Sweet Empire Winter Wars Season 1 Episode 1

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Sweet Empire Winter Wars (2025) Season 1 Episode 1  #SweetEmpireWinterWars #RealityInsightHub   🎞 Please subscribe to our official channel to watch the full movie for free, as soon as possible. ❤️Reality Insight Hub❤️ 👉 Official Channel: https://www.dailymotion.com/TrailerBolt 👉 THANK YOU ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Transcript

00:00:00Word has spread of your extraordinary talents.

00:00:04And so, dear baker, you are hereby summoned to my exclusive Winter Lodge, where only the

00:00:11creme de la creme of cake sculptors, sugar artists, and chocolatiers shall gather.

00:00:17There are so many amazingly talented bakers and pastry chefs in this room.

00:00:23But this is no ordinary baking competition.

00:00:26Terrified, excited.

00:00:28I am petrified.

00:00:29Here, you hold the power to build your team, lead your vision, and forge your very own

00:00:40sweets empire.

00:00:41Cake, sugar, and chocolate.

00:00:43No other empire has all these skills.

00:00:46The right alliance shall elevate your empire to dazzling heights.

00:00:50Oh, wow.

00:00:51Working wheels.

00:00:52That's amazing.

00:00:54The wrong one?

00:00:55A most delicious recipe for ruin.

00:00:58Heads are gonna roll.

00:01:00With every decadent bake.

00:01:02The bonbon was spectacular.

00:01:04Every chocolate flourish.

00:01:06Every delicate sugar showpiece.

00:01:08Oh, my God.

00:01:09Look at that.

00:01:10Your empire shall be tested.

00:01:14If you truly want to be best of the best, then you have to bring the best.

00:01:17So the question, dear baker, is not simply, can you bake?

00:01:22They don't call me the sugar daddy for nothing.

00:01:24The question is, can your empire survive?

00:01:28I want to win this so badly.

00:01:30Hallelujah.

00:01:31Welcome to sweet empire.

00:01:33Signed, your most gracious and slightly naughty host, Lord Gingerton.

00:01:38Oh, my God.

00:01:39So nice.

00:01:40Hello, everyone.

00:01:41Happy holidays.

00:01:42Hi.

00:01:43Oh, my blooming gosh, this place is just freaking phenomenal.

00:01:57This is so cool.

00:01:58It's crazy.

00:01:59Walking into the Yuletide Lodge, it is amazing.

00:02:02You really feel like you are at a five-star ski resort with all the amenities.

00:02:07I know where I'm vacationing next year.

00:02:09It's beautiful.

00:02:11I have a nice fire that I would love to get cozy by, but, you know, I know we're here for a competition.

00:02:16Welcome to the Yuletide Lodge, bakers.

00:02:19Beautiful, isn't it?

00:02:20Yes.

00:02:21Anybody here look familiar?

00:02:23Yes.

00:02:24Yeah.

00:02:25Very familiar.

00:02:26She might have kicked my butt on a previous show.

00:02:29Uh-oh.

00:02:31Seeing all the cake artists and sugar artists, chocolate artists,

00:02:35that I have looked up to for years, I know that this is not going to be an easy, breezy competition.

00:02:41It is going to be very competitive.

00:02:43There are so many amazingly talented bakers and pastry chefs in this room.

00:02:49This is not going to be an easy win for me.

00:02:51I'm really going to have to put the work in.

00:02:53In order to win this competition, you'll need to be a part of the strongest team.

00:02:57Okay.

00:02:58Or what we're calling a sweet empire.

00:03:01Oh, my gosh.

00:03:03We'll start with 14 individuals.

00:03:05The judges will taste and critique your showpieces.

00:03:09The top six bakers will choose who they want on their team.

00:03:13Oh.

00:03:15Bakers not picked will be going home.

00:03:18Oh, no.

00:03:21So, the judges aren't sending anyone home.

00:03:23We're in charge of that.

00:03:25The pressure's on.

00:03:27Expectations are sky high.

00:03:31I'm super stoked for this challenge.

00:03:33I feel super confident in my abilities.

00:03:35I am ready to compete.

00:03:37The Yuletide Lodge will be your home away from home for the next few weeks.

00:03:41But there is no better feeling than actually being home for the holidays.

00:03:45That's great.

00:03:46So, your task, bring the lodge to life by creating a showpiece inspired by how you celebrate

00:03:52the holidays in your own homes.

00:03:54Judges will be looking for your creativity, craftsmanship, incredible flavors, and how

00:04:00well your piece showcases you as a baker.

00:04:04Empires have not yet been formed.

00:04:07So, prove to everyone that you've got what it takes to lead one.

00:04:12Not only do I have to impress the judges, I also have to pay attention to my fellow competitors.

00:04:16I have to see how they work.

00:04:18Am I doing well?

00:04:19Am I impressing them?

00:04:20Every little bit counts.

00:04:22You seven up front will go first.

00:04:25You seven in the back, you'll go next.

00:04:27All right.

00:04:28Now, this is your opportunity to see what you're up against.

00:04:31Oh, boy.

00:04:33Uh-huh.

00:04:34This is where the strategy comes in, right?

00:04:36You know, in my head, I'm like, okay, I got to see who can do cake, who can do sugar,

00:04:40who can do chocolate, because I want somebody that has maybe some skill sets that I don't have.

00:04:45You have five hours.

00:04:47Your time starts now.

00:04:50All right, here we go.

00:04:54This is such a crazy competition.

00:04:57Yeah.

00:04:58Hello.

00:04:59I'm back again.

00:05:00Go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go.

00:05:02You might have seen me from a few Food Network shows.

00:05:04Cake Wars, Halloween Wars, Holiday Wars, Dallas Cakes, the Food Network Challenge, and Wizards of Baking.

00:05:11In the kitchen, I am a bit of a joker, a leader, and I'm also a stubborn ass as well.

00:05:16How is she doing that so fast?

00:05:19One of the traditions that I used to absolutely love is watching one particular movie that features a little gremlin that I used to be terrified of.

00:05:28Scared poopless, but good times.

00:05:30It's time for me to start on my little monster.

00:05:33So for my showpiece, I'm going to create one of these little monsters from that movie coming out of a Christmas box.

00:05:40So to make my monster's face, I'm using modeling chocolate.

00:05:44It actually stays nice and soft and pliable for longer.

00:05:47Just going to go ahead and smooth this little thing out.

00:05:49What's your flavor?

00:05:51So I'm doing a Christmas spice cake with an eggnog buttercream because, I mean, it's Christmas.

00:05:57Nice.

00:05:58This is pretty challenging because of the time frame.

00:06:01I probably should go smaller, but this is the very first one.

00:06:04This might be my only chance to impress anyone.

00:06:07I'm going to get started, get some orange zest.

00:06:11Some of these people are younger than my children.

00:06:14As the youngest here, I definitely think there's a little extra pressure on me to prove myself, but I definitely think I got what it takes.

00:06:21I specialize in the pastry side of things.

00:06:24I am a pastry sous chef at work back at home, so I kind of do a little bit of a lot.

00:06:29You know, I've done cakes, I do small desserts, cookies, pies, pastries.

00:06:32I have a background in cake decorating.

00:06:34I do very highly detailed decorative work, and I'm here hoping for my first win.

00:06:40So I'm going to do this in a very unconventional way.

00:06:43Any professional cake decorators, look away.

00:06:46So for this first challenge, I'm going to be making a Christmas tree lambeth decorated cake with some cookie adornments for my tasting element.

00:06:54I'm really going to be focusing on some lambeth piping, which is very full layering of piping techniques on your cake.

00:07:00It's not just like a few borders on there, you want to fill the piece.

00:07:04Sitting here watching our competition work, I've never done that.

00:07:08This time around, the bakers are choosing who stays and goes.

00:07:12I've never seen anything like that in a competition before.

00:07:15That adds an entirely different level of pressure on us, because now we have to be cognizant of what we're doing to impress the judges, but also our fellow bakers.

00:07:25Whew.

00:07:27You can have a choice of going to the gym or being a cake decorator.

00:07:33This isn't my first rodeo.

00:07:35I'm the sugar daddy.

00:07:36They call me the king of cakes in Delaware.

00:07:38At 49 years of age, it would be awesome to knock off some of these young guys.

00:07:43I'm here to prove that old school still got it.

00:07:45We are flying right now.

00:07:47Me likey.

00:07:48I'm making a nutcracker because at my house at the holidays, there would be nutcrackers everywhere.

00:07:55We would have cookies.

00:07:56We would have milk.

00:07:58Always sitting there.

00:07:59I'm also making milk and cookies as my tasting element.

00:08:03I wanted it to be flavorful.

00:08:04I wanted it to be soothing.

00:08:05Hope this is going to come out.

00:08:07They are a risk, but baby, I'm going to do my thing.

00:08:14Dulce de leche is number one flavor for us in the family.

00:08:18Sounds very homey.

00:08:19I'm crazy determined.

00:08:21Very focused.

00:08:22Perfectionist.

00:08:23And I do a lot of stuff, but my best things are cakes in general.

00:08:27I've done so many cakes.

00:08:29I've been doing it over 20 years.

00:08:30Nothing you've never done before.

00:08:32For my tasting, the best thing that we always loved, it was a honey cake,

00:08:36which is called Medovic, but that would take 24 hours to set.

00:08:40So I'm making another version of very similar tasting, but it's a cookie version called

00:08:46An Ant's House.

00:08:47And it's Dulce de la Chiffa, the honey layers.

00:08:50I've got to cover the cake now.

00:08:52Make sure it's all set.

00:08:54I grew up in USSR, and we didn't have Christmas.

00:08:57The big thing was New Year.

00:08:59We would sit all night and watch that clock strikes 12 in getting your champagne.

00:09:03This was the best times ever.

00:09:05So this is what I'm deciding to make.

00:09:07That big, bulky Soviet TV, you know, the one that you have to make sure it's working.

00:09:12And I wanted to do a clock on it with a strike of 12, and I have to do the sound.

00:09:18It would be wonderful.

00:09:19So I could make it look like I'm turning the sound on.

00:09:22I hope I can get it done.

00:09:24Corey, what flavors are you doing?

00:09:26I'm making brownies.

00:09:27Oh, yum!

00:09:28With peppermint.

00:09:29Peppermint patty or peppermint as in toothpaste.

00:09:31I like toothpaste.

00:09:32People would say I'm a little wacky.

00:09:36Oh, where did this come from?

00:09:38I sometimes have trouble reining it in.

00:09:41I could be a little over the top sometimes.

00:09:43I'm making Swiss meringue buttercream.

00:09:45Woo!

00:09:46Woo!

00:09:47What I'm making today is a Christmas Crystal Star tree topper cake.

00:09:53This is going to be quite a challenge because I'll be making something with geometric shapes,

00:09:58and that is something really hard to do, especially with cake.

00:10:02It's not the safest choice.

00:10:03I'm just going to go for it, and I hope the judges love it.

00:10:06Get the oils out before we start creaming it.

00:10:09Coming from Florida, got to use a little citrus, right?

00:10:12Okay.

00:10:13I feel like I sound too Southern.

00:10:14Especially when I go to L.A., man, I sound like I'm straight out the sticks.

00:10:18You may have seen me on a few other shows.

00:10:21I haven't won any yet.

00:10:23I've been sent home first.

00:10:24I've been sent home in the middle.

00:10:26I've made the finale.

00:10:28So, you know, we've been everywhere but the top, so that's what we're shooting for.

00:10:33I'm from Florida, and we don't have snow and trees.

00:10:36Like, that's not how it goes there.

00:10:37And my father-in-law gifted me an alligator head, so I'm going to make the alligator head.

00:10:41Just a little bit of pink in there is just for the look, right?

00:10:44For the tasting element, I'm going to stick with the Florida theme and do a three citrus pound cake,

00:10:50and then we're going to do a three citrus cream cheese icing.

00:10:53I think I've seen all of you on shows before.

00:10:55I saw you.

00:10:56It's like we know each other, but we don't know each other.

00:10:58No.

00:10:59So, you guys went on a show before.

00:11:00It's always like that?

00:11:01Yeah.

00:11:02Yeah, it's crazy.

00:11:03You've never been on a show before?

00:11:04No, no.

00:11:05That's my first one.

00:11:06They're working so fast, so clean.

00:11:08I love it.

00:11:09I've never been in any television competition before.

00:11:12This is my first one, so I'm super nervous, but I know what I can do, and I know I can do it well.

00:11:19I love the technique.

00:11:20She's mixing the chocolate so you can model it.

00:11:23So it kind of melts it enough to be able to mold it?

00:11:25Exactly.

00:11:26Yeah, so you get the texture that you can form.

00:11:27Oh, that's really interesting.

00:11:28I can see there's another chocolatier, Renu, and I think she has the same skill than me.

00:11:33She's going to be a big competition for me.

00:11:36Hey, Renu, what are we working on over there?

00:11:38I'm doing the coconut cardamom ganache.

00:11:41Ah, so you're from the chocolate fields, right?

00:11:43Chocolate, yes.

00:11:44Alright, I'll be watching.

00:11:45It's going to be good.

00:11:46Hi, my name is Renu, and I forget what I was supposed to say.

00:11:51Hi, my name is Renu, and I'm a high school teacher who does it all.

00:11:55I teach art, pottery, ceramics, chocolate, and cake decorating.

00:11:59The one thing that's always constant is music.

00:12:01You always hear it no matter where you go at Christmas.

00:12:03It was really one of those bonding times and memories.

00:12:06When I was a kid, music was really the focus of Christmas.

00:12:09So for this first challenge, I'm making a chocolate sculpture.

00:12:12It is an abstracted Christmas tree that has a chocolate treble clef, bass clef,

00:12:16and at the bottom of the tree is a little bowl of Christmas gifts,

00:12:19which are cardamom coconut truffles.

00:12:21I really need to showcase my chocolate skills.

00:12:24I want the other bakers to see that.

00:12:28Bakers, there are three hours remaining.

00:12:30Time is of the essence.

00:12:32Oh my gosh, people are already working on their stuff already.

00:12:36Oh my gosh, I feel like I'm so slow.

00:12:38I'm carving the cake and I'm smoothing out the facets with all this icing.

00:12:43This really is taking way more time than I thought it would.

00:12:46I think I'm falling a bit behind right now, but I'm just going to focus and keep going.

00:12:51Oh, yellow.

00:12:52I know this cake might not be coming as well as I want it to come,

00:12:55but I definitely know the things I'm good at and one of them is color and fondant.

00:13:00I don't want to use airbrush or ice mold.

00:13:02Using colors in my creations are cute, very colorful.

00:13:05I'm putting a whole bunch of colors together and I'm rolling them until it looks like it's airbrushed.

00:13:11I love using colors in a flat way.

00:13:13Elizabeth, look.

00:13:14Oh, that's so pretty.

00:13:16It's like a little mermaid rainbow. I love it.

00:13:18So I've got my eggnog buttercream.

00:13:21I'm going to make sure the layers are nice and even throughout.

00:13:25This competition is all about strategy.

00:13:28Not only do I have to impress the judges, I have to impress everyone else,

00:13:31but, you know, I'm a pretty decent cake artist.

00:13:35I don't know what it feels like to lead an empire yet,

00:13:37but being British, I'm sure, you know, I want to stick a flag in it because that's what we do.

00:13:42Heads are going to roll.

00:13:44With the time frame that we have, I can't do a full body.

00:13:47So I'm being smart.

00:13:49I'm going to put tissue paper in a round so you don't actually see his body,

00:13:53but it gives the illusion that he's a full-bodied little monster.

00:13:57I am intimidated right from the get-go by Elizabeth.

00:14:00I've seen her compete over and over again,

00:14:02and she just brings her a game every single time.

00:14:05I'm excited about Elizabeth's cake, I'm not going to lie.

00:14:07But this competition is a little different.

00:14:09I could be on her team, she could be on my team.

00:14:11Who knows?

00:14:12However, I do know I have a skill set that she doesn't have.

00:14:14She might need me.

00:14:17Bakers, you have one hour.

00:14:19One hour remaining.

00:14:21No.

00:14:22Don't lose your cool, Corey.

00:14:24You got this, you got this, you got this.

00:14:26It's okay.

00:14:27I don't think it'll fall.

00:14:29Even though I'm really anxious, I still got to keep going.

00:14:32Just got to finish.

00:14:33If it falls, that will be bad.

00:14:36And Raynu's music knows.

00:14:37Look, it's standing.

00:14:38Oh!

00:14:39That looks fantastic.

00:14:40Oh!

00:14:41What just happened?

00:14:42I heard screams, that's never good.

00:14:43Oh no.

00:14:44That looks fantastic.

00:14:45Oh no!

00:14:46Oh no!

00:14:47Oh no!

00:14:48Oh no!

00:14:49Oh no!

00:14:50Oh no!

00:14:51Oh no!

00:14:52Oh no!

00:14:53Oh no!

00:14:54Oh no!

00:14:55Oh no!

00:14:56Oh no!

00:14:57Oh no!

00:14:58Oh no!

00:14:59Oh no!

00:15:00Oh no!

00:15:01Oh no!

00:15:02The back up plan is to use a second piece I made in case this happened.

00:15:07It'll be what it'll be.

00:15:08If this next one breaks, this is over.

00:15:11I don't have another back up.

00:15:13So...

00:15:14So I just have to really be careful.

00:15:17Okay.

00:15:18Oh, thank God!

00:15:21I really got to hustle, hustle, hustle.

00:15:25The seams are not coming together as much as I hoped they would,

00:15:28so I'm going to use some white fondant to cover the seams

00:15:32and maybe make it a bit cohesive.

00:15:35With the piece that Cory chose to do,

00:15:37it's not highlighting his talent.

00:15:39I think he took a risk and it backfired.

00:15:41The fondant is not looking as great as I thought it would.

00:15:45I'm just gonna scrap it.

00:15:46All right, don't freak out.

00:15:4730 minutes remaining.

00:15:48Yo, there's probably about an hour's worth of work

00:15:58that I really want to put into this cake,

00:16:00and I gotta decide what to cut, what to keep.

00:16:03I see Dana just working away, but time's almost up,

00:16:07and it's not quite coming together very quickly,

00:16:10so I am very worried he won't finish this thing up.

00:16:13We all would like another hour.

00:16:15That's not possible.

00:16:16We're now down to 30 minutes, and I have an arm,

00:16:19but there's no puppet on the end.

00:16:21I still have to tweak things around the box itself.

00:16:24I'm gonna need a Christmas miracle to help me with this one.

00:16:28Okay, now the pressure's on.

00:16:30I just gotta get these buttercream popcorn on my tree.

00:16:33It's go time right now.

00:16:37I just hope that I have enough time to do

00:16:39everything that I wanted to do.

00:16:40I can't lose sight of this now.

00:16:42I've just got to get this finished.

00:16:47Time's almost up.

00:16:48You have one minute left, y'all.

00:16:53Three, two, one.

00:16:57Good job, everybody.

00:16:58In comparison to all the other bakes in the room, I definitely think mine stands out in the fact that I went for something a little bit more elegant.

00:17:15Oh, dang it, I forgot to hide the support.

00:17:19Everyone did so well.

00:17:20I wish I chose something less challenging, because at least it would have showcased more of my skills.

00:17:26I'm so nervous about this.

00:17:29Bakers, time to meet your judges.

00:17:32We have an award-winning cake artist, queen of her own sweet empire, Yolanda Gamp.

00:17:47Wow, like cake sculpting goddess queen just walked into the building.

00:17:52100% fangirling.

00:17:53And master pastry chef and confectioner, Mr. Chocolate himself, Jacques Torres.

00:18:01Oh, my God.

00:18:03I will be judged by one of the best craftsmen I know.

00:18:07I am petrified.

00:18:09We're looking to see how you've brought the holiday cheer from your home into the lodge.

00:18:14I can't wait to see what you guys are bringing to the table.

00:18:17We are judging you on creativity and craftsmanship.

00:18:21And your centerpiece will have to represent you as a baker.

00:18:25But remember, flavor is very important to me.

00:18:30Aaron, you're up first.

00:18:34Aaron, this is beautiful.

00:18:36I love all the techniques.

00:18:37I love all the different piping you've used.

00:18:40It's very colorful.

00:18:42I had a question about these popcorn.

00:18:44How did you make them?

00:18:45What are they made out of?

00:18:46So I did the technique where you use a star tip and you press down onto your parchment and then froze them.

00:18:51And I added some yellow petal dust to kind of bring the butter to it.

00:18:54And that's a nod to, like, the popcorn on a string that you'd normally put around the tree.

00:18:58Oh, yeah.

00:18:59Listen, enough talking here.

00:19:00We should eat the cake.

00:19:01I cannot wait here.

00:19:03So for my tasting today, I have made a pfeffernous cookie sandwich, which are the snowflakes.

00:19:08So it's a very spice-forward cookie.

00:19:09It's a little bit of a hard-to-crack cookie.

00:19:10And on the inside, there's a caramelized honey and whiskey buttercream.

00:19:15Okay.

00:19:17This is awesome.

00:19:19I like the cookies.

00:19:20I like the heat.

00:19:21It's not too much, but you can feel it.

00:19:23I like the spice.

00:19:25In a way, I'm a little bit disappointed.

00:19:27I see that big cake.

00:19:28And I was thinking cutting into it and maybe pull a slice and see something that really excites me.

00:19:35I don't say that the cookies are bad, but I think we leave something on the table here.

00:19:40Okay.

00:19:41Thank you so much, Aaron.

00:19:43All right, Nils.

00:19:44Right.

00:19:45Obviously, you might be able to guess I'm from Florida.

00:19:47So for the tasting element, I did a three citrus pound cake with a citrus cream cheese icing.

00:19:53I love your take.

00:19:54It tells the story.

00:19:55It tells us where you're from.

00:19:57I feel like his skin could use a little more texture.

00:20:00What I picture of an alligator is very rough, rugged.

00:20:03Well, go ahead.

00:20:04Slice into this, baby.

00:20:05All right, here we go.

00:20:06This part off.

00:20:07And then for a little bit of extra Christmas magic, we've got some burnt sugar crystals in here.

00:20:18I love the crunch.

00:20:19I love the cake.

00:20:20The citrus really come true.

00:20:21I also love citrus, especially lemon in dessert.

00:20:25Yes.

00:20:26I always think, you know, after a heavy meal, like the holidays, citrus is just nice, light, bright.

00:20:32It's a punch.

00:20:33It brings you back to life.

00:20:34So I think it's a great choice.

00:20:35Thank you so much, Nels.

00:20:36Thank you back.

00:20:37Renu, you're up next.

00:20:42Is that chocolate?

00:20:43It sure is.

00:20:44Oh, my God.

00:20:45Wow.

00:20:46Are you a musician?

00:20:48I play instruments and I love music at the holidays.

00:20:51So I thought it was fitting to make an abstract Christmas treat.

00:20:54Are you nervous showcasing chocolate to Mr. Chocolate?

00:20:59Yeah.

00:21:00Who knew that was going to happen?

00:21:03Yeah.

00:21:06I really love the craftsmanship.

00:21:08I love that you added texture to the star.

00:21:11It smells divine.

00:21:12It looks divine.

00:21:13Something with chocolate that's very important.

00:21:15We don't suppose to see the seams.

00:21:18So when you glue it, use a chocolate that's a little bit crystallized.

00:21:23Okay.

00:21:24But overall, it's very courageous.

00:21:26I know how much work that take.

00:21:28Congratulations.

00:21:29Well, there's some cardamom coconut truffles.

00:21:32In the little bowl under the tree.

00:21:34Help yourselves to those.

00:21:36The shell is not too thick, but we get the crunch.

00:21:39The flavor of the filling.

00:21:41I love coconuts.

00:21:43This is delicious.

00:21:44Oh, thank you.

00:21:45I love coconut and chocolate together.

00:21:47And the cardamom is the perfect addition.

00:21:49Please just let me know if you are for a higher, okay?

00:21:52No.

00:21:54Oh, my God.

00:21:55Did everyone else hear that?

00:21:56Because, whoa, that's crazy.

00:21:58Oh, oh, oh.

00:21:59Oh.

00:22:00Wow.

00:22:01I held my breath for you.

00:22:02I remember those TVs.

00:22:03With all the bottom on the side.

00:22:04I am that old.

00:22:05Oh, my God.

00:22:06We won't tell.

00:22:07Oh, my God.

00:22:08Wow.

00:22:09Stroke of midnight?

00:22:10I'm going to disappear in a moment.

00:22:11That's very cool.

00:22:12That's very, very, very cool.

00:22:13There's so much to look at here in a good way.

00:22:33It's beautiful.

00:22:34You are really spot on with the mandarin oranges here.

00:22:36The color is beautiful.

00:22:37The texture is beautiful.

00:22:38The shape, they look a little bit overripe.

00:22:41overripe so I'm thinking wow they're going to be very sweet. Yeah can we cut into it? So tell us

00:22:48about the inside. It's a version of a honey cake. It's like an anthill. It has a little poppy seed

00:22:53in it. It's representing the ants. It's kind of a cookie cake. I like moist cake. I find them more

00:22:59pleasant because it is a little bit dry and you certainly taste it and you know it. This is you

00:23:05say a honey cake. Original honey cake is moist. This is like the replacement for the period of

00:23:11because of time. Okay I get it. Look maybe a little bit of syrup will make it a little

00:23:17bit more pleasant to eat. Jacques critiques on the fact that you know cake was dry. I'm

00:23:22kind of mad at myself because I want it to be perfect. Elizabeth. Surprise. He's looking

00:23:31at me. It's very well done. I love the eyes. I love the texture of the nose, the face, the

00:23:40Christmas hat. It's a little bit spooky but well not. He brush his teeth every day. They're

00:23:46very white. I love his oven mitt. He looks terrorized. Okay can we kill it now? Can we

00:23:54kill it? Yes absolutely. I did a Christmas spice cake. So it has a hand blend of all the

00:24:00different spices that make me think of Christmas and then it's paired with classic eggnog buttercream.

00:24:05I think you'll love it. Flavor come true. They are delicious. It's definitely the holidays.

00:24:11The cake is light. The filling is not so light. Here it's a little bit more compact. Okay. I agree

00:24:17with Jacques. I am known for being picky about fillings. It does feel a little bit heavy and just

00:24:22slightly gritty especially next to the delicious cake. I'm excited to see more of your work. This

00:24:29is very interesting. Thank you very much. I appreciate that. Corey. Corey, this is not easy.

00:24:42This is a difficult cake to make. You are telling me. Oh my god. Jacques, why is this so hard to execute?

00:24:48Because it's geometric shape. If you ever draw a star, you know how difficult it is to make it exact.

00:24:54But here you have to play with 3D. It's very difficult. You know, we can see all the seams.

00:25:01It's a difficult cake to make. This is the kind of cake that no matter how many times you draw it out

00:25:05and do the measurements and calculations, it never quite works out the same when you're actually making

00:25:11the cake. And this is because everything you do to the cake changes its dimensions. And then you just

00:25:17get to a place like the side here where you're not sure what to do because it didn't work out in a

00:25:22triangular shape. And so you've left it uncovered. I'm anxious to taste it. So let's let's see how

00:25:29it tastes. It's brownie with mint chocolate chips and with a peppermint Swiss meringue buttercream.

00:25:34The cake is delicious. Chocolate mint is one of my favorite flavor combos. So is mine. And I'm happy

00:25:40you didn't overdo it with the mint. Mint is dangerous. Can feel like toothpaste. But you know what?

00:25:45This is good. This is good. Thank you so much. Well done. Thank you. I definitely know this was not

00:25:52the safest choice. But I needed to challenge myself. And I just hope that someone picks me

00:25:58for their team. Last but not least, Dana. Do my little squat exercises. Thank you. You strong, Dana.

00:26:05Wow. Dana, I know you were concerned about time. Were you able to get everything done?

00:26:09I'd say probably 80, 85 percent. There's probably some gold detailing that I really wanted to get on

00:26:16there. This is a very ambitious project. Yes. What you end up chopping off when you run out of time

00:26:23is the finer details that you want to add and can only be added at the end, such as the gold.

00:26:29So what are we eating? In this cake, the tasting element are a lemon and thyme cookie with a soothing

00:26:36chamomile milk for you guys. Oh. There you go. Yeah, you got a dip, right? I like the flavor of the

00:26:42cookie. I think it's unique. Paired with the chamomile milk, I think you're going to knock

00:26:46Santa's boots off. I love the milk. A little bit of rum will be even better. Yeah. But I love the

00:26:52milk. Congratulations. Thank you. Dana, thank you so much. Well done. Thank you. And congratulations to

00:26:59all of you on Group 1. Watching the judging, they are nitpicking a lot of little details. So I think

00:27:07it's giving me an advantage of what I'm going to do. Group 2, stiff competition. Yes. Absolutely.

00:27:14It's your time now. Not only do I have to impress these two amazing judges, I actually have to

00:27:20impress all of these fellow bakers. How am I going to do that? Let's freaking go. Your time starts now.

00:27:27Let's do this. Let's go.

00:27:31You ready? Let's do this. So the first challenge, we have to bring the lodge to life by creating

00:27:39something from home that makes us happy and make a tasting element that goes with this bake. This is

00:27:44definitely out of my comfort zone, but I know I can bring my flair to the competition. No one's got

00:27:50time for lids. So I'm just a little bit obsessed with Halloween and horror and gore. So you might

00:27:57recognize me from a few Halloween shows, but I love Christmas. Most people put really nice Christmas

00:28:03bubbles on their trees. I put skulls. Holly, what cake are you making? I'm making a passion fruit

00:28:10lamington cake. Oh, nice. Yeah. Do you know what a lamington is? I've heard of a lamington cake,

00:28:14but I've never made one. It's very Australian of me. I'm going all Australian because Christmas time in

00:28:21Australia, it's summer. So I want to go all those tropical flavors. So like pavlova. I'm going to

00:28:27have fresh strawberries. I'm going to have passion fruit. My inspiration is my son. Every Christmas,

00:28:33we decide to make gingerbread houses and we put dinosaurs on them because we like to do things a

00:28:39little bit weird in our house. So I'm making a T-Rex cake with an ugliest sweater on and I'm going to

00:28:45have a head, a tail. If this structure isn't solid, my dinosaur is just going to be extinct.

00:28:54And I measure that just with your heart. I do cakes for the Kansas City Chiefs, the Kansas City

00:29:00Royals, all kinds of amazing people that I get to do cakes for. And I pour in hot espresso, brings out

00:29:06all that chocolate flavor. In competitions, I have not had the best track record. I've come in second a

00:29:13couple of times, but I'm ready for a big win. What are you making, mate? I am making a giant beaver

00:29:20nutcracker. Seems crazy. Maybe not traditional to everyone else, but I have an eight-year-old and he

00:29:28loves beavers. He has an entire beaver suit that he wears. So that's something that would bring us joy

00:29:36and reminds me of my little boy. I'm going to start stacking my cake. So I'm going to make a dark

00:29:41chocolate fudge cake with a chocolate hazelnut buttercream and a candied praline hazelnut

00:29:48crunch for the inside. I'm the most worried about the build itself. This is a very ambitious cake for

00:29:56me to make on my own. Very nerve wracking. How are you feeling, Francois? It's going to be great.

00:30:01So this competition bring all the best and I'm the newcomer here. So a little nervous. I'm living in

00:30:08Florida, but I'm coming from Alsace and north of France. And in the middle of the city, we always

00:30:13have a huge Christmas tree. And that is my inspiration. I'm making a huge Christmas tree

00:30:18with dark chocolate. And then I'm going to spray it in green cocoa butter. I'm making a tasting

00:30:23element that's going to look like an ornament under the tree. With inside the chocolate mousse cinnamon,

00:30:28blackberry, blackcurrant, and wine. That's all the flavors from my country.

00:30:32There we go. That we should be fine. You're getting started on your tasting? So this is going to be

00:30:39the shape for the Christmas tree. I'm pouring chocolate between two rulers to make sure that

00:30:45it's exactly the same size when I cut it. So for this, I'm using a very sharp knife. So my cut is

00:30:52very, very thin. So I'm using the stencil and cut around to make sure that my tree is exactly the same

00:30:58on each side. Nice. Lou, what are you making? I'm making balls. Balls! My name is Lou, and I'm a

00:31:08mortician. Well, I used to be. But now I bake. I'm actually making these ornament balls, and you're

00:31:14able to smash them. And then all these sprinkles fly around. And it's just like a lot of fun. And also,

00:31:19you can eat them. Now we are going to put this in. My tasting element is a traditional red velvet cake

00:31:25cream cheese because my daughter was born during the holidays, and that's her favorite cake. Okay.

00:31:30Beautiful. So what's your big plan? I'm going to make, like, a fake poinsettia plant for the

00:31:36holidays, and a gift bag with, like, gift bowls. Nice. I just love making hyper-realistic cakes. Is it

00:31:44real? Is it fake? Is it cake? Like, I love when people get completely confused. I've been on Halloween

00:31:49Wars. Unfortunately, I did not last for too long. I'm really here to prove that I can excel in my craft.

00:31:54You really don't want to underestimate me. So I'm going to do a hyper-realistic build. It's going to

00:31:59be a faux poinsettia plant with a gift bag and bowls spilling out. And you will not be able to tell

00:32:05that these are not actually real bowls. I'm going to have a strawberry guava curd, a pretzel crunch,

00:32:10and vanilla malt buttercream. Oh. It already smells so good. Oh, that's a wrong paddle, actually.

00:32:16Let's just start that way. It's fine. Some people might describe me as a bitch, but I feel like I'm

00:32:22very transparent. There is no poker face here. You're going to know exactly how I'm feeling and

00:32:26probably what I'm thinking. This butter is very cold. I just know what it takes to win competitions.

00:32:32There's a reason I've won so many, and that's because I'm definitely a fierce competitor.

00:32:38How you doing, Sarah? Babes, what you working on? I'm making a no-spread sugar cookie dough

00:32:44because I'm constructing my entire piece out of cookies, which is ridiculous because I'm a cake

00:32:53artist and I've never made cookies before, except for when I make it with my family.

00:32:58So I'm inspired by this German Christmas pyramid. It's the first decoration I pull out every year.

00:33:04It just reminds me of my childhood. I'm in the Christmas spirit. Can you tell?

00:33:08And for some very strange reason, I decide that it would be a good idea to build this out of sugar

00:33:14cookie, which I've never done before. Yeah. So I got to get the dough like the perfect temperature

00:33:21to cut these. I'm going to put some orange peel in this cookie dough to kind of take inspiration from

00:33:27the chocolate oranges that would be my stocking every year at Christmas time. I do want this to

00:33:33have a surprise element because I just don't go small on anything, and I want it to spin because

00:33:38that's what makes it magical. Definitely setting myself up for complications.

00:33:44Here we go.

00:33:45Fancy, Jonathan.

00:33:47I prefer cake work. However, sugar work has a special place in my heart. It's just a lost

00:33:55art, and it's fun for me to bring it back. I'm great with cake. I also work with sugar. I can work

00:34:00with chocolate. I just do everything. I call myself the jackass of all trades.

00:34:05Jonathan, what are you making with that red?

00:34:07I am making a giant edible sugar wreath. My mom has all these wreaths that are the ornaments,

00:34:13so I figured I'd duplicate that since she always decorates for Christmas.

00:34:16This is an all-star cast, and the level of talent is just insane. I really have to bring my A-game

00:34:23because I know everyone here, and they are not messing around. I am creating an isomalt showpiece.

00:34:29Isomalt is a sugar substitute, and it's way better than just cooking regular sugar. Basically,

00:34:33this whole entire piece is a bunch of blown sugar ornaments. It's almost like glass blowing.

00:34:37So it literally is at the mercy of the heat, and you have to cool it down to get that shape.

00:34:42That's why I take a risk. It's going to look awesome. It's going to really wow him because I feel like everyone's going to do cake.

00:34:48I'm going to stand out because I know no one else is doing isomalt.

00:34:51What are you making to go with the sculpture? What's the tasting going to be?

00:34:53Oh, my tasting is a, um, it's a baklava cheesecake kind of taking my Middle Eastern roots.

00:34:58Make extra, make extra.

00:34:59I got you, I got you.

00:35:00She's molding already.

00:35:03Look at that girl. She's a monster.

00:35:05Yeah.

00:35:05She's fast.

00:35:06A dinosaur or something?

00:35:07Rawr!

00:35:09Dinosaur!

00:35:10Center stage, of course, is Holly.

00:35:13Coming from one sculptor to another, it's intimidating.

00:35:16She does phenomenal work.

00:35:18She's going to be a hard one to beat.

00:35:21Bakers, there are three hours remaining. You have three hours.

00:35:25Francois, how are you doing?

00:35:26I'm doing amazing, Jonathan.

00:35:27Are you doing amazing, actually?

00:35:29Hey, it's your first challenge. You got this?

00:35:31Oh, yeah.

00:35:32Francois is the only competitor that has not competed on a TV show.

00:35:36No one really knows him, and I feel like he's hiding from us and not telling us his true strengths.

00:35:41I've got my eye on you, Francois.

00:35:44What you doing?

00:35:45You want some snacks?

00:35:47Get that.

00:35:47Don't do that.

00:35:50Nobody does that.

00:35:54I like the crunch.

00:35:56That's a run.

00:35:59That's pretty good stuff.

00:36:00I love cookies.

00:36:01Hey, I'm missing a cookie.

00:36:08It's not there.

00:36:11Hey, I'm missing a cookie.

00:36:14That sucks.

00:36:15The cookie's missing, and I can't fabricate another cookie.

00:36:19I don't have time to bake another cookie.

00:36:21It's fine.

00:36:22I'm going to cover it in fondant.

00:36:23There's nothing I can do.

00:36:24I mean, it is what it is at this point.

00:36:26So that is a white chocolate fruillotine and pistachio walnut salted crust.

00:36:31It wasn't me.

00:36:34Jonathan, what culture did you say you were from again?

00:36:36My family's from the Middle East, Iraq.

00:36:38Aaron brings me a sample of Jonathan's tasting element, and it is delicious.

00:36:44This is Middle East crack, bro.

00:36:45Oh, thank you.

00:36:46I don't mess with cookies ever.

00:36:48I'm feeling completely defeated.

00:36:50I'm a cake artist, and I'm a really good one, and I'm trying to stack a house of cards out of cookies.

00:36:57Why am I trying cookies on the first round?

00:37:00I feel like a complete idiot.

00:37:01Dumb.

00:37:03I am so dumb.

00:37:04Two hours, everyone.

00:37:05Two hours left.

00:37:09These are super fragile, and they break super easily.

00:37:12So if I make any sudden movements, I could break all of these.

00:37:16And I don't want to do that.

00:37:19Look at Francois.

00:37:21What is that red thing you're making?

00:37:23The red stuff is a glaze.

00:37:25It's a mirror glaze.

00:37:26So I make gingerbread cookie to put under my tasting element.

00:37:30Something soft, something crunchy, and something you can chew on.

00:37:32Because I wanted to add a little more difficulties on my tasting elements, of course.

00:37:37So this is going to be the decoration of my big Christmas tree.

00:37:41All right.

00:37:42My cake is stacked on the armature, and I have a solid wooden block to hold the head of the beaver.

00:37:50And it needs to be like an inch, inch and a half smaller.

00:37:55I cannot cut a piece of wood.

00:37:57I just can't.

00:37:58I'm going to take this off, and I'm going to cover it on top of this board.

00:38:02It's not how I wanted it to be.

00:38:04Girl, this is not going to work.

00:38:06I need to think.

00:38:07I need to think.

00:38:08I need to think.

00:38:09This elimination is scaring me.

00:38:11Because I would not want to be in sixth place, because you have to eliminate.

00:38:14Besides who goes home, right?

00:38:15Yeah.

00:38:16That sixth winner is responsible for picking the last person that's staying.

00:38:20So you're responsible for two people going home.

00:38:22I don't want that responsibility.

00:38:24It's a lot of power I don't want.

00:38:25The judges are going to pick the top six, and then the top six are going to pick their other teammate.

00:38:31At that point, there's going to be two left out.

00:38:33So the sixth person's got to send them home.

00:38:35They're the executioner in this competition, which I think is genius and cruel all at the same time.

00:38:40Bakers, you have one hour.

00:38:43Whoa!

00:38:44Hi-ya!

00:38:45Holly, how are you doing?

00:38:46I'm boiling in this sweater, and I'm annoyed at myself.

00:38:50Well, your T-Rex looks freaking awesome.

00:38:52You guys might think it's awesome.

00:38:53I see it, and all I see is crap.

00:38:55And that's my problem.

00:38:56I'm the biggest perfectionist.

00:38:57So to make my dinosaur skin, I'm going to use a cutlery mat.

00:39:02Now, it's just something that I had lying around my house one day, and I just gave it a try.

00:39:05And it looks like, well, what I would think dinosaur skin looks like.

00:39:10So I'm really hoping that the judges pick up on that and see that detailing.

00:39:15All right, here we go, Francois.

00:39:17Is he putting it together?

00:39:18Yeah, he's starting to build.

00:39:19The benefit of chocolate.

00:39:20Two poles.

00:39:20Oh, look at that.

00:39:21Oh, my God.

00:39:22That's courageous.

00:39:24Yeah, that's hardcore.

00:39:25He's taking that on.

00:39:26He knows what he's doing.

00:39:27Francois seems like a dark horse to me.

00:39:29He's a quiet guy.

00:39:30He doesn't say much, but I think he has skills.

00:39:33I'm watching you, Francois.

00:39:34Bakers, you have 30 minutes.

00:39:36Let's freaking go.

00:39:37Why didn't someone stop me when I said this was my idea?

00:39:41me.

00:39:42I haven't even started painting yet.

00:39:44This is literally going to be down to the wire.

00:39:46Come on.

00:39:48Why?

00:39:49I am definitely starting to get nervous.

00:39:51It's okay, Luke.

00:39:51You got this.

00:39:53You're your best.

00:39:53Just looking at my competitors, I mean, blown sugar, tempered chocolate, they're huge builds.

00:39:59I mean, yeah, I am definitely getting nervous.

00:40:01Oh, my God.

00:40:03I think I don't taste the orange at all.

00:40:05Bakers, you have 10 minutes.

00:40:0710 minutes.

00:40:0810 minutes.

00:40:09This is the most stressful situation in all of my competitions that I've done.

00:40:15This is taking the cake right now.

00:40:16This is terrible.

00:40:17I'm just hoping this thing doesn't fall apart.

00:40:22I'm having a lot of trouble fixing all the ornaments.

00:40:25Cocoa butter doesn't have time to crystallize and the ornaments are falling out.

00:40:30I'm running out of time and I'm trying to work as fast as I can.

00:40:34Ow!

00:40:34Bakers, you have five minutes remaining.

00:40:37Leave it to me to wait for the tasting element, the last thing.

00:40:40Time is ticking and I'm really starting to feel the pressure.

00:40:42I'm waiting to the last minute to put my tasting element on my showpiece because I don't want

00:40:45the heat from the sugar to melt my dessert.

00:40:47If I don't destroy this wreath hanging it up, I feel like I have a great shot at being in

00:40:52the top six.

00:40:52But one small mess up slip, I can destroy this.

00:40:56I've already broken some.

00:40:57I don't have any extras.

00:40:58I need every single ornament on this to make it really look full.

00:41:01I just have so many details that I want to add.

00:41:05We're down to minutes and I think I could probably work on this cake for a whole nother day.

00:41:10I'm a little anxious for Kami because she's doing a big cake and she's got a lot of details

00:41:14to finish.

00:41:14Yeah, yeah.

00:41:15It's not hyper detail.

00:41:17One minute, everyone.

00:41:19Let's go.

00:41:21Five.

00:41:21Which one?

00:41:22Four.

00:41:23Oh.

00:41:23Three.

00:41:24Two.

00:41:26One.

00:41:27Time's up.

00:41:27Hands up, bakers.

00:41:28I really think I need to go back there and cry.

00:41:31Stick a fork in me.

00:41:33I'm done.

00:41:34Not sure what I was thinking.

00:41:35That was traumatizing.

00:41:44All right, group two.

00:41:45Hope you're ready to impress the judges.

00:41:48To start, Kami, you're up first.

00:41:50That is the cutest thing in the world.

00:41:56In the time constraints, this is very ambitious.

00:41:59So, you know, congratulations to even finish it.

00:42:02But I never taste a beaver.

00:42:05I don't know.

00:42:08Does Jacques not know?

00:42:11I'm from another country, okay?

00:42:13Please, you know?

00:42:14Okay, so how should I phrase that?

00:42:16I would not say that.

00:42:17It's an ambitious bake, an ambitious build.

00:42:23I do notice a bit of a ridge in her neck, in her face.

00:42:28It's a pretty rigid, like, wood structure that I couldn't really go get recut.

00:42:33So I kind of just had to go with what I had.

00:42:36I think if you had a little more time, you could have covered some of the undercarriage of the beaver,

00:42:42shall we say?

00:42:43Adding a little ruffle here.

00:42:44Just some sort of detail to camouflage what you couldn't change.

00:42:49Sure.

00:42:49Let's try it out.

00:42:50Are you ready?

00:42:50Yeah.

00:42:51Okay.

00:42:51So the whole torso is a chocolate fudge cake with chocolate hazelnut buttercream.

00:42:58It's delicious.

00:42:59Dense cake is the best choice when you're building a cake of this nature.

00:43:04I love the crunchiness.

00:43:06It's really nice.

00:43:07I love nuts.

00:43:07So this is really good.

00:43:09Of course, I love chocolate.

00:43:10So chocolate cake is delicious.

00:43:13Good cake.

00:43:14Amazing job, Cami.

00:43:15Thank you so much.

00:43:16Up next, Lou.

00:43:18Wow.

00:43:20Okay.

00:43:20All right.

00:43:21I love the fact that there's an assortment.

00:43:25So you have the more sort of Baroque piping and then you have the drizzle and then just the simple luster dust.

00:43:33And you are good with a cornet.

00:43:34I mean, this is pretty well done.

00:43:36You know, all the decoration is beautiful, different and beautiful.

00:43:39Congratulations.

00:43:41Maybe we start bashing.

00:43:42Yes.

00:43:42Just give it a good whack.

00:43:43Give it a good whack.

00:43:44Yes.

00:43:44I've been told I can break balls.

00:43:46Yes.

00:43:47This is the time for a yes.

00:43:49Absolutely.

00:43:50Don't hold back.

00:43:51Wait, should I hold?

00:43:52No.

00:43:56I want a cake one.

00:43:58I'm a gentle Frenchie, okay?

00:44:00Yes.

00:44:00All right.

00:44:01Woo.

00:44:02Who's going to clean the floor?

00:44:05I love the surprise.

00:44:07I love that you put those, how do you call it?

00:44:10I'm sorry.

00:44:10Sprinkles.

00:44:11Sprinkles.

00:44:12I love the sprinkles.

00:44:14The cake is right on.

00:44:16It's really good.

00:44:17The flavor comes true.

00:44:18I just love how creative this is, Lou.

00:44:20It's really fun, entertaining, and I mean, that's a big part of the holidays.

00:44:25Lou, well done.

00:44:26Thank you very much.

00:44:28Yaya.

00:44:30Ooh.

00:44:31I love how colorful this is.

00:44:33And as soon as I saw the bows in the bag, I got it.

00:44:36This is not sugar.

00:44:37This is not chocolate.

00:44:38What is it?

00:44:39It's wafer paper.

00:44:40Wafer paper.

00:44:41It's great.

00:44:42It's kind of like baking origami.

00:44:45The bows are spectacular.

00:44:48I do wish the poinsettia really stood out.

00:44:51I want to know what the focal point is, especially because you do have so much color going on.

00:44:56What is the flavor of cake?

00:44:58I made a salted pretzel cake with a strawberry guava curd because guava is my mother's favorite fruit.

00:45:04There's a pretzel crunch and a vanilla malt buttercream.

00:45:07It's a very unique flavor combination.

00:45:11I would have liked more guava.

00:45:13It's just such a delicious fruit, and I think it does so well in a dessert, especially since there is a salty flavor.

00:45:19Definitely, I agree with you.

00:45:21I love the guava, and I would love to feel it a little bit better.

00:45:24And maybe dissolve a little bit of guava with a little bit of syrup, and just put that over the cake so the cake will drain that.

00:45:32And now we will have something very moist and full of flavor.

00:45:36Thank you so much, Yaya.

00:45:37I appreciate it.

00:45:39Jonathan, please bring us your piece.

00:45:42Don't sneeze.

00:45:46Wow.

00:45:47All-blowing sugar.

00:45:49All-blown sugar.

00:45:50It's beautiful.

00:45:51The colors are beautiful.

00:45:53I love that you use a brush to do different decorations to them.

00:45:57I think it's a nice mix, considering it's just really one medium.

00:46:01So these are the holly berries for the wreath.

00:46:04And this is an ode to my Middle Eastern culture, so it's a lot of my Middle Eastern flavors.

00:46:08It's rich, yet it's light in texture, which makes it such a nice dessert for the holidays.

00:46:13And it's just a great flavor profile.

00:46:15The base is absolutely delicious.

00:46:19You get that little, little chocolate surround, a little crispiness, and then the flavor inside.

00:46:24It's delicious.

00:46:25Very well done.

00:46:26Jonathan, thank you so much.

00:46:28Congratulations.

00:46:29Thank you so much.

00:46:31Sarah.

00:46:31Okay.

00:46:33Wow.

00:46:33What a construction.

00:46:34All right.

00:46:35So dumb.

00:46:36Oh, my God.

00:46:38Oh, look at that.

00:46:40What?

00:46:41Wow.

00:46:41Remote.

00:46:42Remote-controlled cake.

00:46:44Can you sing?

00:46:45I do the singing.

00:46:48I love the imprints into the dough.

00:46:51It brings up another dimension.

00:46:53It's nice.

00:46:54I like that you used sugar cookies.

00:46:56I mean, we're all so used to seeing gingerbread.

00:46:58Nothing against gingerbread.

00:46:59Right.

00:46:59But this brings a lighter color, an opportunity for us to see the embossing that you did in

00:47:04the dough prior to baking.

00:47:06What did you use for gluing everything together?

00:47:09Is that ice malt?

00:47:10No.

00:47:10I used just chocolate.

00:47:12So what are we eating?

00:47:13Very basic sugar cookie from the stars.

00:47:16It has an orange hint, like a scent of orange in it, orange peel.

00:47:22It's a good cookie.

00:47:23Does the whole thing taste like this?

00:47:24The whole thing is built out of that.

00:47:26Yeah, the whole thing is built with that exact cookie.

00:47:28It's amazing.

00:47:29It will be a little bit more elegant.

00:47:31Right.

00:47:32If the tree will be a little bit taller.

00:47:34Yes.

00:47:34I would have liked to see a little more color.

00:47:37I'm glad that the base has color, the candles, and obviously the tree.

00:47:41But perhaps the floor inside, just something, especially because it's spinning, and I think

00:47:46that would really make the figures jump out at us a little more.

00:47:50Thank you so much.

00:47:51Thank you, Sarah.

00:47:51I'm actually pleasantly surprised that they seemed impressed.

00:47:56I feel like I have this very jakey-built pyramid of cookies, so I'm just, I'm completely shocked.

00:48:01All right, it's time for Jurassic Bake.

00:48:04Holly, you're up.

00:48:06Oh, my God.

00:48:08I mean, the face is spot on.

00:48:12The yellow eyes looking at you, the teeth, the tongue, the inside of the mouth.

00:48:16And I love that you didn't put all the teeth straight, but they actually, they look real.

00:48:21It's great.

00:48:22Holly, she's spectacular.

00:48:25She looks mighty pissed off that it's Christmas.

00:48:27Uh-huh.

00:48:27It's the sweater.

00:48:28It's the sweater.

00:48:29Sleeves are too long, you know, and she's embarrassed by it.

00:48:32I never see a dinosaur with an ugly sweater.

00:48:35I mean, look, this is pretty special.

00:48:37I can't get over the texture.

00:48:39It's amazing.

00:48:41And I mean, from head to tail.

00:48:42So how did you do the texture?

00:48:44You know how you have cutlery drawers and they have those non-slip mats?

00:48:47Yeah, I literally grabbed a non-slip mat.

00:48:50And you just pressed them?

00:48:51Pressed it into it, yeah.

00:48:52You know, great use of equipment.

00:48:54It's great.

00:48:55So what's the cake made of?

00:48:57So the cake is passion fruit lamington cake.

00:49:00Passion fruits, nice.

00:49:01The flavor of the passion fruit, the strawberry, a little bit of coconut, it's delicious.

00:49:07Everything goes well together.

00:49:10If this is your first build, I'm excited to see what happens next.

00:49:14Thank you so much, Holly.

00:49:15Thanks, guys.

00:49:18I feel like Holly is probably my hardest competition.

00:49:22And I know she can do some damn good stuff.

00:49:24Look out, world.

00:49:25Holly is the one to beat.

00:49:27Francois, you're up next.

00:49:28Oh, this is...

00:49:31You look like a lumberjack, Francois.

00:49:34Francois, that's impressive.

00:49:35Wow.

00:49:37How did you make your presentation?

00:49:39I poured a chocolate between two rulers.

00:49:42And then when it was set, I cut it with a very thin knife.

00:49:47The ornaments are just chocolate mold.

00:49:50The green is cocoa butter.

00:49:51And the little ornament that you have over there, that's the colorful, they are for the tasting.

00:49:57It's striking.

00:49:58I think you could have used a little more of the red in the tasting element, perhaps in some of the ornaments,

00:50:04because my eye is immediately drawn there, because it's so bright and beautiful.

00:50:09We got three ornaments here that I did.

00:50:11So it's to remember the flavor that I love from my country, which is going to be cinnamon.

00:50:17So it's going to be inside a wine insert with a blackberry, and you're going to have some anistars and some cloves inside.

00:50:26I love a moist cake.

00:50:30It's luscious, it's bright.

00:50:33I can taste the wine, the blackberry, the chocolate, the shell.

00:50:37It's perfectly thin.

00:50:38I would order this in a restaurant.

00:50:41I love the vin choux, the spice, the blackberry.

00:50:46And of course the chocolate mousse.

00:50:49Well done, Francois.

00:50:50Thank you so much.

00:50:50Merci, Francois.

00:50:52Merci.

00:50:52I am so happy about the critic.

00:50:55They understand what I'm trying to do.

00:50:57Maybe I got my place here.

00:50:59Maybe I'm going to be in the top six.

00:51:01Francois and I are the only chocolatiers here.

00:51:04He's definitely my biggest competition.

00:51:06The pressure is on.

00:51:10Great work, bakers.

00:51:11You've all worked incredibly hard today,

00:51:13but only the six best will get an opportunity to start an empire.

00:51:18Back in high school again, man.

00:51:20Need a therapist after this.

00:51:22You know, baker, when you work with your hands, you're a walker.

00:51:26When you work with your hands and your mind, you become a craftsman.

00:51:30When you work with your hands, your mind and your heart,

00:51:32then you became artists and that's what you are.

00:51:36You make us proud.

00:51:37Okay, it's time.

00:51:41The first baker to lead an empire and the winner of today's bake

00:51:46is...

00:51:51Holly.

00:51:52Being picked first out of all these Food Network stars,

00:52:01I am blown away,

00:52:03but I'm really happy because now the world is getting to see what I can do.

00:52:07Holly, aside from your holiday name and your holiday hair,

00:52:10your cake was fabulous, so much texture, so much knowledge, structure, flavor, it had it all.

00:52:19And our second favorite baker is...

00:52:28Francois.

00:52:30Francois, you take a big risk, doing a presentation that tall in chocolates, but also it was the best tasting cake.

00:52:47So congratulations.

00:52:48Now I got a lot on my shoulder, I have to make my empire.

00:52:53The third baker to start a team is...

00:52:57Elizabeth.

00:53:05The detail that you brought to your showpiece in the short amount of time was incredible.

00:53:11Thank you. Thank you very much.

00:53:13I honestly am in shock. I didn't think that I was going to be that high up there in the picks.

00:53:19Yay!

00:53:20The fourth baker to lead an empire is...

00:53:26Sarah.

00:53:27Who?

00:53:28Me?

00:53:29God.

00:53:30I feel like I'm in a daze. I'm in like a drunken stupor. There's no other word than shocked.

00:53:34Oh, wow.

00:53:35Sarah, we was really all impressed with what you did. Congratulations.

00:53:37Thank you so very much. Thank you.

00:53:38The fifth baker to lead a team is...

00:53:41Aaron.

00:53:42We felt your tree was...

00:53:44Aaron.

00:53:45We felt your tree was...

00:53:47Aaron.

00:53:48Aaron.

00:53:49Aaron.

00:53:50Aaron.

00:53:51Aaron.

00:53:52Aaron.

00:53:53Aaron.

00:53:54Aaron.

00:53:55Aaron.

00:53:56Aaron.

00:53:57Aaron.

00:53:58Aaron.

00:53:59Aaron.

00:54:01Aaron.

00:54:02Aaron.

00:54:03Aaron.

00:54:04Who was representative of the holidays?

00:54:06Visually stimulating.

00:54:09Height, color, and popcorn to boot.

00:54:12Our last and final baker to LEED & Emporrier is...

00:54:17idol.

00:54:19Being picked sixth means that you are sending two people home. The judges aren't sending them home.

00:54:26It's really, truly the sixth place spot. Nerve-racking for sure.

00:54:31sure. Jonathan. Sixth place. What I didn't want. Jonathan, I recognize that what you did was

00:54:45amazing and the flavor of your cake was excellent. So congratulations. You did good. Thank you very

00:54:51much. You seem stressed. Yeah. Why? It's exactly what I said. I didn't want to happen. You didn't

00:54:58want to be part of the top six? I'd rather have been seven. Jonathan gets the pleasure of being the

00:55:05savior for one and executioner for two. I don't envy that. Everybody's like, oh, it's all, you know,

00:55:10game. But man, people's feelings are going to get hurt. Let's be real. Good luck. I don't want to

00:55:16be the one with the guillotine. I just am not ready for this. You seem stressed. Do you want to give

00:55:26your apron to someone? No. We'll find it right here. We'll be finding it right here. Poor Jonathan.

00:55:35I'm so sorry, dude. Congratulations, y'all. Now comes the fun part. You get to choose who joins

00:55:43your empire. Fun part, he says. This is one of the most important decisions you'll make.

00:55:50Wow. I think this is a very pivotal point in this competition and kind of going to set the tone

00:55:58going forward with the teams. So there are eight of you here, but only six of you will be joining a

00:56:03team. Holly, you certainly dominated today. Tried. That means you get first pick. Oh, so now the power

00:56:12is in my hands. I got to choose the right partner. I really need someone that's got something different

00:56:18to bring to the table. So who are you going to choose to join your empire? Choose wisely.

00:56:26How do I do this nicely? I'm going to choose Lou.

00:56:34The T-Rex picked me and I'm beyond flattered, beyond just, I'm so happy right now.

00:56:41I saw how Lou worked in the kitchen today and she does chocolate work. She does everything.

00:56:46We got along and we're going to make scary stuff together. Yeah, she knows me.

00:56:53Francois, the new kid on the block. Who's going to be joining your empire?

00:56:58Well, I'm going to pick Nils.

00:57:04Dope.

00:57:07Nice man.

00:57:08Francois, why did you choose Nils?

00:57:10Nils. The attitude is always chilling, always nice. It's working hard. And since the beginning,

00:57:18it just helped me and gave me some advice.

00:57:20Nils, how do you feel?

00:57:21Feel good.

00:57:25Elizabeth, who's going to be joining your empire?

00:57:29Um.

00:57:30Dang, this is starting to feel a little, like, dodgeball, like you're in a sticky situation.

00:57:39I do think that the empire would do best if it had Renu.

00:57:49Yay.

00:57:50To me, I already have an okay cake game. What I don't have is someone who can do chocolate.

00:57:58I feel great and Holly is so skilled and so I think, um.

00:58:02Except for.

00:58:02Oh my gosh.

00:58:04Send her back. Send her back. I changed my mind.

00:58:07Oh my God. If they air that, I swear to God.

00:58:10Elizabeth, I'm so sorry.

00:58:12So sorry.

00:58:13I'm very forgiving.

00:58:15Sarah, who will be joining your empire?

00:58:17I've known Dana for 20 plus years.

00:58:26He is staring me down like puppy dog eyes.

00:58:32But the others are very talented.

00:58:34Oh man, this sucks.

00:58:36This is going to be a very difficult decision.

00:58:40Uh.

00:58:42I'm going to take Dana.

00:58:44Yeah.

00:58:45I'm going to take Dana.

00:58:46I'm going to take you.

00:58:47Sarah, you my girl.

00:58:50Like we're, we've been in the industry for over 20 years.

00:58:53So I'm like, okay, let's show them what these old folks can do.

00:58:57Aaron, who's going to be joining your team?

00:58:59This is a tough choice.

00:59:00We're down to really four talented cake artists.

00:59:03But I do think I'm going to have to go with Tatiana.

00:59:11I was sweating there for a second.

00:59:13I chose Tatiana because of her attention to detail and the hyper realism that she brought

00:59:22to her piece.

00:59:23And she had a very unique perspective with her piece.

00:59:26And then there were three.

00:59:30Jonathan, you have a very tough choice.

00:59:33Very tough.

00:59:34You will form the sixth and final empire with one of these three talented bakers.

00:59:40Which means the other two will be eliminated from the competition.

00:59:44Okay, Jonathan, who's going to be joining your team?

00:59:49I can't pick.

00:59:50It's absolutely crushing knowing that I'm sending two amazing, talented people home.

00:59:56But in the end, this is a competition.

01:00:02Jonathan, who's going to be joining your team?

01:00:05You all three are very, very talented.

01:00:07And I guess what I'm looking for is someone who can mesh really well with my personality.

01:00:12I also need someone who can complement my work.

01:00:14I deserve to be here because I'm so creative.

01:00:17And I have such passion for the craft.

01:00:21I just want to show them me.

01:00:23Um.

01:00:26God.

01:00:28The two people to my side have big personalities.

01:00:31They have, they're fun and bubbly and lovely and so talented.

01:00:38I'm really, really nervous.

01:00:42I'm going to go with Kami.

01:00:45Oh.

01:00:50I'm choosing Kami because she went for it.

01:00:52She went big and I appreciate that she had all the knowledge of a structure and a big cake.

01:00:57I like going big and I think we will work great together.

01:01:00Sorry, guys.

01:01:01I love you both.

01:01:03No hard feelings.

01:01:05I'm sorry, Yaya and Corey.

01:01:07You put up an amazing fight.

01:01:09Next time.

01:01:10But unfortunately, you'll be going home.

01:01:13Kind of sucks for me that I have to leave and not go forward.

01:01:17So I'm just going to keep working until I win a competition.

01:01:20I just have to keep a positive attitude.

01:01:22I'm sure we'll see you again soon.

01:01:24Definitely.

01:01:24We love you guys.

01:01:26I'm really sad that I have to go so soon.

01:01:28But I'm definitely going to keep moving forward, take the lessons I learned and apply it for the next time.

01:01:35The empires have formed.

01:01:39It's a good looking group, huh?

01:01:40It sure is.

01:01:42I love that you picked knowing your skill and the skill of your partner.

01:01:46So I think we're going to see some amazing cakes.

01:01:49Absolutely.

01:01:50So throughout this competition, some of your empires will continue to grow.

01:01:56Others will unfortunately crumble.

01:02:00The goal of the game?

01:02:01Get on and stay on the winning empire by any means necessary.

01:02:06Game on.

01:02:08Next time on Sweet Empire.

01:02:10I know what you like.

01:02:11Something soft, something tender.

01:02:12Oh, I like my heart.

01:02:15You have to melt it in the microwave.

01:02:17That just keeps it warm.

01:02:18Okay.

01:02:18Elizabeth, she's hardcore.

01:02:20I'm just hoping I can keep my side of things up.

01:02:24It's not going to work.

01:02:25Who do you want me to do?

01:02:26I don't want to get the piece to judges and the boom and it's on the floor.

01:02:31I broke it.

01:02:34Damn it, Jonathan.

01:02:36Hands up, bakers.

01:02:38Wow.

01:02:39That is terrifying.

01:02:40Her eyes actually move.

01:02:42Okay.

01:02:42What we ask is some movements.

01:02:45It doesn't really move.

01:02:47Did you feel like it was a risk making a toy of this size?

01:02:51We can see a lot of the gluing.

01:02:52Being judged as an empire, the stakes are so high.

01:02:56In this competition, one small bad mistake and that could be, you know, for you.

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