Holiday Baking Championship - General Discussion

[Ohmo]

23 hours ago, libgirl2 said:

It probably came down to taste in the end. Which cake would you eat again? His won out. It had just enough holiday on it. 

That's my issue with this competition.  It's a FOOD competition, not an art competition.  I would have put Bill in the finale over Jessica.  I'm also fine with Dru winning.  Both Bill and Dru had the stronger reactions to taste.  I understand there's a visual component, but you're not looking at the food.  You're eating it.

I think Dru and Jessica were on to something when they talked about working together.  I'd like to see a shortened competition---still in the weeks format where you have teams come to the competition.  One who's string in flavor, and the other who's strong in visuals.  Have pre-heats where the flavor people face off, the visual people face off, etc.

I also think there should be a point system to make this more cumulative.  Bill won four challenges throughout the competition, but that did him no good. Your performance throughout the competition should be what gets you into the finale.  Top three in each heat: Preheat: 5 pts, 4 pts 3 pts.  Everyone who isn't in the top 3 gets 1 point.  Main heat: 10, 5, 2, Everyone else 1.  Bottom cumulative scorer leaves each week.

Nancy's always squawking that it's the Holiday Baking Championship.  If that's true, more weight should be given to the entire eight weeks, and make winning each bake matter beyond getting an advantage.  Bill did not do well with the cream cake, but on the basis of the taste of that cake and the fact that he won four challenges, I think he should have been in the finale.  If he had received points for those, he might have been.

Edited December 21, 2022 by Ohmo

[libgirl2]

12 minutes ago, Ohmo said:

That's my issue with this competition.  It's a FOOD competition, not an art competition.  I would have put Bill in the finale over Jessica.  I'm also fine with Dru winning.  Both Bill and Dru had the stronger reactions to taste.  I understand there's a visual component, but you're not looking at the food.  You're eating it.

I think Dru and Jessica were on to something when they talked about working together.  I'd like to see a shortened competition---still in the weeks format where you have teams come to the competition.  One who's string in flavor, and the other who's strong in visuals.  Have pre-heats where the flavor people face off, the visual people face off, etc.

I also think there should be a point system to make this more cumulative.  Bill won four challenges throughout the competition, but that did him no good. Your performance throughout the competition should be what gets you into the finale.  Top three in each heat: Preheat: 5 pts, 4 pts 3 pts.  Everyone who isn't in the top 3 gets 1 point.  Main heat: 10, 5, 2, Everyone else 1.  Bottom cumulative scorer leaves each week.

Nancy's always squawking that it's the Holiday Baking Championship.  If that's true, more weight should be given to the entire eight weeks, and make winning each bake matter beyond getting an advantage.  Bill did not do well with the cream cake, but on the basis of the taste of that cake and the fact that he won four challenges, I think he should have been in the finale.  If he had received points for those, he might have been.

Its very much like GBB, one bad bake and you can be out. 

 

[DEL901]

17 minutes ago, libgirl2 said:

Its very much like GBB, one bad bake and you can be out. 

 

Even the Olympics.  You can be the fastest in the world, but one stumble ends your competition.  

[Ohmo]

42 minutes ago, libgirl2 said:

Its very much like GBB, one bad bake and you can be out. 

 

However, the flip side of that is you're not penalized for a bad bake either.  As long as you advance, everything sets back to zero.  Complete elimination is the only penalty, and there's no reward for repeated cumulative success.

This is an eight-week competition.  For a multi-episode event, it should be about the totality of the competition.  Bill won four challenges, and everyone liked the taste of his gingerbread.  He should have been in the finale, and a point system might have gotten him there. For a two-round, one-day competition like CCC, I'm OK with comments like is done now, but I think HBC and SBC need to start thinking about a point system. TOC uses points, and the Olympics also scores on points, even on a bad day.

I also think the prize money should be 60-75K (below TOC's 100K).

[Guest]

3 hours ago, Ohmo said:

However, the flip side of that is you're not penalized for a bad bake either.  As long as you advance, everything sets back to zero.  Complete elimination is the only penalty, and there's no reward for repeated cumulative success.

This is an eight-week competition.  For a multi-episode event, it should be about the totality of the competition.  Bill won four challenges, and everyone liked the taste of his gingerbread.  He should have been in the finale, and a point system might have gotten him there. For a two-round, one-day competition like CCC, I'm OK with comments like is done now, but I think HBC and SBC need to start thinking about a point system. TOC uses points, and the Olympics also scores on points, even on a bad day.

This is the way most competitive reality shows work, though, even the cooking/baking ones. It might seem unfair sometimes (especially when someone we like suffers because of it), but one has to remember that these shows are designed to be entertainment, not just objectively fair and mathematically calculated competitions. They are set up this way to create suspense over who might be eliminated -- it could be anyone on any given week! That keeps things interesting, and keeps people watching.

If they did it with a straight-up point system, it might be technically more fair, but it wouldn't be as interesting. If Bill, for example, had all these points from prior challenge wins, and was in the bottom two in this challenge against Jessica who had far fewer points, there'd be no surprise about who was going home. If someone was rooting for Bill, maybe that would be great. But if someone was rooting for Jessica, it would be demoralizing because you would know she was doomed, even if she did better than Bill that particular week.

I mean, I'm bummed too when someone I like doesn't win a challenge or gets eliminated when I think they shouldn't have been (see my comments about Aishia's snowwoman awhile back or my rant when Kristi was eliminated in the Halloween edition), but ultimately that's the format of the show, and I don't think it should change.

Edited December 21, 2022 by tracyscott76

[RoxiP]

The winner on GBBO (or is it GBBS - I have never figured it out and call it both things) doesn't even get a cash prize - just an etched cake stand.  I think the contestants on HBC are on it as much for the exposure for either their career aspirations or at least to promote their business as they are for the cash prize.  I know if I'm ever in Richardson I would go and check out the bakery of one of the contestants (of course I would have to go and search for either her name or the name of her bakery and was that on the Halloween Baking Championship or here - they all tend to run together!).

[MoonKitty]

6 hours ago, Ohmo said:

 

I also think there should be a point system to make this more cumulative.  Bill won four challenges throughout the competition, but that did him no good. Your performance throughout the competition should be what gets you into the finale.  Top three in each heat: Preheat: 5 pts, 4 pts 3 pts.  Everyone who isn't in the top 3 gets 1 point.  Main heat: 10, 5, 2, Everyone else 1.  Bottom cumulative scorer leaves each week.

 

Of course, to really level the playing field, the bakes should be blind judged. I don't really want that--I'd miss the interplay between the bakers and judges-- but often wonder how different results would be. Sitting at home, it sometimes appears that a contestant is either marked as an "also ran" or pushed way further in the competition than they should be based on how a judge likes him/her. 

[CheshireCat]

6 hours ago, Ohmo said:

I understand there's a visual component, but you're not looking at the food.  You're eating it.

Yes and no.  How food looks actually does matter. My mom learned all about it in a nutrition course a few years back and while I don't remember details, it's got something to do with how the brain works. When we see food, there's a chemical/hormonal reaction in our brain. It's why we find certain things appealing and want to taste them and not others, for example.
I don't know if there's a similar thing in English but in German, there's a saying: "The eye eats as well". (More or less the literal translation, so it sounds a little awkward but there's a truth to that). 

I'd also say that decorating is a form of art/can be a form of art but even if it weren't, the contestants are supposed to decorate, so I think the decoration should be judged and matter as well.

When I first started watching a few years back, I think the focus of the first challenge was more on the baking and the focus of the second challenge was more on the decorating. It feels like they lost this format and now it's whatever the judges want to put the focus on.

48 minutes ago, RoxiP said:

The winner on GBBO (or is it GBBS - I have never figured it out and call it both things) doesn't even get a cash prize - just an etched cake stand. 

Wow, that's it? In Germany, the winner gets a baking book (and a (ugly) golden cupcake).

 

[libgirl2]

2 hours ago, RoxiP said:

The winner on GBBO (or is it GBBS - I have never figured it out and call it both things) doesn't even get a cash prize - just an etched cake stand.  I think the contestants on HBC are on it as much for the exposure for either their career aspirations or at least to promote their business as they are for the cash prize.  I know if I'm ever in Richardson I would go and check out the bakery of one of the contestants (of course I would have to go and search for either her name or the name of her bakery and was that on the Halloween Baking Championship or here - they all tend to run together!).

Though they often come out with a cookbook, end up on TV, maybe with their own baking show. Even the non-winners. 

[lark37]

Aisha should have won out of the finalists, in my opinion.  I thought she was the most consistent in both flavor and decorating throughout the competition. Overall, I liked Harshal and giggly Kristin, and felt they both got cut too soon.  I don’t decorate cakes very often, but I’ve made a few simple decorated cakes.  Dru’s mountain cake looked like something I could have made which means it looked homemade by an amateur and not something I ever thought I would see in the finale of the Holiday Baking Championship.  I realized I missed last year’s competition in early November and binged it.  Compared to last year’s winner, Adam, I thought all of this season’s finalists cakes looked so unprofessional. Check out the photos of last year’s and this one.  There was way too much favoritism this season.  Nancy made up her mind around episode 4 that Dru was the winner, and nothing he or anyone else did was going to change that.  

Edited December 22, 2022 by lark37
Forgot to add IMO

[MerBearHou]

I just had a chance to watch the finale.  It was actually a bonus for me to have read the comments and know the outcome so I could just watch and notice some of the details mentioned here.  What really struck me was how kind this final 5 was to each other — they helped each other, they quietly cheered the others on — there was just a graciousness in this group of 5.  

The final two cakes of Dru and Aishia were obvious over Aaron and Jeannie’s final cakes.  I so felt for Bill as he baked in the elimination challenge — nothing went right and he was behind every step of the way.  

I agreed with Carla about Dru’s mountain looking more like a rocket and that he should have carved out some nooks and crannies, but it still was a beautiful Christmassy look and it sounded like his cake flavors were just dreamy for the judges to eat.  

 

[Starry-Eyed]

7 minutes ago, MerBearHou said:

I just had a chance to watch the finale.  It was actually a bonus for me to have read the comments and know the outcome so I could just watch and notice some of the details mentioned here.  What really struck me was how kind this final 5 was to each other — they helped each other, they quietly cheered the others on — there was just a graciousness in this group of 5. 

I loved this too! Dru hasn't been a favorite of mine all season, but I really, really loved how he tried to give everyone what they wanted for the final challenge. Aaron helping Bill and Jessie in the preheat was sweet too.

[kathyk24]

23 hours ago, lark37 said:

Aisha should have won out of the finalists, in my opinion.  I thought she was the most consistent in both flavor and decorating throughout the competition. Overall, I liked Harshal and giggly Kristin, and felt they both got cut too soon.  I don’t decorate cakes very often, but I’ve made a few simple decorated cakes.  Dru’s mountain cake looked like something I could have made which means it looked homemade by an amateur and not something I ever thought I would see in the finale of the Holiday Baking Championship.  I realized I missed last year’s competition in early November and binged it.  Compared to last year’s winner, Adam, I thought all of this season’s finalists cakes looked so unprofessional. Check out the photos of last year’s and this one.  There was way too much favoritism this season.  Nancy made up her mind around episode 4 that Dru was the winner, and nothing he or anyone else did was going to change that.  

I think they need to rotate the judges like every other season. Nancy has too much influence over who the winner will be. The contestants know it especially when there is alcohol in a challenge. I think she doesn't have good taste buds she claims she can't taste an ingredient when we see bakers adding lots of it.

[Suzn]

13 hours ago, kathyk24 said:

I think they need to rotate the judges like every other season. Nancy has too much influence over who the winner will be. The contestants know it especially when there is alcohol in a challenge. I think she doesn't have good taste buds she claims she can't taste an ingredient when we see bakers adding lots of it.

I don't  know why they give any weight to her claims of not getting a flavor when the others get it.   All she can judge is whether something is holiday enough and her expectations of that are often wacky.

[littlebennysmom]

11 hours ago, Suzn said:

I don't  know why they give any weight to her claims of not getting a flavor when the others get it.   All she can judge is whether something is holiday enough and her expectations of that are often wacky.

Her biggest kudos is lame "conductor hands" because she apparently lacks the ability to describe a dish she likes beyond, "that SCREAMS holiday!!!!!"

[Salacious Kitty]

1 hour ago, littlebennysmom said:

Her biggest kudos is lame "conductor hands" because she apparently lacks the ability to describe a dish she likes beyond, "that SCREAMS holiday!!!!!"

She has Carla and Duff to describe flavors in detail. She really does seem to be all about the aesthetics, aside from her snide "I didn't get any _________." 

[Catfi9ht]

Agree with everyone' comments. Every contestant was super nice and supportive.

I thought Aisha should have won because her cake met the challenge the best and looked more professional.

However when Dru was thanking the judges during the first heat, he seemed very sincere and his reactions to their critiques also seemed very genuine.

While I thought it was odd he won, I'm not mad about it because he seemed like a good dude and I really did enjoy most of the things he made all season.

Happy holidays everyone! See you next season! 🎄

[netlyon2]

On 12/21/2022 at 4:47 PM, CheshireCat said:

I don't know if there's a similar thing in English but in German, there's a saying: "The eye eats as well". (More or less the literal translation, so it sounds a little awkward but there's a truth to that). 

Yup! "You eat with your eyes first."

 

ETA

Interestingly, I've seen this given as advice for eating (mindfulness and appreciation, rather than just scarfing food down) as well as preparing food.

Edited December 24, 2022 by netlyon2

[RoxiP]

I know when I am at a venue (for instance even a family gathering or a buffet) I tend to look at dishes that look pretty over ones that are just plain.  Maybe I'm a shallow eater.

[ashleytylerjohn]

Some of the posts have commented on how it's not all that hard to eat dessert, so it's a bit annoying when the judges commented that something was difficult to eat.  

Maybe it's just me, but I thought they usually trotted that out when they meant "your texture is unpleasant" or some other baking deficiency ... it's difficult to eat only in the sense that it's difficult to want to eat it.  Like how it's difficult to break bad news (it's not really, how hard is it to say "your mom died," 3 syllables), that kind of 'difficult.'  Or am I willfully misunderstanding them? I confuse easily.

Edited December 28, 2022 by ashleytylerjohn

[RoxiP]

Trying to get a spoon through a relatively narrow jar so you can get a bite of everything did look difficult.  I'm not a huge fan of these mason jar desserts - they look cool but could be difficult to maneuver if you are one of those "perfect bite" people (not me - I'm a layer by layer eater).

[SilverLake0315]

For whatever reason, I was NOT into this season at all. I just realized I watched the finale yesterday and have no clue who won. 

[RoxiP]

Dru?  (Not going to lie, had to look.)

[jcbrown]

"Guy with weird hair who probably has a name" was how I remembered him.

[Ilovepie]

On 12/21/2022 at 6:33 PM, lark37 said:

Compared to last year’s winner, Adam, I thought all of this season’s finalists cakes looked so unprofessional.

Thank you! I finally finished this and I am shocked at how sloppy, messy and unprofessional these cakes looked for the finale! I am sorry, but Dru's cake was hideous! Why didn't he just do round cakes and put some kind of mountain-scape around the edges? That missile on top was atrocious. All of these cakes looked like they came from the kids baking championship. These people were all nice, but man, that was a disappointing finale just in terms of the quality of the final bakes.

[mojoween]

Jesse’s Bachelor days are truly over - his wife is expecting in January!

Selfishly, if he pulls back from any of his jobs, I hope his work on College GameDay, with all the travel required, is what takes a hit rather than his FN hosting roles.

[libgirl2]

I was just thinking about this show. Any news? 

[NotChristine]

Amber from Season 3 was on the newest season of Crime Scene Kitchen. Her finish is below

Spoiler

She and her partner won!

 

[Grizzly]

7 hours ago, NotChristine said:

Amber from Season 3 was on the newest season of Crime Scene Kitchen. Her finish is below

  Reveal spoiler

She and her partner won!

 

That's where I knew her from! I thought it was her episode of Chopped.

[starlightlost]

On 8/28/2023 at 12:18 PM, libgirl2 said:

I was just thinking about this show. Any news? 

Season 10 premieres Monday, November 6th!

[CrazyInAlabama]

https://www.foodnetwork.com/shows/holiday-baking-championship

Link to the season 10 page, 12 bakers, 3 of them are home bakers, and Jesse.    

Carla, Duff and Nancy are the judges.   You have to scroll down to the season 10 episode list to see the descriptions of the episodes.  

Edited November 3, 2023 by CrazyInAlabama

[CheshireCat]

Do we have to have Nancy? While I still think we don't get to see enough of the judging, I much prefer the judges from the Halloween Baking Championship. There's more substance to it than "I don't get this or that" and it's been more objective.

I'm not convinced by Duff either but I did think he did a good job for the Halloween Cookie Championship, so maybe he gets bad edits when judging the Holiday Baking Championship or he gets influenced too much by Nancy.

[libgirl2]

3 hours ago, CheshireCat said:

Do we have to have Nancy? While I still think we don't get to see enough of the judging, I much prefer the judges from the Halloween Baking Championship. There's more substance to it than "I don't get this or that" and it's been more objective.

I'm not convinced by Duff either but I did think he did a good job for the Halloween Cookie Championship, so maybe he gets bad edits when judging the Holiday Baking Championship or he gets influenced too much by Nancy.

Don't forget "its not holiday enough". 

Duff was good on the cookie championship. 

[CheshireCat]

14 hours ago, libgirl2 said:

Don't forget "its not holiday enough".

I did indeed forget about that (although, I'm sure I would have remembered the moment the show started 😉). I'd say I'd agree, I'm someone who does like if flavor and decoration match the occasion/have a theme. However, whenever Nancy makes that comment, it seems random and/or based on who she prefers as a baker/candidate. Usually, it's not an objective critique and I often find myself wondering why this one baker was less "holiday-ish" while another was okay even though they were both similar or the second baker may even have been the one who baked something with strawberries or some other summer flavor and there wasn't a single comment made about it.

At least last year she had toned down the "I don't taste the booze". I wonder if they edited it out or if the other two judges made it clear that they want to taste cake and not just alcohol. In any case, I hope this year will be like last year in that respect.

[jcbrown]

While I am already tired of the commercial that is repeating endlessly (with DRAMAH about burning nuts) I continue to look forward to the new season.

[Dibs]

I haven't seen Damarias (sp?) Phillips anywhere lately; is she still doing this?

[Salacious Kitty]

22 minutes ago, Dibs said:

I haven't seen Damarias (sp?) Phillips anywhere lately; is she still doing this?

No, Carla, Duff, and Nancy will be the judges. 

[DEL901]

34 minutes ago, Dibs said:

I haven't seen Damarias (sp?) Phillips anywhere lately; is she still doing this?

She just hosted one of those Halloween pumpkin carving shows.  

[Guest]

Yes, the only Baking Championship show Damaris has done so far was the most recent Spring inaugural Summer edition - it remains to be seen if that will be a regular gig for her. As DEL901 said, she did just host Outrageous Pumpkins, and she is still a perennial judge/competitor on Beat Bobby Flay and Guy's Grocery Games.

Edited November 5, 2023 by tracyscott76
Fixed which edition she was on

[Ancaster]

On 10/31/2023 at 3:47 AM, CheshireCat said:

Do we have to have Nancy? While I still think we don't get to see enough of the judging, I much prefer the judges from the Halloween Baking Championship. There's more substance to it than "I don't get this or that" and it's been more objective.

I'm not convinced by Duff either but I did think he did a good job for the Halloween Cookie Championship, so maybe he gets bad edits when judging the Holiday Baking Championship or he gets influenced too much by Nancy.

I like Duff except when he's on that horrible show when he competes against the obnoxious loud Italian American baker.

I just binged last year's (?) holiday baking show and there were a few times where he shut Nancy down with a professional comment/critique and I think he (and Carla) comment knowledgeably.  I still couldn't stand Nancy, but she wasn't as bad as she has been before and I don't remember alcohol being mentioned.

Sorry if this was already talked about when it aired - I tend to catch the various championships randomly when they turn up on Sunday afternoons or some such, rather than when they actually air "new".  There are so many, it's hard to keep up, but I do like the lowkey, friendly style.

[AZChristian]

8 hours ago, Ancaster said:

I like Duff except when he's on that horrible show when he competes against the obnoxious loud Italian American baker.

I enjoy watching a lot of the cooking/baking competition shows, even the ones with kids.  I realized early on that if I was going to watch the Kids Baking Championship that I'd have to hit "mute" as soon as a commercial break started, because the baker to whom you referred is prominent in EVERY break. 

I'll take Nancy ANY day over him.

[Kid]

WHY OH WHY do they have to run that AWFUL soundtrack of horrible music through the entire thing????  I was so excited to see Carla Hall on this season but I can't watch it because the music is distracting and adds absolutely NO VALUE!! 

[MerBearHou]

6 minutes ago, Kid said:

WHY OH WHY do they have to run that AWFUL soundtrack of horrible music through the entire thing????  I was so excited to see Carla Hall on this season but I can't watch it because the music is distracting and adds absolutely NO VALUE!! 

Do you have a sound bar that is separate from your TV? Are you able to turn off the sound bar and listen with the sound coming straight from the TV.  sometimes that helps. I totally agree, that background music is unnecessary and annoying!

[CrazyInAlabama]

Good point, the music is too loud.   

Javier seems really fun, Jennifer is such a triumphant story.    A Dog Bakery and Grooming Salon is an interesting background for Josh.   

It will be interesting how the home cooks do, Alex, Greg, and Ali seem very skilled. I always worry about the home bakers time management.   I'm hoping some of them have competition experience. 

I love how Javier's cinnamon rolls look.  I love how amazing all of the cinnamon rolls looks.  I like the sprinkles on Jennifer's rolls.   Why is there a dog sitting at the judge's table?   just because Josh owns a dog bakery doesn't mean they need a dog at the table. Duff is really critical, no amount of a specific flavor seems to please him.   

I won't be surprised if Greg goes home, undercooked dough is lethal. 

I love how the bakers support and help each other.  

I don't like the twists, especially making your own toffee from scratch.   I'm so worried for Jennifer. 

Edited November 7, 2023 by CrazyInAlabama

[Kid]

24 minutes ago, MerBearHou said:

Do you have a sound bar that is separate from your TV? Are you able to turn off the sound bar and listen with the sound coming straight from the TV.  sometimes that helps. I totally agree, that background music is unnecessary and annoying!

Thanks for the suggestion butI do not have a sound bar.

[libgirl2]

Alex makes me sad. I hope she does well. 

Edited November 7, 2023 by libgirl2

[MerBearHou]

Josh has pet groomer and dog bakery shops called “Woof Gang” here in TX.  I love that name!  We have one nearby and have bought dog treats there.  

[Frost]

I don't know everyone's name yet, but I like Alex and Justine.  

Jennifer seems so glum.  She's so stressed out.

I hate the Baker Cam.  

[Guest]

Oof, that was a tough round for Ali. I'm glad she was able to laugh about it by the time of the presentation. 

I'm a sucker for a good Massachusetts accent, so I'll be rooting for Justine. There's also something about Alex that makes me want to root for her. Her saying bye to the judges after judging and then being like "we'll see you again, right?" was adorable. It's nice having someone who's uncertain about how it all works.

Every time Jesse would greet Bert, I couldn't help saying "hey Bert!" in my best Ernie voice. Not my finest hour 🤦‍♂️

Edited to cosign Frost's comment on the Baker Cam. What a waste of the bakers' and our time.

Edited November 7, 2023 by tracyscott76

[libgirl2]

Count me in as not a fan of the baker cam. What a waste of time!