Spring Baking Championship - General Discussion

[MsMalin]

I am so glad they finally got rid of Tom. He turned me off several episodes ago when he said he doesn't make cakes.

Molly reminds me.of Paige from Trading Spaces. Overly enthusiastic and talkative.

[VanillaBear85]

Tom's cake was so ugly and poorly done and reminded me of a cemetery. No issues with him being eliminated. 

Carolyn's cake looked so elegant. 

[mscool]

8 hours ago, dleighg said:

I know absolutely nothing but I thought Jaleesa got the "winner's arc" edit this week when she mused about how proud she was to have gotten this far, and how amazing it would be to win it all. And I hate her purple lipstick.

FINALLY someone else mentioned it! I don't know if I dislike the purple lipstick somuch as I hate the purple lipstick against the red t-shirt and pink apron.  It all just clashes in my eyes. 

Edited April 26, 2022 by mscool

[mscool]

Molly: "So pretty, Caroline"

Caroline: "Oh Thanks" <turns her back on Molly>

LMAO

Edited April 26, 2022 by mscool

[libgirl2]

1 hour ago, mscool said:

Molly: "So pretty, Caroline"

Caroline: "Oh Thanks" <turns her back on Molly>

LMAO

Yea, I noticed that "cut". 

[JenMD]

9 hours ago, Madding crowd said:

I notice they don’t have many comments from the judges now and I miss the longer critiques.

Yeah, I noticed last night that Romy's critique was particularly short.  What was with that?

Both Romy and Caroline's desserts were just lovely.  I'm so glad he got the win.

With Caroline being brought back, shouldn't we have lost 2 bakers at some point?

[Catfi9ht]

21 hours ago, Shermie said:

Molly is a terrible host of this show, but I don’t appreciate the description of her as “nothing but the wife of a farmer”. Plus living in the middle of nowhere where there are more cows than people. Please. Farmers are not a bunch of remote hicks who don’t know how to interact with the world. They shop at Target and Amazon, and go to movies and plays, and listen to rock or classical or country music, etc. etc. just like everyone else. Enough with insulting stereotypes.

To add onto this info, Molly is from Chicago and went to Julliard for music performance. This exemplifies how fake her farmy, folksy schtick is. She's such a caricature she's insulting the people she's imitating.

Back to the show, if this were another season, Carolyn, Romy, Diego, and Justin would be the top four. Romy is the only one of those four who hasn't been eliminated. That's how off this season is.

I wonder who's going to win next week? Carolyn makes a cake that looks like a wedding cake and next week is what? Wedding cakes! 

I don't think wedding cakes are spring but it's a bit closer to the actual theme than this week. At this point, the bar is so low, I only care that next week is the finale.

Who wins? Who cares. We're all winners for finishing this season. Congrats everyone!

[Refresh]

I don’t hate Tom as much as you all do, but it was definitely his time to go home. His cake was baffling. first the decoration. People know you can blend food coloring colors right? You don’t have to use all the bright green all at once. A tiny drop of yellow or even just LESS GREEN… would’ve been much more pretty. There’s a phrase they use on project runway a lot, and that’s “taste level”. His visual taste is not elevated. 

I think the edit of his actual taste critique was kind. You could see the layers fell apart on the plate which is going to make the textures very odd. A crunchy layer with a jelly layer, the cheese and then that weird sticky mirror glaze and then buttercream noodles? WTF. Kardea wanted to spread it on crackers, which to me means it was too savory. That’s what I heard.

Jaleesa makes errors, a lot of them, but her ideas and flavors are good. All things being equal that counts for something. 
 

Looking forward to seeing what Romi and Carolyn do in the finale. 

[Kid]

If keeping Jaleesa was not  favoritism, I do not know what is.  The cheesecake was UNDERBAKED, ugly, and did not have a bit of Spring about it.  In past seasons, underbaked immediately got you voted off. I'm not saying that Tom's looked all that great either but hers was worse than his. Much worse.  They have been coddling her since her "break down."

My opinion, the final should've been Romy, Caroline,  Diego and Justin.  And the host should have been anybody else!!!

Edited April 27, 2022 by Kid

[ProfCrash]

8 minutes ago, Kid said:

If keeping Jaleesa was not  favoritism, I do not know what is.  The cheesecake was UNDERBAKED, ugly, and did not have a bit of Spring about it.  In past seasons, underbaked immediately got you voted off. I'm not saying that Tom's looked all that great either but hers was worse than his. Much worse.  They have been coddling her since her "break down."

My opinion, the final should've been Romy, Caroline,  Diego and Justin.  And the host should have been anybody else!!!

I agree that Jalessa has been allowed to stay for some weird reason but her panic attack was a panic attack. It was a legitimate moment of distress. You don't fake racing heart rate and breathing issues. There are techniques that you can use to end a panic attack and get yourself under control.

There was a Chef on the Tournament of Champions this year that was having a panic attack before the round started. They stopped, let him go outside and calm down. Guy talked to him a bit and gave him some space. He was able to go into the competition and he legit won it. 

I don't think Jalessa belongs in the competition at this point because she has not been able to put together a complete dessert that looks good in both rounds for most of the competition. She has had far too many issues with her bakes. But I am not going to undersell her panic attack or whatever issues she might have with anxiety. 

[jshaik]

While I don't think Tom did a good job, but Dennis and Jaleesa made a cheesecake for the cheese competition. Isn't that a little too easy? They should have said use cheese but you cannot do a cheesecake. And Jaleesa last minute added these gelee wine things. Dennis did zero decoration for his cheesecake and some weird marzipan decorations on the side. I'm so baffled by this season. If Romy or Carolyn do not win I will be so disappointed. Their bake and decorations are well above the rest. 

[Cetacean]

52 minutes ago, ProfCrash said:

I agree that Jalessa has been allowed to stay for some weird reason but her panic attack was a panic attack. It was a legitimate moment of distress. You don't fake racing heart rate and breathing issues.

Panic attacks are totally legit.   However, I do think that they are letting her slide because they are afraid she will have another one and have to deal with the drama.  Not the way to run a contest.

[VanillaBear85]

I think it's simply that Jaleesa hasn't been the worst. I would think FN would love the drama of another panic attack. 

It seems the critiques of the main heat are only a line or two and not from all 3 judges. I'm not sure if it's a shorter segment to make more room for Molly antics or it's always been short, but I do think they should show more. 

[Cetacean]

13 hours ago, Catfi9ht said:

To add onto this info, Molly is from Chicago and went to Julliard for music performance. This exemplifies how fake her farmy, folksy schtick is.

You mean like the Pioneer Woman?

While Molly has an urban background, the reality is that she does live on a working farm.  Her husband also went to Julliard but lives on and works the family farm.  And from what I have read, they are well liked in the community and her recipes are often good.  The "cutesy" had definitely ramped up for her earlier episodes, though, and that's annoying.

With that said, she does not belong in this format.  She's best on her own in her kitchen.  I hope that FN has listened to the criticisms.

Honestly, I do think some of these shows have run their course.  We rarely see anything truly innovative anymore.  I often fast forward to the judging to see the results.  How many meltdowns, kitchen catastrophes, and angst can we view with interest?  It's gotten boring.

[Shermie]

18 hours ago, VanillaBear85 said:

Tom's cake was so ugly and poorly done and reminded me of a cemetery. No issues with him being eliminated. 

This! It did look like a cemetery. I think he was going for a rose bush or rose garden? Why not put a few tendrils of greenery around his “roses” and pipe on some leaves? Did he think his mirror glaze was ugly and that’s why he covered it? It perplexes me.

1 hour ago, Cetacean said:

she does live on a working farm

As opposed to a non-working farm? Then it’s a house in the country. The term “working farm” has always puzzled me.

3 hours ago, ProfCrash said:

Jalessa

Her name is Jaleesa. 

I’ve honestly never heard of Molly Yeh before this show. Does she have other FN shows? Where was she that she’s considered well-known enough to have her name on this show?

[Cetacean]

9 minutes ago, Shermie said:

I’ve honestly never heard of Molly Yeh before this show. Does she have other FN shows? Where was she that she’s considered well-known enough to have her name on this show?

Yes, she has a weekly show on Sunday morning called Girl Meets Farm.  The filming is done in the same kitchen her husband's grandmother used including the same stove.

10 minutes ago, Shermie said:

As opposed to a non-working farm? Then it’s a house in the country.

My sister lives on a 33 acre farm but they do not plant crops for human use or consumption.  So her property, for tax purposes, is not considered a working farm.

[RuntheTable]

I am struggling with the lack of consistency in the judging this season. Historically, an underbaked dessert was grounds for elimination. Jaleesa's cheesecake looked like soup when she took it out of the oven, and as presented to the judges was messy, with cracked and broken crust, unfinished perimeter, and unappealing decorations. Additionally, there was nothing Springy about it; much more fall oriented in my opinion. She also forgot the wine element as the topping and ended up cutting out small flowers and placing them on the top. Sure, Tom's was a mess too, but it was completely baked and had some Springiness to it. When you have two desserts this close, I think the sum of the whole must be considered, and the baker's overall track record should come into play. 

Tom is a lousy decorator, but he is a good baker, and has not been considered for elimination the entire show. At least I can remember. I can only think of a few times he struggled, and the judges didn't like his dessert from a taste perspective. Jaleesa has had many tough bakes, making errors and running late on finishing. There is no way Tom should have been eliminated with Jaleesa staying. 

Caroline's cake was beautiful and looked delicious. Romy's too. If one of these two do not win this competition, then I am gonna squawk so loud to FN. The only way I would except it is if they totally fail the challenge, or don't produce a dessert at all. 

 

[Kid]

5 hours ago, ProfCrash said:

I don't think Jalessa belongs in the competition at this point because she has not been able to put together a complete dessert that looks good in both rounds for most of the competition. She has had far too many issues with her bakes. But I am not going to undersell her panic attack or whatever issues she might have with anxiety. 

I did not think I undersold her panic attacks, at least that was not my intent. I have panic attacks myself so I am quite familiar with them. My point, which obviously wasn't clear enough, was that they have coddled her ever since. Even in this week's episode, if Caroline had not helped her at the end of the preheat, she would never have gotten the preheat plated.  And in every other season, underbaked equals out the door.  Yet she is in the finals.  It would not surprise me if she wins.  And not because I believe she deserves to win.

Edited April 27, 2022 by Kid

[Shermie]

Since they brought Caroline back, they should have eliminated two people this week in keeping with a final three. That would have made it easy to eliminate both Tom and Jaleesa.

I really don’t understand what’s going on in the producers’ minds: eliminate a really good baker, bring that baker back, judging that’s questionable and odd, a spring baking competition that isn’t really about spring and often isn’t really about baking. What the fork?

[Cetacean]

28 minutes ago, Shermie said:

I really don’t understand what’s going on in the producers’ minds

This whole mess has definitely been a clusterfork. No rhyme or reason for the decisions.

[Maverick]

 For the past several seasons, the finale has been two hours.  In the first half, two bakers are safe and the bottom two have a challenge to determine who gets the third slot in the final.  

[libgirl2]

40 minutes ago, Cetacean said:

This whole mess has definitely been a clusterfork. No rhyme or reason for the decisions.

It is a mess. 

[Grizzly]

My issue with Carolyn is if she can't use Hawaiian flavors, she gets stressed out. In order to be the champion, you need to get out of your comfort zone. Part of the cookie salad debacle was that she got figs. She said figs weren't found on Hawaii and she wasn't sure if she could work with them. Compare that to Romy who had never made a cupcake or drank a margarita. He just smiled and did his best. That is why I am Team Romy, he has a great attitude.

[Kid]

1 hour ago, Grizzly said:

My issue with Carolyn is if she can't use Hawaiian flavors, she gets stressed out. In order to be the champion, you need to get out of your comfort zone. Part of the cookie salad debacle was that she got figs. She said figs weren't found on Hawaii and she wasn't sure if she could work with them. Compare that to Romy who had never made a cupcake or drank a margarita. He just smiled and did his best. That is why I am Team Romy, he has a great attitude.

I have thought, since the first episode, he should win.  A total pro.

[mojoween]

“The French guy won a wine and cheese challenge.”  Romy is just too adorable.

I was picturing Jesse describing one of the challenges Molly was and realized that his voice makes me feel like wintertime.  I know that has nothing to do with anything but here I am.

Piling on here, but one of my numerous issues with Molly is that half the time she’s all cutesy irritating, but the other half she speaks in this monotone like she’s about ready to stab my family.

[dleighg]

2 minutes ago, mojoween said:

half the time she’s all cutesy irritating

I just hate that pasted on smile (10,000w) she has on most of the time. NOBODY is that happy.

[laredhead]

One of my relatives has panic attacks, and told me that he would never try to participate in anything like this cooking contest because of the added stress.  It is a recipe for disaster panic attack wise. 

[YupItsMe]

2 hours ago, laredhead said:

One of my relatives has panic attacks, and told me that he would never try to participate in anything like this cooking contest because of the added stress.  It is a recipe for disaster panic attack wise. 

I feel the same, and if I did have a panic attack that was filmed and put on tv, I would never come out of my house again.

[joanne3482]

On 4/27/2022 at 9:02 AM, Cetacean said:

Honestly, I do think some of these shows have run their course.  We rarely see anything truly innovative anymore.  I often fast forward to the judging to see the results.  How many meltdowns, kitchen catastrophes, and angst can we view with interest?  It's gotten boring.

Sadly, for me, I'll be sucked into watching these until they stop making them. 🤣

That being said, it is Spring Baking Championship, not Spring Dessert Championship. I would like it better if they were given the opportunity to do more non-dessert baking. I think maybe once every season they throw in a non-dessert savory challenge, but that's it. Plus since they get dinged on having to make decorations "look like spring" it really limits their ability to do non-dessert baked goods. One thing I LOVE about the Great British Bake Off is all the different things they make each week, variations of bread I've never heard of... It will probably never happen, but I would love to see a variety in their bakes so they aren't always defaulting to cake/cupcake which seems to be what the bakers do if they aren't told "bake this specific thing."

I think, although I could be wrong, this episode they were allowed to bake whatever they wanted as long as it had wine and cheese and they all defaulted to some type of cake. I mostly blame the decoration requirement for this default. Looking back at the previous episode list on Wikipedia, frequently the requirement is to bake a cake. That does get old fast. 

[dleighg]

8 minutes ago, joanne3482 said:

they all defaulted to some type of cake. I mostly blame the decoration requirement for this default. Looking back at the previous episode list on Wikipedia, frequently the requirement is to bake a cake.

and that reminds me-- whenever they cut the layer cake, the filling between the cake layers always looks really strange to me. They pipe some buttercream around the circumference of the cake, and then put some OTHER kind of filling in the center. I know that's because they want to show a bunch of different flavors ("level of difficulty") but it looks so ugly to me to have the buttercream going 1/3 of the way across the layer, and then something else in the middle. I mean no one's grandma ever made a cake that looks like that, and THAT'S A GOOD THING!

ETA: and somehow I doubt if you do a google image search on "layer cake" you're going to get one these ugly things. Yes, I'm correct.

Edited April 28, 2022 by dleighg

[joanne3482]

9 minutes ago, dleighg said:

They pipe some buttercream around the circumference of the cake, and then put some OTHER kind of filling in the center. I know that's because they want to show a bunch of different flavors ("level of difficulty") but it looks so ugly to me to have the buttercream going 1/3 of the way across the layer, and then something else in the middle.

I think that's to keep the uniformity of the exterior of the cake. If they had a jelly or crumble, when they do the frosting around the outside, it wouldn't be as uniform between the layers and so the jelly could ooze out or the crumble could make the edge look rough right there. I do agree that it is weird and I wouldn't like that if I were enjoying a delicious curd and then discover the rest is all butter cream. 

[dleighg]

^I get that, but I wish they could keep the buttercream circle much thinner, so it's not so weird looking.

[kirklandia]

On 4/25/2022 at 7:11 PM, mlp said:

The first thing I thought of when I saw her was Judy Garland in the Wizard of Oz - the dress and the braids. 

Surely Molly's FN hosting paycheck is sufficiently generous to allow her to snap up this wardrobe staple at auction.  
I'll be waiting to see her wear it next season.

Edited April 29, 2022 by kirklandia

[Shermie]

5 hours ago, joanne3482 said:

I would like it better if they were given the opportunity to do more non-dessert baking. I think maybe once every season they throw in a non-dessert savory challenge, but that's it. Plus since they get dinged on having to make decorations "look like spring" it really limits their ability to do non-dessert baked goods.

I’d like to see other types of baking too, but I don’t think the decorating part would hinder that. They can do beautiful works of art with breads and pies, and even a savoury like a shepherd’s pie or a casserole can be made to look festive.

[Insert Username]

Although Romy is my favorite and I still mourn for my boy Justin, I have to defend Jaleesa. I have gotten stuff from her bakery (including her hibiscus cake and and her black sesame cake) and her stuff is flat out delicious! One of her specialties is eclairs (which is why her struggle with choux was baffling) and those suckers are dangerously good.  It doesn't help my waistline that her shop is a few doors from an incredibly good coffee shop too, so it is too easy to pop on in and get something to go with my latte.

 

ETA: also, she and her husband are very sweet and often have their baby  in the shop

Edited April 29, 2022 by Insert Username

[bourbon]

Yeah, something stinks in the kitchen, and it's not just Carolyn's camembert.

There is NO WAY Tom should have been eliminated over Jaleesa. In not setting the right temp, Jaleesa made a very basic error in baking her cheesecake and then did not have the basic technique to try and remedy the error. That *alone* should have eliminated her from being in the final of a *championship.* Not to mention that she also basically forgot her wine element and slapped on a bunch of flower cutouts AND has had a wildly inconsistent showing all season. By her own admission, she had the easiest cheese -- mascarpone -- and should have had this running away. Instead, she was in the bottom 2 for a rookie mistake. Tom's wasn't much better, but Jaleesa should've gotten the boot. 

Of the remaining bakers, I like Rome the best, but Carolyn is bound to win, and this will be all about her redemption arc. I'm puzzled as to why the judges brought her back. Was it because they thought she was unfairly eliminated b/c her bake wasn't the worst? Or was it  b/c her dish was the "worst" during a week when everyone knocked it out of the park? If it's the former, then sure... but it seems deeply unfair to wait a couple of weeks to bring her back when she could realistically been eliminated during any of those intervening weeks. If it's the latter, then they should have done a no-elimination week and then ejected two the next week. Or stuck to the rules and eliminated her. The thing I like on GBBO is that someone can go from being star baker one week to eliminated the next. That's what makes it suspenseful. If we know a strong baker can be invited back, what's the point? 

But I don't like Carolyn and her over-reliance on Hawaiian flavors. And I don't know...she's got a weird, entitled, snarky vibe she tries to hide with this cutesy "aloha" thing. Not my favorite. 

Speaking of not my favorite things, I'm not loving Molly. I found her grating in the first episode and considered turning it off for the season. She's grown on me...very, very slightly, but she really adds nothing and in some way, she detracts. You'd think it would be better having an actual chef as host, but she adds nothing in that respect except wandering around and saying "Yum!" when the contestants tell her their ingredients. Her only other contribution is saying "Aw!" and sticking out her lower lip when a contestant mentions their pet/child/grandma/spouse. Her voice is like nails on chalkboard. I also don't want to see her gums all the time. 

[GaT]

59 minutes ago, bourbon said:

Of the remaining bakers, I like Rome the best, but Carolyn is bound to win, and this will be all about her redemption arc. I'm puzzled as to why the judges brought her back. Was it because they thought she was unfairly eliminated b/c her bake wasn't the worst? Or was it  b/c her dish was the "worst" during a week when everyone knocked it out of the park? If it's the former, then sure... but it seems deeply unfair to wait a couple of weeks to bring her back when she could realistically been eliminated during any of those intervening weeks. If it's the latter, then they should have done a no-elimination week and then ejected two the next week. Or stuck to the rules and eliminated her.

Carolyn was brought back because Molly went to her station during a challenge, distracted her from working, & then turned off her timer causing her food to burn. 

[NYGirl]

Just watched the finale on Discovery Plus.  Not going to spoil it but I just want to say there are no words.

[libgirl2]

4 minutes ago, NYGirl said:

Just watched the finale on Discovery Plus.  Not going to spoil it but I just want to say there are no words.

Oh no. I can only imagine. 

[MyMaui]

25 minutes ago, NYGirl said:

Just watched the finale on Discovery Plus.  Not going to spoil it but I just want to say there are no words.

Yikes that makes me think the least deserving one who was pampered throughout the season won. But who knows maybe the most talented one. Still I bet the first one wins.  What a shame really. I will be watching anyway. I have this sadistic part of me to finish it all off.

I saw on facebook from Duff they delve into family history.  I'm guessing we get a Molly's spin on this too. They have to know so many don't like or want her on the show. His twitter and facebook are littered with no more Molly.

[libgirl2]

1 hour ago, NYGirl said:

Just watched the finale on Discovery Plus.  Not going to spoil it but I just want to say there are no words.

I read a spoiler and for the love of God, I can't believe it!! 

[Spunkygal]

I’ll just be glad when this mess of a show is over. 

[libgirl2]

20 minutes ago, Spunkygal said:

I’ll just be glad when this mess of a show is over. 

Reading more on it and this was a dumpster fire of epic proportions. WTF did FN do? I'm not even sure i want to watch this steaming pile of you know what. 

Big spoiler

Spoiler

Romy walks off! Sprinkle showdowns! And Jaleesa for the win! What a freaking mess. 

 

Edited May 2, 2022 by libgirl2

[MyMaui]

53 minutes ago, libgirl2 said:

Reading more on it and this was a dumpster fire of epic proportions. WTF did FN do? I'm not even sure i want to watch this steaming pile of you know what. 

Big spoiler

  Hide contents

Romy walks off! Sprinkle showdowns! And Jaleesa for the win! What a freaking mess. 

 

That's what I was afraid of. Ugh

[marmalade]

4 hours ago, NYGirl said:

Just watched the finale on Discovery Plus.  Not going to spoil it but I just want to say there are no words.

I agree , I watched it too .

I will not watch anymore of these baking championships if sappy Molly is hosting . I had to ffwd a lot of the shows to not see her stupid facial expressions or here her annoying comments and voice !

I also can’t stand Kardea and won’t watch her biased judging .

I used to really look forward to these competitions, but it’s not worth being annoyed ! 

[Spunkygal]

2 hours ago, libgirl2 said:

Reading more on it and this was a dumpster fire of epic proportions. WTF did FN do? I'm not even sure i want to watch this steaming pile of you know what. 

Big spoiler

  Hide contents

Romy walks off! Sprinkle showdowns! And Jaleesa for the win! What a freaking mess. 

 

What do you mean when you say

Spoiler

That Romy walked off? Do you mean like he was mad or disgusted? Did he just quit? 

 

[libgirl2]

8 minutes ago, Spunkygal said:

What do you mean when you say

  Hide contents

That Romy walked off? Do you mean like he was mad or disgusted? Did he just quit? 

 

From what I read

Spoiler

He lands in the bottom two with Dennis and the bake off challenge was using sprinkles. I'm not sure how it went down, but the people who saw it seem to say he pretty much did the mike drop and left in disgust. I don't know if I will watch it just to see that. 

 

[Spunkygal]

Pardon my language, but this is such bullish!t!!! 

[libgirl2]

1 minute ago, Spunkygal said:

Pardon my language, but this is such bullish!t!!! 

I watched to see Romy leave.  I don't blame him for not wanting to play with sprinkles. What a joke. You could see it in his and in Dennis's face that neither found this funny. Especially with Molly giggling about it. 

This feels like a baking squid game. No one seems happy and they are just trying to survive.

Romy did drop that Mike! 

 

[Ms.Lulu]

I can't believe it.  Molly asked Dennis and Romy to bake with sprinkles to get into the final. Romy said he didn't want to bake with sprinkles and quit.  I was sorry to see him go--I had him in my top 2.

If that doesn't tell the powers at Food Network that Molly is killing the franchise I don't know that else will.