If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to cry in my pastry cream, because the Best Baker in America is coming to an end. This is the finale and if you haven’t seen it and don’t know who won, don’t just skip to the bottom of the article. Read my words. I get paid a fortune to write them — haha — and I’d like you to drool over what the contestants made that helped to give him or her the victory.
Just to remind you, here is who we have bakers still fighting it out on the Best Baker in America championship and the order I think they will win. Now Lasheeda has surprised me since the beginning when she was in the bottom two but Adam is my favorite to win.
Adam Young
Jean-Francois Suteau
Lasheeda Perry
For the Best Baker in America finale, they are focusing on the ‘food of the gods,’ — chocolate and they are baking a Sachertorte with a chocolate glaze, dense chocolate cake, and apricot jam. They are to bake six Sachertorte and they must decorate them in 90 minutes. Here’s what they are making (they will all be pretty much the same except for their decor and any additional things they want to add to the chocolate:
Adam: Lavender chocolate ganache, chocolate curls, and apricot jam.
Lasheeda: She’s using white chocolate decor.
Jean-Francois: He is putting a chocolate tree on top.
Uh oh, Jean-Francoise made a critical error and his cake is raw. While he’s trying to cut into it the knife gets stuck. Why not check it first? Weirdly, Adam is making bars but I thought they wanted a cake? Lasheeda isn’t where she wanted to be either. This should be an interesting judging session.
It’s judging time!
Jean-Francois: Marcela says it’s almost a petit four, but it’s really pretty. Jason loves the glazing technique. Jason says he’s missing the apricot and it’s dry. Yet Marcela says it’s dry but she can taste the apricot.
Adam: Jason says lavender soap belongs in granny’s soap but says his Sachertorte is beautiful, but there are imperfections. Marcela says it’s a nice balance of flavors and he made it work. Jason said that the lavender played well after all.
Lasheeda: Marcela criticizes the presentation and Jason says that this presentation ‘isn’t like the Lasheeda they know.’
The winner of the skills challenge was Adam!
Now for the final challenge: The contestants must create a chocolate cake for 100 people with three types of chocolate, three different types of bonbons and elaborate decorations (anything else?!). They must also feature caramel.
Lasheeda: For her bonbons, she’s making white chocolate margarita (yum!), caramel pecan and chipotle milk chocolate. She’s making a crunchy chocolate double mousse cake with blonde, chocolate mousse, dark chocolate mousse and milk chocolate crunch with chocolate sticks decor.
Jean-Francois: Chocolate caramel cake with a milk chocolate coconut bonbon, dark chocolate caramel bonbon, and a milk chocolate mango bonbon. it will have dark chocolate ganache with a flower curled decor.
Adam: He’s making a passion fruit caramel chocolate cake with milk chocolate and coconut rum bonbon, dark chocolate and passion fruit caramel bonbon, white chocolate and cajeta bonbons. The cake will have dark chocolate Bavarian, white chocolate coconut praline, and milk chocolate passion fruit caramel.
I’ll give you a minute to wipe up your drool.
Judging time!
Guest judge Yolanda Gampp, cake artist, and YouTube star.
Adam: I love the curls on his cake. He’s so damn talented. Jason tells Adam he’s blown my socks off and that it’s a chocolate showpiece. Yolanda said she could’ve done without it and the cracked coconut. Marcela said this says ultimate cake. Yolanda says it is delicious. Jason says he’s happy as a hog in mud, but the white chocolate is lost. Marcela disagrees. The bonbons go over really well.
Lasheeda: He cake looks beautiful, but it’s a little lopsided. Yolanda points out some cracking with some smoother pearls. Jason “to give a cake that has the perfect moisture and the perfect crumb, it’s an ultimate cake.” Marcela wants to crown her the ‘queen of flavor.’ Everybody’s getting rave reviews about bonbons.
Jean–Francois: Jason loves the smoothness of his buttercream. Yolanda loves the chocolate flower. Yolanda said the thick caramel on the bottom is perfect. Jason said ‘i’ll have another’ with the white chocolate mango bonbon.
Close race!
THE WINNER IS…
Adam!
I believe I predicted this since Day One.
You’re welcome.
And goodnight.
