Holiday Baking Championship - General Discussion

[Maya]

5 hours ago, dleighg said:

I haven't been able to tell she's a home baker from her performance. She's awfully good. 

I would love to see a female home baker win!

[Pi237]

Those cookie cakes all looked too thick and kind of gross. Why do they have to add nuts to everything?! And stop with the Pistachios! 🤣

[libgirl2]

12 minutes ago, Pi237 said:

Those cookie cakes all looked too thick and kind of gross. Why do they have to add nuts to everything?! And stop with the Pistachios! 🤣

I didn't quite get the cookie cakes maybe because I prefer a crisp cookie and I'm not sure how well that works in a cake. 

[tennisgurl]

I'm sad to see Andre go, I thought that he would go far with his first few bakes and his credentials, but I think the time crunch really hurt him. That being said, I still think he should have been chosen over Steven, Steven seems perfectly nice but he has been circling the drain for awhile now. Why is he here? 

The cookie swap with everyone tasting and voting on each others cookies was cute, I would like to see more of that. Natasha's cookies and later her big bake looked great, she might end up being a low key winner of this. If it comes down to Natasha and Rolf, I would be happy with that. 

What bit Nancy on her farm that put her in such a crappy mood? She was complaining about everything, more so than usual, it seemed like even Duff was getting a bit annoyed when she kept complaining about that one cookie being too much like cake. 

[dleighg]

I was too lazy to go back and check, but did they put plates of six cookies on the table for each other the taste, and then another six for the judges? I was thinking, "wait, they are going to finish off those platters!"

[libgirl2]

10 minutes ago, tennisgurl said:

I'm sad to see Andre go, I thought that he would go far with his first few bakes and his credentials, but I think the time crunch really hurt him. That being said, I still think he should have been chosen over Steven, Steven seems perfectly nice but he has been circling the drain for awhile now. Why is he here? 

The cookie swap with everyone tasting and voting on each others cookies was cute, I would like to see more of that. Natasha's cookies and later her big bake looked great, she might end up being a low key winner of this. If it comes down to Natasha and Rolf, I would be happy with that. 

What bit Nancy on her farm that put her in such a crappy mood? She was complaining about everything, more so than usual, it seemed like even Duff was getting a bit annoyed when she kept complaining about that one cookie being too much like cake. 

I don't think Steven is as bad as everyone else seems to think but I get a feeling him or Jer will be next. 

I am cheering for Rolf and Natasha! 

[libgirl2]

18 minutes ago, dleighg said:

I was too lazy to go back and check, but did they put plates of six cookies on the table for each other the taste, and then another six for the judges? I was thinking, "wait, they are going to finish off those platters!"

I seem to remember that they did. 

[Rammchick]

20 minutes ago, libgirl2 said:

I don't think Steven is as bad as everyone else seems to think but I get a feeling him or Jer will be next. 

I am cheering for Rolf and Natasha! 

Steven was on The Great Canadian Baking Show last year, and did pretty well.  But it's hard for home bakers to keep up with the pros on a show like this one.

[libgirl2]

6 minutes ago, Rammchick said:

Steven was on The Great Canadian Baking Show last year, and did pretty well.  But it's hard for home bakers to keep up with the pros on a show like this one.

I think home bakers are used to a slower pace. 

[mojoween]

Duff’s mocking “is it holidaaay” made me giggle.

Agree that there should be more blind judging.  It would be fun if while judging, they tried to guess whose was whose.  Like they absolutely had to know which cookie was Rafi’s because of the piped Christmas tree, yeah?

[kirklandia]

I was confused by the numbers in the cookie judging. After the blind tasting, the platters looked pretty well decimated. I didn't get a long enough look to see if there were enough left for each judge to have a cookie . Then, when they showed the bakers presenting their cookies to the judges,  the platters were full. Definitely a dozen cookies.

I thought maybe I misheard, and each baker had to make two dozen cookies.
Then I realized that they may well have filmed the scenes in a different order than they were shown. It would make sense for the bakers to show the judges their full platters of cookies before they did their blind taste testing.

But they would have to have reserved enough cookies for the judges to actually taste.

Edited November 27 by kirklandia

[Splashy]

6 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

What bit Nancy on her farm that put her in such a crappy mood? She was complaining about everything, more so than usual, it seemed like even Duff was getting a bit annoyed when she kept complaining about that one cookie being too much like cake. 

I yelled, "Some cookies are cake-like!" It is a thing. Has she never had one? Just like some brownies are cake-like rather than fudgy. 

6 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

I'm sad to see Andre go, I thought that he would go far with his first few bakes and his credentials, but I think the time crunch really hurt him. That being said, I still think he should have been chosen over Steven

I was shocked because they said absolutely nothing good about Steven's cookie-cake. Both of the cookies were over-baked and hard! . . . of course, that could have been just editing shenanigans again, and maybe it had some redeeming qualities? And yes, Andre's bake was not great, but I don't remember the criticisms being quite as harsh for his. 

Edited November 27 by Splashy
brownie comment added

[jcbrown]

1 hour ago, kirklandia said:

I was confused by the numbers in the cookie judging. After the blind tasting, the platters looked pretty well decimated. I didn't get a long enough look to see if there were enough left for each judge to have a cookie . Then, when they showed the bakers presenting their cookies to the judges,  the platters were full. Definitely a dozen cookies.

I thought maybe I misheard, and each baker had to make two dozen cookies.
Then I realized that they may well have filmed the scenes in a different order than they were shown. It would make sense for the bakers to show the judges their full platters of cookies before they did their blind taste testing.

But they would have to have reserved enough cookies for the judges to actually taste.

That's what I thought, that they filmed them in a different order. The judges tasted first and then the bakers did. I don't remember exactly why I thought that but it makes sense with what those of you who were paying more attention are saying.

[tv echo]

21 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

What bit Nancy on her farm that put her in such a crappy mood? She was complaining about everything, more so than usual, it seemed like even Duff was getting a bit annoyed when she kept complaining about that one cookie being too much like cake. 

Apparently Nancy is having trouble selling her NY farmhouse (Sun article).

[dewelar]

16 hours ago, jcbrown said:

That's what I thought, that they filmed them in a different order. The judges tasted first and then the bakers did. I don't remember exactly why I thought that but it makes sense with what those of you who were paying more attention are saying.

Possibly because when they mentioned who won the bakers' vote later in the episode, the judges seemed surprised, which struck me as odd.

[CharlizeCat]

All I can focus on was a quick cut-away scene of Meghan piping her cookies. She was bent over and one of her front pieces of hair came, well, within a hair of dragging in the icing on top of a cookie. GROSS!

I am for Rolf or Natasha. I have noticed that the European bakers never win, no matter how good they are. It's seems almost personal. So, I would be happy with Natasha.

Courtney can go at any time and I predict Jer is next up. I am neutral about Steven and Meghan. Something about Rafi bugs me. I can't tell if he's arrogant or it's just dry humor. His bakes usually look good, though and apparently taste great. 

[RoxiP]

I have come to appreciate Rafi more, but on the first show I thought he sounded like a Rico Suave character who you would meet in a bar and he would try to get you to go home with him.

[libgirl2]

4 hours ago, RoxiP said:

I have come to appreciate Rafi more, but on the first show I thought he sounded like a Rico Suave character who you would meet in a bar and he would try to get you to go home with him.

I don't mind him but he needs to fill his cookies! 

[starlightlost]

I just really don't understand why Stephen is still there. 

[CrazyInAlabama]

1 hour ago, starlightlost said:

I just really don't understand why Stephen is still there. 

He's just lucky others goofed more than he has.  

[libgirl2]

Anyone's FN going crazy?

[MerBearHou]

2 minutes ago, libgirl2 said:

Anyone's FN going crazy?

Not here…. At least not yet!

[proserpina65]

God, I hate Courtney.  That is all.

On 11/27/2024 at 6:53 PM, Splashy said:

Just like some brownies are cake-like rather than fudgy.

Not good brownies.  They should all be fudgy.

[proserpina65]

10 hours ago, RoxiP said:

I have come to appreciate Rafi more, but on the first show I thought he sounded like a Rico Suave character who you would meet in a bar and he would try to get you to go home with him.

He's my favorite, but I missed the first show.  I do love this description.  I'd probably go home with him, though.

[libgirl2]

38 minutes ago, MerBearHou said:

Not here…. At least not yet!

Maybe it is just Sling. No picture and very little vocal. 

[Grizzly]

Wtf, leaving the wrapper on the Rolos and putting them on the desserts. I thought everything had to be edible? And the judges said nothing.

[Frost]

Jer and Courtney are working on my last nerve.  Jer needs to stop screaming and Courtney needs to stop flipping her hair.

Meghan is gone!  What a bummer!  I liked her, she just had a bad bake.

Poor Carla, having to eat all those boozy desserts when she doesn't drink.

I don't get why everyone was so afraid of Peppermint Schnapps.  A splash in a cup of cocoa is a standard beverage on a winter sleigh ride!

[mojoween]

Sorry for Megan, but losing Andre and then Rolf back to back would have been too much.

I could listen to Rafi say schnapps (with extra disdain) all day.

I am loving Natasha.  I wish she could have tempered the chocolate, but she was wicked cute when she knew she had to give up.

[kathyk2]

2 minutes ago, Frost said:

Jer and Courtney are working on my last nerve.  Jer needs to stop screaming and Courtney needs to stop flipping her hair.

Meghan is gone!  What a bummer!  I liked her, she just had a bad bake.

Poor Carla, having to eat all those boozy desserts when she doesn't drink.

I don't get why everyone was so afraid of Peppermint Schnapps.  A splash in a cup of cocoa is a standard beverage on a winter sleigh ride!

Megan was robbed announcing a twist with thirty minutes left is wrong. Her twist item would have clashed with the decoration on the top of the trifle.

[libgirl2]

I'm so happy for Jer, a fellow cat lover. 

[Cheese]

This season has become a bit of a miss for me. 

I knew Megan was gone within 10 minutes of the episode. 

The meowing woke up the cat and she left the room. It was so loud! 

The winner has toilet paper on a trifle?

I need the “lady flavor” nonsense to stop. The "boss baby" looked like it belonged on a baby shower cake. 

I’m still grumpy about the cat leaving.

[Salacious Kitty]

Yeah, that meowing got my kitty's attention as well. She looked towards the TV for a sec, then went back to sleep. 😺

[MsJamieDornan]

In case anybody would like one.

https://www.tipsyelves.com/products/mens-ugly-garland-christmas-sweater?utm_source=google_shopping&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=google_pla&utm_source=google&utm_medium=paid&utm_campaign=18994626897&utm_content=&utm_term=&gadid=&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiA9bq6BhAKEiwAH6bqoLKX9vQfs0qVuUlKmc9Z4XqcXfGEP7HYl0H13BKh06LvV_w3UpKS4xoC9ooQAvD_BwE

[libgirl2]

5 hours ago, Cheese said:

This season has become a bit of a miss for me. 

I knew Megan was gone within 10 minutes of the episode. 

The meowing woke up the cat and she left the room. It was so loud! 

The winner has toilet paper on a trifle?

I need the “lady flavor” nonsense to stop. The "boss baby" looked like it belonged on a baby shower cake. 

I’m still grumpy about the cat leaving.

For some reasons FN was acting weird and I missed half the episode. What did Megan do early on? I was shocked she went home. 

[dleighg]

37 minutes ago, libgirl2 said:

For some reasons FN was acting weird and I missed half the episode. What did Megan do early on?

The "top" to her first bake was very very hard, so they did the whole stabbing it with the fork to show how hard it was.

I was only half paying attention, so when I looked at courtney's triffle (which I thought was a cake) I was so impressed by all those clear bubbles on the side, wondering how she did it, and also wondering why the judges didn't remark on it. It was only when I saw the next one with the same bubbles that I realized it was the triffle dish LOL.

[tv echo]

I was also shocked at the elimination. But the final two was a no-win situation.

Edited December 3 by tv echo

[Frost]

How can the semi-finals be next week?  Don't they have 6 or 7 bakers left?  Is there a double elimination coming up?

[tv echo]

The just aired episode was Season 11, Episode 6. You can read FoodSided's recap here.

There are two more episodes left in this season:
https://www.foodnetwork.com/shows/holiday-baking-championship/episodes/11 

Quote

Season 11, Episode 7
Holiday Pajama Party
Get cozy for the holiday pajama party! Host Jesse Palmer tasks the bakers with making footie pajama macarons in the preheat. Then, it's time to decorate the tree as the bakers team up to ...

Season 11, Episode 8
Gingerbread House Party
In the season finale, host Jesse Palmer is throwing a gingerbread house party with all the trimmings! In the preheat, the bakers create faux candy desserts, traditional candy decorations

Megan's elimination leaves 6 bakers in the competition: Steven, Rolf, Natasha, Jer, Rafi, and Courtney.

Edited December 3 by tv echo

[CrazyInAlabama]

 

“Office Christmas Party”

Season 11 / Episode 06, New, 12/2/2024

Jesse Palmer asks the remaining seven bakers to team up and make ooey-gooey caramel and chocolate desserts; the real party begins as the ice luge arrives; the bakers make boozy trifles for judges Carla Hall, Duff Goldman and Nancy Fuller.

Bakers:

1. Megan-Home-Wash

2. Courtney-Pro-NJ

3. Jer-Pro-NV

4. Natasha-Pro-Mass

5. Steven-Home-Ontario (was on Great Canadian Baking Show)

6. Rafi-Pro-CA

7. Rolf-Calgary-Pro

 

Pre-Heat: Caramel and Chocolate desserts, winner gets $1,000 cash.

Winner: Jer

Elimination Round: Boozy trifles.

I love Jessie and Duff’s sweaters.

Top Two:  Steven and Jer

Winner: Steven

Bottom Two:   Rolf and Megan

Eliminated: Megan

 

[Rammchick]

This episode proved to me that it is possible for a human to roll their eyes repeatedly without (much) lasting harm.  Nancy's conducting the orchestra thing TWICE in one show?! Ugh.

[proserpina65]

14 hours ago, Frost said:

I don't get why everyone was so afraid of Peppermint Schnapps. 

Peppermint is a strong flavor and a lot of people (like me) don't care for it at all.  And it's very easy to use too much and have it taste medicinal but if you don't use a lot, then the judges say they can barely taste it.  Like they did with Rafi's dessert. 

I was so hoping they'd send Rolf home instead of Megan.  Of well.

10 hours ago, Cheese said:

I need the “lady flavor” nonsense to stop. The "boss baby" looked like it belonged on a baby shower cake.

And not a professional one either.  I wouldn't have paid for something which looked like that.  And apparently she's a pro baker?  Really?  Nothing I seen her do makes me believe that.

13 minutes ago, Rammchick said:

This episode proved to me that it is possible for a human to roll their eyes repeatedly without (much) lasting harm.  Nancy's conducting the orchestra thing TWICE in one show?! Ugh.

Is that what she's doing?  How stupid!

[Madding crowd]

I think Nancy is fun and it’s no different than Carla saying Duuude or Paul Hollywood giving a handshake. They are all playing a part on this. I didn’t think the covered Rolo’s looked good on anything but they have to play to the sponsors. One thing I like about this show is that they aren’t nearly as negative as the judges on Holiday Wars and Christmas Cookie shows. I get it that those shows are different but I feel bummed out sometimes at people working so hard on things only to get nitpicked for every little thing. Here they lead with the positive and are gentle with the negativity.

[RoxiP]

However, Cinnamon Schnapps is the bomb!

[libgirl2]

6 minutes ago, Madding crowd said:

I think Nancy is fun and it’s no different than Carla saying Duuude or Paul Hollywood giving a handshake. They are all playing a part on this. I didn’t think the covered Rolo’s looked good on anything but they have to play to the sponsors. One thing I like about this show is that they aren’t nearly as negative as the judges on Holiday Wars and Christmas Cookie shows. I get it that those shows are different but I feel bummed out sometimes at people working so hard on things only to get nitpicked for every little thing. Here they lead with the positive and are gentle with the negativity.

On Christmas Cookie Challenge, I feel that some of the negative comments are stretching it A LOT. 

[dleighg]

49 minutes ago, Madding crowd said:

They are all playing a part on this. I didn’t think the covered Rolo’s looked good on anything but they have to play to the sponsors.

what's funny is that while they did show a package of Rolos on top of the vat of candies, from then on they called them "caramel candies." So I guess they didn't pay very much for the sponsorship!

[proserpina65]

28 minutes ago, RoxiP said:

However, Cinnamon Schnapps is the bomb!

I prefer peach schnapps, but that's because I love fuzzy navels.

32 minutes ago, Madding crowd said:

I think Nancy is fun and it’s no different than Carla saying Duuude or Paul Hollywood giving a handshake.

I have a lot more respect for Paul Hollywood than I do for Nancy.

[Madding crowd]

I like Paul well enough but he’s not perfect; he cheated on his wife with a previous host/judge on the American version of the Baking show and his own son doesn’t talk to him. 

Edited December 3 by Madding crowd

[libgirl2]

Just now, Madding crowd said:

I like Paul well enough but he’s not perfect; he cheated on his wife with a previous host/judge on the show and his own son doesn’t talk to him. 

I remember that. Wasn't it on one of the first American Baking shows that he was on? 

[MerBearHou]

Just now, libgirl2 said:

I remember that. Wasn't it on one of the first American Baking shows that he was on? 

Oh yes indeed -- it was with Marcella Vallodolid (sp?).  Not cool at all.

[MerBearHou]

5 minutes ago, Madding crowd said:

I like Paul well enough but he’s not perfect; he cheated on his wife with a previous host/judge on the American version of the Baking show and his own son doesn’t talk to him. 

I simply tolerate Paul.  Not a fan.  Thoroughly enjoy Prue, Noel, Alison and adore GBBO so he's part of the package.  

Sorry to see Megan go before a couple of others on HBC I'm not fond of but she did not have a good night.  Happy for Steven and loved that the judges embraced his humor with the twist.  

I don't mind Nancy at all.  I like that there is someone judging from her "era" and I go way back with her to Farmhouse Rules so I'm used to her personality.