Spring Baking Championship - General Discussion

[RoxiP]

Wasn't Keya's cake falling apart?

[Grizzly]

1 hour ago, RoxiP said:

Wasn't Keya's cake falling apart?

She got it to stay together but it was leaning. Which Duff didn't mind, even though he usually does. I'm kind of rooting for Keya to win just based on what we know about her future. Let her be happy for a little while.

[susannah]

2 hours ago, Grizzly said:

She got it to stay together but it was leaning. Which Duff didn't mind, even though he usually does. I'm kind of rooting for Keya to win just based on what we know about her future. Let her be happy for a little while.

I agree. When Duff said that he thought dinners at Keya's would be awesome,  I just thought, sadly not now. I would like Keya to win for that reason but I kind of think Veruska might win. Derek is good but he doesn't seem to be bringing his best game.

[Texasmom1970]

I feel so awful for Keya knowing about her loss. My youngest daughter Madison passed away in 2018; she was just 12 years old. So I feel for her personally.

But seriously did Derek pick in someone's cornflakes? I feel like they are using a higher set of judging criteria for him and they let other things slde with some of the other bakers.

[emmawoodhouse]

Keya was visibly shocked when her name was called as safe. She definitely thought she was in the bottom. 

Veruska's opera cake must have had all of the flavor, because those dried up blood oranges did not evoke "spring."

Edited April 7, 2021 by emmawoodhouse

[MerBearHou]

19 minutes ago, Texasmom1970 said:

But seriously did Derek pick in someone's cornflakes? I feel like they are using a higher set of judging criteria for him and they let other things slde with some of the other bakers.

We have all picked up on this about Derek and the judges.  I think he doesn’t “play the game” and suck up/banter/giggle with the judges.  He just bakes and presents with a bit of warmth but not overly so — that seems to have hurt him in the Springboard Ranking of Highs and Lows.

[CheshireCat]

2 hours ago, MerBearHou said:

We have all picked up on this about Derek and the judges.  I think he doesn’t “play the game” and suck up/banter/giggle with the judges. 

I feel like there's more giggling this time around than usually. And for the last two episodes, it's really gotten on my nerves.

[springbarb]

The judging in this season seems particularly random. How in the world did that opera cake evoke chocolate chip cookies but Keya's black and white cake didn't evoke her cookie? Most of the desserts didn't look "spring-y". It all seems so arbitrary. I couldn't believe Veruska won--though her preheat win seemed well deserved.

[TVbitch]

OMG, now Nancy has the other judges doing the finger dance thing. Make it stop!!

[susannah]

3 hours ago, Texasmom1970 said:

I feel so awful for Keya knowing about her loss. My youngest daughter Madison passed away in 2018; she was just 12 years old. So I feel for her personally.

But seriously did Derek pick in someone's cornflakes? I feel like they are using a higher set of judging criteria for him and they let other things slde with some of the other bakers.

I am so sorry for your loss.

[Spunkygal]

https://www.wnypapers.com/news/article/current/2021/04/06/146122/carla-hall-hosts-return-of-food-networks-best-baker-in-america

I think there was recent speculation regarding whether Best Baker in America will return. It will return on May 3. Carla will host and Jason and Gesine are judges. 

Back on topic, hoping Derek can hold it together and win. Kardea continues to be a great addition to this show. 

[adore]

4 hours ago, emmawoodhouse said:

Keya was visibly shocked when her name was called as safe. She definitely thought she was in the bottom. 

Veruska's opera cake must have had all of the flavor, because those those dried up blood oranges did not evoke "spring."

Right. It's very confusing. That dessert + a few others this season were less "spring" and more "six more weeks of winter." I assume great taste must distract the judges from flaws in presentation.

[theatremouse]

On 4/5/2021 at 7:45 PM, CheshireCat said:

I don't get what Derek was doing in the bottom two. Just because his fruit thing-y was too thick? The dessert itself looked divine; I think it was the best looking one and the judges said that it tasted exactly like a thumbprint cookie, so I'd say he more than rose to the challenge.

The gel was about 5x as thick it was supposed to be, and his actual cookies were bad. They only showed one judge comment on the cookies - Nancy saying they were "too soft" - but you could tell looking at the "beauty shot" that those thumbprint cookies were not right at all.

[ruffy666]

Didn't Derek call it a pate de fruit in his cake?  Pate de fruit is basically the texture of gumdrops, like a gourmet take on Sunkist Fruit Gems (tm).  The texture isn't right for an entremet and he was appropriately called out for it.  That said, I was perfectly happy to see Mediha go home.  She's all smiles and giggly when she's doing well and then super sour when the judges mention some negatives so byeeeeeeeeee

Thanks for the intel on Best Baker in America-- looking forward to being unfairly judgmental for a few more weeks! 

[Iseut]

Yay for the return of Best Baker! I'm not a huge Jason fan (and I don't know Gesine), but I do love the more professional bakes and lack of cheesy twists in that series. Also, Carla > Scott Conant but I hope she keeps the "duuuuude" to a minimum.

I agree that the great "IS THIS SPRINGY" debate is silly and annoying. Food Network, we get it, you need something to fill in the gap between holiday baking shows and summer bbq challenges or whatever. Those of us who watch these shows will watch them, whatever you want to call them. But "springy" is not an official flavor or category. You can encourage spring-themed decorations, like pastels and flowers and spring holidays, but pretending that berries and stonefruits and such are spring flavors is just a flat-out lie. 

 

Edited April 9, 2021 by Iseut

[Grizzly]

Every time the judges said the signature looks like an afterthought, I'm thinking NO SHIT!  It's a stupid twist that no one planned on. 

I love how all the bakers support and encourage each other. And the good natured teasing of Derek was taken in stride. I had no idea Chiantae was only 22. She did great for being so young.

[susannah]

I am glad Derek did much better this week. I was never impressed with Chiante's stuff, and not her sweater cake. I think Veruska is going to win. She seems to have a pretty high level that she has consistently stayed at. I thought that it was funny and so true that there was nothing the ladies could say to faze Derek, he is a high school teacher! I thought the lace cake was pretty but didn't look like lace.  Veruska's flowers did look knitted, and lovely, and so did Keya's patchwork. Not to be harsh, but I have seen some of the kid bakers at 11/12/13 years old turn out some pretty incredible stuff, under just as much pressure, so I didn't think Chiante's sobbing "I'm only 22" was necessary. I didn't think any of their signatures looked very good. I don't think they would have taken alot of time. As said, they are getting near the end now, and just okay isn't good enough.

[CrazyDog]

I thought all the cakes were pretty lovely. Nothing crazy or exceptional but pretty looking for the theme. 

I had to laugh at everyone's hands cramping up. Not an easy decorating day, for sure.

Maybe it's Kardea's really positive personality in comparison, but Duff just seems kind of snarky lately. Maybe he's always been like that, or maybe it's the year+ we've all had, or I'm just noticing it more, I don't know. I just get the sense he's not enjoying the show as much. I still like him, all in all.

Veruska or Natalie seem like front-runners, IMO. I really like Derek's low key humor though.

[adore]

34 minutes ago, CrazyDog said:

 

Maybe it's Kardea's really positive personality in comparison, but Duff just seems kind of snarky lately. Maybe he's always been like that, or maybe it's the year+ we've all had, or I'm just noticing it more, I don't know. I just get the sense he's not enjoying the show as much. I still like him, all in all.

Kardea is great! Duff *really* wants Derek to know how mediocre he is, even going so far as predicting that he'll have to endure a redemption coconut cake from him next week.  Hope you'll be ok, Duff.  He and Nancy were disproportinately upset about the signatures too, but I think her limited attention span puts a bit of a cap on the negativity. Being called out by Duff seems to land harder.

[HyeChaps]

This was just about the most benign twist there could be, and none of them got any praise.

[Maya]

I think “crafts” is a bit of a stretch for spring baking theme, but ok. They were pretty. 

I don’t think the judges even care or pay attention anymore. I think the producers tell them what to say and ask based on things that went on during baking. 

[Rammchick]

On 4/13/2021 at 5:25 AM, Maya said:

I think “crafts” is a bit of a stretch for spring baking theme, but ok. They were pretty. 

I don’t think the judges even care or pay attention anymore. I think the producers tell them what to say and ask based on things that went on during baking. 

I was going to say something similar.  The producers don't want all the critiques to be positive, there's no tension created.  So I'm guessing that they're told to nitpick.  And this week, it just happened to be Duff who was chosen as the "bad cop".  Color me cynical but I watch probably too many food competition shows and I've been seeing this same trend on all of them.

As for Nancy -- STFU!

Edited April 14, 2021 by Rammchick

[dleighg]

I thought Kaya's patchwork cake *looked* very much like a quilt, but I would have given dings for a) it being fondant, which I hate (though I guess Derek's was as well) and b) that the detail on the patches was just stamped on. 

[susannah]

2 hours ago, dleighg said:

I thought Kaya's patchwork cake *looked* very much like a quilt, but I would have given dings for a) it being fondant, which I hate (though I guess Derek's was as well) and b) that the detail on the patches was just stamped on. 

I agree and forgot to mention the stamp detailing. The finished product was very nice but stamping is nothing, next to the amount of work it took for Derek's and Veruska's.

[RoxiP]

3 hours ago, susannah said:

I agree and forgot to mention the stamp detailing. The finished product was very nice but stamping is nothing, next to the amount of work it took for Derek's and Veruska's.

I believe veruska's rainbow was stamped.

[susannah]

1 minute ago, RoxiP said:

I believe veruska's rainbow was stamped.

I thought it looked different but I didn't get a close look at it to know why. The work around the sides wasn't, though.

[ruffy666]

On 4/13/2021 at 3:52 AM, HyeChaps said:

This was just about the most benign twist there could be, and none of them got any praise.

I hate the twists as much as anyone, but IF they're going to insist on having a twist for every main challenge, at least make the twist interesting (and not unfair!)  Adding a signature, of course everyone is going to just pipe it on at the last minute.  This is just like those other twists where it's like "add a door!" or "add a rainbow!" or "add a character!" and every single contestant just slaps a misshapen heap of fondant on the side and calls it a day.

[susannah]

11 hours ago, ruffy666 said:

I hate the twists as much as anyone, but IF they're going to insist on having a twist for every main challenge, at least make the twist interesting (and not unfair!)  Adding a signature, of course everyone is going to just pipe it on at the last minute.  This is just like those other twists where it's like "add a door!" or "add a rainbow!" or "add a character!" and every single contestant just slaps a misshapen heap of fondant on the side and calls it a day.

 I wonder what kind of twists would be better on the show than the ones they have gotten?

[trudysmom]

I think giving enough time to think about and incorporate the twist would be the fairest way to go. 

One season when Zack was a judge and a contestant said she didn't like working with something, lavender or rose, whatever, he told her but in a business you have to do what the customer wants, no matter your feelings.  You can't make a bad cake and say well I don't like that flavor so that's what you get.  And I agree, BUT, having worked in bakeries I know that there are times when a customer will add on to an order, and we always tried to comply as much as possible, but there were times it just wasn't possible.  The cake was finished, boxed, ready to go, the customer  decided they wanted filling.  Maybe it was possible, I recall at least once when it was not.  Or vice versa, take the filling out, or change it?  Nope.  Ordered chocolate frosting, decided the cake didn't look good brown, scrape that off and make it white instead?  Nope.  One of my managers was a master at telling people in a tactful way that they were full of crap.  lol.  I miss bakery work sometimes.

[laredhead]

I would like to see an episode where the judges are the bakers and have to compete under the time rules of the show, and have a last minute addition/change to the assignment.  That would be interesting.

[Texasmom1970]

I found the challenge about as random as the judges wonky judging this season. Spring equals crafting? People crafting in the fall or winter; oh nobody does at that time of year!

[GaT]

7 hours ago, trudysmom said:

I think giving enough time to think about and incorporate the twist would be the fairest way to go. 

I hate the twists, if they're going to do them, not only do thy need to give the bakers enough time to add them, they have to stop announcing the twist after everyone has gotten a large part of their bakes completed. I really don't see how the twists add anything to the competition.

[springbarb]

If literally nobody does the twist well, the problem is the twist, not the contestants. That said, this twist was fairly innocuous. Some have been much worse.

[Irlandesa]

On 4/13/2021 at 2:00 AM, adore said:

Kardea is great!

I love Kardea on her own show but I'm finding her a bit dull as a judge.  I find I miss Larraine. 

Quote

Duff *really* wants Derek to know how mediocre he is, even going so far as predicting that he'll have to endure a redemption coconut cake from him next week. 

Ha.  This is nothing compared to how Duff was with one of the Holiday Baking Championship contestants.  I think his name was Lorenzo.  Kept talking about his "big head" which wasn't really supported by the editing, IMO. 

On 4/9/2021 at 12:48 PM, Iseut said:

I'm not a huge Jason fan (and I don't know Gesine)

I actually like Jason, especially regular "a little quirky" Jason and not "FN wants him to play up his crazy sayings for the camera" Jason but I LOVE Gesine.  Cancelling her show was a crime.  An absolute crime.

[adore]

5 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

 

Ha.  This is nothing compared to how Duff was with one of the Holiday Baking Championship contestants.  I think his name was Lorenzo.  Kept talking about his "big head" which wasn't really supported by the editing, IMO. 

 

Yes, I remember Duff's interactions with Lorenzo being uncomfortable.  I also remember Lorenzo trying hard to charm Nancy by injecting alcohol into his desserts and "teasing" her a bit during judging. He probably felt vulnerable. 

[trudysmom]

Maybe blind judging would be more fair.  The judges aren't biased toward a baker based on past bakes and can judge each bake on it's own merits.

[huggybear]

I'm a long time Duff fan, back to "Ace of Cakes," but I have noticed in the past few seasons that he seems to be a bit more harsh with the male contestants. 

[susannah]

2 hours ago, huggybear said:

I'm a long time Duff fan, back to "Ace of Cakes," but I have noticed in the past few seasons that he seems to be a bit more harsh with the male contestants. 

I really liked Ace of Cakes too, though I thought that Duff was an overgrown 12 year old. He had some amazing artists on staff though. I still remember, and still amazed, that there was a cake shaped like a wine bottle, and Mary Smith piped words in French and delicate lacework all around the bottle!!!!

[joanne3482]

On 4/18/2021 at 10:41 AM, trudysmom said:

Maybe blind judging would be more fair.  The judges aren't biased toward a baker based on past bakes and can judge each bake on it's own merits.

And for this show, a blind judging wouldn't be difficult to pull off. The judges don't seem to be in the room when the desserts are being made. The host could introduce each dessert and let them go from there. 

[Grizzly]

Does anyone know if Kardea does voiceover work? I was listening to some commercial, maybe WW, and it sounded exactly like her.

[springbarb]

I was glad the Derek took the win today, and think Veruska was the right choice to go. I was concerned that they'd give her design a pass--they've been so inconsistent about that this season. I feel like this is a really solid final three; whoever wins is a strong baker. Keya is probably the most consistent, but I think it's anyone's game.

[MerBearHou]

Derek BROUGHT it with his national park/camping scene.  Wow.  It was so interesting, tasty, multi-faceted, showed different techniques, was colorful and beautiful, had out of the box elements like the pine nuts, a cute red Solo cup that many of us know well, cool blue stream, I could go on and on (and I have!).  

Was also impressed with Natalie’s hamburger — super cute.

Veruska was definitely the one to go — she’s given NYC and that’s all she came up with — and it required explaining?  

Edited April 20, 2021 by MerBearHou

[Grizzly]

As soon as Veruska described what she was doing, I knew she was going home. It was not a place to go on a family vacation.

Keya's tiramisu brownie looked so tasty, I wanted to eat it. Should be a good finale.

[mlp]

Derek certainly deserved that win.  I've had a feeling that Duff has been gunning for him so I was afraid he was going to find something wrong with it.  I didn't get the argument in the first round.  Derek's cupcake was just as much a snack as a brownie is and I'd argue that it was MORE portable because it had a paper liner on it.  There's no way to carry a brownie around like Nancy suggested without getting chocolate all over your fingers.

I really like Ali Khan as the host.  I hope they have him back.  

[MerBearHou]

10 minutes ago, mlp said:

I didn't get the argument in the first round.  Derek's cupcake was just as much a snack as a brownie is and I'd argue that it was MORE portable because it had a paper liner on it.  There's no way to carry a brownie around like Nancy suggested without getting chocolate all over your fingers.

I was saying the same thing to my TV!  The guy was assigned a cupcake and he was dinged for making a snack cupcake that may or may not need a fork?  I didn’t follow that.  I felt like they were looking for reasons to low-score Derek.  All of the four desserts were big enough to technically need a fork.  Please....

[Irlandesa]

1 hour ago, mlp said:

Derek certainly deserved that win.  I've had a feeling that Duff has been gunning for him so I was afraid he was going to find something wrong with it.  I didn't get the argument in the first round.  Derek's cupcake was just as much a snack as a brownie is and I'd argue that it was MORE portable because it had a paper liner on it.  There's no way to carry a brownie around like Nancy suggested without getting chocolate all over your fingers.

I think the cupcake was too messy.  And then you have a liner you need to get rid of.

I thought Verushka was going to stay because Natalie' had that overly thick filling so I didn't call that.

I love tiramisu so I definitely want Keya's brownie.  And heck, even that coconut bar thingie (minus the fondant on top.)

I dinged Kardea for being a little boring as a judge in my previous comment on this season but I loved her spring break story in this ep.

[susannah]

2 hours ago, Grizzly said:

As soon as Veruska described what she was doing, I knew she was going home. It was not a place to go on a family vacation.

Keya's tiramisu brownie looked so tasty, I wanted to eat it. Should be a good finale.

I completely disagree that NYC is not a place to go on a family vacation. It gets millions of tourists, including families. I will say that her scene was not as detailed as it should be, and as up to the level that she has worked at this whole time.

2 hours ago, MerBearHou said:

Derek BROUGHT it with his national park/camping scene.  Wow.  It was so interesting, tasty, multi-faceted, showed different techniques, was colorful and beautiful, had out of the box elements like the pine nuts, a cute red Solo cup that many of us know well, cool blue stream, I could go on and on (and I have!).  

Was also impressed with Natalie’s hamburger — super cute.

Veruska was definitely the one to go — she’s given NYC and that’s all she came up with — and it required explaining?  

I was so bummed that Veruska went. I agree that Derek's scene had alot of elements to it, and I liked the stream, but the details, trees etc, were a bit childish looking to me.

[CheshireCat]

I'm not sure if I would have had Natalie in the bottom two. As far as I can tell, Keya just slapped fondant on everything. I think Natalie used a lot of fondant, too, but she created details with the fondant and didn't just slap it over her pastries. I think if Keya had done the umbrellas out of buttercream and/or done them in multi-color it would have looked much nicer.

 

2 hours ago, MerBearHou said:

I was saying the same thing to my TV!  The guy was assigned a cupcake and he was dinged for making a snack cupcake that may or may not need a fork? 

Do that many people really eat cupcakes with a fork? Isn't a cupcake already a snack anyway?

 

3 hours ago, MerBearHou said:

Derek BROUGHT it with his national park/camping scene.  Wow.  It was so interesting, tasty, multi-faceted, showed different techniques, was colorful and beautiful, had out of the box elements like the pine nuts, a cute red Solo cup that many of us know well, cool blue stream, I could go on and on (and I have!).  

Agree with everything you said. Absolutely loved it.

I think he already deserved the win last week, so I was afraid they'd find fault with something yet again. I'm so glad they didn't.

 

3 hours ago, MerBearHou said:

Veruska was definitely the one to go — she’s given NYC and that’s all she came up with — and it required explaining?  

Did she not finish? It looked unfinished. (And some of the tables were crooked. Did she do that on purpose? And there were no chairs. I would have preferred had she done two or so tables less, spaced them properly and added a couple of chairs).

 

1 hour ago, Irlandesa said:

I think the cupcake was too messy.  And then you have a liner you need to get rid of.

My experience is that there are trash cans on almost every street corner in US cities, so that shouldn't be a problem.

If you think about it, people buy all kinds of stuff from food trucks/food stands that have either a wrapper or a paper tray or a paper napkin or a paper bag that they then need to get rid of. Most every to-go hot beverage also has a paper cup that you then need to get rid of.

I think the point of a snack is that you can eat it on the go and I think a cupcakes is perfect for that and much better than something that stains your fingers and requires that you find water to clean your fingers.

 

1 hour ago, Irlandesa said:

I thought Verushka was going to stay because Natalie' had that overly thick filling so I didn't call that.

I don't know if Natalie's previous performance matters/played a role but she was doing so well in most every other episode, so I thought it was more likely she was going to stay.

 

 

[dleighg]

I think Verushka really messed up on what she chose to portray. This is a FAMILY TRIP! Yes, you go hang out on a towel at the beach, yes you go camping, yes you ride roller coasters. NO you do not stand next to a brick wall and watch old men playing dominos! It just does not express the theme AT ALL! I do think she got something of a hard one-- I mean a family vacation to D.C. might mean visiting the museums, the Washington Monument, the White House, but I sure wouldn't want to try to build those! I might try a hot dog cart and a pretzel cart for NYC. I consider those pretty iconic, and family-friendly.

[RoxiP]

If I visited New York I would go to the Central Park Zoo. I would visit the Empire State Building. I would go see Wall Street. So many things to choose from and that is what she picked?  I don’t want to go on vacation with her family!