Spring Baking Championship - General Discussion

[Guest]

4 hours ago, Cheyanne11 said:

Every time Clinton says his name I think he's conversationally saying "So, Rob..."

Every. Single. Time.

At one point someone (probably Clinton, but it could have been someone else) said "Hey, Sohrob", and I immediately started humming "Que Sera Sera".

I do want to make clear that I like Clinton generally. I enjoy the three different hosts (Clinton, John, Jesse) they've settled into for the three seasonal baking shows. Each has a very different vibe that is fully appropriate for their respective show.

[springbarb]

7 hours ago, TexasTiffany said:

That's how I feel. Arin is very talented and has made some beautiful desserts. It's his manner that is annoying. If he turns his volume down a bit he might be the next Jason Smith.

I couldn't believe that Arin went minimalist for the main round, but not the preheat. And after going minimal last week, too! I find him less annoying than Jason--maybe it's just that I see him as that actor in Airplane! or that it seems less put-on than Jason's folksy sayings.

[RoxiP]

14 hours ago, springbarb said:

I couldn't believe that Arin went minimalist for the main round, but not the preheat. And after going minimal last week, too! I find him less annoying than Jason--maybe it's just that I see him as that actor in Airplane! or that it seems less put-on than Jason's folksy sayings.

Arin and the actor from Airplane! - SPOT ON!

[LittleIggy]

Why did Sohrob make his “pillow” cake brown? The actual pillow was very colorful. Tati’s dessert was gorgeous.

[theatremouse]

It seemed like the choice was purely flavor-based. He wanted to do apricot (and overbaked the rest) so the result was brown+orange. I don't think he was trying to mimic the color of the pillow at all, just the "it's quilted so different squares" bit. I don't know if he just underestimated the degree to which they espected the look to match or what.

[Toothbrush]

On 4/14/2020 at 6:19 PM, springbarb said:

-maybe it's just that I see him as that actor in Airplane! 

 

On 4/15/2020 at 9:14 AM, RoxiP said:

Arin and the actor from Airplane! - SPOT ON!

The Airplane actor & also Prince Edward of the UK

[Darian]

I liked Clinton fine his first season but now, I just love him. He's so good with the bakers and just delightful in general. 

[MerBearHou]

This episode was just so off.  Duff was extra-cranky — I didn’t like when he told Sohrob that crisps are “idiot-proof” (a pretty rough insult to Sohrob’s face when the crisp had failed).  I will admit that Duff’s critiques were spot on, if harshly delivered. 

I was so irritated / unimpressed with Christine and her antics tonight — I’m so cute, I’m crying, I’m yanking things from Sohrob’s hand, I’m cackling with glee, I tell my husband to stop buying me flowers.  Her final cake was a gloppy mess in every way and I disagreed with Nancy — those did not really look like tulips — they looked like quickly-done afterthoughts.

Val sounded like she should have had a mask on — so stopped up with a cold.  Her final cake and bow were the prettiest of the bunch.  

Tati barely spoke and I got the feeling Clinton was told she doesn’t like the chit-chat.  Her flowers were lovely and using more than one color in the piping bag worked out like a dream.  She also got lucky that her cake didn’t flop over before the judging.

Arin was uncharacteristically subdued up until the final judging.  His daffodils did not look like daffodils to me — they were so flat! I’ve never seen anything other than a yellow daffodil but he had 3 different colors.  Has he ever seen one?

Sohrob was pissed at Christine (I would’ve been too).  Loved when Duff stuck up for Sohrob’s beautifully created flowers rather than the gross-looking, grocery store piped on flowers.  He did get lucky that Christine messed up because he didn’t fully make a flower ring.

Flower night was tough!  If you can’t guess, I was so glad Christine was the baker to go.

Edited April 21, 2020 by MerBearHou
Loathed is too strong a word to use when describing a baking show baker!

[Guest]

That was a fraught episode for sure. The winners of both rounds were pretty obvious: Christine's was the only cherry dessert they seemingly had ANYTHING good to say about, and Val's cake was the only one with virtually no negative critique. And her bow was the only one that didn't look a mess.

Sohrob is a lucky duck in that someone keeps screwing up more than him.

I actually enjoy that Tati doesn't engage with Clinton that much. It's kind of refreshing to have someone who isn't naturally inclined to bright, witty banter, and it's another amusing layer to her, along with her various low-key exclamations of "dude" and "man", and her ongoing war with the oven doors this episode XD

[springbarb]

At this point, it's anyone's game...except Sohrob. How many times has he been in the bottom two now?

And man, I don't think I've seen a judging round like that preheat. Everyone was getting torn to shreds!

[TexasTiffany]

Duff's mood this episode made me wonder if this show was being filmed while Duff was in competition against Buddy. When Duff made the criticism of piped out flowers looking like something from a grocery store, it made me think of Buddy since THAT is what he loves to do. It's so unlike Duff to be so negative. I think he's really frustrated and it spilled over into this usually fun, light-hearted show. 

[MerBearHou]

3 minutes ago, TexasTiffany said:

Duff's mood this episode made me wonder if this show was being filmed while Duff was in competition against Buddy. When Duff made the criticism of piped out flowers looking like something from a grocery store, it made me think of Buddy since THAT is what he loves to do. It's so unlike Duff to be so negative. I think he's really frustrated and it spilled over into this usually fun, light-hearted show. 

So curious about this.  The Buddy-effect cannot be a good one for Duff.  Nancy even looked at Duff with such disapproval when he basically implied that Sohrob was less-than-an-idiot for not succeeding with the crisp.  He was really gruff and negative.  

[Guest]

Episodes like this do show why it's important to have a good host who can do more than just introduce challenges and move the procedure along. If the judges are in a cranky mood, the host can be sort of an advocate/friend/commiserater, as Clinton was here, to take a bit of the sting away. He managed to keep some lightheartedness to the proceedings and make the contestants laugh while their creations were being crushed.

[dleighg]

10 hours ago, MerBearHou said:

Arin was uncharacteristically subdued up until the final judging.  His daffodils did not look like daffodils to me — they were so flat! I’ve never seen anything other than a yellow daffodil but he had 3 different colors.  Has he ever seen one?

Daffodils are my favorite flower, and those WERE NOT DAFFODILS! Purple daffodils? (according to Pintrest maybe they exist but I remain skeptical). I would defy anyone to see that cake and pronounce "what pretty daffodils!"

[RoxiP]

Although I agree Christine was annoying I disagree that she should have been the one sent home -- Sohrob has been in the bottom three weeks in a row, didn't meet the requirements of the challenge - I think he should have been sent home.  

I watched Buddy vs. Duff last season but haven't watched it at all this season - just thought it should have been a one and done.

[theatremouse]

10 hours ago, TexasTiffany said:

Duff's mood this episode made me wonder if this show was being filmed while Duff was in competition against Buddy. When Duff made the criticism of piped out flowers looking like something from a grocery store, it made me think of Buddy since THAT is what he loves to do.

Possibly? But I know a few professional bakers and it's a very common complaint. Like, if you apply for a cake decorating job not at a grocery store, and you want to make the hiring person roll their eyes, pipe a cake that looks like it came from a grocery store.

[Madding crowd]

I think Duff always has a mean sarcastic streak, he just covers it by laughing so it seems he isn’t serious. I don’t know, I enjoyed seeing the flower cakes even if they weren’t perfect.

[NYGirl]

As soon as Christine won the pre-heat I knew he was a goner.  For some reason when they get extra stuff to help with the final bake it screws them up and they get eliminated.

Her cake was a mess

She was so damn annoying in this episode.  

Yes!  Why were the judges so mean in the pre-heat? 

[Eliza422]

They were so harsh on the bows - "looks like an afterthought"! Of course it does - it WAS an afterthought!

I *really* wish they would get rid of the twists - they add absolutely nothing to the show.

[RoxiP]

2 hours ago, NYGirl said:

As soon as Christine won the pre-heat I knew he was a goner.  For some reason when they get extra stuff to help with the final bake it screws them up and they get eliminated.

Her cake was a mess

She was so damn annoying in this episode.  

Yes!  Why were the judges so mean in the pre-heat? 

I think they think at this point in the competition there is no excuse for shoddy work.  

I've been craving something with cherries in it since last night's show.

[ruffy666]

All I can say is I'm happy that Christine went home.  Her "perfect" tulips were thanks to the stupid Russian piping tip, it's not like she actually did anything??  And grabbing something out of someone's hand and then laughing about it is super not cool.  BYE GIRL BYE

Also agree that Duff's critiques were beyond harsh.  Look, there is nothing I love more than saying snarky things about contestants on reality TV, but that's mostly for my own amusement and only very very rarely would I ever want to intentionally hurt anyone's feelings.  Saying a crisp is idiot-proof is just plain mean and I was really surprised to hear it come from Duff.

[SweetSable]

Quote

Why were the judges so mean in the pre-heat? 

Perhaps because everything the bakers made was bad even though none of the items were difficult items to make.

[TexasTiffany]

15 minutes ago, SweetSable said:

Perhaps because everything the bakers made was bad even though none of the items were difficult items to make.

I was really surprised the bakers had such difficulty. This was the easiest challenge ever! I make a crumble, a crisp, a cobbler from things I have left over in my kitchen. I'm successful throwing things together, not really working hard at it, and I'm not in a baking competition. This round was a gimme but they screwed it up. That one baker put only 3 cherries in her dish. eyeroll

[HyeChaps]

That was brutal. 

[CrazyDog]

That...was a grumpy episode. What the heck, Duff? Even Clinton told the judges to go grab a drink. Ha.

The contestants seemed subdued too - Arin seemed tired, Tati seemed over it, and normally when the twist comes out, they all look exasperated in a "fun" way but last night, they were just staring and looking like they wished the day was over. So odd.

I can't remember if they all got weird just after the harsh pre-heat though, or if they were that way before too.

This wasn't my fun light-hearted show.

See ya, Christine. She's had a stealth mean streak this whole season. That being said, I can understand having a panic attack and losing it under pressure. Sometimes it just happens.

I don't care if Sohrob has been in the bottom, I'm glad he stayed. He's still my fav, and I like his sense of humor. 

[littlebennysmom]

Oh, how I wish Clinton would have given Christine her own line back to her when she was crying -- "too bad, sucks to be you!" in perky baby voice.  She didn't use her advantage well at all, so in my best high pitched, syrupy sweet Valley girl voice "see ya, wouldn't wanna be ya!" to her annoying presence.

Notice this season that Nancy isn't feeding Clinton goodies off her fork?  You know why?  Because Clinton doesn't have time for her sing song, drunk ass.  He was great tonight, someone above mentioned he did a great job smoothing over Duff's foul critique and I agree.

[Ilovecomputers]

Sooo glad Christine got the boot. She tried to come across to the judges as a warm hearted person, but she showed her true colors. She seemed to have forgotten about her flowers until the last 15 minutes, and she had all the tools in the world to make some amazing decorations. Hope Tati wins. She seems very talented.

Wish they had explained the differences between crisps, crumbles and cobblers.  I didn’t know Bettys had bread in them. Isn’t that bread pudding?

[mlp]

Add me to the group glad to see Christine eliminated.  She's been the one I liked least all along and grabbing something away from another contestant was just inexcusable.  She seemed to think it was cute or funny.  It wasn't.  I don't know what Nancy was looking at but I thought Christine's tulips looked crappy.

Sohrob did make a wreath.  It was just a different style from the rest of them.  I like him and I was glad he was safe.

Clinton is a terrific host.  He knows when to be serious, when to be silly and how to put the contestants at ease.

[dleighg]

6 hours ago, Ilovecomputers said:

Wish they had explained the differences between crisps, crumbles and cobblers.

I thought they did ?  While I still don't quite understand a brown betty (bread crumbs sounds weird), they said a crisp was like a crumble, but a finer grind, and I think a thiner coat, and a cobbler has biscuits on top (rather than oats and flour and butter etc in a sort of streusel)

[Guest]

I guess I'm a little mystified why Christine is getting so much flak for swiping an ingredient. We have seen this exact scenario many, many, times: two contestants grab for the same thing, Contestant A gets it and "gloats", Contestant B "pouts", and they move on. The supposed gloating and pouting is just as producer-driven as the puns and "whatcha working on?" chatter. And if they're going to make the contestants run up and grab things out of a tight space, these things are going to happen. Sounds like Christine grabbed the tree (with the ingredient name on it) and Sohrob grabbed the stand, and they came apart. The part with the name superseded the stand, so Christine got it. I understand Sohrob being a little irritated that it happened, but I don't think it's Christine's fault, it just happened that way.

She was perhaps a little too easily flustered to go all the way, but I'm just not seeing this "mean streak" or true colors being revealed that were supposedly there all along. Oh well, we all see things differently.

[Ms Lark]

16 hours ago, ruffy666 said:

All I can say is I'm happy that Christine went home.  Her "perfect" tulips were thanks to the stupid Russian piping tip, it's not like she actually did anything??  And grabbing something out of someone's hand and then laughing about it is super not cool.  BYE GIRL BYE

Yeah, me, too. That's karma, girl, for grabbing Sohrob's tree. That turned me on her and I was happy they sent her home. Especially for all that crap she threw on the cake because she won extra stuff.

From earlier:

On 4/14/2020 at 1:18 AM, mlp said:

Clinton has been with his life partner for many years

Husband. They've been married for years.

[laredhead]

I like Clinton as the host.  He has a great personality, and his skills were certainly necessary for this episode.  Duff was obviously having a bad day.  

Am I the only one who thinks that 2 hours wasn't enough time for the main challenge?  If the judges want a good tasting product that is beautifully and creatively decorated, I think more time should be given.  They have had 3 hours during past episodes for certain things, and I think this challenge should have been one of those.  Heck, it takes me 30 minutes at least to make a cake from boxed cake mix - lol.  

[Eliza422]

10 hours ago, littlebennysmom said:

Notice this season that Nancy isn't feeding Clinton goodies off her fork?  You know why?  Because Clinton doesn't have time for her sing song, drunk ass.  He was great tonight, someone above mentioned he did a great job smoothing over Duff's foul critique and I agree.

I think she doesn't because Clinton doesn't play into her "dirty old woman" persona. Jesse (the holiday host) does.

[RoxiP]

I've never made a cobbler with biscuits so that was kind of a turn-off for me - we usually pour a batter mixture over the top.  Oh well, different techniques in different regions I guess.

[Maya]

3 hours ago, tracyscott76 said:

I guess I'm a little mystified why Christine is getting so much flak for swiping an ingredient. We have seen this exact scenario many, many, times: two contestants grab for the same thing, Contestant A gets it and "gloats", Contestant B "pouts", and they move on. The supposed gloating and pouting is just as producer-driven as the puns and "whatcha working on?" chatter. And if they're going to make the contestants run up and grab things out of a tight space, these things are going to happen. Sounds like Christine grabbed the tree (with the ingredient name on it) and Sohrob grabbed the stand, and they came apart. The part with the name superseded the stand, so Christine got it. I understand Sohrob being a little irritated that it happened, but I don't think it's Christine's fault, it just happened that way.

She was perhaps a little too easily flustered to go all the way, but I'm just not seeing this "mean streak" or true colors being revealed that were supposedly there all along. Oh well, we all see things differently.

I completely agree about the grabbing. It happens all the time. Someone gets what they want and someone else doesn’t. The constant cutting away to Sohrob rolling his eyes every time Christine spoke was ridiculous. I’ll give Sohrob the benefit of the doubt and assume that was all editing, because if it wasn’t, that was a very bad look for him. 
 

[Darian]

In the pre-heat, I watched Christine trying to yank something out of Tati's hand that Tati clearly was already walking away with, so it's a pattern and I'm glad Christine is gone. She wasn't the worst, but still annoying.   I like everyone else. It's rare for me to root against a baker in this show, but Christine had me hoping for her ouster last night. I'm pulling hard for Tati. 

[Guest]

13 minutes ago, Maya said:

I completely agree about the grabbing. It happens all the time. Someone gets what they want and someone else doesn’t. The constant cutting away to Sohrob rolling his eyes every time Christine spoke was ridiculous. I’ll give Sohrob the benefit of the doubt and assume that was all editing, because if it wasn’t, that was a very bad look for him. 
 

In any reality show, I always assume reaction shots are cut in from god knows where, unless both people are on camera at the same time. In a recent episode, they showed someone making a typical punny joke and then cut to Val reacting. A few minutes later, the exact same footage of Val was used while she was describing what she was working on. So like I said, I'm sure Sohrob wasn't thrilled about it, but I highly doubt he was steaming about it continuously like they indicated.

[suebee12]

1 hour ago, RoxiP said:

I've never made a cobbler with biscuits

My mother made cobbler both ways, but putting biscuits on top was the way we had it the most....Yummy, fluffy Southern biscuits!!!! Blackberry cobbler is my favorite with peach following closely behind.

[jcbrown]

Add me to the list of those who were done with Christine. And on a shallow note, her hair was stupid.

[TexasTiffany]

I like different types of cobbler. My favorite is making a pie crust type. Lining the dish with strips of pastry, alternating with fruit, ending up with some crust on top. With the juice of the fruit bubbling up, the crust becomes chewy and, for lack of a better word, gummy... which is a good thing. Blackberry YUM! Now I'm hungry for one. 

[crazycatlady58]

11 hours ago, TexasTiffany said:

I like different types of cobbler. My favorite is making a pie crust type. Lining the dish with strips of pastry, alternating with fruit, ending up with some crust on top. With the juice of the fruit bubbling up, the crust becomes chewy and, for lack of a better word, gummy... which is a good thing. Blackberry YUM! Now I'm hungry for one. 

That's how my mother made it. So good.

[trudysmom]

Mine too.  For what it's worth Walmart bakery carries a small blackberry cobbler that is surprisingly not bad.  I needed one last winter when I couldn't get fresh berries and it was pretty good.

I never made a buckle, I think it's a northern states kind of thing?  A few crisps, and plenty of cobblers.  Crisps though, meh.  Mostly my thing with this challenge was the necessity of making little individual ones in ramekins, instead of one large dessert.  I guess with the time constraints though, they had to.

[CrazyInAlabama]

Tonight's episode with the margarita flavored first round is hysterical.    I wonder how much booze is in the desserts, because the judges seem really drunk.      Since the bakers all added straight booze to their deserts, and the judges really want to taste it, I suspect that the alcohol content is through the roof.    

[Guest]

I'll mark last week down as an aberration, since this week was by and large back to lighthearted form.

But PHOOEY. What a week for Sohrob to get in gear (at least in the round when it counted) and Val to falter :C. Not that there's really anything wrong with Sohrob, I just liked Val better and thought she was more consistently good.

I can't tell if Arin has settled down or I've just gotten used to him, but he doesn't seem as over the top as he was at the beginning. Though he's still a giddy fellow.

But yay Tati is still there! She had a rough episode though, with getting serrano in her eye, her feathers not hardening, and Val leaving, which she seemed quite teary about (there's a photo on Aisha's Instagram from earlier this month of her, Val and Tati looking quite chummy). I thought it was a little unfair for her "puddle" to be called out so much more than Arin's "blood splatter". At least hers was pool-shaped.

Rooting for her hard, but they're all fine, really.

[MerBearHou]

I am often suspicious that these shows “pre-decide” who should go next.  With Sohrob staying, I feel I’m proven wrong.  He’s been weak in prior weeks but tonight he really deserved to stay with these two bakes, especially his flamingo.  I was sorry and surprised to see Val go.  Arin is truly such a nice, easy-going Canadian.  

[springbarb]

44 minutes ago, tracyscott76 said:

I can't tell if Arin has settled down or I've just gotten used to him, but he doesn't seem as over the top as he was at the beginning. Though he's still a giddy fellow.

I think he has calmed down a bit. He still has his moments, but he's not as ramped up as he was in previous episodes.

Everyone seemed to be in great spirits in this episode. This season's contestants seem like a looser, more fun group than any I remember in the past--while still doing really great desserts.

I was bummed to see Val go tonight; I had thought it would be Tati until the judges decided that Val's dessert was just a big sandwich cookie. The cookie itself looked more challenging than that to me, but what do I know? Either way, Sohrob picked the right time to step up; I was surprised it was him, not Arin, who got the win.

[mlp]

11 minutes ago, springbarb said:

This season's contestants seem like a looser, more fun group than any I remember in the past

True and I think that's largely a result of having Clinton as host.  He's not stiff or stuffy and the contestants relax with him and feel free to have fun.  

My favorite has been Arin since the beginning but I was very happy to see Sohrob get a win.  I like him and his flamingo dessert looked great.  I could see the problems with both Val and Tati's desserts so I would have accepted either being eliminated.  I wonder what tipped the scale.

[Brookside]

I just caught up on last week's episode (the cherry cobbler etc one), and it seemed to me that they all seemed punch drunk (judges included, except Nancy, who was probably in withdrawal) during the first challenge, as though they'd all just been released from a two-month coronavirus quarantine.  I wonder whether there was a production glitch that held them all up?

Edited April 28, 2020 by Brookside

[LittleIggy]

Val’s seahorse looked more like a chicken of the sea!

[Brookside]

Am I the only one who hates it when they (well, Nancy really) constantly say "springy", which actually means "bouncy" and nothing to do with Spring?

Speaking of which, Nancy, why does your non-springy weight jacket have penguins on it?

Edited April 28, 2020 by Brookside