adults can figure out a way around but I don't know if it's fair to ask kids to.

Edited January 24, 2018 by Destiny74

[dewelar]

4 hours ago, Destiny74 said:

They keep saving Soleil.  She had a hot mess pizza too.

Very true. When Gareth went home instead of her, my first thought was (some would say to my detriment) that they only kept hrt because they didn't want to have to live with the outcry from sending home the two African-American kids in the first two weeks.

I will miss Beverly, as she reminds me a lot of myself when I was ten, right up to orange being her favorite color. The constant "hashtag-[x]" thing did get on my nerves, though -- although not as much as Pink Julia.

Obviously Aditya and Abby are the ones to beat, since they've traded wins in the first four weeks, although I think Canadian Alex is the dark horse candidate. He obviously knows his stuff, he just needs to find his groove. I also like Linsey a lot and think she'll be in the final four with the three listed above. Bryn might just be too cute for words, but like Soleil looks to be cannon fodder. Then there's Luke...who has taken up residence as the annual "there's a Luke on this show?"

Overall, I'm also enjoying this year's show more than previous years, and surprisingly more than this cycle's adult (Halloween/Holiday) iterations of the show.

Edited January 24, 2018 by dewelar
Minor fix

[Destiny74]

The adult shows we're really disappointing this year.

[kj4ever]

So while I don't think Beverly should have got the ax this week, she definitely should have last week so it doesn't bother me that much.  Add in that she reminds me of that annoying kid that kept saying "CHOCOLATE" from one of the past seasons and I'm glad she's off my TeeVee.

Soleil has got to be on deck for next week for sure.

The "Pink" girl is almost starting to delve into baby-talk land which is by far my most annoying pet peeve on these kid shows.  Peggy from whatever season being the worst.  Every time she said "I'm making i-cream!" it was like nails on a chalk board.

[NJKBCFan]

14 hours ago, dewelar said:

Obviously Aditya and Abby are the ones to beat, since they've traded wins in the first four weeks, although I think Canadian Alex is the dark horse candidate. He obviously knows his stuff, he just needs to find his groove. I also like Linsey a lot and think she'll be in the final four with the three listed above. Bryn might just be too cute for words, but like Soleil looks to be cannon fodder. Then there's Luke...who has taken up residence as the annual "there's a Luke on this show?"

Overall, I'm also enjoying this year's show more than previous years, and surprisingly more than this cycle's adult (Halloween/Holiday) iterations of the show.

For me, Abby and Bryn seem like they are the most experienced bakers just based on how they talk about what they are doing. Both are clearly the best decorators as well. Agree that Alex also knows his stuff, just needs to find his groove. Aditya also seems skilled, but he does not have much creativity and seems like he is always asking the other bakers for ideas. Linsey, despite the crying, looks resourceful. Twice her cake has broken, and twice she has managed to recover from that setback well enough to avoid the bottom 3. Julia and Luke have been quiet but steady, so that might get them far. Agree that Soleil has had a rough time and has just been lucky that someone each show happened to do worse.

The judges seem to be harsher this season than last. Is that because they decided to be harsher? Or are these kids not doing as well as prior seasons?

[mme ginger]

On 1/22/2018 at 2:00 AM, Jaded said:

Season 1 Winner: Hollis (Age 13 when she won)

  Reveal hidden contents

Season 2 Winner: Rebecca (Age: 13 when she won)

  Reveal hidden contents

Aidan (Age: 12 when he won)

  Reveal hidden contents

Thanks! I thought at least 2 but wasn’t really sure. 

[Iseut]

 My heart was breaking for Lindsay as she fought back tears while getting judged. 

Her talking heads are the best...cute and funny without being overly coached and cloying. "My finger hurts, my emotions hurt..." Awww! Poor kid. I hope she has better luck in coming weeks. 

[TomGirl]

The right choice again tonight - Soleil had to go.  My favorites are Abby and Brin.  They’re both good bakers, adorable, and have appealing personalities, confident but not cocky.

[Iseut]

Sorry, Soleil, but it was time. For a pageant kid with a "wall of trophies," I'm surprised that she wasn't more of a perfectionist in her presentation. 

I'm glad that Duff and Valerie are offering more constructive criticism on the baking itself this season, but I don't like when they pick on the additional tasks. Valerie was especially harsh on critiquing the "artwork" tonight. "I can't tell what it looks like!" Well, Val, it's an arbitrary time filler to add forced drama and talking points.  That's what it looks like. 

ETA: Omg Duff's mullet! Heeeeee heeeeeee heeee!!!

Edited January 30, 2018 by Iseut

[backgroundnoise]

If they continue to insist on having that stupid twist, they should at least allow the bakers some choice.  Have the dumb texture twist if you must, but allow the kids to at least pick the one that would work the best in whatever they have already started.  What if the kid that had the chocolate donut got stuck with potato chips?  Yuck.  So what if more than one uses the same twist ingredient?  At least let them try to incorporate complementary flavors.

I'm glad Soleil was the one eliminated, it was time. 

Brin was smart enough to realize that you couldn't just put potato chips in the batter, unlike pink girl with her pretzels. 

[NJKBCFan]

Julia and Abby ready to throw down over the color pink. Lol!

[dewelar]

37 minutes ago, NJKBCFan said:

Julia and Abby ready to throw down over the color pink. Lol!

Heh, yeah, I think this was my favorite moment of this episode. Out of all the uninspiring designs, theirs was the least uninspiring. That was a very odd element in general. Doughnuts were not the pastry for which it should have been used -- it would have been much more suited to cookies or even cupcakes. The texture twist also limited how much the icing could be used as part of the design, which meant we got a whole batch of blah. At least they introduced the twist earlier, which gave the bakers more time to rethink their plans if necessary. It's too bad they don't do that every week.

After tonight, I think I agree with you about Bryn also being a contender. Finally someone other than Aditya and Abby won a competition. One of these weeks Aditya is going to spend too much time trying to figure out what to do and flame out. My guess is it will be in the finale.

I found it very interesting that the Bryn/Soleil pairing produced both the winner and the bootee this week. Soleil really seemed to produce a lot of hot messes over the course of the show, and I think she'd already lasted longer than she should, but I also don't think either of the two kids she outlasted would have won. I foresee Luke being the next to go, and after that I think any of the remaining bakers have at least a puncher's chance at winning.

Edited January 30, 2018 by dewelar
Missed who I was responding to!

[mlp]

I didn't understand Valerie's comments that she couldn't tell what a design looked like when she was standing in front of a wall of abstract designs that didn't look like anything in particular.  I do agree that the doughnut layout wasn't attractive.

Soleil should have been eliminated a week or two ago so I wasn't sorry to see her leave.  Everything she presented was a mess.  

I'm not crazy about Luke but, overall, I like all the kids who are left.

[NJKBCFan]

Everyone remaining has been in the top 3 at least once!

[stormy]

I agree that spending any time discussing the "artwork" was waste of time.

[EyewatchTV211]

On 1/30/2018 at 2:56 PM, mlp said:

I didn't understand Valerie's comments that she couldn't tell what a design looked like when she was standing in front of a wall of abstract designs that didn't look like anything in particular.  I do agree that the doughnut layout wasn't attractive.

Soleil should have been eliminated a week or two ago so I wasn't sorry to see her leave.  Everything she presented was a mess.  

I'm not crazy about Luke but, overall, I like all the kids who are left.

Exactly. A lot of art is abstract, including the ones they showed. I didn't hear anything about it having to be concrete or realistic portrayals of something. Too bad the girls didn't think to describe it as an abstract doughnut. 

[Destiny74]

They need to change the name of this show to Kids Cake Baking Champion.  These kids are doing nothing but baking cakes (oh, and some cookies) in different shapes.  Those doughnuts were simply cake batter in a doughnut shape.  I think if they are going to have a doughnut challenge, HAVE A FREAKING DOUGHNUT CHALLENGE!!!!!  Have the kiddies work with yeast and give them time to make a real doughnut. 

Honestly, I’m kinda getting sick of the same things made every week.  Heck, throw in a pie challenge, muffin, pudding... something different.  

And I hate to admit it but, Aditya it starting to work on my nerves.  Not having any idea what flavor he wanted to make until after his  batter was made?  I just don’t think the kid is that creative.  But, his flavors, due to his background, are quite exotic and fresh to America, so he seems innovative.  And to put the cornflakes in the batter?  Flabby, nasty cornflake doughnut,  no thanks.

I felt bad that Luke got the Fruity Pebbles.  I hate Fruity Pebbles.  I would have buzzed up there faster than anyone to get anything else.  I may have knocked over others so I wouldn’t get stuck with Fruity Pebbles....  ?. Linsey, his partner, got the chocolate wafers, which would have been perfect for him and, Fruity Pebbles would’ve gone much better with the strawberry doughnut.  Just sayin.  The judges said they couldn’t share, not that they couldn’t trade.

[NJKBCFan]

11 hours ago, Destiny74 said:

They need to change the name of this show to Kids Cake Baking Champion.  These kids are doing nothing but baking cakes (oh, and some cookies) in different shapes.  Those doughnuts were simply cake batter in a doughnut shape.  I think if they are going to have a doughnut challenge, HAVE A FREAKING DOUGHNUT CHALLENGE!!!!!  Have the kiddies work with yeast and give them time to make a real doughnut. 

Honestly, I’m kinda getting sick of the same things made every week.  Heck, throw in a pie challenge, muffin, pudding... something different.  

They made dessert pizza in week 2 (many of the kids made it with pie crust, not cake) and lemon bars in week 3. 

[Destiny74]

7 hours ago, NJKBCFan said:

They made dessert pizza in week 2 (many of the kids made it with pie crust, not cake) and lemon bars in week 3. 

 I think most of them used cookie dough or shortbread dough for the pizzas and I have always considered Lemon bars a bar cookie.  Hence, my annoyance.

[LeighLeigh]

Hi, this is my first time posting in this forum. Genuine question: has there ever been discussion of putting the "spoiler" warning?

Where I live, the donut episode is on tonight, Sunday. It started 15 minutes ago. Now I know who won and who got eliminated.

[KAOS Agent]

Once the show airs for the first time in the US, nothing about the episode is considered a spoiler. The point of the forum is to discuss the episode. Food Network airs new episodes Mondays at 9/8c. If you don't see the episodes until the following Sunday, just wait until you've watched it to stop in and chat. And then make sure to avoid the forums after Monday night, so you aren't spoiled for the next one. 

[theatremouse]

That is correct. Once an episode has aired, its contents are not considered spoilers. Since this show has one topic per season, read at your own risk if you have not seen all recent episodes.

Discussion of future episodes that have not yet aired are considered spoilers and should be under spoiler tags. While the show may air on slightly different schedules in some locations, we use the primary Food Network schedule in the US in determining what "has aired" (Mondays at 9pm Eastern). 

[Rammchick]

"This challenge is so boring.  I'd rather be practicing my violin."

This explains Aditya's attitude all season.  It just wasn't exciting enough for him.  

[stormy]

Too much emphasis put on the nameplate.

[NJKBCFan]

Top 2 were definitely deserving. Absolutely beautiful decorating! Hope Duff gets that tattoo!

[absnow54]

This explains Aditya's attitude all season. It just wasn't exciting enough for him.

I have no doubt he's a talented baker, but he's half-assed his way through the entire season (I still can't believe he won the challenge where he forgot to make an edible lemon decoration and just sliced up an actual lemon) while all the other kids seem to be putting in their all.

[theatremouse]

59 minutes ago, stormy said:

Too much emphasis put on the nameplate.

I keep finding myself torn on the "twists". They consistently give them something easy to half-ass, which is sort of good because it's so last minute? (It seemed like the kids were 85% done decorating when it was announced). But then the kids do the bare minimum on the twist (is it a name? was it baked?) and the judges sort of waffle between "hey you half-assed this part" and "check! it meets the criteria!" So I think it kinda sends a mixed message to the participants anyway, when they see someone who kicked ass on the "real" challenge get away with bare minimum on the "twist", it confirms that's an OK thing to do. Whereas someone who were in the middle or did poorly on the main challenge doing a weak job on the twist actually gets dinged for it. Frankly, based on the examples they showed, I thought they put barely any emphasis on the nameplate. Almost none of them looked like actual nameplates. It was just a plain cookie with writing on it for the bulk of them. The whole thing is weird. If they don't really care about the outcome they should just stop with the "twists" altogether.

[NJKBCFan]

I don't mind the challenges. It's there basically to knock the kids out of their comfort zone and see how well they can think on their feet and be resourceful. That said, I agree that Aditya's lemon "decoration" was lame enough that it should have kept him from winning.

[Thadeeeyus]

I enjoyed the unicorn challenge!  The decorating was fun and the cake slices looked delicious.  It was definitely time for Aditya to go.  Doing the same cake two weeks in a row and his comments about his challenge made me think he was done with the show.  

Edited February 6, 2018 by Thadeeeyus

[backgroundnoise]

Didn't they already have a challenge baking a cake with an icecream cone sticking out of the top?  I would have enjoyed the challenge more if it had been first one of its kind this season.  Lindsay's cake was adorable, though.

Are they afraid (or do they know) that none of these kids can bake a pie?

I like the kids a lot, but I'm not finding the challenges very interesting.

[NJKBCFan]

1 minute ago, backgroundnoise said:

Are they afraid (or do they know) that none of these kids can bake a pie?

I like the kids a lot, but I'm not finding the challenges very interesting.

Bryn and Linsey both did apple pie-based pizzas in the second episode.

[nowornever]

When I saw Aditya putting all that lavender into his cake batter, I worried not only about the taste, but the texture as well .  I've never cooked with lavender, but it looked leafy and dry, kind of like oregano.  Didn't he use an extract last week when Duff and Valerie commented on how sophisticated it was? 

 

He did seem like the logical elimination this time- prior to last week, I've disagreed here an there with who was chosen to go home.  

[mlp]

Aditya was the right choice for elimination.  He seemed very bright and is probably an A student who will grow up to be a rocket scientist or something but he had checked out of the challenge.

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.

[CrazyDog]

35 minutes ago, mlp said:

Aditya was the right choice for elimination.  He seemed very bright and is probably an A student who will grow up to be a rocket scientist or something but he had checked out of the challenge.

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.

Absolutely, I really like them all. Alex broke my heart with his expression at being in the bottom last night. Ack. I like Linsey, since she seems a bit more chill in the last few episodes, but when I first started watching, she seemed on the verge of a nervous breakdown. She was wonderful last night though, and she deserved the win. I kind of feel like Brynn(?) is the front-runner though.