Spring Baking Championship - General Discussion

[Guest]

4 minutes ago, crazycatlady58 said:

Did I miss hear or did one of the bakers say someone turned off her oven? Then nothing else was said? Did I miss something? That seems like a major problem. 

Josh raised the temperature on the oven his tart shells were in, which Jessica's were also in. He said out loud that he was doing it because the temperature was kind of low for tart shells, but Jessica apparently didn't hear him or didn't realize he was talking to her until she went to get hers out. She seemed a bit concerned at how they were dark on top and light on the bottom, and the judges were as well initially, but apparently they turned out fine.

Ironically, the judges dinged Josh for underbaked tart shells.

Edited March 28, 2023 by tracyscott76

[MerBearHou]

Anyone watching Spring Baking: Easter?  Sunny’s bright yellow eyeshadow is something I’ve never seen in my life!

And where did Ruchit go?  He was the front runner, I thought.  I don’t think I’ve missed any episodes, but he’s missing this week.

Edited March 28, 2023 by MerBearHou

[bilgistic]

33 minutes ago, littlebennysmom said:

Boo, April, stop saying "marscapone".  I hear it incorrectly so often on these shows I had to look it up to make sure.

Almost every baker does it, and it makes me crazy. It's not a regional pronunciation; it's just wrong.

[Salacious Kitty]

15 minutes ago, MerBearHou said:

Anyone watching Spring Baking: Easter?  Sunny’s bright yellow eyeshadow is something I’ve never seen in my life!

And where did Ruchit go?  He was the front runner, I thought.  I don’t think I’ve missed any episodes, but he’s missing this week.

They aired two episodes last week, and he was booted in the second one.

[littlebennysmom]

19 minutes ago, bilgistic said:

Almost every baker does it, and it makes me crazy. It's not a regional pronunciation; it's just wrong.

Gah, Molly said it that way too.  Why, God, why?  😄  Mars Capone sounds like a bad rap name.

[MerBearHou]

21 minutes ago, Salacious Kitty said:

They aired two episodes last week, and he was booted in the second one.

Ahhh, I missed that it was 2 episodes.  Well, darn.  Thanks for the update.  He is local to me and I thought he was super talented.

[DEL901]

16 minutes ago, littlebennysmom said:

Gah, Molly said it that way too.  Why, God, why?  😄  Mars Capone sounds like a bad rap name.

Al’s wannabe rapper kid. 

[laredhead]

Josh turned up her over a few degrees because he said her crusts weren't going to get done at the temperature she had set.  He told her what he had done, and they played back that part to show that he had told her.  She later said she didn't know he had done that.  Either she wasn't listening to him, or she mislead the judges.  I don't think he was trying to sabotage her bake, but that's just my opinion.

 

[Guest]

37 minutes ago, laredhead said:

Josh turned up her over a few degrees because he said her crusts weren't going to get done at the temperature she had set.  He told her what he had done, and they played back that part to show that he had told her.  She later said she didn't know he had done that.  Either she wasn't listening to him, or she mislead the judges.  I don't think he was trying to sabotage her bake, but that's just my opinion.

 

I don't think he was trying to sabotage her either, but I also don't think he made it clear enough to her what he was doing to the oven. They showed him saying it, but no response from her, and no sign that she was even nearby when he said it. Later, when she checked them and saw how dark they were, he said it again, and her reaction indicated it was the first time she heard it.

So while it wasn't a malicious act on his part, I think he should have asked her - "hey, this temperature seems low, do you mind if I turn it up?", not just made a declaration out into the air of "I'm turning the temperature up."

I definitely didn't get "misleading the judges" from Jessica, either. She only brought up that "someone" changed the temp when the judges pointed out the darkness of her crusts, and didn't give a name until they asked for one.

[CheshireCat]

I liked the two challenges except for the twist. But overall, the two bakes seemed a bit different than what they usually do.

Jessica's and Clement's did look best, however, from a visual point of view, I preferred Jessica's. They had a bit more variation which I liked better.

There are fruits that don't mix well with milk products. My mom once made a Pineapple Quark and the quark turned sour because of the acid in the pineapple. It's entirely possible that that's why some of the tart fillings didn't work or split and I don't blame the bakers for that. The show needs to make sure that every ingredient is compatible with ingredients that may be used for the bake because they can't expect the bakers to pay attention to that as well with the little time they have.

With that said, why would they not taste whatever it is they're making?

I'm not sure why Christian's tart with all the beige and brown looked spring-y while the pineapple looked like fall. I also thought that Christian's looked a little messy but it may have looked different in person.

Jai's didn't look spring-y on TV either but her pie/cake looked a-mazing! I love how Duff got up to check that the pie lattice was really made out of whipped cream.

Again, I wasn't sure what the judges were seeing in Christian's pie and why it was the epitome of pie illusion or however they put it. I thought it was the worst imitation up until then. The color was not right at all and it didn't look much better than Michelle's pie and her lattice broke.
Also, why would a mouse eating the pie be spring-y?

Was it Michelle who also had the plain mascarpone ice cream? Whoever it was, why did they think that was enough and they didn't need to add some kind of flavor?

I was pleasantly surprised at how positive the comments for the ice cream were. When Jesse said that the bakers had to make cheese ice creams Nancy's look seemed to say "did they have to?", so I expected a lot more negativity. Glad there wasn't.

Jessica's pie lattice looked incredible. Too bad the rest wasn't quite as good.

I'm okay with Michelle going home. She really didn't have a good day.

57 minutes ago, laredhead said:

Josh turned up her over a few degrees because he said her crusts weren't going to get done at the temperature she had set. 

I don't think that's for him to decide though. I don't know who put in their crusts first but there are pastries that need lower temperatures because they take longer until they're done and the lower temperature prevents them from browning too quickly and Jessica might have made that kind of tart shell.

 

57 minutes ago, laredhead said:

He told her what he had done, and they played back that part to show that he had told her.  She later said she didn't know he had done that.  Either she wasn't listening to him, or she mislead the judges.  I don't think he was trying to sabotage her bake, but that's just my opinion.

It's possible that what he said didn't register with her. Just a couple of days ago I had put cookies into the oven, set the timer and worked on the second batch and when the timer went off, it didn't register with me.
He shouldn't have turned up the oven without consulting her to begin with but since he did, he should have gone to her and told her directly. I agree that I didn't think he was trying to sabotage her and I rolled my eyes at Jesse because that was clearly not Josh's intent, still, it was not okay what Josh did or how he handled it and that's entirely on him.

[littlebennysmom]

5 minutes ago, CheshireCat said:

I liked the two challenges except for the twist. But overall, the two bakes seemed a bit different than what they usually do.

Jessica's and Clement's did look best, however, from a visual point of view, I preferred Jessica's. They had a bit more variation which I liked better.

There are fruits that don't mix well with milk products. My mom once made a Pineapple Quark and the quark turned sour because of the acid in the pineapple. It's entirely possible that that's why some of the tart fillings didn't work or split and I don't blame the bakers for that. The show needs to make sure that every ingredient is compatible with ingredients that may be used for the bake because they can't expect the bakers to pay attention to that as well with the little time they have.

With that said, why would they not taste whatever it is they're making?

I'm not sure why Christian's tart with all the beige and brown looked spring-y while the pineapple looked like fall. I also thought that Christian's looked a little messy but it may have looked different in person.

Jai's didn't look spring-y on TV either but her pie/cake looked a-mazing! I love how Duff got up to check that the pie lattice was really made out of whipped cream.

Again, I wasn't sure what the judges were seeing in Christian's pie and why it was the epitome of pie illusion or however they put it. I thought it was the worst imitation up until then. The color was not right at all and it didn't look much better than Michelle's pie and her lattice broke.
Also, why would a mouse eating the pie be spring-y?

Was it Michelle who also had the plain mascarpone ice cream? Whoever it was, why did they think that was enough and they didn't need to add some kind of flavor?

I was pleasantly surprised at how positive the comments for the ice cream were. When Jesse said that the bakers had to make cheese ice creams Nancy's look seemed to say "did they have to?", so I expected a lot more negativity. Glad there wasn't.

Jessica's pie lattice looked incredible. Too bad the rest wasn't quite as good.

I'm okay with Michelle going home. She really didn't have a good day.

I don't think that's for him to decide though. I don't know who put in their crusts first but there are pastries that need lower temperatures because they take longer until they're done and the lower temperature prevents them from browning too quickly and Jessica might have made that kind of tart shell.

 

It's possible that what he said didn't register with her. Just a couple of days ago I had put cookies into the oven, set the timer and worked on the second batch and when the timer went off, it didn't register with me.
He shouldn't have turned up the oven without consulting her to begin with but since he did, he should have gone to her and told her directly. I agree that I didn't think he was trying to sabotage her and I rolled my eyes at Jesse because that was clearly not Josh's intent, still, it was not okay what Josh did or how he handled it and that's entirely on him.

And correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't there enough ovens for each individual baker?  If sharing ovens has been a thing all along, surprised more drama hasn't ensued prior to this.

If someone told me they turned up my oven (for any reason) in this competition, my shout of "what the actual F-CK!?" would be bouncing off the walls.

[Guest]

4 minutes ago, littlebennysmom said:

If someone told me they turned up my oven (for any reason) in this competition, my shout of "what the actual F-CK!?" would be bouncing off the walls.

Yeah, Jessica took that with surprising calm and good humor…maybe a little bit forced, but it was basically “you little rascal!” and she moved on. Since her judges’ critique ended up being better than his, I guess it’s water under the bridge.

[CheshireCat]

49 minutes ago, littlebennysmom said:

And correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't there enough ovens for each individual baker?  If sharing ovens has been a thing all along, surprised more drama hasn't ensued prior to this.

I wondered about that, too. From what I've been seeing, every baker has an oven at their station but since they shared ovens, I wonder if the ovens that they have are regular ovens and the other ones are convection ovens and they have to share those?

During either Holiday or Halloween Baking Championship they had the issue that someone had opened an oven that shouldn't have been opened, so I would assume that they don't have one oven for everyone of those ovens. It's a bit hard to tell though.

[libgirl2]

Maybe it was me, but the flowers on Clement's tart looked like fungi. 

[CheshireCat]

1 minute ago, libgirl2 said:

Maybe it was me, but the flowers on Clement's tart looked like fungi. 

Nope, wasn't just you. I think the brown stems and the fact that they were thicker at the bottom contributed to that look. I don't know why he didn't use green for the stems.

[mojoween]

A whole episode and April didn’t get one April Fool’s joke from Jessie?

Normally when someone does something that the judges just wouldn’t notice unless they were told I roll my eyes, but I cannot imagine that they didn’t taste Luke’s burned pastry cream.  I can’t believe he saved it.  That smokiness gets in the WHOLE pot, not just the burnt bottom.

[KayVeeTeeVee]

MARS ca pone (or pone ay) instead of MAS ca pone and TOO mer ick vs TUR meric make me so, so sad.  You're on a baking show, dammit!

 

[CrazyInAlabama]

9 hours ago, littlebennysmom said:

And correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't there enough ovens for each individual baker?  If sharing ovens has been a thing all along, surprised more drama hasn't ensued prior to this.

If someone told me they turned up my oven (for any reason) in this competition, my shout of "what the actual F-CK!?" would be bouncing off the walls.

BI think the reason Molly stayed over the other lady, is because she did so will on other rounds.   Because Molly certainly didn't do a good job on either bake on last night's show.     

Edited March 28, 2023 by CrazyInAlabama

[Ellee]

12 hours ago, crazycatlady58 said:

Did I miss hear or did one of the bakers say someone turned off her oven? Then nothing else was said? Did I miss something? That seems like a major problem. 

It appeared to be an accident.  Oven temp turned higher. 
 

Don’t know bakers names. 

[libgirl2]

20 minutes ago, Ellee said:

It appeared to be an accident.  Oven temp turned higher. 
 

Don’t know bakers names. 

Josh is the one who turned up the oven. 

[Chit Chat]

12 hours ago, MerBearHou said:

Anyone watching Spring Baking: Easter?

I've been catching episodes here and there.  Honestly, there have been a lot of presentations by the bakers that have seriously underwhelmed me.  I expect near perfection at this level.  

[KayVeeTeeVee]

1 minute ago, ChitChat said:

I've been catching episodes here and there.  Honestly, there have been a lot of presentations by the bakers that have seriously underwhelmed me.  I expect near perfection at this level.  

The problem with expecting perfection is that the bakers are given such short time frames and unreasonable twists.  I'd like to see an episode where bakers are given the SAME ingredients, an extra 30 minutes, and NO twists.  Let's see what they can really do.  For example, no way grapefruit vs banana anything is fair.

[Guest]

11 minutes ago, libgirl2 said:

Josh is the one who turned up the oven. 

Begins with "J", ends with "osh" 😆

10 hours ago, CheshireCat said:

I'm not sure why Christian's tart with all the beige and brown looked spring-y while the pineapple looked like fall. I also thought that Christian's looked a little messy but it may have looked different in person.

I also thought Luke's tart that was basically white with some red and green bits on it was going to get called out for being Christmasy instead of springy, after April's pineapple got dinged for being fallish.

[Shenanigan7070]

Quote

I also thought Luke's tart that was basically white with some red and green bits on it was going to get called out for being Christmasy instead of springy, after April's pineapple got dinged for being fallish.

 

And Jessica's lattice was reddish and I swear it looked like she put holly leaves on it. I was very much expecting Nancy to bust out a "it looks like Christmas" but then she didn't.

[libgirl2]

24 minutes ago, Shenanigan7070 said:

 

And Jessica's lattice was reddish and I swear it looked like she put holly leaves on it. I was very much expecting Nancy to bust out a "it looks like Christmas" but then she didn't.

And it did look like Christmas. 

[MerBearHou]

3 hours ago, KayVeeTeeVee said:

MARS ca pone (or pone ay) instead of MAS ca pone and TOO mer ick vs TUR meric make me so, so sad.  You're on a baking show, dammit!

 

And saying macaroons when they're macarons -- ugh!!!!  

Edited March 28, 2023 by MerBearHou

[GeorgiaRai]

Random thought, but I think it'd be fun if the "advantage" minutes were tagged on at the END of the cook time instead of the beginning.  

[libgirl2]

16 minutes ago, MerBearHou said:

And saying macaroons when they're macarons -- ugh!!!!  

And Macron is the President of France 😉

[Chit Chat]

2 hours ago, KayVeeTeeVee said:

The problem with expecting perfection is that the bakers are given such short time frames and unreasonable twists.

I don't care for the twists either, but contestants should be good enough to handle the time crunch, as I would expect they would practice certain skills at home before going on the show.  Uneven cakes and desserts that look like blobs are unacceptable at this level.  

[libgirl2]

4 minutes ago, ChitChat said:

I don't care for the twists either, but contestants should be good enough to handle the time crunch, as I would expect they would practice certain skills at home before going on the show.  Uneven cakes and desserts that look like blobs are unacceptable at this level.  

While I wish they had more time, you do make a good point. They should know what this show is about and they should practice, practice and practice. 

[Chit Chat]

1 hour ago, libgirl2 said:

They should know what this show is about and they should practice, practice and practice. 

Maybe it's a case of nerves and having the cameras on them, and having the judges talk to them while they're baking could be a distraction.  I probably should be more sympathetic to the contestants, but uneven cakes and fondant that isn't smooth is something that bugs me!  

[libgirl2]

53 minutes ago, ChitChat said:

Maybe it's a case of nerves and having the cameras on them, and having the judges talk to them while they're baking could be a distraction.  I probably should be more sympathetic to the contestants, but uneven cakes and fondant that isn't smooth is something that bugs me!  

I'm sure of it is but then you have the "I never made ------ before". If it is a baked good or dessert of some kind, learn how to make it. 

[Pepper the Cat]

Can discussion for Springtime Easter be taken elsewhere? Some episodes air later in Canada than US. I was spoiled for the episode that aired in Canada last night because I guess it aired last week in US so I knew who was booted before I watched.

thanks

[Rammchick]

8 hours ago, libgirl2 said:

Maybe it was me, but the flowers on Clement's tart looked like fungi. 

You've been watching The Last of Us, haven't you? 😏

[libgirl2]

1 minute ago, Rammchick said:

You've been watching The Last of Us, haven't you? 😏

No, actually I haven't. I do a lot of hiking and see a lot of fungi and it looked familiar. 

[dleighg]

5 hours ago, Ellee said:

It appeared to be an accident.  Oven temp turned higher.

It wasn't an accident. He said he "thought it needed to be higher" and that "he kept an eye on her tarts."

 

7 hours ago, mojoween said:

but I cannot imagine that they didn’t taste Luke’s burned pastry cream

One of the judges mentioned that it tasted burnt

[dleighg]

4 hours ago, Shenanigan7070 said:

And Jessica's lattice was reddish and I swear it looked like she put holly leaves on it.

They did look like holly. And if you're trying to do a "fool the eye" pie-cake, what kind of pie has a red lattice crust???

And as an aside, I swear that Jesse's like "Now please take a minute to say your goodbyes" is word for word what he says to the girls who don't get a rose at the Bachelor ceremony :) 

Edited March 28, 2023 by dleighg

[BoffoDaWonderSheep]

On the topic of pronunciation, is anyone bugged by the host's and judges' botching of Clement's name? The contestants are saying Cleh-MON, which sounds like the correct French way, while Jesse and company are saying it CLEM-ent, like Clement Clark Moore. (Apologies if this has been brought up before.)

[Claire85]

When they were making foule tarts, Josh turned up Jessica’s oven temp. I was surprised the judges did not call him out on that. 
 

Oops, I see oven shenanigans has been covered above. 

Edited March 28, 2023 by Claire85
Typo

[CheshireCat]

6 hours ago, ChitChat said:

I don't care for the twists either, but contestants should be good enough to handle the time crunch, as I would expect they would practice certain skills at home before going on the show.  Uneven cakes and desserts that look like blobs are unacceptable at this level.  

I don't think it's a matter of practicing skills. The time frame they're given is very, very tight to the point of being unrealistic. If one goes with the 10 minutes that it took Clement to mix the batter (which I think was very fast) and adds 20 minutes for baking and 30 minutes chill time (because even if you chill it in the blast chiller, the cake cools from the outside in and it's hot in the center) then that's already an hour gone before you can start to fill the cake.
I'd say 30 minutes to fill and crumb coat/ice the cake but that's without chilling time. I would imagine that the bakers put the cakes in the blast chiller for around 10 minutes if they want to firm up icing but that only firms it up on the outside. So, the cakes remain soft(er) in the center and it makes them less stable (and therefore, more prone to tilt). They would also warm much quicker than if they were chilled through and the warmth from the spotlights in the studio would contribute that, too.
If the center was still warm it would be even worse because the slightest bit of warmth is enough to slightly melt the filling.

Cooling cakes in the blast chiller or any kind of refrigerator may also not be ideal for the baked good itself. It may lead to unwanted moisture or a center that appears not to be cooked all the way through or any kind of thing. Ideally, cakes should cool at room temperatures and should not be cut until they're cooled all the way through.

I came across this (and this). She estimated that a simple cake takes 8 hours to make. I can believe that. One thing I realized is that even if something looks simple, it can still eat up a lot of time. It's what tripped me up most often when I started baking. Even now that I give it one day more than I think I need, I still end up pressed for time on occasion and when I get pressed for time it's because of the details.

The lack of neatness bothers me as well but I don't think it's the baker's fault. I don't think they can do better with the time they're given. It's one of the reasons I'd never go on that or any other baking show. Not being able to make the cake look as good as I'd want it to look would frustrate me to no end. Pans and pots could be flying ;-)

3 hours ago, dleighg said:

One of the judges mentioned that it tasted burnt

I believe Nancy said something tasted bitter and Duff then mentioned something about burnt pastry cream but it was a "blink and you miss it" comment.

[CrazyInAlabama]

I really wish they would have a prep and bake time, with a certain time for the cake or whatever to cool off, and then an hour or more decorating time.   Just have it in separate sections, and don't have ridiculously short times for projects.

I really hate the bizarre items they make the bakers include with the twist.   Either tell them at the beginning, or don't have a twist.  

 

Edited March 29, 2023 by CrazyInAlabama

[CheshireCat]

I think the 4-5 hours that they give them for cakes on the Great such-and-such Baking Show are much more realistic. On average, the German version gives between 2:30 and 3 hours for the first challenge and 4-5 hours for the second.
(They also have a professional version where they have to make pastries for their first challenge for which they have 5 hours and a display piece for their second challenge for which they have 9 hours).

Also, having your ingredients and oven at your work space helps with time management. I'm not sure if it was on the Spring Baking Championship or the Easter version, but just yesterday, someone was running around looking for an ingredient that another baker had. That's another minute or two unnecessarily wasted.

[Chit Chat]

It would be nice for them to have the time to bake and decorate their cakes, etc. so that what the present doesn't looked rushed and sloppy.   

[Cetacean]

It's just so tiresome, nothing changes but the challenges.  Too little time, all that distracting (and unnecessary) running around, sloppy results, idiotic add-ons with flavors that make me nauseated, no joy - just survival of the fittest.

I'm done.

[RoxiP]

On 3/27/2023 at 7:52 PM, crazycatlady58 said:

Did I miss hear or did one of the bakers say someone turned off her oven? Then nothing else was said? Did I miss something? That seems like a major problem. 

Josh actually turned the heat up on the oven he was sharing with another baker, which made her tart crusts a little browner than she liked, but if I remember correctly she then turned around and was second in the preheat.  It does seem a sketchy thing to do but he wasn't stealthy about it but he should have directly said something to her in my opinion.  Jessie teased him about it, saying he should sabotage Clement's oven the next time.

[Cetacean]

I am gobsmacked that they all don't have an oven.  Who wins if one person needs 350F while the one sharing needs 400F?  Do they split the difference?  That's just an insane set up. 

With the bucks the rake in on commercials, buy them each their own damned oven!

[joanne3482]

1 minute ago, Cetacean said:

I am gobsmacked that they all don't have an oven.  Who wins if one person needs 350F while the one sharing needs 400F?  Do they split the difference?  That's just an insane set up. 

With the bucks the rake in on commercials, buy them each their own damned oven!

I believe they do have an oven at their station as well. I've seen people put things into the oven near them. I believe it is either a size or an oven type issue.  The ovens at their station seem to be smaller, standard kitchen oven size and the others on the wall are bigger. They may also be convection but I don't know enough about baking to know if that would be good or bad or nothing at all. 

[Frost]

I assume the point of having too few convection ovens is to increase the amount of running around the contestants need to do.  I'm at the point where I don't really want to call them "bakers" anymore.  

[CheshireCat]

6 hours ago, joanne3482 said:

They may also be convection but I don't know enough about baking to know if that would be good or bad or nothing at all. 

As far as I know, convection ovens reduce the baking time.

[Cetacean]

1 hour ago, CheshireCat said:

As far as I know, convection ovens reduce the baking time.

Correct. And because the air is circulating, you can put items on different racks and not have to turn them halfway through or swamp racks.

Edited March 29, 2023 by Cetacean