Holiday Baking Championship - General Discussion

[AZChristian]

32 minutes ago, libgirl2 said:

Those are popular in my area. There is even a cheesecake place that has them in jars but he does sell slices and half/whole cakes. Some of the best cheesecake I have ever had and a controlled portion! But it is only one portion. Weren't these from last night meant to be shared? 

I think because it was called a "flight," each board of three little pies was served to one person.  Each person had three.  No sharing.  Kind of like a "wine flight."  Just a sampling of different things.

[libgirl2]

2 minutes ago, AZChristian said:

I think because it was called a "flight," each board of three little pies was served to one person.  Each person had three.  No sharing.  Kind of like a "wine flight."  Just a sampling of different things.

thanks, I was nodding off the first half hour. 

[AZChristian]

4 minutes ago, libgirl2 said:

thanks, I was nodding off the first half hour. 

LOL.  I've visited more than one restaurant that offers a "wine flight" with a meal, so I kind of had a hint when they called it a "pie flight."

[Salacious Kitty]

42 minutes ago, AZChristian said:

LOL.  I've visited more than one restaurant that offers a "wine flight" with a meal, so I kind of had a hint when they called it a "pie flight."

Jesse did a good job of explaining the "flight" concept, comparing it to wine or bourbon flights. The pie flights are by nature different because they are going to serve multiple people. The jars were actually closer to the original concept.

[springbarb]

The show lists Kristen as being from Staten Island; there's definitely Long Island in her accent, and I think something else.

[Maya]

I like Kristin! I think she seems sweet. I think she doesn’t get taken seriously because of her age and her giggle, but is a very talented baker. 

[mojoween]

As I stand here futilely attempting to frost a two layer cake with a rubber spatula, knowing I would be bounced because of my poor decorating skills, I thought of something else that was irritating.

WHO THE HELL CARES if Christine’s beautiful dessert was sitting on cardboard?  You’re not EATING the cardboard.  That was stupid.

Edited November 27, 2022 by mojoween

[CheshireCat]

8 minutes ago, mojoween said:

WHO THE HELL CARES if Christine’s beautiful dessert was sitting on cardboard?  You’re not EATING the cardboard.  That was stupid.

As someone who often rolls their eyes at certain critiques, I sort of agreed with this one. It shouldn't have mattered overall (and I don't believe it did) but she should have covered it up with a border or something (or should have used a slightly smaller piece or one that is pre-decorated with foil paper). If you brought your cake, I wouldn't care but Christine is a professional, this is a competition and I think the judges were right to point it out.

[String Theory]

On 11/22/2022 at 12:55 PM, libgirl2 said:

Wouldn't all that green give it a "fake" taste? 

Depends on what type of food coloring they used.  Liquid food coloring is more likely to give a fake flavor.  Gel food coloring (which professional bakers use) generally doesn't impart a fake/synthetic flavor, as a little bit goes a long way.  ITA that glowing green was way too much!

[Starry-Eyed]

I really loved this last episode, especially the main heat challenge. It felt smart and fun, designed to have the bakers show off a wide range of skills and flavors, not off the wall. And it seems this group has a really high skill level, as well as great personalities. No major flops, no "why is this person still around"

[KayVeeTeeVee]

Over the weekend, several channels air HBC competitions from previous years.  Twice I've fallen asleep before the winners were announced.  The most recent was when Jody from Boston was almost certain to be a finalist. Is there a place on Primetimer where I could find a list of all winners since Season One? 

[Spunkygal]

7 minutes ago, KayVeeTeeVee said:

Over the weekend, several channels air HBC competitions from previous years.  Twice I've fallen asleep before the winners were announced.  The most recent was when Jody from Boston was almost certain to be a finalist. Is there a place on Primetimer where I could find a list of all winners since Season One? 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Holiday_Baking_Championship_episodes

[KayVeeTeeVee]

1 hour ago, Spunkygal said:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Holiday_Baking_Championship_episodes

Thank you so much!

[Spunkygal]

4 minutes ago, KayVeeTeeVee said:

Thank you so much!

You’re welcome! 

[KayVeeTeeVee]

31 minutes ago, KayVeeTeeVee said:

Thank you so much!  This will really help when I'm watching re-runs all afternoon and then fall asleep before the winner is announced!

[Grizzly]

Bill breaking out the violin to join in the music making. So glad he overcame his difficulties with the baked Alaska. My mother's go to dessert was a baked Alaska but hers was more of a pie. The crust was Nila wafers and coconut. Then filled with vanilla ice cream and the meringue on top with a quick trip under the broiler.

Did Christine set the table on fire? That was quite a disaster, she was the right person to go home. Birch, please!

[Irlandesa]

On 11/23/2022 at 5:41 PM, mojoween said:

WHO THE HELL CARES if Christine’s beautiful dessert was sitting on cardboard?  You’re not EATING the cardboard.  That was stupid.

In judging presentation in baking shows and cooking shows, they often judge the plate or bowl it's served in.  On one hand, I find it a little bit silly when they claim a bowl is "too deep".  On the other hand, cardboard is going to stand out in a bad way.  It looks unfinished. It's the same reason people are judged when desserts are served in the pan in which they're cooked. 

I guess it's hard to argue that Christine deserved to go home but I'm going to miss her accent. 

Edited November 29, 2022 by Irlandesa

[BookWitch]

I don't understand why Christines meringue was melting. Wasn't it on ice cream?  Were they not allowed to use cream of tarter to stiffen it up better?  I've never had Baked Alaska, is it any good?

[Guest]

Yet again I'm impressed by all the inventiveness in the first round. For awhile it looked like no one was going to get any negative critiques at all, until Aishia.

In contrast, I thought the main heat desserts were kind of repetitive. This is nothing against the bakers since they were doing as instructed, but it got a little boring watching trees that mostly looked the same get set on fire. I'm sure they all tasted good, though!

Since they need to have a bottom two, Kristen seems to have the misfortune of continually being the one whose minor flaw is picked out to join the obvious eliminee.

Edited November 29, 2022 by tracyscott76

[MerBearHou]

Bill and the violin — a favorite moment!  

Sorry to see Christine go, but there was no way around that decision.  

[mlp]

4 minutes ago, MerBearHou said:

Bill and the violin — a favorite moment!  

Sorry to see Christine go, but there was no way around that decision.  

Ditto.  I liked Christine and was sorry to see her go but they really couldn't make any other decision.

I knew that Bill is a classically trained violinist and has played with orchestras from his little bio on the FN site so I was happy that he got to demonstrate a little.  He's doing very well for a home baker.  I hope he can keep it up.

[MerBearHou]

Just rewatched and came back to add:

Super impressed with Jessica’s mile high cake in round one.

When Bill hugged Christine at the end of round two’s bake and said “I bet that will taste incredible” — so dear.

Aishia’s Baked Alaska was beautiful.  

I am amazed those who had never made Baked Alaska figured out how — does not seem easy at all.

[CheshireCat]

3 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

On one hand, I find it a little bit silly when they claim a bowl is "too deep".  On the other hand, cardboard is going to stand out in a bad way.  It looks unfinished. It's the same reason people are judged when desserts are served in the pan in which they're cooked.

I think, think of it that way: if you pay a 3 or even 4 figure sum for a cake, would you want it to be served on a piece of cardboard that shows?
I think what the cake is displayed on is that final piece that ties it all together.

Almost all desserts looked great and festive! This group of bakers seems to get better as the season progresses which is a nice change compared with the last two or so seasons.

I didn't like Dru's and Aaron's. I've got a feeling that Nancy really likes Aaron and regardless of what he does, she'll find a way to love it.

Aaron's pie was not only not festive, the pie crust looked patched up (as in, he patched it before he baked it and the pieces didn't melt together).

Dru's dessert looked really rustic. I'm also not sure how cherries make it more holiday-ish. I would have added cinnamon and cardamon as they go really well with apples (and cherries) and are traditional holiday spices.

I've got mixed feelings about Harshal's. On the one hand, the presentation fit well with the hazelnut. On the other hand, it looked more fall and Thanksgiving than holidays.
I also thought that it was interesting how it was edited. Carla sounded very much like there was supposed to be a "but" but we never got one.

Kristen's looked great. I'm not sure if I would consider added ginger more holiday-ish but it definitely looked holiday-ish (more so than Aaron's). I liked her presentation.

Zakiya's also looked great. I thought hers and Kristen's were the best with regards to presentation. I did like Jessica's as well but she had this big cake whereas the other two had individual desserts and I prefer the individually decorated plates. But that's not Jessica's fault. If it really was as good as they say then her win seems to be justified.

For once, I have to agree with Nancy: I did not get chimney or Santa from Aisha's dessert either. I wondered why she had the Easter Bunny on her dessert...

I agree with Tracy about the main heat - they all looked different but at the same time, they didn't.

I didn't quite agree that Jessica's looked like pine needles. The piping reminded me of seashells.

I'm surprised that the judges didn't say anything about the meringue that was sliding off Kristen's Baked Alaska. But it did look pretty otherwise.

Too bad that Christine didn't know that a volcano on Hawaii would be breaking out the day they were airing this episode, otherwise, she could have said she had made this volcano 😂
I'm glad she was such a good sport about it, though. I mean, there's little she could have done but it still must be heartbreaking for her. I also loved how Bill tried to cheer her up right after they were finished.

@BookWitch Christine's meringue could have slid off for a number of reasons.
Since I don't like the taste of buttercream, I add cream cheese to it when I make cakes. Cream cheese also adds moisture. I now apply a thin layer of chocolate ganache before I cover a cake with fondant but before that, I had fondant slide off the cake in the fridge in summer, simply because too much moisture was accumulating. It was melting the fondant and in combination with the butter fat, the weight made the fondant slide, regardless of how cold it was.
So, my guess is that the fat in the ice cream in combination with the moisture made the meringue slide. Maybe her ice cream even had a higher fat content than the others' and/or her ice cream wasn't as cold. Additionally, she was using Swiss Meringue which Jessica said wasn't as stable as Italian was, so this may have been a factor as well. It's also possible that she needed to mix the meringue a bit longer and it was just a tad bit too soft.

I agree with the judges: Aaron's didn't really look like a tree. I also didn't like the look of Aisha's. Look-wise, I liked Bill's, Dru's and Harshal's. I thought Harshal's decorations were well done, Dru's looked like a tree from afar due to the green color and I thought Bill's had the best tree structure.

Did they have to make different structures or was it a coincidence that they all applied the meringue differently?

I'm so glad that they seem to be keeping the toned down twist and are now making twists that they can use (and in this case, should be making anyway).

I'm also enjoying the judging this season. It's so much less subjective and more about the pastries/desserts instead of taste preference. I like that much, much better.

[jcbrown]

I am just realizing tonight that Kristen’s voice reminds me of https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riki_Lindhome.

Edited November 29, 2022 by jcbrown

[libgirl2]

Christine was the right one to go home. I have to say, everyone really showed up last night. This is a great bunch of bakers. 

[mojoween]

7 hours ago, CheshireCat said:

I've got mixed feelings about Harshal's. On the one hand, the presentation fit well with the hazelnut. On the other hand, it looked more fall and Thanksgiving than holidays.

To be fair, Thanksgiving is a holiday, so it fits!

Christine was absolutely the right decision to go, but it still sucks.  I don’t necessarily agree with Bill that it would taste amazing as mint is not a flavor I enjoy, but it was very sweet of him to say so.  Also can he play the violin every day?

Aaron’s butterscotch and Jessica’s cake were the two that I wish I could crawl through the TV and try.

[Dirtybubble]

Poor Christine.  She really struggled with this but if I remember correctly she seemed to struggle with all her challenges.  Not sure what the problem was but she couldn't seem to get into the groove of the competition.

Ditto on Bill and his violin!  When he said he had never made a Baked Alaska before I was worried he was going to be eliminated but he managed to pull it off.

8 hours ago, MerBearHou said:

When Bill hugged Christine at the end of round two’s bake and said “I bet that will taste incredible” — so dear.

Wasn't that sweet.  Warms my heart to see bakers supporting each other.  

[libgirl2]

26 minutes ago, Dirtybubble said:

Poor Christine.  She really struggled with this but if I remember correctly she seemed to struggle with all her challenges.  Not sure what the problem was but she couldn't seem to get into the groove of the competition.

Ditto on Bill and his violin!  When he said he had never made a Baked Alaska before I was worried he was going to be eliminated but he managed to pull it off.

Wasn't that sweet.  Warms my heart to see bakers supporting each other.  

I was worried about Bill too and was so happy his was good! What a delightful and kind man. 

[Cheyanne11]

44 minutes ago, libgirl2 said:

I was worried about Bill too and was so happy his was good! What a delightful and kind man. 

He really is a delight!  When he pulled his violin out and started playing?  What a lovely moment!

[Dirtybubble]

27 minutes ago, Cheyanne11 said:

He really is a delight!  When he pulled his violin out and started playing?  What a lovely moment!

Very sweet, Dru, Jessica, and Aaron are still my absolute favorites but Bill pulled ahead of the pack this week as well.

[Madding crowd]

I really like it that the judges are mostly positive on this show  and only mention something if it really takes away from the taste or presentation. On many of the other shows like Holiday Wars or Christmas Cookies the judges start complaining half way through the process and find five things wrong even with the winning piece. It gives the impression that that judges can never be pleased so why bother? Nancy, Duff and Carla seem much more professional to me.

[proserpina65]

On 11/21/2022 at 9:01 PM, Frost said:

I'm so glad Sumera left and not Jessica!  Jessica had a bad bake but overall her food has been wonderful.

I like them both, so it was awful to see them in the bottom two.  But I agree that overall Jessica has been great.

I have to say, I really hate this "it doesn't look holiday enough" bullshit.  Holiday desserts are whatever someone has as dessert at their holiday dinner, damn it.  With the exception of occasionally including decorated Christmas cookies, we almost never have holiday-looking desserts, at least not by Nancy's definition.  Of the desserts we had at Thanksgiving, only the pumpkin pie would've qualified as "holiday" in flavor either.  The chocolate cream and lemon meringue pies were mighty tasty, though.

[Madding crowd]

That’s true in real life but on a holiday theme show people expect some type of holiday element to make the show different than a general baking show. 

[Dirtybubble]

58 minutes ago, Madding crowd said:

That’s true in real life but on a holiday theme show people expect some type of holiday element to make the show different than a general baking show. 

I agree as well.  The presentation and appearance are part of the competition and judging.

1 hour ago, proserpina65 said:

I have to say, I really hate this "it doesn't look holiday enough" bullshit.  Holiday desserts are whatever someone has as dessert at their holiday dinner, damn it. 

If it was just a dessert baking competition then yeah but on this show you really have to bring your decorating skills as well.  The first thing the judges do is look at the presentation of the food.  To quote Nancy it's got to "look Christmas" or Fall or whatever the criteria is.

[proserpina65]

1 hour ago, Dirtybubble said:

I agree as well.  The presentation and appearance are part of the competition and judging.

If it was just a dessert baking competition then yeah but on this show you really have to bring your decorating skills as well.  The first thing the judges do is look at the presentation of the food.  To quote Nancy it's got to "look Christmas" or Fall or whatever the criteria is.

Which I still think is stupid but mostly it doesn't detract from my enjoyment of the show.  Just an observation.

[ruffy666]

22 hours ago, Madding crowd said:

I really like it that the judges are mostly positive on this show  and only mention something if it really takes away from the taste or presentation. On many of the other shows like Holiday Wars or Christmas Cookies the judges start complaining half way through the process and find five things wrong even with the winning piece. It gives the impression that that judges can never be pleased so why bother? Nancy, Duff and Carla seem much more professional to me.

I kind of agree, I definitely hate when the judges are like "If I had to nitpick... your cookie looks great but the upper right-hand corner is two shades darker than the rest and it's all I can see!"

At the same time it's really booooring to watch a show where there's nothing but positive feedback (especially when there are very obvious flaws!)  It seems like a lot of US reality shows find it difficult to find that solid middle ground of genuinely supportive, constructive criticism.

[libgirl2]

I know one of our pet peeves is the mispronounciation of mascarpone. Im home sick and binged the Great American Recipe and was pleasantly surprised to hear one of the cooks say it right! 

Edited November 30, 2022 by libgirl2

[tennisgurl]

Sad to see Christine go, but it was inevitable after that last bake. I will miss her and her fetching accent, but its hard to stay when you have such a great batch of bakers. She was really the only person who even really had a bad bake, everyone else seriously brought it. Everyone seemed to be having so much fun, it seems like a great supportive atmosphere, despite being a competitive TV show. Birch please!

I love that Bill pulled out his violin, that was so fun! He seems like such a great guy and he's doing a great job keeping up with so many professional bakers. I was worried when he said he had never done Baked Alaska but you would never know based on his final product. I also thought Hershel had a good week, his Baked Alaska looked excellent.  

I'm so glad that Jessica stayed after almost being cut last week, her first round cake looked amazing. 

[Texasmom1970]

33 minutes ago, libgirl2 said:

I know one of our pet peeves is the mispronounciation of mascarpone. Im home sick and binged the Great American Recipe and was pleasantly surprised to hear one of the cooks day it right! 

This bugs me as well. Me sitting on the couch watching and critiquing these people like I am a chef. 😁

[Catfi9ht]

Agree with everyone's comments. One thing I wanted to add was Bill's adorably shocked look on his face when they said he was safe.

I hope this experience shows him how talented he is and gives him more confidence in his abilities. He seems like such a lovely person. Everyone seems lovely on this show, but Bill seems to cheer more for others than for himself.

[JudgeyMcJudgyPants]

Normally, Nancy doesn’t bother me that much but she was made me flip the bird at my tv tonight.  Her criticism about the amount of sprinkles on her dessert versus the other judges had me rolling my eyes.  Then she told Kristen (whom I don’t even like) that her mousse dessert was difficult to eat.  How the fuck do you want to eat mousse?!?!

That being said, it was Kristen’s time to go.  But Jessica’s dessert looked like a hot mess too.

Side note-Little Judgy and I will be doing our Christmas baking this weekend.  We always pretend to be the judges, usually Lorraine-“I’m just not getting any nutmeg.”

[Jaded]

Even with 2 hours of this show it always seems to go by so fast. I can usually watch a second time a few days later and pickup on things I missed the first go around.

[Grizzly]

It was definitely Kristen's time to go. I don't want to jinx him, but Bill seems to coming into his own. While some of the front-runners are faltering a bit.

[MerBearHou]

Jesse forgot to mention Aaron was safe!  I’ve never seen that before.

[CrazyInAlabama]

I agree, Kristen was the right one to send home.   I like on the second hour how Aaron was telling the other contestents how to make mulled wine, that's such a nice thing to do. 

So, either Harshal or Bill go home, I'm devasted.   Harshal, I'll miss him.  I love how classy he was leaving. 

I think they picked Dru over Aishia, because they can't have one person win too often.    

Next week with Ugly Hanukkah Sweaters looks cute. 

Edited December 6, 2022 by CrazyInAlabama

[Guest]

52 minutes ago, JudgeyMcJudgyPants said:

Normally, Nancy doesn’t bother me that much but she was made me flip the bird at my tv tonight.  Her criticism about the amount of sprinkles on her dessert versus the other judges had me rolling my eyes.  Then she told Kristen (whom I don’t even like) that her mousse dessert was difficult to eat.  How the fuck do you want to eat mousse?!?!

Seriously, what the heck was that? "You need to think about your vessel." It was essentially in a giant bowl. You had a spoon, Nancy. You just stick it in there and scoop some out!

I'll miss Kristen, but I get why she left. I was glad she stuck up for herself a bit when they were talking about "this doesn't look like 2 hours of work."

As for the second hour, I'm sure Dru's pie tasted as great as they said, but it was a basic looking pie with some colorful blobs around the top. He can't win the whole thing doing stuff like that.

Aishia is my pick to win. She seems to have nailed the decorating/taste balance that some of the others seem to be struggling with.

[JudgeyMcJudgyPants]

7 minutes ago, tracyscott76 said:

As for the second hour, I'm sure Dru's pie tasted as great as they said, but it was a basic looking pie with some colorful blobs around the top. He can't win the whole thing doing stuff like that.

Aishia is my pick to win. She seems to have nailed the decorating/taste balance that some of the others seem to be struggling with.

Honey, we are on the same page!  I actually said out loud, “how the fuck did Dru win with that sorry ass looking pie over Aisha?!”  There has been some weird judging this season.

Edited to add-Sorry to see Harshal go.  Minus the marshmallow debacle, his decorating has been on point.  Too bad his flavors failed to impress.

Edited December 6, 2022 by JudgeyMcJudgyPants

[Grizzly]

I said out loud, you can't send Bill home. Harshal has been getting some negative comments lately on the lack of taste, not taking a risk and this decor was not going to save him.

[CheshireCat]

4 hours ago, JudgeyMcJudgyPants said:

Normally, Nancy doesn’t bother me that much but she was made me flip the bird at my tv tonight.  Her criticism about the amount of sprinkles on her dessert versus the other judges had me rolling my eyes.  

To be fair, if you go to a fancy restaurant or have a seated dinner somewhere, every plate needs to look the same. So, I can understand when the judges point out things like that and if there are small differences, details like that should be the tie-breaker. However, I don't think they should play a role in the judging otherwise.

4 hours ago, JudgeyMcJudgyPants said:

Then she told Kristen (whom I don’t even like) that her mousse dessert was difficult to eat.  How the fuck do you want to eat mousse?!?!

Yeah, that was ridiculous. Why was it difficult to eat? They had the same on gingerbread showdown a few weeks ago when someone made a bonus bake in a chocolate bowl/shell and they had to use a spoon to eat it out of that. One of the judges said it was difficult to eat. Seriously? Why? The judges for some weird reason eat desserts with knife and fork, so I'm sure they can handle the very difficult task of taking a spoon, dunking it in a cup or chocolate shell and getting a spoonful of whatever's in there out.

4 hours ago, JudgeyMcJudgyPants said:

That being said, it was Kristen’s time to go.  But Jessica’s dessert looked like a hot mess too.

I thought her dessert looked pretty. Very cheese-like, as she said it was supposed to look.

I'd like to know why Bill's dessert looked more holiday-ish than Jessica's, though. I'm sure Bill's tasted fantastic and I like him but what's so holiday-looking about cinnamon buns?

How many times has Kristen now had to save a dessert? I think there were three or four bakes that she didn't repeat.

.

When Nancy has a favorite, she really doesn't hide it, does she? I'm surprised she wasn't twisting herself to somehow defend Aaron's Kwanzaa dessert. I expected her to. But she also seems to love Dru and he can apparently do no wrong. Where was that pie holiday-ish?

Jessica's Kwanzaa dessert looked pretty. It's a pity her mirror glaze was so thick.

Uh, Aaron, no, Stollen is not "fluffy". It never was, never was intended to be and never will be. It's a yeast pastry that was meant to last. It's a very dense, bread-like dough. Nothing fluffy about it.
Did Duff say the raisins had "snap" to them? If so, how do raisins have "snap" to them?

Someone explain to me why Aishia didn't win the main heat. They were over the moon about the presentation and taste and Duff would have eaten the whole thing if he could have. And it did look good. Much better than Dru's pie (which I feel was the gazillionst fall-ish looking pastry he made).

I didn't mind the slightly messy look of Zakiya's honey cakes. I thought they still looked delicious, but, of course, this is a competition, so yeah, they should look neat and clean.

[libgirl2]

8 hours ago, tracyscott76 said:

Seriously, what the heck was that? "You need to think about your vessel." It was essentially in a giant bowl. You had a spoon, Nancy. You just stick it in there and scoop some out!

I'll miss Kristen, but I get why she left. I was glad she stuck up for herself a bit when they were talking about "this doesn't look like 2 hours of work."

I was glad she said something too. I thought the judges knew when someone has trouble and usually commends them for it. 

7 hours ago, Grizzly said:

I said out loud, you can't send Bill home. Harshal has been getting some negative comments lately on the lack of taste, not taking a risk and this decor was not going to save him.

I was surprised that Bill was bottom two. Nancy seemed to adore his cake. That kind of cake is very light in flavor.