So, just as a reminder, here are the remaining bakers still fighting it out for the finale of Best Baker in America (in order of who I think will win):
Adam Young
Max Santiago
Jean-Francois Suteau
Becca Craig
Lasheeda Perry
In this week’s Best Baker in America skills challenge, the bakers made a mini version of meringue pie — six actually.
Here is what they are making:
Lasheeda: Citrus pistachio meringue pie with a pistachio crust, a citrus crust, and a lemon curd.
Max: Making a pate sucree dough, blueberry lemon meringue pie with fresh blueberries, pate sucree, and swiss meringue.
Becca: Lemon thyme meringue pie with vanilla meringue, lemon sabayon, candied thyme and a thyme sucree crust.
Adam: Tutti-frutti meringue pie with pate sucree, passion fruit, and mango curd, French meringue.
Jean-Francois: Passionfruit meringue pie with Italian meringue, passion fruit curd, and sugar garnish.
Nobody seems to be struggling in the first round too much but Max is late getting his curd into the chiller. He did a sheet pie, but wish he had done individual pies so it would freeze faster. It works, but he’s running behind still. Jean-Francois says he overcooked his pies by about two minutes, but he doesn’t seem worried. Lasheeda’s filling isn’t as thick as she wants it and the shell is warm, so that’s a bad combo.
Best Baker in America judging time:
Becca: Jason loves the spiral meringue, but Marcela points out the darker crusts. The crust-to-filling ratio is spot on, but the thyme isn’t coming through that much.
Jean-Francois: Marcela loves the look, but Jason says the crust is very blonde so he’s hoping it’s cooked. Marcela says the filling is slightly overcooked.
Adam: Marcela says there is an unevenness on the meringue. Jason doesn’t’ like the green chocolate work. Jason says “this is the Adam we know.” Marcela wants to be left alone with the pie to finish it.
Lasheeda: Marcela says it looks messy and Jason points out the meringue is running out and he’s afraid it’s not set. Jason enjoyed the pistachio crust, but he says the filling isn’t set even though he loved the flavor. Marcela wants more crust.
Max: Marcela says it’s an easy way out compared to individual pies. Jason says he won’t get enough of crust with the pie this way. Marcela says it’s too stiff. Jason says it’s a lemon bar, not a pie.
The winner of the skills challenge is: Adam.
The Best Baker in America main challenge is something I, and Lasheeda apparently, have never heard of before — well Lasheeda heard of it but hasn’t made it. It’s called a Marjolaine, which includes a nutty meringue, a ganache and a buttercream, pastry cream or whipped cream filling. They ‘must’ use raspberry flavor.
Here is what they are making (I’ll wait while you grab a bib):
Adam: Raspberry and white chocolate Marjolaine, with white chocolate bavarian, almond meringue, marinated raspberries and puffed rice almond praline.
Max: Dark chocolate raspberry and hazelnut Marjolaine with dark chocolate ganache, raspberry jam, and praline buttercream.
Lasheeda: Raspberry and hazelnut Marjolaine with hazelnut dacquoise, raspberry ganache, vanilla buttercream and raspberry buttercream. She’s never made one before although she’s made the individual parts.
Jean-Francois: Raspberry and hazelnut Marjolaine with raspberry ganache, raspberry jam, gianduja mousse and hazelnut dacquoise.
Becca: Pistachio, raspberry, white chocolate Marjolaine, with a white chocolate pistachio ganache, raspberry mousse, pistachio dacquoise, raspberry buttercream. Becca has also never made one either. Becca’s buttercream doesn’t happen right and she’s concerned about it holding up. The judges warn her about getting her decorations right. So she tries to make feathers out of chocolate to prove she can temper chocolate but she makes them too thin. She tries again.
If you get a chance to watch this episode, check it out and admire all the chocolate and candy work that each of the bakers do.
Best Baker in America judging time:
Guest judge is Shinmin Li, a pastry artist.
Adam: Jason says he loves the raspberry decorations and the shot out caramel gives it dimension. Shinmin calls it ‘an explosion of sunshine.’ Jason: “It’s so bad I almost ate the whole thing.” Shinmin: The bottom layer is soggy though. Marcela: The flavor is superb, but I want more of the rice puffs.
Max: Jason calls it a Valentine dessert but thinks it’s a little too dark and Shinmin agrees. Marcela says it looks like it collapsed. Jason says the ganache is way too think, while Shinmin says the dacquoise is too soft. Marcela said he made good use of the raspberry.
Lasheeda: Jason calls it pretty and happy. Marcela says that she upped her game. Shinmin says there are holes on the outside where the almonds aren’t sticking. Jason said he thinks she lied about not making one before. Marcela calls it beautiful.
Becca: Marcela says it’s a miss on the decoration with the texture that should be more on a birthday cake. Marcela says the buttercreams are too rich and a miss. Shinmin says because the layers are too thick you can’t take the raspberry.
Jean-Francois: They want to see more height, but call it beautiful. Marcela says she needs more hazelnut but the raspberry isn’t too tart. Jason wanted more raspberry. Shinmin said it’s too spongy. Interesting.
Adam and Lasheeda are the top two. The winner of the contest is Lasheeda. Wow.
The baker going home today is Becca.
Here is the order I have everyone finishing based on who’s now left:
Adam Young
Jean-Francois Suteau
Lasheeda Perry
Max Santiago
I’m going to switch Lasheeda and Max because I think Lasheeda is picking up steam and Max is falling apart a little. Of course, Nacho proved me wrong on Spring Baking Championship, so who knows what will happen here, but I’m sticking by my picks. Another thing to keep in mind is that Jean-Francois makes beautiful desserts, but has technical difficulties.
