Holiday Baking Championship - General Discussion

[hookedontv]

Those were the ugliest cheesecakes I’ve ever seen. 

[MerBearHou]

Highs and lows were felt by me this episode — thrilled for Lashonda and her yummy sounding, comfort food cheesecake trio.  Her personality continues to be a delight — her telling Duff he was the scariest person on the planet was great.  In a good-natured way, she alluded to that edgy vibe he can give off while being “such a nice guy” in his words.

Lows — I’m so bummed for Jamaal — sorry to see him go.  Alas, he took his cheesecakes out of the oven way too early.

Good comebacks by Lorenzo and Jon.  

[CrazyDog]

YAY for Lashonda finally getting the win! Her dessert sounded decadent.

I also *loved* Lorenzo getting another win, but his cheesecake(s) just looked a hot mess. I was surprised he didn't get a little more criticism on that.

So two bakers forgot ingredients tonight? And both Jon and Jamaal had some pretty serious issues. I like Jon a lot but maybe this sort of competition just isn't for him. Nice redemption though.

I still love Eva and thought her cheesecakes looked pretty decent.

Julianna made a grey cheesecake? Ugh. I did laugh at the division of them - not that I can even bake at all (I won't even mention messing up a premixed bag of Betty Crocker cookies earlier tonight) but I imagine mine would be divided something like that too, lol. 

I felt so bad for Jamaal - he seems like such a nice person. I wished everyone could have given him a hug before he left. Sigh.

[LittleIggy]

It’s pronounced “puh-kahn,” people!

[mlp]

I really liked Jamaal so I was sorry to see him go.  I don't care much for Julianna so I was hoping it would be her.  Eva has been one of my favorites since the first episode so I was glad she did so well.

Nancy Fuller has been a bit less annoying this season.  I saw her standing and walking around on The Big Bake later and realized I'd never seen her anywhere but sitting behind a table before.  I had no idea that she's so heavy.  

[CrazyInAlabama]

Poor Jamaal!   He certainly did well for a long time on this show, and I really enjoyed how he interacted with everyone.     Everybody seems very nice this season.   Even though someone had to go, and his cheesecake was a runny mess, he will be missed.   I thought it was interesting that the two 'home' bakers (actually they're all pros, just not all of them have bakeries, or are pastry chefs, or other full time pros) in the bottom two.     I guess it was the right choice, but I didn't like Julianna's cheese cake either.  

[CheshireCat]

I was distracted during the 9 p.m. run and watched the re-run. I still don't know what to make of the episode. Somehow it left me underwhelmed, especially the cheesecakes. They all looked sort of alike but if I look at the episodes that have aired so far, then I think it's been like that throughout the season. Even the hat cakes all had somewhat muted/dull colors and lots of reddish browns and browns.

I, too, was sad to see Jamaal go but that cheesecake didn't look baked at all.

I didn't catch all of the flavors Julianna made. There was matcha and sesame and ?

Loved all the chocolate variations Lorenzo made and I'm glad that Eva made a great cake after she forgot the butter in the preheat.

[Guest]

1 hour ago, CheshireCat said:

I didn't catch all of the flavors Julianna made. There was matcha and sesame and ?

Hazelnut.

[Rammchick]

6 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

It’s pronounced “puh-kahn,” people!

Not if you're from the Northeast, and apparently, not if you're from Georgia.

[Maya]

10 hours ago, hookedontv said:

Those were the ugliest cheesecakes I’ve ever seen. 

They were all beige with a tan cookie on top and yet received no complaints from Nancy! And dividing each flavor with a line of whipped cream sounds like something I would do (this is not a compliment!) 😂

Jon bugs me, but I did like his beige cheesecake decor the best. 
 

 

Edited December 1, 2020 by Maya

[CrazyInAlabama]

Duff also said Julianna's Hazelnut had way too much Hazelnut. 

[40Love]

14 hours ago, MerBearHou said:

Highs and lows were felt by me this episode — thrilled for Lashonda and her yummy sounding, comfort food cheesecake trio.  Her personality continues to be a delight — her telling Duff he was the scariest person on the planet was great.  In a good-natured way, she alluded to that edgy vibe he can give off while being “such a nice guy” in his words.

Lows — I’m so bummed for Jamaal — sorry to see him go.  Alas, he took his cheesecakes out of the oven way too early.

Good comebacks by Lorenzo and Jon.  

I love Lashonda. She reminds me of my cousin. Some people see it as her "being on". But, for me that's just her personality.  I get that can be off-putting to some people. But, it's familiar and natural to me.

I'll miss Jamal. I liked that he took chances with his bakes. 

1 minute ago, 40Love said:

Good comebacks by Lorenzo and Jon.

Not sure why I'm not on the Jon bandwagon. He seems like a nice guy... and he's a definite cutie. But, for some reason, I'm not a fan!

[40Love]

8 hours ago, tracyscott76 said:

Hazelnut.

Yuck! All her flavors seemed unpleasant for a cheesecake.

[MerBearHou]

8 minutes ago, 40Love said:

I love Lashonda. She reminds me of my cousin. Some people see it as her "being on". But, for me that's just her personality.  I get that can be off-putting to some people. But, it's familiar and natural to me.

I find her kidding and responses so good-natured and natural and specific to the person -- she is an observer while also working hard on her own bakes.  

 

4 minutes ago, 40Love said:

Yuck! All her flavors seemed unpleasant for a cheesecake.

Agreed -- Juliana's 3 cheesecakes were NOT appetizing to me, not even one of them.

[Popples]

2 minutes ago, MerBearHou said:

Agreed -- Juliana's 3 cheesecakes were NOT appetizing to me, not even one of them.

One of them was gray. It looked so unappetizing, almost like it was completely moldy.

I would just go face first into LaShonda's cheesecake and I don't even like cherries.

[MerBearHou]

2 minutes ago, Popples said:

I would just go face first into LaShonda's cheesecake and I don't even like cherries.

Ditto here!  She should market that cheesecake trio -- so yummy and comforting!  

[LittleIggy]

1 hour ago, Popples said:

One of them was gray. It looked so unappetizing, almost like it was completely moldy.

I would just go face first into LaShonda's cheesecake and I don't even like cherries.

I had the same reaction! Grey cheesecake! 🤢

[mojoween]

Whew!  I was so worried you guys until when Jon walked out after the preheat and Duff said he was waiting for him to go off.  I figured they would have cut that if Jon was bounced in the main heat.

And Jon was second on the nice list!  Wait was he third.  I can’t remember who was at the end with Lashonda.

[theatremouse]

5 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

I had the same reaction! Grey cheesecake!

Ever eaten black sesame ice cream? Also grey. Still delicious.

[LittleIggy]

1 hour ago, theatremouse said:

Ever eaten black sesame ice cream? Also grey. Still delicious.

I just didn’t think the grey cheesecake looked appetizing.

[theatremouse]

I totally get that. What I was trying to get at and completely failed to articulate is that folks familiar with the flavors she was using, tend to also be familiar with what they look like. So it's less of a "that color in a vacuum" appetizing or no? and more of a "recognize it as what it is, and if you like that thing, it's a yay". Not applicable to baking championship, but like...caviar looks gross. Chopped liver looks gross. But to people who know what they're getting, it doesn't matter what it looks like, because if it's recognizable as a thing someone knows they like, the reaction isn't "that looks good/bad" it's "that looks like Thing. I like Thing! Therefore, yum."

[dleighg]

Most of the cheesecakes looked unfinished with the cookie separators visible. I thought Eva really did a great job of making it look professional by covering her separators with some sort of piping. 

[joanne3482]

Lashonda is my favorite. I'm hoping for her to go far. I loved that she seemed to be the only one who split her cheesecake into thirds along parallel lines instead of pie shaped wedges. I think when it came to cutting and presentation that looked nicer. 

I also like Lorenzo and he was smart to choose chocolate, and, unlike other shows, he had the skills to do great presentations of 3 different chocolate cheesecakes. I kind of want to try making my own cookie dough cheesecake. I never would have thought of that. 

[MerBearHou]

8 minutes ago, joanne3482 said:

Lashonda is my favorite. I'm hoping for her to go far. I loved that she seemed to be the only one who split her cheesecake into thirds along parallel lines instead of pie shaped wedges. I think when it came to cutting and presentation that looked nicer. 

I also like Lorenzo and he was smart to choose chocolate, and, unlike other shows, he had the skills to do great presentations of 3 different chocolate cheesecakes. I kind of want to try making my own cookie dough cheesecake. I never would have thought of that. 

Lashonda and Lorenzo are my favorites too.  They can absolutely bake and they have personalities I enjoy.  Fun, bright, not annoying IMO.  I actually really like most of these bakers with just one or two at the bottom of my personal dislike list.  Wishing Juliana would go next.  

[TVbitch]

I think the judges are jabbing at Lorenzo so it doesn't seem like he has it in the bag. 

I would rather see one gorgeous looking cheesecake than a three-flavored monstrosity! 

[HyeChaps]

https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/0d932dee-afef-4775-8098-e60d101b2451

[Popples]

25 minutes ago, HyeChaps said:

https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/0d932dee-afef-4775-8098-e60d101b2451

LOL! I might change my mind if Lumière offered it to me.

Edited December 3, 2020 by Popples
Fixed spelling

[Mellowyellow]

My sister and I both think that the quality of the contestants on this show is higher than British Bake Off this year. I like Lashonda, Kess and Jamaal best. I haven't been having a great run losing both of my favorites so really hoping Lashonda goes all the way to the end. They're a good group of contestants though!

I also appreciate Jesse so much after watching a bunch of baking competition shows. He's cheerful, connects well with the contestants and gets the job done without being obnoxious and attention seeking!!! Seems like it is quite difficult to find someone like that!!! There are so many hosts this year who either make me cringe badly or I want to slap them!!!

 

 

[BigBingerBro]

This past cheesecake episode was kind of "meh" for me.  The week of the missed ingredients for sure.  Very sad to see Jamaal go.  Eyelashes better step it up.  Rooting for LaShawnDuh

[ruffy666]

In the Holiday Baking Challenge host power rankings, I think Jesse has moved up a few slots and is sitting comfortably at #2.  No one will ever best John Henson as far as I'm concerned, but Jesse really is naturally agreeable and doesn't appear to be phoning it in like many of the previous hosts.  It's nice to see him get a seat at the table and not off to the side eating Nancy's sloppy seconds o_O

One of my baking specialties is cheesecake so for me this episode was PAIN-FUL.  But ultimately the right person probably won and I still would have gladly tried most of them (and then made a snide comment about it, I'm sure :)

I know it's frowned upon to talk about other shows in a dedicated forum but is anyone watching Candy Land?  I like the show, Kristin Chenoweth is cute as always, but I CAN'T STAND NACHO.  I don't know why they keep bringing him back.  He's a weird close talker (watch the way Aarti tries to constantly back away from him) and doesn't really offer any interesting insight into anything.

[tennisgurl]

Playing a bit of catch up, I am sad to see Jamal leaving, he seems like such a fun guy to bake cakes with. In general they have a lot of strong competitors and everyone seems quite nice, which is really great holiday viewing but makes for sad eliminations. 

Lashonda is my favorite but I think that Eva had the best looking cheesecake. 

[CheshireCat]

Going back to the episode before the last one: in Kess' defense, a friend told me she made peppermint cream puffs the other day and the recipe called for the juice of half a lemon. (She had to throw them out because they were too sticky and the "lemon tasted weird" with the peppermint. 😛 But apparently, there are recipes that combine lemon and peppermint).

[kirklandia]

2 hours ago, CheshireCat said:

But apparently, there are recipes that combine lemon and peppermint).

 Like, this childhood classic?!

Edited December 5, 2020 by kirklandia

[trudysmom]

KInda sad to see Jon (sp?) go, but I'm glad Eva got to stay.  I don't expect her to win but I like her.  Maybe it's a kindred-age thing.  When Jesse said 'decorated upside down cakes' I groaned.  Some things don't need decorating.  An upside down cake, to me is one of them.  It takes away from the cake which, as I understood it growing up when momma made them, was that it was pretty and delicious just the way it came out of the pan. But what do I know?  LaShonda is wearing on my nerves, in fact most of them are at this point, lol.  I'm a Grinch this year, ya'll , sorry.

[Maya]

I wonder what the real story was with Duff’s solo judging. 

[Maverick]

 Las honda seems nice enough, but she's not good at taking criticism.  He gets this mix of vague hurt and annoyance whenever the judges say anything slightly negative.  But then gets teary when they say anything praising it.  I think she just wears her emotions on her sleeve, which isn't great in a competition where you're critiques multiple times a week. 

[Rammchick]

On 12/3/2020 at 3:25 AM, Mellowyellow said:

My sister and I both think that the quality of the contestants on this show is higher than British Bake Off this year.

Perhaps, but keep in mind that the contestants on GBBO are all home bakers and these folks are mostly professionals.  It's not really a fair comparison.

Edited December 8, 2020 by Rammchick

[dleighg]

3 hours ago, trudysmom said:

When Jesse said 'decorated upside down cakes' I groaned.  Some things don't need decorating.  An upside down cake, to me is one of them. 

and Juliana had such a beautiful effect with her pears and then covered it all up with a huge cookie!

[LittleIggy]

3 hours ago, Maya said:

I wonder what the real story was with Duff’s solo judging. 

Duff is Jewish, but why would that be a reason?

 

[theatremouse]

Pre-existing known scheduling conflict = "time for a Jewish challenge with Duff and only Duff" ?

I was REALLY annoyed he didn't call out that team for having the totally wrong number of candles. It might've been a menorah, but it was not a Hanukkia. I was waiting for him to point it out...and then instead they won.

Edited December 8, 2020 by theatremouse

[Maverick]

 They've done a Hanukah challenge in the past and I think it was a preheat Duff judged.  

[CrazyInAlabama]

It was the right time for Jon to go.   However, if they would give the bakers an extra hour or two for baking, and decorating, then they would get a quality product, instead of judges saying the decorating isn't up to standard. 

 

[Kack]

I think Melissa’s cake came out the best, but she def should never have one. She squealed by on almost every show. Her (decorating) was sloppy on most shows and even though I liked her, I do not think she deserved the title. Overall Sarah was the most talented (although she was way too cheery!! Lol) and Jennifer came across as nasty and jealous of Sarah, but I am sure they made it to look that way though. 
I was disappointed that they chose that for them to make for the finale, it could have been way more fun had they chosen something else!! 

[Kack]

I think Melissa’s cake came out the best, but she def should never have one. She squealed by on almost every show. Her (decorating) was sloppy on most shows and even though I liked her, I do not think she deserved the title. Overall Sarah was the most talented (although she was way too cheery!! Lol) and Jennifer came across as nasty and jealous of Sarah, but I am sure they made it to look that way though. 
I was disappointed that they chose that for them to make for the finale, it could have been way more fun had they chosen something else!! 

[Kack]

I think Melissa’s cake came out the best, but she def should never have won. She squeaked by on almost every episode. Her (decorating) was sloppy on most shows and even though I liked her, I do not think she deserved the title. Overall Sarah was the most talented (although she was way too cheery!! Lol) and Jennifer came across as nasty and jealous of Sarah, but I am sure they made it to look that way though. 
I was disappointed that they chose that for them to make for the finale, it could have been way more fun had they chosen something else!! 

[tennisgurl]

Sad to see Jon go, but I get it, his upside-down cake was rather messy and he has been in the back quite a few times. I thought them decorating the upside-down cakes was weird in general, why would that be a requirement when half the fun of those cakes are to see all of the inside bits on the outside. I thought the Hanukah treats all looked really good, especially the cookies with the little stars on them. 

I know this is a contest and all, and a big part of the contestants challenge is moving quickly, but I do always raise an eyebrow when the judges give the contestants a lot of grief about them not being able to finish doing really elaborate stuff in a short amount of time, especially things like decorating when its really intricate. Or when they give them ridiculous flavors to add while they are halfway done. 

I think that Lashonda might end up taking the whole thing. Everyone is really talented so its hard to tell now, but I have a feeling that she might be the last baker standing. 

[MerBearHou]

I hope Lorenzo wins the whole thing but I do like Lashonda.

It was a shame to see Jon go but I would never eat a cake with still-tough fruit rinds on the top -- that's a basic mistake and you know he knew better.  

 

[Grizzly]

I didn't realize there was a height requirement for upside down cake. Jon should've done something different with his oranges but they tasted the rosemary in his cake. They didn't taste it in Eva's and her decorations were no better. Want to know how judging works.

I have to wonder if Jesse's next role is Santa Claus. He is putting away the food like there's no tomorrow. I'm happy he gets to taste things, it would suck being around all that good stuff and not trying it. But he's not discriminating. If it were me, anything with coconut or funky flavors can be pushed aside.

Pregnant Megan seems to be putting booze in all her desserts.

[emmawoodhouse]

Jon's been circling the drain for a while. I'm sure production had a hand in putting him out of his misery over Eva, who has had better days. 

[mlp]

I was sorry to see Jon go because I liked him but I can't defend him staying.  He was in the bottom once too often.  Eva tends to be my favorite so I was glad she stayed although I don't think she'll make it to the end.  

I wondered why Duff was judging the first round alone.  I thought they'd say something about him being Jewish as the explanation but it never was mentioned.  Odd.

I was surprised that so many of those professional bakers had trouble getting their upside-down cakes out of the pans.  Only one (that I noticed) used parchment paper to prevent the topping from sticking.  You'd think they all would know to do that.