Holiday Baking Championship - General Discussion

[JudgeyMcJudgyPants]

Baker cam sucks!  It’s just awkward AF!
 

I don’t see what was so great about Kevin’s spiral.  It looked really uneven with a huge amount of filling in the middle.  

Usually, Nancy doesn’t bother me too much but if tonight is any indication, I’m going to be beyond annoyed with her. Get the fuck out of here with your “ if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything, “ while dramatically closing your mouth.  
 

And overall-pull your hair up! Looking at you pre-heat winner.  That head band thing-y is doing nothing!

[Grizzly]

Josh, the dog bakery owner, was on Christmas Cookie Showdown either last year or the year before. His is a hard to forget story. 

There was a lot of laughing during the judging. Loved Jesse being asked his opinion. I thought Thao's turkeys were the cutest thing. They did not look like swans. I don't dislike anyone yet so this could be a good season.

[MerBearHou]

Big thumbs down on the Baker Cam.  

Like @tracyscott76 I always love a true Boston accent.  Enjoying Justine.

I really like Sherrod — wish Jesse would talk to him a bit more.

Poor Ali — wow, so many missteps.

Jennifer got lucky.  If there was a bottom 3, she would have been there.

Edited November 7, 2023 by MerBearHou

[Guest]

24 minutes ago, Grizzly said:

I thought Thao's turkeys were the cutest thing. They did not look like swans.

That little bit of the judging irritated me somewhat. Thoa described her dessert and clearly called them turkeys, they had orange and brown tail feathers and the dangling things on their beaks, and yet Carla still insisted on calling them swans and then was all "they are swans, right? Oh, they're turkeys? Well they look like swans." Carla, don't do that.

[mlp]

1 hour ago, Grizzly said:

Josh, the dog bakery owner, was on Christmas Cookie Showdown either last year or the year before.

I was going to say the same thing.  I think he won but I'm not 100% sure.  I really like him.  

So far I like all the bakers.  I find Justine annoying but I don't actually dislike her.  I was sorry to see Ali go.  She was one of my early favorites but I can't argue with her elimination.

I've been trying to remember the name of a one-off show a couple years ago that followed several people making creations for some huge cake competition somewhere on the east coast - maybe Virginia.  One of the people was the "glamorous" woman with an English accent from a couple years ago and another was, I think, Sharrad.  I might be mixing him up with someone else but he looked familiar to me right away.

[Irlandesa]

2 hours ago, JudgeyMcJudgyPants said:

Usually, Nancy doesn’t bother me too much but if tonight is any indication, I’m going to be beyond annoyed with her. Get the fuck out of here with your “ if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything, “ while dramatically closing your mouth.

I think the "if you can't say anything nice" was especially egregious because it was the first episode, Nancy was probably informed of the multiple disasters Ali experienced, and she's a home baker.  (Is that right, she's a home baker?)  Even if she wasn't informed of the disaster, it became pretty clear when they looked at the not-a-swiss-roll.

I think it'd be okay to acknowledge the messy look of the bake but not come off as mean.  And I don't think Nancy intended to be mean but it just felt that way to the viewer because how could you not feel for Ali after she burned her candy multiple times, her pecans once and rolled her roll in the wrong direction?  I can't recall the last time we saw mistakes to that extent on this show.

 

[Salacious Kitty]

I thought Thoa's turkeys looked like swans. They were too long in the neck and lacking the big breast. That said, it's a small nitpick that Carla made into a big deal. 

Poor Ali. 

Edited November 7, 2023 by Salacious Kitty

[libgirl2]

Overall, I really enjoyed it, but I didn't care for the "swan" comment. It seemed rude. She could have said, they are cute but they look a bit like swans. Not ignore what the baker said and just call them swans. Was she not listening? 

I don't have a favorite yet, though I have to cheer for the Hispanic gentleman (forgot his name). 

[laredhead]

I think the right baker went home, IMO.  From the beginning, Ali seemed a bit starstruck and disorganized.  She's a home baker, and probably not used to being expected to produce 3 or 4 different elements to combine into one bake under a time limit.  At home you can do things one at a time, like toasting the nuts & setting them aside until needed, but you must give your full attention to that because nuts burn quickly.  Good time management skills, and familiarity with a professional kitchen atmosphere probably help too.  I've been baking and cooking for over 50 years, and there is no way I could successfully put together some things like they are asked to do within a couple of hours. I don't have a favorite yet, but I'm glad that Greg redeemed himself after that disastrous cinnamon roll bake.

[Pi237]

Baker Cam is ridiculous. Get rid of it asap. It's just going to be repetitive comments like: I'm feeling nervous, I hope my X comes out ok, I'm running out of time....the definition of telling instead of showing which is one of my biggest criticisms of reality tv. The viewers aren't morons. We can deduce what people must be feeling and thinking based on what we See. We don't need a break in the action to have normal human emotions explained to us. 

I usually hate sob stories, but Jennifer's about surviving 9/11 & baking helping her through was really touching. I can't imagine.  But that's enough now. Lol Lets not hear about it every episode. 

$25,000 is such a weakass prize for a show with ALOT of commercial breaks aka ad revenue!   Give them $100,000 at Least. 

[dleighg]

wow, there are a lot of bakers! The show creators really had to come up with some, um, interesting coffee combinations.

That one baker said she "remembers running around her parents' restaurant in diapers." Does ANYONE remember being in diapers? Somehow I doubt she remembers that.

The baker who put sprinkles on??? She is a professional bakery owner-- underwhelming is the right description. But I guess that Molly person from the Spring Baking Championship would have liked it LOL.

I assume they force the bakers to go talk on the baker cam? Who in their right mind would want to step away from their work to do that?

I think we've all probably burned nuts more than once. But how on earth can you be so frazzled that you roll your inlay on the INSIDE of the swiss roll?

[mojoween]

Agreed that Ali was the right choice.  She was so very enthusiastic that it seems like she rattled herself.

Alex’s entire demeanor makes me anxious.

I must have blacked out in the preheat because when Kevin was frosting his roll I swear that was the first time I had ever seen him.

Greg’s broken roll surely was not worth second place?

See to me Justine sounds like someone who is trying to sound like they are from Southie.  I’m sure she is authentic, but my ears are not liking it.

Edited November 7, 2023 by mojoween

[dleighg]

6 minutes ago, mojoween said:

Alex’s entire demeanor makes me anxious.

totally! She always looks like she's about to have a breakdown.

 

6 minutes ago, mojoween said:

See to me Justine sounds like someone who is trying to sound like they are from Southie.

The accent seems to come and go.

[libgirl2]

8 minutes ago, dleighg said:

totally! She always looks like she's about to have a breakdown.

 

 

Like I said she makes me sad. Its as if life has overwhelmed her. Her eyes hold no joy. Maybe I'm over reading it. 

[Guest]

Wow I don't get that vibe from Alex at all. She just seems like a quiet person who perhaps is a bit overwhelmed by the Lights Camera Action of it all. There were plenty of times where she seemed pretty happy, just not in a WHOOOO way.

47 minutes ago, dleighg said:

I think we've all probably burned nuts more than once. But how on earth can you be so frazzled that you roll your inlay on the INSIDE of the swiss roll?

After you've burned your toffee twice and your nuts once and you've got a minutes-away deadline bearing down on you, that's how. I mean, that would do it for me.

44 minutes ago, mojoween said:

I just have blacked out in the preheat because when Kevin was frosting his roll I swear that was the first time I had ever seen him.

Speaking of Kevin, I know they said his swiss roll looked all modern and I guess it tasted great, but when I saw it it reminded me of certain types of contemporary art where they use found items. It looked like it was covered in trash and wire and my reaction was "um no thank you". But maybe it looked better in person.

[Frost]

I guess they're replacing the talking heads with baker cam?   Bad decision!  It's clear the talking heads were "directed" by somebody offscreen and therefore the baker's responses were usually clear.  I suppose the questioner could rephrase until the baker's had a TV worthy thing to say 😃

The baker cam is just stupid.  Suddenly a baker stops what they're doing, scurries over to a corner and looks up into a camera and starts talking?  Food Network, drop it please!

[Guest]

Just now, Frost said:

I guess they're replacing the talking heads with baker cam?   Bad decision!  It's clear the talking heads were "directed" by somebody offscreen and therefore the baker's responses were usually clear.  I suppose the questioner could rephrase until the baker's had a TV worthy thing to say 😃

The baker cam is just stupid.  Suddenly a baker stops what they're doing, scurries over to a corner and looks up into a camera and starts talking?  Food Network, drop it please!

I thought there were still talking heads? I'm almost positive I remember Thoa talking post-judging about being nervous after they ripped her swiss roll/swans/turkeys, and Ali outlining her travails in a studio setting rather than in front of the cam. So the baker cam is even more superfluous.

Edited November 7, 2023 by tracyscott76

[CrazyInAlabama]

11 hours ago, mlp said:

I was going to say the same thing.  I think he won but I'm not 100% sure.  I really like him.  

So far I like all the bakers.  I find Justine annoying but I don't actually dislike her.  I was sorry to see Ali go.  She was one of my early favorites but I can't argue with her elimination.

I've been trying to remember the name of a one-off show a couple years ago that followed several people making creations for some huge cake competition somewhere on the east coast - maybe Virginia.  One of the people was the "glamorous" woman with an English accent from a couple years ago and another was, I think, Sharrad.  I might be mixing him up with someone else but he looked familiar to me right away.

A lot of the participants appear on multiple baking contest shows.   I guess some are really interested in competition cooking.    The lack of timed contest experience is a real drawback to some of the less experienced contestants.  Time management, and multi-tasking really was an issue for Greg in the first round.   

I really wondered if Greg would be going home, but Ali made so many more mistakes that she was the logical person to go.   I was wondering if Kevin would even appear since I didn't see him until the second round.   

[tennisgurl]

*Removes witches hat to put on Santa hat while clutching turkey plush* Lets Do This! 

Baker Cam is already massively annoying, its a waste of time and doesn't tell us anything we couldn't already figure out or that they wouldn't just say like normal while baking. "I'm running low on time! I don't like coffee! This is hard!"

I like all of the bakers so far which is a good sign for the season, they all seem fun and very talented. Poor Ali, I bet that she is usually a really great baker but got overwhelmed by everything and kept making mistakes that I bet she would never normally make, which is so frustrating, which just made her more flustered. I also liked a lot of the baker backstories, especially how many people started baking during lockdown and have used it to deal with personal issues and tragedy. 

Its weird to see Jessie talking about baked goods and not increasingly desperate reality show dating hopefuls. He's such a cutie and has a real warmth to him which works well for this show. 

I thought those turkeys were adorable. 

[carrps]

15 hours ago, MerBearHou said:

Josh has pet groomer and dog bakery shops called “Woof Gang” here in TX.

Seems like he missed a bit with not naming it Woof Pack.

 

[RoxiP]

I have to admit that I thought swans when I saw the turkeys - their necks were so long!  

The lady who won the pre-heat - I have to cheer for her because she lives in one of my favorite places on earth (New Braunfels) - I would move there in a moment if I could!  But she has way too much hair, I agree.

[MerBearHou]

29 minutes ago, carrps said:

Seems like he missed a bit with not naming it Woof Pack.

 

That would be cute too.  I'm thinking he was aiming for something close to Wolfgang.  Our first dachshund's name was Wolfgang after Mozart!

[mlp]

3 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

*Removes witches hat to put on Santa hat while clutching turkey plush*

LOL!!!  That summed the scheduling up nicely and made me laugh.

I felt sorry for Ali.  She seemed like someone I would like a lot in real life.  She's probably still embarrassed, especially now that people are watching her implode.

I have no problem with Justine's accent.  I just find her way too perky, maybe deliberately so.

[CheshireCat]

Missed the episode. I guess, I wasn't really in the mood yet. Does Halloween always end and Holiday starts immediately afterwards? For some reason, it feels different this year.

10 hours ago, laredhead said:

I think the right baker went home, IMO.  From the beginning, Ali seemed a bit starstruck and disorganized.  She's a home baker, and probably not used to being expected to produce 3 or 4 different elements to combine into one bake under a time limit. 

That depends on whether she only takes one order at a time or does overlapping orders, too. It probably also depends on whether she has a family or not and if she can set aside time to bake or if she has to take care of family and baking simultaneously.

[Irlandesa]

3 hours ago, CheshireCat said:

Missed the episode. I guess, I wasn't really in the mood yet. Does Halloween always end and Holiday starts immediately afterwards? For some reason, it feels different this year.

I thought there might have been years with a week in between, but looking at the dates on Wikipedia, it does look like they usually start a week apart. 

[Salacious Kitty]

At least the challenges were fall-based. Too soon for straight up Christmas. 

[Shenanigan7070]

Quote

I think we've all probably burned nuts more than once. But how on earth can you be so frazzled that you roll your inlay on the INSIDE of the swiss roll?

Because you've been tossed a stupid and tricky twist that has thrown you off your game. I hate the twists. Just let them bake, for god's sake. Everything would look and probabaly taste so much nicer.

Agree that the Baker's Cam is dumb as hell. 

[meep.meep]

22 hours ago, RoxiP said:

I have to admit that I thought swans when I saw the turkeys - their necks were so long!  

My work is infested with turkeys, I see them every day.  These definitely looked like swans.

Between Ali, Jennifer, and Greg there was so much disaster going on that I couldn't keep track of it.

[carrps]

On 11/7/2023 at 10:20 AM, MerBearHou said:

That would be cute too.  I'm thinking he was aiming for something close to Wolfgang.  Our first dachshund's name was Wolfgang after Mozart!

Our first dachshund was Carla! Our third (once you go dachshund you never go back) was called Thunderfoot, even though she was the smallest we ever had.

Finally, watched the whole episode. It's such a struggle getting through the first few episodes! Anyway, not too much to add to the above, but I didn't like Steve (?)'s modern design at all. I've seen it done so much better (like the guy who blew it in the finale of  -- which series was it?). Those twirls of chocolate looked like nothing so much to me as hair you'd pull out of a shower drain, and I couldn't look at them at all. And the "display" of his toffee was as lame as the lamest of the lame there. Must have tasted pretty good.

I was wondering if Duff and Carla got much time off between series. They seemed pretty much in full season swing. Nancy I could do without. Also, Baker Cam. Speaking of lame.

 

[CrazyInAlabama]

I think the modern looking swiss roll was Kevin's, the one who didn't even show up until later in the episode.  However, I could be totally wrong, since with 12 bakers, I'm so confused about who is who.  

I didn't see his swiss roll as modern, just messy.    

Edited November 8, 2023 by CrazyInAlabama

[Rammchick]

1 hour ago, carrps said:

Those twirls of chocolate looked like nothing so much to me as hair you'd pull out of a shower drain, and I couldn't look at them at all. And the "display" of his toffee was as lame as the lamest of the lame there. Must have tasted pretty good.

Me as well.  Nothing skeeves me more than loose hair like that.  Or if not hair, then barbed wire.  I almost fell over when it was praised so highly.

[carrps]

4 hours ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

I think the modern looking swiss roll was Kevin's

Kevin! Thanks.

[CrazyInAlabama]

16 minutes ago, carrps said:

Kevin! Thanks.

You're welcome.  I went to the photo gallery of the contestants.    I swear they didn't show Kevin until the second round.  I was wondering if he left or something, but then he produces that 'modern' roll that I hated, and the judges raved about.    It takes me a few episodes to connect most of the remaining contestants to a name.    

[Salacious Kitty]

Kevin = bald guy. Easy peasy 

Now the remaining 10 will take a while. 

Justine and Jennifer have strong accents. I can pick them out of a lineup if they start talking. 😀

[jcbrown]

On 11/7/2023 at 9:42 AM, tennisgurl said:

*Removes witches hat to put on Santa hat while clutching turkey plush* Lets Do This! 

Hilarious, thank  you.

I didn't commit anyone's name to memory yet but the pastry instructor (Kevin?) seems like it could be his to lose but it's early days still. Justine's accent (thanks to posters here for her name) grates on me but I am trying to rise above.

[cowgirlwen]

I felt the judging was very hypocritical this episode.  The judges praised Kevin's "abstract" look, as he just put chunks of toffee around the outside of his roll.  But other bakers who did the same thing, the judges told them it looked "rushed", "unplanned", and "messy".

[RoxiP]

Isn't Kevin also the one Jesse kept referring to as the Canadian?  He was shown briefly in the first round but not much, but then again there are so many people there the first week I think they only emphasize people who are going to either be highly successful or highly unsuccessful.

[Salacious Kitty]

Yes, Kevin is Canadian, as is Jesse, so I get why Jesse mentioned it. 🙂

[Feline Goddess]

My husband said the squirrel had breasts, so he was happy when Carla said the same thing. The turkeys looked like swans - which apparently was the least of Thoa's problems.   

 

 

[carrps]

25 minutes ago, Feline Goddess said:

My husband said the squirrel had breasts, so he was happy when Carla said the same thing. The turkeys looked like swans - which apparently was the least of Thoa's problems.   

 

 

LOL. I forgot this. I said the same thing when I was watching it. My sister was in the room, but she'd already seen the episode. She laughed when I commented on the squirrel's breasts. 

[kirklandia]

I have seen so many cream puff swans on these cooking shows - even though Thua kept insisting they were turkeys, all I saw were swans.

Justine introduced her squirrel as "little Miss Boston Commons squirrel".  Followed by a close-up. It was so clearly gendered, of course we saw breasts.

[YupItsMe]

On 11/6/2023 at 11:29 PM, mlp said:

I've been trying to remember the name of a one-off show a couple years ago that followed several people making creations for some huge cake competition somewhere on the east coast - maybe Virginia.  One of the people was the "glamorous" woman with an English accent from a couple years ago and another was, I think, Sharrad.  I might be mixing him up with someone else but he looked familiar to me right away.

I recognized her on that show too, she was a private-eye and nanny among many other things, but I don’t remember Sharrad from there.

He’s my favorite so far, though I do think Kevin will be among the finalists.

[MerBearHou]

On 11/8/2023 at 1:24 PM, carrps said:

Our first dachshund was Carla! Our third (once you go dachshund you never go back) was called Thunderfoot, even though she was the smallest we ever had.

Well, that is fun symmetry with HBC!  Oh yes, we had numerous dachshunds!!  I am certain that little Thunderfoot was mighty — dachshunds always think they are!  

[MerBearHou]

Hard call on who to eliminate — both really did not do well on their final bakes.  But I am absolutely OK with saying goodbye to Alex.  It was a crunchy cracker cake with a hard ganache, not an opera cake.  

Some of those tablescape cakes were just beautiful — all that work and creativity.  Each so different.  Super hard challenge but I enjoyed the results.

Edited November 16, 2023 by MerBearHou

[Grizzly]

I liked Alex but she was the right one to go home. She needs more baking experience and then can try this again. Not sure I like Justine winning for her candied sage. It wasn't incorporated into her dessert, it was on top.

[Irlandesa]

I can't believe how many bakers put sage into chocolate.  Immediately I thought that it would get lost in the chocolate (and it did) and I can't imagine that it goes together very well. I was especially laughing with Greg who had all these elements I thought would go well with sage but he chose chocolate.

The right person went home but I don't know how much longer I can watch the slow chaos of Jennifer.  I can see she's a talented baker but just not cut out for the time factor of this competition. 

[libgirl2]

7 hours ago, Grizzly said:

I liked Alex but she was the right one to go home. She needs more baking experience and then can try this again. Not sure I like Justine winning for her candied sage. It wasn't incorporated into her dessert, it was on top.

I was surprised she didn't get dinged for that. And maybe it was my but I thought her cookies, while delicious, was kind of an easy way to go. 

I felt bad for Alex but she has a ways to go. She wasn't familiar with the opera cake as well as the dome for the first bake. 

4 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

 

The right person went home but I don't know how much longer I can watch the slow chaos of Jennifer.  I can see she's a talented baker but just not cut out for the time factor of this competition. 

I know, she worries me. I hope she gets her act together. 

[mojoween]

Justine’s table display was so cool and clean.

Either Alex or Jennifer would have been the right call, but Alex just was not cut out for this.  Before they even judged her Alex said she had never made an opera cake before and I thought she said something self-deprecating during the preheat too before they even said a word.

And I’m wondering how cake ingredients can be made to taste like a cracker?

[Guest]

44 minutes ago, mojoween said:

And I’m wondering how cake ingredients can be made to taste like a cracker?

I didn't think it was the taste but rather the consistency/texture that was cracker-like. It was overbaked/dried out to the point of being crunchy.

Edited November 14, 2023 by tracyscott76

[libgirl2]

37 minutes ago, tracyscott76 said:

I didn't think it was the taste but rather the consistency/texture that was cracker-like. It was overbaked/dried out to the point of being crunchy.

As soon as she said it was "brown", I knew she was in trouble. When she took it out of the pan, it was stiff as a board. 

Edited November 14, 2023 by libgirl2