Spring Baking Championship - General Discussion

[CapeCodLuv]

You have all said perfectly how horrific this season was and how awful Molly was a host.

I watched last night and laid awake in bed imagining biting into a mouthful of rose, blueberry and cookie crunch. Disgusting mix! Not to mention Duff described the blueberry as gummy and the cookie part as dense. I disagree with Duff, a pretty cake is certainly what you want for a wedding but if it's not edible what's the point? No dessert for the guests. Add that they were told not to make a cake for preheat and Jaleesa did and I have no idea how she won other than favoritism. I feel bad for her because her win will always be tainted.

Molly would not stop bothering them the entire show, and this is their most serious bake. She pushed Romy to sadness, she wanted it so she could say Aaww. He put his heart into the tart and knew he shouldn't be in the bottom. The minute she said "You'll use my favorite, sprinkles!" you could see his face go dark. I wish he had stayed and won but I back his walk off completely.

I was getting so angry hearing her saying "here in my farmhouse kitchen." WTF Duff and Nancy? It seems like they just sat back this season and let Kardea be the judge in charge and Molly run the show.

I have to believe they will not have Molly back but I also never thought Jaleesa would win, so what do I know? If Molly is back I will probably still leave on DVR but I will watch it as background noise while I do other things. Such a shame, I used to love this show.

Edited May 4, 2022 by CapeCodLuv

[Spunkygal]

2 hours ago, libgirl2 said:

None of the bakers seemed to love sprinkles when she mentioned them. I was just on vacation and they town we were in has two very high class bakeries and from what I saw, nary a sprinkle in site. The cookies she showed up as an example looked like something you would find at a PTA bake sale, not usually at a nice bakery. Those sprinkles are the ones that taste like plastic. 

Hey! Don’t insult my PTA like that! 🤣

[RoxiP]

16 hours ago, dleighg said:

totally. I have a chocolate cake recipe I've been making literally since I was a child (a common enough recipe with sour cream, melted chocolate, boiling water, nothing out of the ordinary) and it's fabulous. Moist and rich. I guess I could win this competition! And if it's brownies, well I'm just gonna do a Ghiardelli box mix!

One of my best cakes is a triple fudge chocolate cake that is made from a yellow cake mix and a package of chocolate pudding...and it will make your eyes roll back in your head it's that good.  No shame in using premade ingredients - it's all about what you add to them!

[kj4ever]

I really think FN is scrambling to find it's future stars.  Bobby, Giada, Anne...Let's admit they are all getting up there in age.  So am I, but to bring the younger people in they need to get some younger stars.  

They placed their money on Molly and they lost.  Over the years they've tried to "make" people and it's never successful.  Remember that Jason guy with the faux mohawk who was on every single baking competition from cupcake wars to hbc.  They tried to get him going I believe and it just didn't work.

[libgirl2]

1 hour ago, Cetacean said:

The vast majority of people seem to think this was all rigged to ensure Jaleesa would win.  She was coddled from the get go and given passes no one else got.  There is a ton of backlash against this season for so many reasons.

With that said, in this volatile world I have serious concerns that Jaleesa's business might be a target for those who thought she should not have won.  I don't know where her store is but I do hope nothing untoward happens to it or she is harassed.  Sadly, this kind of thing is all too common.

I really hope this doesn't happen. 

1 hour ago, CapeCodLuv said:

 

Molly would not stop bothering them the entire show, and this is their most serious bake. She pushed Romy to sadness, she wanted it so she could say Aaww. He put his heart into the tart and knew he shouldn't be in the bottom. The minute she said "You'll use my favorite, sprinkles!" you could see his face go dark. I wish he had stayed and won but I back his walk off completely.

 

Dennis's face too. 

1 hour ago, Spunkygal said:

Hey! Don’t insult my PTA like that! 🤣

There is nothing wrong with that! Lol! Just saying that it isn't something I would expect on what should be a high level baking show. I  never saw them on GBBO or even the American version. There needs to be a higher standard. This season had none. 

[libgirl2]

1 hour ago, RoxiP said:

One of my best cakes is a triple fudge chocolate cake that is made from a yellow cake mix and a package of chocolate pudding...and it will make your eyes roll back in your head it's that good.  No shame in using premade ingredients - it's all about what you add to them!

one of the tastiest cakes I have ever had is a 7-Up cake from Aldi. 

[40Love]

On 5/3/2022 at 8:47 AM, CrazyInAlabama said:

 I turned the show off, and erased it after Molly's horrible explanation of why Romy left, that was total damage control from the producers.   

Yep, stopped watching the show when Romy walked off... and erased it. Didn't care who won at that point. 

I'm not big on conspiracies... but I suspect Jaleesa was pushed along, coddled and excused after that extensive on camera panic attack.  It's the perfect underdog story of adversity and triumph for FN to retell over and over again. She'll appear on future competitions as a judge or guest... and we'll have to hear how she overcame it all.. only to go to win the whole damn thing. Such BS. She does not deserve that win. 

[ruffy666]

I watched this with my husband last night and I said, "boy oh boy the forums are gonna be hoppin' after this!" and I wasn't wrong 😆

The finale was still worth it for (A) Dennis's and Romy's faces when they were in the bottom 2... never before have I seen such disbelief and anger on a reality cooking competition!  (to be fair, I thought Dennis's idea was a little off, his egg tarts looked poorly constructed and you could see the custard leaking out from many of them... plus raw wonton dough is nas-TY!) and (B) Romy saying "I don't want to play with sprinkles."  I also usually don't like when people quit but in this case I found it really cathartic.

I knew Jaleesa was going to win.  I have absolutely nothing against her, she seems like a lovely person and her family is beyond adorable.  But her first cake was not impressive, the piping was not impressive, the flavor combo of chocolate and hazelnut is not impressive.  Her main heat cake looked nice from a distance (Dennis's cake looked great from the front and HORRIBLE from the back, personally I think that's inexcusable for a hypothetical wedding... at least Carolyn's was just empty.)  She skated through most of the season and I suppose maybe they thought the audience loves a good underdog story, but it seemed way too contrived to be enjoyable for me.

[Spunkygal]

1 hour ago, libgirl2 said:

one of the tastiest cakes I have ever had is a 7-Up cake from Aldi. 

I have a 7 Up cake recipe made with a cake mix and it is delish and super easy!

2 hours ago, RoxiP said:

One of my best cakes is a triple fudge chocolate cake that is made from a yellow cake mix and a package of chocolate pudding...and it will make your eyes roll back in your head it's that good.  No shame in using premade ingredients - it's all about what you add to them!

I’d love that recipe if you don’t mind sharing! 

[String Theory]

11 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

“Va te faire foutre!”

"🖕" needs no translation. 

I'm not surprised (actually felt Jaleesa was going to win regardless).  Pretty disgusting.

I'm sure Jaleesa & her family are lovely people. However, SBC SHOULD be based on the bakers actual skill (The bakers on the Julia Child Challenge were all impressive to me).  On that show they rotated a different judge every week, which is a great idea.  I'm sure FN won't ditch Nancy or Duff (who I've lost all respect for) but it would be nice (not to mention level the playing field) if a different judge was the in the third seat.

There's nothing more to say about Molly, except she needs to stay in her lane.  If.she comes back for the Holiday or next years Spring Baking Championship I won't watch!

[Kid]

20 minutes ago, ruffy666 said:

She skated through most of the season and I suppose maybe they thought the audience loves a good underdog story, but it seemed way too contrived to be enjoyable for me.

What the audience wants is a fair competition and challenges that are appropriate for the bakers' level of expertise and not vomited up by a 20 something two-year-old.

Edited May 4, 2022 by Kid

[RoxiP]

11 hours ago, Refresh said:

Congrats to Jaleesa. I guess? Ugh. This sucks. I did like HER. It sucks that a black woman can’t just have a “clean win” on this show, that it’s now tainted by this BS. It’s not her fault she’s the chosen one. But now any presumed benefit she might have from winning is obscured by the favoritism. Whatever the reason behind it was. I wish I could say that she managed to pull it together at just the right times, but that’s not really true. You can tell she’s a good baker but she messed up a LOT. Too much for us not to notice. 

 

I agree.  Jaleesa is obviously a talented professional baker and seems to be a very likeable person but this was not her format.  It is not her fault that she fit into their narrative and that she was probably pushed into the finale due to circumstances beyond her control.  

[2soon2tell]

Romy has started a go fund me if anyone is interested 

https://gofund.me/cda19395

 

[Catfi9ht]

2 hours ago, orangekit said:

I think  FN is going extreme with trying to show how diverse they are  .  That is fine , but when you have totally undeserving people in the finale and they are judging  people differently based on how the fact they came out, or the fact that one of the judges who is not a baker, dominates  the judging and was obviously biased to someone of her own race , people see through it .

I disagree with your post. There is nothing wrong with diversity. Representation and inclusion are good things.

This show suffered from a terrible host, challenges that had nothing to do with spring and were geared toward a completely different aesthetic and skillset from previous seasons.

Trying to say that Jaleesa won because of her race is completely false. While I don't think she was the best baker, and I do this this season was terrible. It had nothing to do with Jaleesa. She was in the middle of what the producers chose to make a disaster.

[libgirl2]

19 minutes ago, Catfi9ht said:

I disagree with your post. There is nothing wrong with diversity. Representation and inclusion are good things.

This show suffered from a terrible host, challenges that had nothing to do with spring and were geared toward a completely different aesthetic and skillset from previous seasons.

Trying to say that Jaleesa won because of her race is completely false. While I don't think she was the best baker, and I do this this season was terrible. It had nothing to do with Jaleesa. She was in the middle of what the producers chose to make a disaster.

Yes, I don't think it was racially motivated. I think it was just a mess of a choice during a mess of a season. 

[40Love]

3 hours ago, orangekit said:

I think  FN is going extreme with trying to show how diverse they are  .  That is fine , but when you have totally undeserving people in the finale and they are judging  people differently based on how the fact they came out, or the fact that one of the judges who is not a baker, dominates  the judging and was obviously biased to someone of her own race , people see through it .

I'm going to preface this comment by saying I am a Black woman. I do not believe that Jaleesa deserved the win... but absolutely disagree with this statement.  Kardea is one judge... out of 3. There are also producers on the show, as well as an overly involved, infantile judge. 

And while Kardea most definitely had a soft spot for Jaleesa, I don't think their shared race was the main source of that sympathy. I saw her on another show sympathize with a contestant who had a similar breakdown.  And that contestant was not Black. IMO, she's just a kind person. I think this has more to do with her breakdown and the producers looking for a "story".

Also, other than one episode in which Dennis talked about coming out, I'm not aware of him talking about his sexuality... or bringing any attention to it. Perhaps I missed it.

In any case, your grievances about the lack of straight, white people is a bit askew to me. I'm pretty sure there have been many,  many times, under qualified and undeserved white, straight reality show contestants have advanced in the competition... and for variety reasons: a parent passed away, they fought and won a health battle etc. White, straight does not necessarily translate to competent and/or deserving. 

I always find it interesting that after literally decades of non-reprentation for Black, Hispanic, Asian, Muslim, and LGBTQ people, the over-represented gripe about not enough of them being represented for the last  2 or 3 years. And the solution often seems to be to just go back to the way it used to be, so the over-represented don't have to feel uncomfortable or left out. *sigh*

Edited May 4, 2022 by 40Love

[libgirl2]

8 minutes ago, 40Love said:

 

Also, other than one episode in which Dennis talked about coming out, I'm not aware of him talking about his sexuality... or bringing any attention to it. Perhaps I missed it.

 

It was one of the early episodes. I want to say the first or second. I think it was right before they brought in the two dudes from nowhere. I think Molly was trying to get them to "share a secret". Justin said he was color blind and Tom said he did drag. Dennis came out to his family. 

[orangekit]

1 hour ago, 40Love said:

I'm going to preface this comment by saying I am a Black woman. I do not believe that Jaleesa deserved the win... but absolutely disagree with this statement.  Kardea is one judge... out of 3. There are also producers on the show, as well as an overly involved, infantile judge. 

And while Kardea most definitely had a soft spot for Jaleesa, I don't think their shared race was the main source of that sympathy. I saw her on another show sympathize with a contestant who had a similar breakdown.  And that contestant was not Black. IMO, she's just a kind person. I think this has more to do with her breakdown and the producers looking for a "story".

Also, other than one episode in which Dennis talked about coming out, I'm not aware of him talking about his sexuality... or bringing any attention to it. Perhaps I missed it.

In any case, your grievances about the lack of straight, white people is a bit askew to me. I'm pretty sure there have been many,  many times, under qualified and undeserved white, straight reality show contestants have advanced in the competition... and for variety reasons: a parent passed away, they fought and won a health battle etc. White, straight does not necessarily translate to competent and/or deserving. 

I always find it interesting that after literally decades of non-reprentation for Black, Hispanic, Asian, Muslim, and LGBTQ people, the over-represented gripe about not enough of them being represented for the last  2 or 3 years. And the solution often seems to be to just go back to the way it used to be, so the over-represented don't have to feel uncomfortable or left out. *sigh*

I am sorry if it seemed like I waded it to back to an all white or predominantly white and straight competition.

As I stated, it seemed like more about who was friends with Molly or who had a story than about who was a good baker .

Kardea did favor Jaleesa from day one , and maybe it was about her anxiety attack .

It was obvious they wanted  sympathy stories or “personality “, and the baking was secondary .

i would really like to see a host that just hosts and keeps their silly ideas to themselves !  Also, being back Lorraine !  Kardea may be a very nice person , but from what you are saying she seems to be overly sympathetic, and it seemed to affect her judging . 

Being a woman who has faced a lot of ethnic prejudice myself , I am glad to see people who are not all white being represented.  It just seems like if the contestants don’t have a “story” they are not judged fairly .    
I also do think that it making sure no one is white and straight isn’t necessarily a good thing either .  

[40Love]

7 minutes ago, orangekit said:

I am sorry if it seemed like I waded it to back to an all white or predominantly white and straight competition.

As I stated, it seemed like more about who was friends with Molly or who had a story than about who was a good baker .

Kardea did favor Jaleesa from day one , and maybe it was about her anxiety attack .

It was obvious they wanted  sympathy stories or “personality “, and the baking was secondary .

i would really like to see a host that just hosts and keeps their silly ideas to themselves !  Also, being back Lorraine !  Kardea may be a very nice person , but from what you are saying she seems to be overly sympathetic, and it seemed to affect her judging . 

Being a woman who has faced a lot of ethnic prejudice myself , I am glad to see people who are not all white being represented.  It just seems like if the contestants don’t have a “story” they are not judged fairly .    
I also do think that it making sure no one is white and straight isn’t necessarily a good thing either .  

Yeah, that whole personality over flavor bias is the Food Network's MO. On the "Next Food Network Star' ...show producers/judges Suzy and Bob would routinely send home contestants who couldn't come up with a compelling story for their recipes. It's a producer-driven gimmick... for what are essentially game shows with food. Romy should have tried GBBO... or the U.S. version. 

[goldenpuppy]

I do think FN went out of their way for diversity , and that’s not a bad thing . 
I also don’t think the judging was motivated by anything but who had the best story , rather than who made the best pastry .

Molly was just awful and I hope she never hosts again .  I guess they were serious when they called it her show in the title since her mouth and face were everywhere all the time ! Yuck !

Kardea is just not a good judge because she lets her emotions take over .  I don’t think it was about race , it seems more like she likes to mother people .  
 

If this same host and format is going to be a part of any of the other baking shows , I will not be watching! 

Edited May 4, 2022 by goldenpuppy

[jrzy]

9 hours ago, libgirl2 said:

same

 

Ditto!

[libgirl2]

31 minutes ago, 40Love said:

Yeah, that whole personality over flavor bias is the Food Network's MO. On the "Next Food Network Star' ...show producers/judges Suzy and Bob would routinely send home contestants who couldn't come up with a compelling story for their recipes. It's a producer-driven gimmick... for what are essentially game shows with food. Romy should have tried GBBO... or the U.S. version. 

I have seen ads for the US version. He would have done fine on either one. 

[Refresh]

13 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

On 5/3/2022 at 8:14 AM, Cheyanne11 said:

And, yes, I DO believe Molly had a lot of say in the challenges.  Her name is in the title.  She's referred to the set as HER kitchen all season.  She's clearly not just the host we've had in prior years--whatever deal she was given gave her a lot more say in things, which, well, talk about a massive failure.

It was marketed around her.  That doesn't mean she had a major say in things. 

This discussion brings up a good point about voice and tone of the show. While we may not truly know if she had a major say in production choices, the show changed the way the host spoke about everything going on. The entire script of the show was changed. As Cheyanne11 points out. 

Previously, Clinton would announce challenges using using this style of language (I think it's called imperative): "Each of you will have a different graduation theme... Create two special dessert items for..." That's the way it's been for years. 2nd person. We/You

This season it's "I would like you to create a palette knife cake about MY farm." 1st person. Me/You

If I'm a host and the writers are putting "me" and "I" words in my mouth, I sure as heck need approval of those words. I'm sure she had script approval. Even for meh influencers script approval is pretty standard for video work, even more so when it's 1st person. 

Seemingly little things like this actually make a huge impact. Especially over the course of 10+ hours of TV. Sticking with the old way probably wouldn't have solved all the issues this season had for sure, but it might've made it a little less bad. Like a percent or two less bad. 

[Ohmo]

3 hours ago, 40Love said:

I always find it interesting that after literally decades of non-reprentation for Black, Hispanic, Asian, Muslim, and LGBTQ people, the over-represented gripe about not enough of them being represented for the last  2 or 3 years. And the solution often seems to be to just go back to the way it used to be, so the over-represented don't have to feel uncomfortable or left out. *sigh*

And you forgot one group...PWD (people with disabilities).  I personally would love a competition show where someone with a disability gets paired with a FN mentor, and they cook as a team.  Duff, Guy, any of the chefs who compete on TOC, Carla, etc.  Will likely NEVER happen, but I wish it would.

[libgirl2]

5 minutes ago, Ohmo said:

And you forgot one group...PWD (people with disabilities).  I personally would love a competition show where someone with a disability gets paired with a FN mentor, and they cook as a team.  Duff, Guy, any of the chefs who compete on TOC, Carla, etc.  Will likely NEVER happen, but I wish it would.

Masterchef had a blind woman who won. 

[emmawoodhouse]

Romy's latest IG post emphatically states that he wasn't down with the fucking sprinkles.

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CdJT3K9FmpO/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

[libgirl2]

1 minute ago, emmawoodhouse said:

Romy's latest IG post emphatically states that he wasn't down with the fucking sprinkles.

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CdJT3K9FmpO/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

I like that he didn't want to eliminate Dennis on something juvenile as sprinkles. Good for him. 

[CapeCodLuv]

This is a hard topic. I do not believe Jaleesa won because she is black, like many others I believe it was her story. They asked what they would do with the prize money, Jaleesa was the only one who said she would use it for her bakery. She said her family depended on the bakery and the money would help. She also suffered from panic attacks, very dramatic story line. My husband suffers as well, I do not believe she was faking and I know how horrible they are. The others were going to vacation or help family with the prize money. She was not the best contestant and her finale episode bakes were a mess, but they wanted the woman with the story to win. As I have said I feel bad her win has been tainted, she did not deserve this. I would gladly shop at her bakery, she just didn't cut the mustard fir the show but I bet she does better on her own turf.

The numbers of gay, POC, transgender, interracial couples, disabled, etc. characters or contestants we see in shows, commercials and on social media is far beyond what we are used to seeing. The world is trying to right a wrong that has been happening for many years. In some cases they are going overboard, but the problem truly needed to be addressed. I expect it will slow down in the future. For a show like this a contestant should simply be qualified, not added due to a difference from a heterosexual white person. Being naive I expect the contestants should come close to what we see in the US population. I have observed many of the male bakers on various shows are gay, I'm not sure if this is typical of the occupation. I do not mean this to be an insult and apologize if I have offended anyone. Always up to be corrected. I don't care who bakes me my delicious treats, just give to me.

I watched the SBC because I am an okay home baker, no one ever died from eating one of my creations. Some people even asked for seconds. I have never liked baking enough to learn how to make complex items. When I watch SBC I want to see things I cannot do. I have made cupcakes and cookies with sugar and sprinkles for may years for my kids and kids parties. I have made the gummy worm, pudding, cake mudpot for kid's birthdays, to me this is similar to cookie salad. I don't want to see pros and excellent home bakers doing childish things I can do, I want them to astound me. What I saw this year was frustration from many of the bakers, they wanted to show off and were denied. It was a fail.

[Kid]

3 minutes ago, CapeCodLuv said:

They asked what they would do with the prize money, Jaleesa was the only one who said she would use it for her bakery

It's a baking championship not a charity.

[Kid]

2 minutes ago, Cetacean said:

And I doubt that if it was one of the men, they would have been coddled;  being a female moved her into the "delicate" category.

Amen!!!!  

[CapeCodLuv]

22 minutes ago, Kid said:

It's a baking championship not a charity.

I understand that. In terms of who needed the money to continue on with baking professionally she was the only one who said she needed it. The others appeared to just want, she said she needed. I do not agree with giving that statement any weight for the competition, but it's a better story for judges and viewers than Carolyn wanting to take her family on vacation to a different Hawaiian island.  I guarantee they factored it in.

As a side note I remember John Whaite from GBBO, I think season 3. He was so young and endearing. He made it to the finale and deserved to be there, in my opinion he deserved the win. When they asked the final 3 why they wanted the win he said he wanted to be a professional baker, and he went on to become one. The others had no intention of becoming professionals. Again, in my opinion he deserved the win but his story stood out because he wanted it for his livelihood. Similar to Jaleesa's story versus her competition. The difference is they still intend to be the pros they are, but they did not say they needed the money to continue. The little extra gives a boost in my mind, not fair but I see why.

[emmawoodhouse]

Check out Romy's stories before they disappear! He really let loose.😁

[Spunkygal]

Well, FN sure has us all talking about one of their mediocre shows that is nowhere the caliber of GBBO. I guess they’re happy and got their money’s worth out of the season.

[littlebennysmom]

2 minutes ago, emmawoodhouse said:

Check out Romy's stories before they disappear! He really let loose.😁

Where? 

[emmawoodhouse]

Just now, littlebennysmom said:

Where? 

Instagram. His stories will vanish in an hour, so RUN! 😀

[Spunkygal]

What do you click to read an IG story? I’m on his IG page and see his posts but stories?

Edited May 4, 2022 by Spunkygal

[Kid]

20 minutes ago, CapeCodLuv said:

In terms of who needed the money to continue on with baking professionally she was the only one who said she needed it. The others appeared to just want, she said she needed. I do not agree with giving that statement any weight for the competition, but it's a better story for judges and viewers than Carolyn wanting to take her family on vacation to a different Hawaiian island.  I guarantee they factored it in.

 

I totally get that.  That's where they miscalculated - look at the backlash.    That being said, had they not had the train wreck that was Molly pissing everybody off, maybe that approach would've gone over better. Jaleesa winning was just icing on the sprinkle laden cake.

[CrazyInAlabama]

I'm questioning if the entire story on Jaleesa was emphasized for sympathy, talking about her young kids, having that panic attack or whatever it was at the beginning of the season.    She certainly seemed to recover quickly, and didn't seem to have an issue after that.   

Added to explain more, I'm wondering how legit the panic attack was?      And then excusing it because she had a baby recently, other people have competed while pregnant, and with little kids.   Her story wasn't anything new.   

Edited May 5, 2022 by CrazyInAlabama

[emmawoodhouse]

6 minutes ago, Spunkygal said:

What do you click to read an IG story? I’m on his IG page and see his posts but stories?

Click on his profile picture. 

[MerBearHou]

6 minutes ago, Spunkygal said:

What do you click to read an IG story? I’m on his IG page and see his posts but stories?

Click on the little round icon at the top left — it’s a photo of him.  It will start his current story.  It’s a number of questions that you slide through — he answers them in true Romy fashion.  and yes, stories go away in 24 hours!

 

[disappointedexfa]

I totally agree! Baking with sprinkles really? It’s a championship?!? Romy’s skill level is WAY above baking with her nasty sprinkles! He is the winner in my eyes, the one who won was definitely not the best baker on the show!  

[Spunkygal]

His wife is adorable! 

[CapeCodLuv]

30 minutes ago, Kid said:

I totally get that.  That's where they miscalculated - look at the backlash.    That being said, had they not had the train wreck that was Molly pissing everybody off, maybe that approach would've gone over better. Jaleesa winning was just icing on the sprinkle laden cake.

It really bothered me that she pushed Romy to sadness. That wasn't his thing and she had him crying, once he cried she was pleased. Then after revealing his sadness they crapped on the very creation they asked him to make. And the sprinkle on the cake was that after he made a professional, great, heartfelt creation she asked him to make a child's treat that even I could make. Dennis was pissed as well. Who asks a professional baker to make a sprinkle dessert to win 25K? He had enough, he knew all along the show was beneath his skills. He laid his heart and talents on the line and they crapped on him. Sprinkle on the cake was she blamed his walking off on stress, the stress she created. I'm so irritated.

I feel sorry for Jaleesa and Romy.

I have never felt compelled to lodge a complaint to a network but will be doing so tomorrow in the hopes Molly is never brought back. It's not just Molly though, the entire season was juvenile and not enjoyable. As I said, I want to see things I cannot do. They half assed this year and ruined the season. I kind of love the outrage while still feeling bad for the contestants.

I'm so glad we have each other to chat with, no one I know watches the show and I could not keep this all bottled up. Here's hoping the Halloween show is still fun.

Edited May 5, 2022 by CapeCodLuv

[jcbrown]

7 hours ago, Refresh said:

This discussion brings up a good point about voice and tone of the show. While we may not truly know if she had a major say in production choices, the show changed the way the host spoke about everything going on. The entire script of the show was changed. As Cheyanne11 points out. 

Previously, Clinton would announce challenges using using this style of language (I think it's called imperative): "Each of you will have a different graduation theme... Create two special dessert items for..." That's the way it's been for years. 2nd person. We/You

This season it's "I would like you to create a palette knife cake about MY farm." 1st person. Me/You

If I'm a host and the writers are putting "me" and "I" words in my mouth, I sure as heck need approval of those words. I'm sure she had script approval. Even for meh influencers script approval is pretty standard for video work, even more so when it's 1st person. 

Seemingly little things like this actually make a huge impact. Especially over the course of 10+ hours of TV. Sticking with the old way probably wouldn't have solved all the issues this season had for sure, but it might've made it a little less bad. Like a percent or two less bad. 

These are all excellent points. There is a lot of stuff that hits you subliminally without you necessarily noticing and this season was all about that.

Can someone who knows where to find it please report the link to send a comment to FN? I would like to weigh in and am too lazy to go back through the thread. Thank you in advance.

[VanillaBear85]

Romy's apple tart did not look that good. The pattern of the apples placed on top looked lovely (and too light), but the red cage on top was too thick and made the tart look worse. Then when he cut into it it was clearly not baked enough. He should have been in the bottom two. He's obviously talented and the tart had a sentimental story behind it for him, but the actual tart wasn't the best. 

The sprinkle challenge is an odd choice, but something to be expected with this season. 

Congratulations to Jaleesa! 

[RuntheTable]

I had to give myself a few days to come out of my rage blackout. 

What a horrible finale; this is supposed to be a show for bakers to showcase their talents with happiness and pride, and what do we get? An amazing baker walking off the set in despair and disgust. Normally I hate quitters, but I have nothing but respect for Romy expressing his unhappiness and dismay by leaving the competition. I think he knew he didn't have a chance. I think he knew the winner was decided weeks ago, and no matter what he presented to the judges he would not win. I would love to see him show up on another show where he was given real baking challenges allowing him to perform as a skilled pastry chef should. 

Fucking Cookie Salads and sprinkles. 

I have lost all respect for the judges as well. I have watched every season of SBC, and there are things they ding with regularity that were overlooked this season. So, there was one half of a centimeter of Romy's pie crust that was "slightly underbaked", but the week before Jaleesa presented a sloppy, nearly raw cheesecake. I am also put out with the fact that Molly asked for no cakes in the first heat, and Jeleesa presented a plain chocolate cake with hazelnut; compounding that is she once again screwed up by leaving out the Feuilletine element. Kardea specifically said she likes crunch in her desserts and even mentioned that Jelessa's cake was one note. Yet they all sat there creaming in their pants about it. The flavor combo in her final cake left me with nothing. Blueberry, rose and cookies and cream? I can't even.....Additonally, the judges noted that some of her layers were dense. Caroline's and Dennis's flavors seemed far more complementary, and the cakes seemed evenly baked. 

The thing that is most troubling to me is the way Romy's exit was handled. Why did we not see anyone chasing after him like we say with Jaleesa? Maybe Romy's issue wasn't medical, but he was clearly undone and very upset. Seems someone would have sought him out and tried to calm him down and convince him to return. But no, instead we get Molly blaming stress and whatever bullshit she was spilling, when she knew full well that Romy left in anger and disgust at yet another sprinkle challenge. 

This season has soured me on SBC. This is not what I tune in to see. I want to see bakers putting out incredible desserts that I could never make. I want to see their skill and their creativity; not there anger and disgust. I want to see consistent judging; not judging based on the contestants back story. They have taken a wonderful show and ruined it. 

I don't think it matters who hosts next year. I think I am just done. 

[CharlizeCat]

Wow! Sounds like a real clusterf***. So glad I came here first. Now, I can delete this off my drive without bothering to watch it. 

I had already pegged Tom or Jaleesa as the winners weeks ago when Diego was sent packing over an asinine tomato soup cake. FN has already screwed up Halloween Wars and Holiday Wars, so I wasn't surprised by SBC. 

Trained male pastry chefs from Europe shouldn't even bother applying to this or any of the other FN competition shows. I always feel that there is a double-standard with the judging, especially from Duff. My personal feeling has been that he has consistently been way more harsh and critical on those contestants.

My belief is that the contestants need to be judged by trained pastry chefs and/or established, credible expert bakers who are self-taught, etc. No past FN show hosts who might be under some endless contract or present hosts FN is trying to promote or the latest TikTok star. And definitely not the network's current "It Girl."

I have seen Molly host other shows like Hanukah challenges and she was either a host or judge on one of those holiday gingerbread competitions. She did not act at all the way she did hosting SBC. Kardea was also a judge on the gingerbread competition and consoled a contestant who had a meltdown over their gingerbread pieces getting broken during transit, so yes, I think that's just her nature. The difference is that the gingerbread contestants are mostly one-and-dones; there is no chance to get to know them or forge a "relationship" with them over several episodes like SBC.

 

[kikicat]

18 hours ago, CapeCodLuv said:

The world is trying to right a wrong that has been happening for many years. In some cases they are going overboard, but the problem truly needed to be addressed. I expect it will slow down in the future.

Love your entire comment!

I'm finding so much concern for the straight white men rather amusing. After thousands of years of privilege, a few years of not always being automatically on top is apparently just too cruel. Really? And now racism and misogyny are on the rise again.

I do look forward to a time when we can have a mix of representation and it's just no big deal. It'll be nice when I don't have to hear "The first woman or black or gay to do..." Normalize it and maybe even the straight white guys (and their straight white female defenders) will accept it.

On to the actual show...

It's not Molly (yes, I dislike her constant mugging), it's the producers. If you've ever watched Next Food Network Star you probably remember how they'd constantly push for PERSONALITY! Women especially are expected to smile big and be overly cheerful cheerleader bimbos. Remember when all the Baking Champ contestants constantly shouted "I'm going in the oven!" Producers made them do it. All the shouting and over-acting and drama and sob stories...producers. Yuck.

The finals. So I'm fine with Jaleesa winning. It wasn't a cumulative competition. If it were, Romy would have won. But his tart was ugly and he quit because the sprinkle challenge was the producer's worst idea ever.

Jaleesa's cake was the best (minus the heart). Carolyn's was OK. Dennis' was straight-up horrible. I couldn't understand why they were praising it so much except, oh, yeah...producers.

I need a big dose of GBBO.

 

[libgirl2]

16 minutes ago, kikicat said:

I need a big dose of GBBO.

 

I keep imagining the look on Paul Hollywood's face if they presented him with a cookie salad or sprinkles. 

[kathyk24]

18 hours ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

I'm questioning if the entire story on Jaleesa was emphasized for sympathy, talking about her young kids, having that panic attack or whatever it was at the beginning of the season.    She certainly seemed to recover quickly, and didn't seem to have an issue after that.   

Adam and Jody talked about their families on the Holiday Baking Championship so it wasn't done for sympathy.