As a reminder, here is who is left in Food Network’s Spring Baking Championship:
Cristina
Caleb
Aaron
Heather
Nacho
I’m going to stick to my list of favorites, in order for now.
This week starts off with the special ingredient of the agave cactus, and in the advantage round contestants must make a desert-type dessert and only use agave sugar.
Nacho gets tart, while Cristina gets the doughnut. Caleb gets cupcake, while Aaron gets ice cream sandwich and Heather gets flourless cake. Already Heather is complaining and doesn’t know what she wants to do. She decides on a flourless chocolate cake with orange agave buttercream. She throws crushed pretzels onto her cake and I mean literally throws them. Aaron is making an orange and fennel ice cream sandwich and a butter agave cookie. Caleb is making a Mexican chocolate cupcake with chocolate grapefruit ganache. Caleb says he’s winging it while he tries to find the balance between the spices and the sweetness. Cristine is making a lime cake doughnut with agave glaze and Nacho is making a peanut butter chocolate tart with agave granola crust.
Heather struggles — sound familiar — to try to cut her cake into a cactus shape and the cake is crumbling as she tries to cut it. She molds it into a cactus shape and frosts the hell out of it. Again she flusters way too easily. Aaron struggles with the wetness of his cookie. Let’s see if the problems cost the contestants an advantage.
Judging time (after all of the contestants, except Aaron, take a shot of tequila):
Heather: Nancy says she’s enjoying the cake and it gets decent reviews.
Cristina: Her lime cake doughnut looks cute, but Duff says that he wishes it wasn’t a “basic cake doughnut.” Nancy likes it and so does Lorraine. Duff calls it ‘awesome.’
Aaron: His orange and fennel ice cream sandwich looks so cute, but unfortunately the cookie wasn’t quite done, just what he was afraid of. Nancy loves the ice cream and Lorraine and Duff point out the uncooked cookie.
Caleb: His decorated characters look like pickles and Duff can’t get enough of them. The cupcake looks a little flat and Lorraine hopes it’s not heavy and dense. Nancy says she didn’t taste the grapefruit and Lorraine likes the cupcake.
Nacho: His peanut butter chocolate tart doesn’t go over very well because the crust is way too overcooked. Lorraine says it’s “Nacho best work.” Get it? LOL
Hard crust! To much Agave I need more Tequila 😬 #springbakingchampionship
— NachoAguirreM (@NachoAguirreM) April 17, 2018
Cristina wins her fourth pre-heat! The advantage is that she has to hand out the spices that the other bakers will use in their succulent cakes. Another twist — they must use prickly pear. Here are the spices that Cristina hands out to the contestants and the cakes they are making:
Aaron: Walnut spice cake with apple caraway filling (caraway seeds)
Heather: Orange and anise cake with mango buttercream (anise seeds)
Caleb: Sesame buttermilk cake with malted buttercream (sesame seeds)
Cristina: She chose pink peppercorns for herself. She’s making a chocolate cake with pink peppercorn ganache.
Nacho: Spice cake with apricot black pepper jam (black pepper seeds)
Nacho says that he doesn’t know how to pipe ahead of time while he waits for his cakes to cool so he feels that the other contestants will have an advantage. That’s probably true and he’s seriously stressing. Nacho makes a cake with vibrant colors and cactus on the side and I actually really like it. I think it’s says spring. Watching Cristina glaze the cake is so cool. It came out so shiny and beautiful. It’s judging time:
Heather: Her cake is orange and anise with mango and is filled with prickly pair mango. Duff loves the decorations, but he doesn’t like the cardboard that is sticking out on the bottom of the cake. Lorraine gets all of the flavors, but not as much prickly pear. Nancy calls it a ‘beautiful bite.’
Aaron: His Walnut spice cake with apple pie carraway filling. Unfortunately, the judges cannot taste the carraway or the prickly pear in the cake at all.
Cristina: Pink peppercorn and prickly pear cake. The glaze is perfect, says Lorraine. Duff says every once in awhile you get a good chocolate cake in the world and Cristina’s is that. They aren’t crazy about her buttercream, but they love the cake.
Nacho: His spice cake with apricot black pepper jam goes over well with Nancy, but I don’t understand Duff’s comments. He says it seems too bright for the dessert and seems cartoony. I think that was harsh. Lorraine says that she can’t taste black pepper, but Duff and Nancy can.
Caleb: His sesame buttermilk cake with malted buttercream doesn’t’ seem to go over as a succulent and Lorraine loves the frosting. Nancy says the cake is a little dry but the flavor is there.
After deliberation, Cristina and Heather are the two finalists in the main heat of the competition. The winner of the main heat is Heather who pulls together her flakiness to win this week. Caleb is also safe, so Nacho and Aaron up for elimination. Th
The baker leaving the competition is Aaron.
So next week, it’s
Cristina
Caleb
Heather
Nacho
I’m still going to stick to that list. I really think the competition will come down to Cristina and Caleb. Now who do I think will join them in the finale? It’s really a toss-up with Heather and Nacho, but I think Nacho might pull it out somehow.
Until next week.
