Spring Baking Championship - General Discussion

[storyskip]

I agree with some of the other posters, I feel like after last week's 'cookie salad' debacle, Diego was over it.

He just comes across as too good a baker not to understand how the addition of a soup/liquid into his cake batter would make it overly soft and what needs to be done to counter the extra moisture.  Add into that the 'peanut butter/jelly' flavor, it felt like he was just doubling down "if my cake doesn't fall apart, it's going to taste WEIRD".

Honestly it looked like he about jogged out that door with a fist bump of joy after being eliminated. 

[Pallida]

I often like seeing the comments here before watching the show to be prepared. Hearing about the tomato soup cake made me think of: 

I like Diego, but it looked like his cake had the fundamental problem of having an improper balance of liquids and dry. That's bad baking, and sometimes things happen, so I don't think he's a bad baker. However, I think it's perfectly justifiable, and not based on personality, that he was sent home for failing to bake a cake properly. 

[KayVeeTeeVee]

14 hours ago, MerBearHou said:

Tomato soup incorporated into a cake?  In what world could that EVER have been tasty?  It sounds absolutely awful.  And it HAD to change the cake consistency dramatically.  That was a very bad draw for poor Diego who was one of the best of the season, I thought.  He was extremely gracious when he was given the boot.  

Tomato soup cake is a real thing - and prepared correctly, it's great; spicy, but not tomatoe-y. Obviously, Diego put in way too much soup. I've been making it since the 50s.

 

 

[marmalade]

1 hour ago, Pallida said:

I often like seeing the comments here before watching the show to be prepared. Hearing about the tomato soup cake made me think of: 

I like Diego, but it looked like his cake had the fundamental problem of having an improper balance of liquids and dry. That's bad baking, and sometimes things happen, so I don't think he's a bad baker. However, I think it's perfectly justifiable, and not based on personality, that he was sent home for failing to bake a cake properly. 

It’s one of Molly’s stupid ideas , as usual !

It’s obvious that this show has her ideas all over it ! That is why she has her stupid  pictures of her farm and her gross concoctions that she almost peed her pants with excitement when she introduced it was week!

Diego is used to real baking , not crap that Molly finds at a potluck in her neighborhood where they find “baking” ideas from cookie boxes and soup cans !  She also makes a popcorn salad ! 🤮  She has the baking ideas and palate of a 6 year old ! My relatives in the Midwest never heard of many of her ridiculous recipes !

She says “I” “me” “my” all the time ! Looks like FN has handed this show off to this immature talentless twit   ! Hopefully they won’t hand over anymore baking shows to her .

And so we need to see her overreactions to eating the desserts with her annoying expressions ??? She’s annoying even when not talking !

 

Edited April 12, 2022 by marmalade

[libgirl2]

7 minutes ago, marmalade said:

It’s one of Molly’s stupid ideas , as usual !

It’s obvious that this show has her ideas all over it ! That is why she has her stupid  pictures of her farm and her gross concoctions that she almost peed her pants with excitement when she introduced it was week!

She says “I” “me” “my” all the time ! Looks like FN has handed this show off to this immature talentless twit   ! Hopefully they won’t hand over anymore baking shows to her .

And so we need to see her overreactions to eating the desserts with her annoying expressions ??? She’s annoying even when not talking !

 

She does use "my" a lot. It is her show. 

[Madding crowd]

She is the host, it doesn’t really mean it’s her show. It’s always been a Food Network show and none of the previous hosts acted liked it was a cooking/baking show for them.

[jrzy]

1 minute ago, Madding crowd said:

She is the host, it doesn’t really mean it’s her show. It’s always been a Food Network show and none of the previous hosts acted liked it was a cooking/baking show for them.

I was just about to say that,  it appears that she thinks this is her show and she is the center of its universe.  I liked the show much better when it centered on the bakers. 

[libgirl2]

2 minutes ago, Madding crowd said:

She is the host, it doesn’t really mean it’s her show. It’s always been a Food Network show and none of the previous hosts acted liked it was a cooking/baking show for them.

Her name is on it. I don't recall the other hosts having their  names in the title. 

[marmalade]

1 minute ago, Madding crowd said:

She is the host, it doesn’t really mean it’s her show. It’s always been a Food Network show and none of the previous hosts acted liked it was a cooking/baking show for them.

Usually it doesn’t , but right now it’s all her ideas and they are  tacky  and childish  just like her ! Never before did we have a barn or a farm theme. And the disgusting cookie salad was all Molly !  She’s ruined the show , and actually seems to be involved in deciding who stays and goes , so anyone who wants to be her “friend” stays ! 

2 minutes ago, libgirl2 said:

Her name is on it. I don't recall the other hosts having their  names in the title. 

Not to mention it’s her recipes and ideas from what she says ! It’s now her show .  

[jrzy]

15 hours ago, mlp said:

I so wanted to reach into my TV and just smack Molly.  Her childish jabber and facial expressions seemed even worse than usual or maybe I've just reached the saturation point.  I feel very sorry for the serious bakers who had to put up with her and with dumb challenges like last week's cookie salad.  I hope FN is reading comments and not making a lot of excuses for her.  She's ruining what used to be one of my favorite shows.

She has ruined what once was a really good cooking competition.  What a shame.

[libgirl2]

3 minutes ago, marmalade said:

Usually it doesn’t , but right now it’s all her ideas and they are  tacky  and childish  just like her ! Never before did we have a barn or a farm theme. And the disgusting cookie salad was all Molly !  She’s ruined the show , and actually seems to be involved in deciding who stays and goes , so anyone who wants to be her “friend” stays ! 

 

And honestly, what does her farm, a tractor, chickens have to do with spring? The eggs? 

[orangekit]

Surprise ! surprise ! Justin and Diego who don’t want to play with Molly were in the bottom 2! 
Molly is definitely participating in the decisions now too !  She said “the judges and I” when telling the bakers the results !

The bias on this show is sickening.  Molly’s big mouth opened to such a huge smile when her friend Tom brought out his cake ! 
BTW Tom’s decorating looked like crap and Nancy fell all over herself to tell him how wonderful it was ! 
It’s funny that they liked Diego’s cake as far as taste was concerned but eliminated him, but Tom did shitty decorating and was in the bottom two but got saved !

Its obviously slanted toward the contestant who is kissing up , creating drama or using thr show as a way to get attention for more than baking !

Diego seemed happy to be gone ! 

 

Edited April 12, 2022 by orangekit

[orangekit]

6 hours ago, rlc said:

Of course they are. They are extremely talented and low-drama. Color blindness simply cannot compete these days with a coming out story, panic attacks, and glitter.

So true! Maybe if Diego had some sob story about being gay instead of just saying he had a husband , or had dramatic reactions , he would still be there !  The best bakeries don’t have drama and “stories” of have to be like cartoons to win !

[libgirl2]

8 minutes ago, orangekit said:

So true! Maybe if Diego had some sob story about being gay instead of just saying he had a husband , or had dramatic reactions , he would still be there !  The best bakeries don’t have drama and “stories” of have to be like cartoons to win !

Remember how she was shocked when he said he owned a bakery with his husband? I think she (or on the producer's behalf) was angling for some drama there. Sadly for Diego, there wasn't any or if there was, he wasn't going to share on television. Not everyone feels the urge to overshare! 

Edited April 12, 2022 by libgirl2

[orangekit]

4 minutes ago, libgirl2 said:

Remember how she was shocked when he said he owned a bakery with his husband? I think she (or on the producer's behalf) was angling for some drama there. Sadly for Diego, there wasn't any or if there was, he wasn't going to share on television. Not everyone feels the urge to overshare! 

She looked like she was going to convulse with excitement because he said he owned a bakery with his husband ! Didn’t she grow up in Chicago and go to Juilliard in NYC? Is she just putting on some preschool persona or is something seriously wrong or delayed in her personality ?     

[libgirl2]

1 minute ago, orangekit said:

She looked like she was going to convulse with excitement because he said he owned a bakery with his husband ! Didn’t she grow up in Chicago and go to Juilliard in NYC? Is she just putting on some preschool persona or is something seriously wrong or delayed in her personality ?     

Or, again, is it producer driven? Maybe there is a really good host in there but they have things they want her to do etc.... ? 

Edited April 12, 2022 by libgirl2

[orangekit]

5 minutes ago, libgirl2 said:

Or, again, is it producer driven? Maybe there is a really good host in there but they have things they want her to do etc.... ? 

I doubt this is all producer driven !  She can’t just turn into a different person , plus she is like this on her other show too ! If anything I think Molly was given this show to be her’s and had ruined it . 

[ninjakid]

3 hours ago, Frost said:

Ah no, no it's not.  Yes, we Minnesotans say "hot dish" not "casserole," but not all entrees are in the hot dish category, and we do not lump everything cold into a "salad" category.  What an odd generalization.

I'm a 4th generation Minnesotan. I've been to about a million of these things, and that's been my observation.

 

[RoxiP]

Every baking competition show I've watched seems like they've had a week where they've had these "weird" ingredients.  (Well except for GBBO.)  I think it's stupid but it's not like Molly made this up by herself.  The picture thing though...that's all on her.

[orangekit]

1 hour ago, RoxiP said:

Every baking competition show I've watched seems like they've had a week where they've had these "weird" ingredients.  (Well except for GBBO.)  I think it's stupid but it's not like Molly made this up by herself.  The picture thing though...that's all on her.

Well, I think she has more to do with it than other hosts.    The cookie salad was definitely her idea , and she does say “I had the bakers …:” when telling the judges about the challenges.

I think her name on the title really is because it is her show now , just like Guy Fierri Has Guy’s Grocery games !  Seems like mediocrity wnd annoying personas are what makes you a “star” on FN!  

[Catfi9ht]

4 hours ago, marmalade said:

not crap that Molly finds at a potluck in her neighborhood where they find “baking” ideas from cookie boxes and soup cans

This is my biggest problem with this show. We've gotten crappy ingredients before like the infamous green apple and coffee, but this country-crafty, post-depression era baking style is the anthesis of what this show used to be.

I hadn't heard of the palette technique cakes before so I did a Google search for it, and sure enough, more country crafty bullshit. Even ones that are supposed to be really good versions of this style are really sloppy and something I would expect people at home to be able to make after watching a YouTube video. Again, which is the anthesis of this show's thesis.

No wonder the really refined, professional bakers are struggling. This show has taken a U turn to Saturday mornings on FN.

I'm really looking forward to this season being over. What a shame.

I'm really sad that Diego is gone. He was interesting and super talented. He seemed resigned he was going home during his narration about the tomato soup cake falling apart. Like others said, I hope he shows up elsewhere on FN. I really enjoyed watching him.

Edited April 12, 2022 by Catfi9ht
I had more thoughts

[orangekit]

21 minutes ago, Catfi9ht said:

This is my biggest problem with this show. We've gotten crappy ingredients before like the infamous green apple and coffee, but this country-crafty, post-depression era baking style is the anthesis of what this show used to be.

I hadn't heard of the palette technique cakes before so I did a Google search for it, and sure enough, more country crafty bullshit. Even ones that are supposed to be really good versions of this style are really sloppy and something I would expect people at home to be able to make after watching a YouTube video. Again, which is the anthesis of this show's thesis.

No wonder the really refined, professional bakers are struggling. This show has taken a U turn to Saturday mornings on FN.

I'm really looking forward to this season being over. What a shame.

I'm really sad that Diego is gone. He was interesting and super talented. He seemed resigned he was going home during his narration about the tomato soup cake falling apart. Like others said, I hope he shows up elsewhere on FN. I really enjoyed watching him.

The country bumpkin ideas seem to fit right into some of Molly’s recipes ! She can cook decent food , but they cookie salad , the weird ingredients, the childish kindergarten ribbons and farm theme have Molly written all over them. ! This is a woman who prides herself on making popcorn salad !

[Mellowyellow]

Why did they that woman her own show???

She's a twit! She's just absolutely unbearable. Why are they trying to make her happen? Are we just in the minority? Does she have a huge following that food network is trying to capitalize on and no one else thinks she's awful???

Someone please explain it to me!!!!!!

I have in the past complained about a few people like Katie Lee (who I will take over Molly ANY day) but Molly constantly looking like she's going to pee in her pants, complete with random mean girl bitchy moments is unbearable. WHY???? WHY????

 

[susannot]

Agree with everyone about Molly.  She is annoying as hell and I generally can't stand overly cheerful chirpy people.

Disagree with people complaining about someone coming out or Tom showing his drag queen persona.  The gayer the show is, the more I like it.  

The right person won and the right person went home tonight.  Jaleesa's cake was gorgeous and delicious.  Diego is a super talented baker but his cake was a mess.

 

I think the finale will be between Jaleesa and Tom.

[Cetacean]

1 hour ago, Mellowyellow said:

Someone please explain it to me!!!!!!

For what it's worth, her normal show is really not that bad.  She has a nice variety and does both Jewish and Chinese recipes that she grew up with.  I have made several and they are not difficult and always tasty.

I will say that she has gotten more, um, perky than she was at the beginning where she was very low key.  There are too many cutesy gimmicks now but I do think they are producer driven to try and......well, I have no idea why.  I still watch but fast forward the silly bits and just watch her do the cooking/baking.  She normally does at least three recipes on each show.

She really comes across as a total ditz on this show.  I think she is best working alone.

Edited April 13, 2022 by Cetacean

[Kid]

22 hours ago, MerBearHou said:

Tomato soup incorporated into a cake?  In what world could that EVER have been tasty?  It sounds absolutely awful.  And it HAD to change the cake consistency dramatically.  That was a very bad draw for poor Diego who was one of the best of the season, I thought.  He was extremely gracious when he was given the boot.  

Considering that the other baker FAILED TO MEET THE CHALLENGE.  Failed in taste and failed in decorating technique.  I was yelling at the TV. 😬. Diego should not have been the one to go, in my opinion.

it’s bad enough we all have to endure that 20 something toddler.

Edited April 13, 2022 by Kid

[marmalade]

1 hour ago, susannot said:

Agree with everyone about Molly.  She is annoying as hell and I generally can't stand overly cheerful chirpy people.

Disagree with people complaining about someone coming out or Tom showing his drag queen persona.  The gayer the show is, the more I like it.  

The right person won and the right person went home tonight.  Jaleesa's cake was gorgeous and delicious.  Diego is a super talented baker but his cake was a mess.

 

I think the finale will be between Jaleesa and Tom.

I don’t mind the gayness ,  but both Tom and Dennis screwed up big time and others went home in past weeks . 
The show is not about someone’s ability to tell a story , it’s supposed to be about baking .

[Cetacean]

2 hours ago, susannot said:

Disagree with people complaining about someone coming out or Tom showing his drag queen persona.  The gayer the show is, the more I like it.  

But what has that got to do with baking?  I have zero interest in anyone's life, I only want to watch how skilled they are at the craft.  Just shut up and bake.

[MerBearHou]

14 minutes ago, Cetacean said:

But what has that got to do with baking?  I have zero interest in anyone's life, I only want to watch how skilled they are at the craft.  Just shut up and bake.

Agree with this 1000%.  And I particularly am bothered when I feel like the ones with “life stories” that they’ve chosen to tell publicly are the ones getting preferred treatment by this irritating, borderline unwatchable head of show, Molly.  I will BET that Romy, Justin, Diego have their own interesting stories but they just want to bake.  

[Grizzly]

17 minutes ago, MerBearHou said:

I will BET that Romy, Justin, Diego have their own interesting stories but they just want to bake.  

We just heard Romy's story. He dreams of opening a vegan bakery. He's going to experiment with different vegetable oils instead of using butter. If anyone could make it taste good, I'm betting he could.

And Justin has two older sisters. 🙂

[emmawoodhouse]

1 minute ago, Grizzly said:

We just heard Romy's story. He dreams of opening a vegan bakery. He's going to experiment with different vegetable oils instead of using butter. If anyone could make it taste good, I'm betting he could.

And Justin has two older sisters. 🙂

I don't mind them talking about their baking aspirations. After all, being on the show in the first place is aspirational for some. But I don't care that Justin has two older sisters. That line of questioning was baseless and went nowhere. Molly needs to put a sock in it. 

[MerBearHou]

7 minutes ago, emmawoodhouse said:

I don't mind them talking about their baking aspirations. After all, being on the show in the first place is aspirational for some. But I don't care that Justin has two older sisters. That line of questioning was baseless and went nowhere. Molly needs to put a sock in it. 

Agreed — Romy’s baker aspirations are pertinent and interesting.  

You could tell that Justin was struggling to come up with something!  Ummm, I have two older sisters… Molly “were they nice to you?”  Shut up, Molly.  

[Irlandesa]

9 hours ago, orangekit said:

I doubt this is all producer driven !  She can’t just turn into a different person , plus she is like this on her other show too ! If anything I think Molly was given this show to be her’s and had ruined it . 

She's not this amped up on her show but I do think the personality she's showing here is her.  But the challenges? That, to me, is producer-driven.  All of the things that Molly supposedly has her hands all over all seem to me to be more like things a producer think would fit thematically with who Molly is more than it being driven by what Molly does.

Other than sprinkles.  Sprinkles are all hers.

[Gramto6]

Oh G*d the sprinkles!!! If I never see any other sprinkles my life will be complete!! Is she10?? What adult wants sprinkles on everything???

[marmalade]

2 hours ago, Gramto6 said:

Oh G*d the sprinkles!!! If I never see any other sprinkles my life will be complete!! Is she10?? What adult wants sprinkles on everything???

LMAO! Right ??  And what adult says “can we still be friends ?” , when a baker says rhey don’t like freaking sprinkles ???  Or what adult is excited that her sister is coming to visit because they can tell fart jokes?  
I think the challenges have Molly written all over them ! They are ridiculous crap you’d find in some local pot luck . 

[dleighg]

11 hours ago, Catfi9ht said:

I hadn't heard of the palette technique cakes before so I did a Google search for it, and sure enough, more country crafty bullshit.

I just did a search, and it reminded me of the "fine art" you could buy in tourist traps back in the 70s (when middle class folks decided that they could "afford real oil paintings"). Those globbed-on floral still lifes, or citiscapes, could be tossed off in a (likely) 20 minutes or so, and the tourists would be buying a real oil painting. How do I know? My middle class parents had some of those LOL.

I prefer watching real stuff, like acetate chocolate work, or blown sugar, and other technical stuff that looks like it takes lots of skill and practice.

[MerBearHou]

To me, Molly has infantalized herself because she thinks it’s cute and makes her endearing.  It doesn’t.  It’s bizarre and annoying.  I cannot imagine what it’s like to live or work with someone like that.  

[libgirl2]

7 hours ago, MerBearHou said:

Agreed — Romy’s baker aspirations are pertinent and interesting.  

You could tell that Justin was struggling to come up with something!  Ummm, I have two older sisters… Molly “were they nice to you?”  Shut up, Molly.  

I saw what Romy said and yes, that was pertinent to the show. It is baking related. 

I missed the older sisters part. Did she really ask if they were nice to him? WTF kind of a question is that? 

[MerBearHou]

6 minutes ago, libgirl2 said:

I saw what Romy said and yes, that was pertinent to the show. It is baking related. 

I missed the older sisters part. Did she really ask if they were nice to him? WTF kind of a question is that? 

I’d have to rewatch to be exactly sure how it went (though unfortunately I have zero desire to rewatch unlike prior years) — my memory is that she asked about his sisters, Justin said he made XYZ dessert for them, Molly asked if they were nice to him, Justin said ummmm, sometimes, and Molly said she thought they were probably nice when he gave them that particular dessert.  It was weak BS.  I think Molly can tell Justin doesn’t really want to shoot the breeze with her when he’s baking for a chance at winning — important recognition professionally and very helpful $$.  Molly seems to forget when she is doing some serious interrupting that this show can make a difference in those bakers’ lives.  

[MyMaui]

8 hours ago, MerBearHou said:

Agreed — Romy’s baker aspirations are pertinent and interesting.  

You could tell that Justin was struggling to come up with something!  Ummm, I have two older sisters… Molly “were they nice to you?”  Shut up, Molly.  

I liked hearing that about Romy.  I would love to taste his food.  

I would have loved if Justin would have said 'no they weren't' and stopped after that.  I wonder what she would have done.  

I thought everyone's cakes looked horrible except for Jaleesa and Justin.  Jaleesa should have won.  Her cake was gorgeous.

They have to know people are not happy with Molly. Maybe if it wasn't so Molly themed she wouldn't be that bad.  When you have Molly's farm, Molly's pics, Molly's ribbons, Molly's faces, everything Molly focused you tend to get sick of Molly.

[libgirl2]

14 minutes ago, MyMaui said:

I liked hearing that about Romy.  I would love to taste his food.  

I would have loved if Justin would have said 'no they weren't' and stopped after that.  I wonder what she would have done.  

I thought everyone's cakes looked horrible except for Jaleesa and Justin.  Jaleesa should have won.  Her cake was gorgeous.

They have to know people are not happy with Molly. Maybe if it wasn't so Molly themed she wouldn't be that bad.  When you have Molly's farm, Molly's pics, Molly's ribbons, Molly's faces, everything Molly focused you tend to get sick of Molly.

Romy's bakes always look so beautiful. 

In addition Justin could have said, no, they made my life a living hell and we don't speak anymore. 

You hit the nail on the head, too Molly focused. Every aspect of the show is related to her. I want the show to focus on the bakers. It is not like the Julia Child Challenge were she is the rightly the star of the show. Yet that show still manages to also focus on the cooks and not Antonia! 

Edited April 13, 2022 by libgirl2

[toodywoody]

I'm going to defend the tomato soup in a cake. My mom got this recipe from my grandmother and makes a tomato soup cake. It ends up tasting like a spice cake but both used cream cheese iciing with it. I will have to ask my mom for the recipe to see what else is in it but it can work.

Now Molly has always driven me nuts. I can't watch her cooking show and she pissed me off on one of the other baking championship shows. Her walking around all smiling makes me want to punch myself. No one walks around smiling all the time. 

What happened to the challenges being actual cakes that are taught or they know. Like the dome one that you put ice cream in the middle (that's the only one I can think of). Just more stuff like that. 

I'm just glad Romy knew what to do with the saukerkrat because he's my favorite.

[libgirl2]

25 minutes ago, toodywoody said:

I'm going to defend the tomato soup in a cake. My mom got this recipe from my grandmother and makes a tomato soup cake. It ends up tasting like a spice cake but both used cream cheese iciing with it. I will have to ask my mom for the recipe to see what else is in it but it can work.

Now Molly has always driven me nuts. I can't watch her cooking show and she pissed me off on one of the other baking championship shows. Her walking around all smiling makes me want to punch myself. No one walks around smiling all the time. 

What happened to the challenges being actual cakes that are taught or they know. Like the dome one that you put ice cream in the middle (that's the only one I can think of). Just more stuff like that. 

I'm just glad Romy knew what to do with the saukerkrat because he's my favorite.

Like I said, I have seen tomato soup and kraut in cakes before, it isn't new. Both are difficult when the judges need to taste the ingredient. I do think kraut is easier to use and keep some "taste". 

I am missing elegant cakes and desserts that I love seeing on these kind of shows. I also miss fun cakes, not tacky ones. I dread to think what the big finale bake will be, but I am sure sprinkles will be a part of it. 

[RoxiP]

I agree.  I like to see cakes that not only taste good but are tastefully and beautifully decorated.  Where is the spun sugar?  Where are the isomalt shards?  Where is the picture perfect outside of the cake with beautiful little accent beads (I can't remember what they are called) perfectly placed around the bottom of the layers?  I try to ignore Molly but it is hard to ignore the fact that the contestants aren't producing beautiful work.  I think they are CAPABLE of doing it - they just aren't being allowed to do it (as opposed to the Easter show where quite honestly most of the cakes were absolutely stunning).

[jrzy]

14 hours ago, Mellowyellow said:

Why did they that woman her own show???

She's a twit! She's just absolutely unbearable. Why are they trying to make her happen? Are we just in the minority? Does she have a huge following that food network is trying to capitalize on and no one else thinks she's awful???

Someone please explain it to me!!!!!!

I have in the past complained about a few people like Katie Lee (who I will take over Molly ANY day) but Molly constantly looking like she's going to pee in her pants, complete with random mean girl bitchy moments is unbearable. WHY???? WHY????

 

I have been wondering the exact same thing,  is it the alternate fact and universe folks who are into her?  Because I just don't get it.  I think she is idiocy personified.  I feel sorry for the contestants.

[TVbitch]

Wow. The look on some of these baker's faces is making me sad. Justin is fooking over it. (You are not alone, Justin!) He cannot even pretend to put a smile on his face. He looks absolutely defeated, and I think he was bummed he was not eliminated. 

Meanwhile, Tom: "Hi Judges. Hiiiya Molleeeeee." 

I feel uncomfortable for the bakers who's dignity and self respect are taking a beating here as they struggle to play the Molly game. 

In conclusion, I feel sad and uncomfortable ...just what I want from a baking show. 

[Frost]

I too miss all the techniques professional bakers can do that I couldn't dream of!  I want to see their absolute best work, not forced into stupid games like using tomato soup in a cake.  I used to think cake batter was cake batter.  Watching shows like this taught me about genoise, victoria sponge, chiffon, butter, etc.  I still don't truly understand the difference between all of them, which is why I want more discussion of techniques on this show!  Less personal revelation, more baking!

[libgirl2]

52 minutes ago, RoxiP said:

I agree.  I like to see cakes that not only taste good but are tastefully and beautifully decorated.  Where is the spun sugar?  Where are the isomalt shards?  Where is the picture perfect outside of the cake with beautiful little accent beads (I can't remember what they are called) perfectly placed around the bottom of the layers?  I try to ignore Molly but it is hard to ignore the fact that the contestants aren't producing beautiful work.  I think they are CAPABLE of doing it - they just aren't being allowed to do it (as opposed to the Easter show where quite honestly most of the cakes were absolutely stunning).

Instead we get chickens and tractors 

[HyeChaps]

Background sob stories are the reason I stopped watching Chopped. 

[libgirl2]

1 minute ago, HyeChaps said:

Background sob stories are the reason I stopped watching Chopped. 

I don't mind a background story, but keep it brief.