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Spring Baking Championship - General Discussion


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Did not enjoy this week at all.  Let me count the ways.  I don't like the farmhouse schtick.  We get it, Molly lives on a farm, good for her.  I agree with someone upthread who said the Mardi Gras theme wasn't really explained very well and I got so sick of hearing the judges (Nancy) say "I'm not getting the cinnamon".  And not to be a complete nit picky bitch but Nancy's hair and dress, uh no.  So many no's.  Uh Uh.   Most of the cakes looked like they were straight out of the Kids Baking Championship.  

Ok,  rant over.  Maybe I've just overstayed my welcome on these shows.  They keep changing and I keep resisting change.  My bad.

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2 hours ago, dleighg said:

one thing I noticed was that a lot of the cakes had a MASSIVE amount of frosting (or whatever you want to call it) between the cake layers. At one point one of the judges (Nancy?) said to someone who had (IMHO) a nice ratio- that he had "just the right ratio of buttercream to cake." I guess some people like that frosting stuff, but I think cake should be the primary ingredient of, well, a cake.

I noticed the massive amounts of icing on the outside of the cakes, and between layers.   There was one where the amount of frosting was just as thick as the cake, and still had a lot more on top.   It looked horrible to eat.   A lot of the cakes and desserts looked rushed, and poorly made this week.  

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I don't really remember king cake tasting like cinnamon, either. I mostly found the texture a bit odd.

Jaleesa is on Twitter (@ChefJaleesa) and posted

Quote

"This was a brutal episode. A lot of people don't realize that I was a pumping mom on the show. Every 3 to 4 hrs on the hour, my entire time there. I had an 11 week old at home. Not taking care of my body was a big wake up call. "

Also a panic attack.

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12 hours ago, dleighg said:

one thing I noticed was that a lot of the cakes had a MASSIVE amount of frosting (or whatever you want to call it) between the cake layers. At one point one of the judges (Nancy?) said to someone who had (IMHO) a nice ratio- that he had "just the right ratio of buttercream to cake." I guess some people like that frosting stuff, but I think cake should be the primary ingredient of, well, a cake.

I'm not a frosting fan so I always want more cake than frosting. 

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Was not really into the mostly ugly float cakes. Wish they just would have done fun, pretty Mardi Gras cakes. 

Molly's over the top over the topness would not bug so much if it was genuine. It's just so fake. Convulsing with laughter at a baker saying "what happens at Mardi Gras stays at Mardis Gras", amazement at the use of a spice, and a smile that shows both upper and lower teeth with space in between. My jaw hurts just looking at it! 

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13 minutes ago, TVbitch said:

Was not really into the mostly ugly float cakes. Wish they just would have done fun, pretty Mardi Gras cakes. 

Molly's over the top over the topness would not bug so much if it was genuine. It's just so fake. Convulsing with laughter at a baker saying "what happens at Mardi Gras stays at Mardis Gras", amazement at the use of a spice, and a smile that shows both upper and lower teeth with space in between. My jaw hurts just looking at it! 

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The float cakes were not a great idea. So many neat directions they could have gone into with just Mardi Gras. 

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19 hours ago, dleighg said:

I don't remember who it was, but one of the bakers said something like "I'm not really that much of an expert at cakes. I hope ... something or other."

You are on a freakin' BAKING show. Cakes are, you know, a thing in BAKING.

You’re right, but I CAN see that someone from a restaurant pastry chef background is probably spending very little time, if any, making elaborately decorated cakes, compared to someone who owns a specialty bakery.

I wonder if this show is trying to take a page from GBBO with hosts and judges being overly intrusive while competitors are trying to get things done.

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2 minutes ago, RoxiP said:

Tom said he specialized in pastries.

You aren't supposed to see the wheels on floats - they are usually covered up by decorations.

The bakers on the second show (which plays along with the Spring Baking Championship - not sure if we have a thread) are heads and tails better than this group.

Agreed on the wheels but I get what the judges were saying. Adding the wheels at least makes it clear that this was supposed to be something that moved. I would have loved to see a partial wheel that we mainly covered up. Maybe a cut out area where the driver looks out to drive. I haven't been to Mardi Gras but I have been to lots of Rose Parades and seen lots of the floats. Most of the cakes didn't look like a float. 

I would have thought people would do something a bit more flat with a raised area and maybe a band playing music, a pile of beads, and other things that look like people on a float. At least, that is what I imagine when I think of Mardi Gras. 

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2 hours ago, ProfCrash said:

Agreed on the wheels but I get what the judges were saying. Adding the wheels at least makes it clear that this was supposed to be something that moved. I would have loved to see a partial wheel that we mainly covered up. Maybe a cut out area where the driver looks out to drive. I haven't been to Mardi Gras but I have been to lots of Rose Parades and seen lots of the floats. Most of the cakes didn't look like a float. 

I would have thought people would do something a bit more flat with a raised area and maybe a band playing music, a pile of beads, and other things that look like people on a float. At least, that is what I imagine when I think of Mardi Gras. 

and masks... though, didn't we see one? 

After reading all of the comments, I'm really shocked to admit that Molly doesn't bother me. At all. People, in general, bug the hell out of me. So, I can't even remotely explain why I don't have a problem with her  lol

Justin is my favorite. He's just so chill. I felt bad for him when Nancy (I think) knocked him for the purple not being quite the right shade. Dude is COLOR BLIND! She probably doesn't know that, but still... shut it, Nancy.

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8 minutes ago, SilverLake0315 said:

After reading all of the comments, I'm really shocked to admit that Molly doesn't bother me. At all. People, in general, bug the hell out of me. So, I can't even remotely explain why I don't have a problem with her  lol

Justin is my favorite. He's just so chill. I felt bad for him when Nancy (I think) knocked him for the purple not being quite the right shade. Dude is COLOR BLIND! She probably doesn't know that, but still... shut it, Nancy.

She knew it but I don't think it was intentional. She just forgot, must be all that liquor. 

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3 hours ago, RoxiP said:

The bakers on the second show (which plays along with the Spring Baking Championship - not sure if we have a thread) are heads and tails better than this group.

I have been curious what people think about the Easter show that's on after this one.

In the last episode, the bakers had quite a long time to make large and elaborate cakes. The twist was they had to make and "hide" three edible eggs somewhere on the cake.

The judges tasted and critiqued the eggs. They didn't even cut into the cakes.

(Unrelated - one of the bakers was narrating her process in a series of clichés, one of which was "slam bam thank you ma'am".  Ugh.)

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3 minutes ago, kirklandia said:

I have been curious what people think about the Easter show that's on after this one.

In the last episode, the bakers had quite a long time to make large and elaborate cakes. The twist was they had to make and "hide" three edible eggs somewhere on the cake.

The judges tasted and critiqued the eggs. They didn't even cut into the cakes.

(Unrelated - one of the bakers was narrating her process in a series of clichés, one of which was "slam bam thank you ma'am".  Ugh.)

I do like this show. It's kitschy but they still make great baked goods. I too was disappointed that cake wasn't judged. I guess it was just a building material like rice treats. None of them hid their eggs very well.

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18 minutes ago, kirklandia said:

I have been curious what people think about the Easter show that's on after this one.

In the last episode, the bakers had quite a long time to make large and elaborate cakes. The twist was they had to make and "hide" three edible eggs somewhere on the cake.

The judges tasted and critiqued the eggs. They didn't even cut into the cakes.

(Unrelated - one of the bakers was narrating her process in a series of clichés, one of which was "slam bam thank you ma'am".  Ugh.)

The cakes were premade. The only thing being judged was the egg that they contestants made. The bakers had the same vanilla or yellow cake on sheet pans. They did have to stack and decorate the cakes but they didn't bake the cakes.  They were judged on their decoration and the taste of the eggs that they made and filled.

 

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(edited)
4 hours ago, ProfCrash said:

The cakes were premade. The only thing being judged was the egg that they contestants made. The bakers had the same vanilla or yellow cake on sheet pans. They did have to stack and decorate the cakes but they didn't bake the cakes

Thank you for clarifying!
I remember seeing bakers cutting circles from rectangular cakes, and wondering why they didn't just bake round layers. Obviously, my attention lapsed!  (In my defense, at the end of several hours of watching spring baking.) 😉🐣🎂

Edited by kirklandia
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On 3/7/2022 at 11:57 PM, Suzn said:

Molly is very intrusive when the bakers are trying to focus on their challenges.  She seems to have a script of overly sweet and cute things to say to each one and none of it sounds spontaneous.  I enjoy watching creativity and skill in action, but they are making this show hard to watch with an excessively perky host and some of the tired stuff from Nancy.

Molly  comes off very fake and scripted .  Asking Annabel if they could still be friends  even though she doesn’t like sprinkles sounds like something someone in 2nd grade would say! 
And what is with the barn and farm talk?  So cringeworthy!

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54 minutes ago, kirklandia said:

Thank you for clarifying!
I remember seeing bakers cutting circles from rectangular cakes, and wondering why they didn't just bake round layers. Obviously, my attention lapsed!  (In my defense, at the end of several hours of watching several hours of spring baking.) 😉🐣🎂

They never said it. They just sent the bakers to their stations and people were cutting out the cake layers and all the cake layers were the same so that was my assumption. Then they only tested the eggs that they made. I don’t think they expect the bakers to make everything from scratch for the larger designs. 

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On 3/8/2022 at 11:49 AM, libgirl2 said:

Her name is on the show, so that may be the case! lol! 

That bugs me as does the whole who basically now being about her brand. They're calling the set the farmhouse. The first part of the first episode I thought maybe I'd been unfair to Molly Yeh. I've only seen bits of her show, so she got folded into my gripe that I used to be able to let FN run especially on weekend mornings and see all kinds of people who knew how to cook make all different kinds of food. And now it's all farm/ranch/rustic/celebrities who make food that looks mediocre. I figured I disliked her based on my resenting not being able to just leave FN on without seeing a ranch or farm or something I made in 1976 in home ec. 

But, no, after watching two episodes, Molly is just not for me, and with the many great hosts they've had in the past, I get that this is about promoting her, not picking a good host. Actually, in Holiday Wars, I liked that they had three judges: Aarti Sequeria, Shinmin Lee, and Maneet Chauhan, the latter whom also served as the host. They had a great dynamic and I'd never warmed to Maneet, but I did from that show. Here, I'd like Lorraine swapped in for Nancy, and any number of other hosts subbing in for Molly. 

I do watch Kardea's show, even though I wouldn't cook most of her food. But I like her so much and her show is interesting enough and different enough that I wasn't surprised when she began to show up as a judge on shows, and I love her here (she was so good with Jaleesa).  Duff's still sometimes a sweetie and then comes in for the kill. Yeah, I want Nancy gone but I am softening to her because she got so dinged for trying to look too young when he hair was long and blond and now she's dinged for wearing it in a way that is more common among women her age. I mean, ding away, but it's making me dislike Nancy less, which I thought that was impossible. 

So far, I like all the bakers, but am still trying to get their names down. I have looked and looked and swear I've seen Justin in another competition (the second I saw him but before they said it I knew his name) but I can't find where (I've read this whole thread, but as the shows aired, so it may have been mentioned and I've forgotten, same as my observation that Jenniffer, with her hair out of her face, very slightly resembled to me, who has some facial blindness, ahem,  Antonia Lofaso). 

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10 hours ago, libgirl2 said:

The float cakes were not a great idea. So many neat directions they could have gone into with just Mardi Gras. 

When they announced the challenge, I was really surprised, because a float cake sounds like a semi-finals or finals challenge with a lot of time given so the bakers can do fine details. Maybe the reason the judges didn't focus much on the decorating was because they realized the whole concept was a half-baked idea.

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South Louisiana girl chiming in here, and saying that beignets must be eaten hot when they are just out of the fryer, and showered with lots of powdered sugar.  No filling, no other topping, no flavoring - just beautifully fried simple dough.  I hated that as the added ingredients to the float cakes.  There is no way a beignet that's been sitting around for an hour or two is going to taste good, no matter how good it was when freshly made.

As for Molly, I had no idea who she was before her hosting this show.  She can go back to the farm and stay there as far as I'm concerned.  I prefer Jessie, or any of the other hosts over her.  The show should be about the bakers and the judges not the host.  

Edited by laredhead
Correcting spelling
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5 minutes ago, laredhead said:

South Louisiana girl chiming in here, and saying that beignets must be eaten hot when they are just out of the fryer, and showered with lots of powdered sugar.  No filling, no other topping, no flavoring - just beautifully fried simple dough.  I hated that as the added ingredients to the float cakes.  There is no way a beignet that's been sitting around for an hour or two is going to taste good, no matter how good it was when freshly made.

As for Molly, I had no idea who she was before her hosting this show.  She can go back to the farm and stay there as far as I'm concerned.  I prefer Jessie, or any of the other hosts over her.  The show should be about the bakers and the judges not the host.  

Southeast Lousiana girl here too and I was sooooo bothered by the Mardi Gras stuff in general.  First of all, even though Mardi Gras can be in March, I have never in my 53 years have thought of it as a "spring" holiday.  Not even on the warm years. 

Second, I realize that they were going for a cinnamon challenge with the king cakes, but they do realize that not all king cakes are made with cinnamon right?

Third, YES to the beignets have got to be hot and regular beignets are the best.  I wouldn't even try Popeye's chocolate beignets.

And fourth, it is not "the Mardi Gras", it is not "the Mardi Gras parade".  I know that most of them have not been to Mardi Gras but at the the judges (looking at you Nancy) could educate themselves a little.

Okay, long rant over.

 

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14 minutes ago, NewGranny said:

Second, I realize that they were going for a cinnamon challenge with the king cakes, but they do realize that not all king cakes are made with cinnamon right?

They did a segment on CBS Sunday Morning about king cakes. I had no idea that there are a zillion variations out there.

I don't mind Molly on her own show but not feeling her here.

I think there are just too many contestants on these shows.  Especially at the beginning they often get a quick minute with the judges as they sort throw the throng.  But I guess that's how they get a long run in the series.  And then this week they threw in two more for what reason?  I did't get the point of that.

Didn't like any of the float cakes.

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50 minutes ago, laredhead said:

South Louisiana girl chiming in here, and saying that beignets must be eaten hot when they are just out of the fryer, and showered with lots of powdered sugar.  No filling, no other topping, no flavoring - just beautifully fried simple dough.  

And they're not dessert.  That was the one that I kept remarking about.

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21 minutes ago, Cetacean said:

They did a segment on CBS Sunday Morning about king cakes. I had no idea that there are a zillion variations out there.

 

My supervisor who brought one back for us from vacation treated us to a Bavarian cream King Cake. It was delicious. She said they have chocolate ones too. 

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4 hours ago, Rammchick said:

And they're not dessert.  That was the one that I kept remarking about.

Correct - they are not dessert.  At my house they are breakfast, or a snack in mid-afternoon.  I live within a mile or so of Coffee Call in Baton Rouge, and it's very easy to stop by and get an order of beignets and a cup of cafe au lait to go with them.  Eating them there hot out of the fryer is heaven on a plate.  

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I haven't joined the convo yet but honestly I find Molly just wrong for this type of show. For me nothing she does comes across as genuine at all.  When she talks to the bakers  the whole 'let's be friends' I find fake.  I loved when she tried to correct the pralines with the baker from VA.  But that isn't the part I find most annoying.  Why do we need to see her gimmicky faces when the judges try the food.  If she isn't a judge don't show that face.

Honestly this reminds me of the Halloween Pumpkin Wars where some ghost tracker guy was added like she has been.  Is this a Discovery add or Food Network for her?  

I'm not sure if this is just reflection on my part but with this 2nd episode I felt that the contestants were sick of Molly.  From the pralines pronunciation to the i didn't have time to add you haha stuff. 

 

But that is just me. I hope she is a one and done host. Give her a Farmhouse competition for her.  She's not good here.

 

I have to say Sunny is awesome on the Easter show.  She should have been hosting both shows.

 

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15 hours ago, MyMaui said:

 

I have to say Sunny is awesome on the Easter show.  She should have been hosting both shows.

Yes!!! She is great on the Easter show!!! Engaging but not over the top. She's giving me the same vibes I get from John and Jesse who I've always thought have that "just right" balance on the versions they host.

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The funny thing is, Molly hosted a Ben and Jerry's ice cream show last summer, and I thought she did a good job.  She was far less over the top, in general.  Having never watched her show, I don't know which one is the "real" Molly, but I'm starting to suspect some producer interference here:  "Go out and be as bubbly/friendly/fun as possible."  For her, that instruction has translated to what we've been seeing:  saccharine/in your face/weird.

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17 minutes ago, Rammchick said:

I'm starting to suspect some producer interference here:

I think that is true in general.  If you look back at early cooking shows with female hosts, there wasn't this over-th-top insane clown smiling all of the time.  It was way more low key and natural.  I have watched Molly since the beginning and she was never this manic but even in her own show she's gotten more "bubbly" which I think is madated. I have seen her in "real" life and she is definitely not that way.

What is galling is that these type of theatrics would never be expected of a male chef.

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1 hour ago, Cetacean said:

What is galling is that these type of theatrics would never be expected of a male chef.

I'm going to disagree a bit here. Most of the time the male chefs tend to lean into toxic masculinity in US-based shows which I suspect is for the same reasons producers want female chefs to lean into saccharine traits.

On 3/10/2022 at 3:37 PM, MyMaui said:

I have to say Sunny is awesome on the Easter show.  She should have been hosting both shows.

 

8 hours ago, Mellowyellow said:

Yes!!! She is great on the Easter show!!! Engaging but not over the top. She's giving me the same vibes I get from John and Jesse who I've always thought have that "just right" balance on the versions they host.

Sunny bugs the hell out of me, she needs to have grown woman hairstyles, not "I'm finally going to graduate high school!" age hairstyles. I remember seeing her on some show about a year ago & she was wearing blue lipstick. Sunny makes me think of Madonna, a woman in her 50s who photoshops her pictures to try & make herself look like she's in her 20s. Sunny is a woman close to her 50s who styles herself like she's in her 20s. Both of them look ridiculous IMO.

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22 hours ago, GaT said:

 

Sunny bugs the hell out of me, she needs to have grown woman hairstyles, not "I'm finally going to graduate high school!" age hairstyles. I remember seeing her on some show about a year ago & she was wearing blue lipstick. Sunny makes me think of Madonna, a woman in her 50s who photoshops her pictures to try & make herself look like she's in her 20s. Sunny is a woman close to her 50s who styles herself like she's in her 20s. Both of them look ridiculous IMO.

Honestly her hairstyle didn't bother me.  Hairstyles were not the best but ok.  Maybe if I had an issue with her hosting I would have something on that.  Sunny was a great host.  I liked Sunny because she didn't put herself as the main figurehead of the show.  It wasn't Sunny's house like the farmhouse.  Sunny was a host that gave the tasks, talked to the contestants, and was there for judges reviews.  

 I think the main point, for me at least, is the forcing of this.  Molly is being forced here.  Forced of her farmhouse, forced of it being her as host, and forced of her being on the judging panel.  None of this was forced before.   And add in the tad of "with Molly Yeh" on the show too.

To me she is not a host she has become the show "with" the judges and contestants.  This is the same thing the Halloween show did too and ruined it   Have the show and say she is the host.  Don't make her the star of the show.  She isn't and never will be.  

 

I saw the Ben and Jerry show too and she wasn't great there either  

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13 minutes ago, MyMaui said:

Honestly her hairstyle didn't bother me.

yeah i sort of noticed it but whatever.

i agree that her interactions with the bakers were fine. And as far as I can remember, Molly's outfits and hairstyles were fine, but her 1000W constant smile drove me nuts.

Edited by dleighg
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At least Molly can pronounce “prah-leen” correctly.

On 3/11/2022 at 7:21 PM, GaT said:

 

Sunny bugs the hell out of me, she needs to have grown woman hairstyles, not "I'm finally going to graduate high school!" age hairstyles. I remember seeing her on some show about a year ago & she was wearing blue lipstick. Sunny makes me think of Madonna, a woman in her 50s who photoshops her pictures to try & make herself look like she's in her 20s. Sunny is a woman close to her 50s who styles herself like she's in her 20s. Both of them look ridiculous IMO.

Madonna is in her 60s…

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20 hours ago, MyMaui said:

Honestly her hairstyle didn't bother me.  Hairstyles were not the best but ok.  Maybe if I had an issue with her hosting I would have something on that.  Sunny was a great host.  I liked Sunny because she didn't put herself as the main figurehead of the show.  It wasn't Sunny's house like the farmhouse.  Sunny was a host that gave the tasks, talked to the contestants, and was there for judges reviews.  

 I think the main point, for me at least, is the forcing of this.  Molly is being forced here.  Forced of her farmhouse, forced of it being her as host, and forced of her being on the judging panel.  None of this was forced before.   And add in the tad of "with Molly Yeh" on the show too.

To me she is not a host she has become the show "with" the judges and contestants.  This is the same thing the Halloween show did too and ruined it   Have the show and say she is the host.  Don't make her the star of the show.  She isn't and never will be.  

 

I saw the Ben and Jerry show too and she wasn't great there either  

Molly is just not a good host . Her voice is weird and she talks with sing song tone .  The fake smile , over the top reactions and the childish , silly conversations make her unwatchable .

I did see a commercial today that mentioned a new host and showed annoying grinning Molly , but the  title did not say Molly Yeh’s Spring Baking Championship. 

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4 hours ago, orangekit said:

I did see a commercial today that mentioned a new host and showed annoying grinning Molly , but the  title did not say Molly Yeh’s Spring Baking Championship. 

I'm trying to remember, & I think it said Spring Baking Championship & then underneath it said either with Molly Yeh or hosted by Molly Yeh.

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