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00:00Previously on Sweet Empire.
00:02You'll need to create a hyper-realistic holiday feast.
00:06The sugary confection battle waged on as our four empires feasted on their latest challenge.
00:12I've never worked so fast in my life.
00:14Tensions mounted to quite extraordinary heights.
00:17Everyone is stressed at this point, and this is where things count.
00:20Hands up, bakers!
00:21When all was said and done, two rival empires found themselves up for elimination.
00:27I do feel that the turkey itself needs a little more glisten and shine.
00:32To me, it's like a little bit of garnish.
00:34I do not want to go home.
00:36This could be the end of my empire.
00:38Team Holly, Team Elizabeth, one of your teams will be eliminated.
00:43Who, pray tell, shall continue in the Winter Wars?
00:47This is Sweet Empire.
00:49Yours truly, Lord Gingerton.
00:54Sadly, one empire's journey comes to an end.
00:57Judges, who is our final safe empire?
01:02Holly and Elizabeth are in the bottom.
01:05This is very surprising because they're so talented.
01:09It's crazy.
01:10The final safe empire is...
01:17Team Elizabeth.
01:19Oh, my God.
01:21I can't believe it.
01:22We're in.
01:23We made it literally by the skin of our teeth.
01:27Team Holly, unfortunately, today your empire has fallen.
01:31This was a very difficult decision for us, and it's heartbreaking.
01:36All three of you are talented, and together you're a true empire, a powerhouse.
01:42I love my teammates, and, yeah, I'm disappointed that we're going home, but also for me to get this far, yeah, I'm super proud.
01:50I am good, I can do this, like, this isn't the end for me.
01:54You are very talented, the three of you, so I wish you the best.
01:59I am heartbroken, but being in this competition gave me a confidence that I just never knew I had.
02:05Like, I am pretty resilient.
02:06When I go home, the game has changed.
02:08Thank you guys so much, and good luck.
02:10Thanks, guys.
02:11Have fun, everyone!
02:13Love you!
02:14I mean, we're all disappointed, but at the end of the day, we're all talented artists.
02:18We'll be back.
02:19We might even be back doing something together.
02:21Just to be like, oh, yeah, remember us?
02:23Remember that empire?
02:24It's not dead.
02:25The competition is getting stiff.
02:28Will your empire make it to the end?
02:31Rest easy.
02:33For now, get out of here.
02:35I wonder what they got in store for us this time.
02:39We've made it all the way to the semi-finals.
02:42That's a pretty big deal in this competition.
02:44Everyone that's been here is amazingly talented.
02:48Amazing.
02:49Making it to the top three, that's when it starts to get really real.
02:52If this is one that we can win, I think that sets us up really nicely for the finale.
02:58Oh, that's amazing.
02:59Hey.
03:00I can't believe it.
03:01I can't believe it.
03:02You know, we barely made it through, but we are here in the semi-final.
03:09All right, let's get down to business.
03:11Today, I want you to make an iconic North Pole animal.
03:15Okay.
03:16These creatures aren't meant to be bite-sized.
03:19We want these animals to be huge and really test your construction skills.
03:25They should look like they just stepped out of the Arctic.
03:29So focus on the texture of your creation.
03:32Fur, feathers, fluff.
03:34All of those help to make your creatures feel alive.
03:37For your flavors, make something that would warm us up on a frigid day.
03:42Something warm and cozy.
03:44Like this sweater.
03:46It's good, right?
03:49Not all at once, guys.
03:50It's fine.
03:51I love it.
03:52It's a beautiful sweater.
03:55So for this challenge, the judges will be evaluating how you work together as a team.
04:02Now, this is important.
04:03Make sure everyone gets to showcase their talents.
04:07Our empire has struggled with teamwork.
04:09We have strong opinions.
04:10But if we just come together as a team, I think we could make magic.
04:14And finally, only the two strongest teams will make it to the finale.
04:19Okay.
04:20All right.
04:21We land in the North Pole in T minus 10 hours.
04:25Your time starts now.
04:33Okay.
04:34All right.
04:35What do you need?
04:36Yes.
04:37Yes.
04:38We just came off a win from the last challenge.
04:40So we're hoping to continue that momentum by taking more of an ambitious approach with
04:45our bakes and definitely taking some risks with our flavors because that really impressed
04:49the judges.
04:50So we're hoping to do that again.
04:51How big of a circle do you want for the head?
04:53A 10 inch, I'd say.
04:55Our team is making a polar bear holding a present with a cute sign that says,
05:00I come bearing gifts.
05:02If we want our bear standing up on this two hind paws, it's going to be tall.
05:06It's not an easy thing to do this cake.
05:08This thing's going to be really big.
05:10You know what?
05:11Taller is fine.
05:12The judges will appreciate the risk we took in having our bear standing up, I think.
05:16Obviously, Tatiana is really going to take the largest undertaking with the bear in regards
05:21to sculpting its features.
05:22Dana and I are going to focus more on some of the details on our piece like the gift and
05:27the sign that our bear is going to be holding.
05:30I'm going to be focused on the tasting element.
05:32So this one's really going to be an all hands on deck challenge.
05:37Here we go.
05:38Yes.
05:39All right, guys.
05:40North Pole.
05:41What's something that people don't normally do?
05:43Everyone's going to do a walrus.
05:44There's been yetis.
05:45There's been bears.
05:46Like, what is something that we don't see?
05:48Birds.
05:49Birds?
05:50Birds in the pole.
05:51Like the puffins?
05:52They got to be big.
05:53Those big old snowy owls.
05:55Ooh.
05:56Well, I can make the feather.
05:57That's for sure.
05:58Oh, yeah.
05:59We are doing a giant snowy owl.
06:03The main body can be cake with huge chocolate wings spreading out.
06:09We are so close to the finale, so we have to keep focusing and doing what we know best
06:15is how to take all three of our skill sets and combine them to create something spectacular.
06:20I think this sounds amazing.
06:22All right, you guys feel good about this?
06:23Feel good about it.
06:24I feel like everyone's going to go with the pretty animals, and we've been doing pretty.
06:28Maybe we go with something that isn't quite as pretty, so like the walrus.
06:32That would be cool.
06:33Yeah.
06:34We have chosen a walrus.
06:36Even though it seems like she's a big lump, they're cool and big and gnarly and lots of texture.
06:41There's a lot of ways we can use all of our skills to shine.
06:45At the end of this challenge, another empire is going home, and that is really stressful.
06:50We want to be in the finale.
06:52We want to win.
06:53I guess everybody's going to be just chipping in and really focusing on that character.
06:56Well, yeah.
06:57They said, you know, we have to work as a team.
06:59We've had some issues with teamwork and previous challenges.
07:02We see you.
07:03We see you struggling because you want to do so much.
07:06But, you know, time passed and then you get in trouble.
07:09Yeah.
07:10So, in the next one, divide the walk.
07:12I'll do better.
07:13So, we're really going to focus on that, especially since we were in the bottom two, the last challenge.
07:18So, the first thing I'm going to start working on is going to be the head.
07:22After I'm done with the head, I'm going to go ahead and start stacking cake.
07:25It's a lot of cake.
07:26Nice.
07:27He's a big boy.
07:28Jonathan's going to be making sugar whiskers as well as some sugar waves that are going to be splashing up from the tail.
07:35And Renu's going to be focusing on those really cool chocolate tusks.
07:40And also, we're going to have our little mollusk shell, which is going to be made out of a very thin, delicate sugar by Jonathan.
07:46And inside is going to be the truffle that Renu's going to make.
07:50It's really going to take the entire team to pull this one off.
07:54I'm getting started on the tasting element right now.
07:56The judges want something that's going to warm them up.
07:58Something hot, something that they would drink if they were in the North Pole.
08:01And I immediately thought of, I love coffee.
08:04I'm a coffee fanatic.
08:05And I figured, what better way to do a pumpkin spice latte cake?
08:08Do you have alcohol in this one?
08:10Of course I do.
08:11I figured.
08:12What alcohol?
08:13Rum.
08:14Let's get this party started, shall we?
08:15Just saying.
08:16Here you go.
08:17All right.
08:18Cheers.
08:19Top and bottom.
08:20All right.
08:21You guys drinking already?
08:23Jonathan!
08:24Team bonding experience.
08:26Yeah.
08:27I can't believe I got Elizabeth to drink at 9am.
08:29But you know what?
08:30It's festive.
08:31It's Christmas.
08:32In for a penny, in for a pound.
08:34What's best for the empire?
08:35I can feel it.
08:36With a little spice in it.
08:37It's sitting right here.
08:38Salute.
08:44Do you guys need anything?
08:46No, I'm good.
08:47I'm very excited about this challenge because it's something I would never do on my own.
08:51I need a cake artist to make the body.
08:53And he is going to take a lot of chocolate.
08:55He's going to take a lot of technique, a lot of time.
08:57So it's a little stressful because we know we have to do like a perfect challenge.
09:01And each little mistake that we're going to make is going to count to the final.
09:04Francois, we need cozy warm flavors.
09:07My goals right now is to make hazelnut cake with whipped white chocolate ganache with bourbon caramel.
09:16And then I will have some crunch inside like a chocolate hazelnut strussel.
09:20That sounds warm and toasty.
09:22Oh, the bourbon is going to give you these warm feelings.
09:25Extra warm.
09:26It's going to be two elements of tasting.
09:29One is going to be the cake inside the hole.
09:31The other one is going to be the snowball.
09:33So the snowball is going to be made with chocolate creme.
09:36So here we have a smoked chipotle chocolate creme.
09:39Then I'm going to put inside this mold.
09:42So that's going to give you like a hit on the back of the mouth after the tasting.
09:47These are the praline and pumpkin cake inserts.
09:50Warm and cozy.
09:52How do you two feel about soup?
09:54I love soup.
09:55I love soup.
09:56How about soup and a cake?
09:57Here we go.
09:58Soup and a cake?
09:59You trust?
10:00I completely trust.
10:01Yeah?
10:02Yes.
10:03Yes.
10:04Good luck.
10:06For our tasting element, we are going to be doing a sweet potato coconut curry soup inspired cake.
10:13But then also a little bit of Thai chili to give some spicy heat to it as well.
10:18So there's different levels of warming you up.
10:20Beautiful.
10:21And I think it'll be a really nice base for all of these flavors.
10:24Stack, stack, stack.
10:25All right, I'm going to start carving the owl.
10:27Carve, carve, carve.
10:28What are you working on, Francois?
10:29The feather.
10:30So how many of those are we going to need?
10:31One million.
10:32I know, 200 something.
10:33We have to build the wings of the snowy owl.
10:40So I'm making the feather by using a tool that is shaped like a feather.
10:44I dip it in the chocolate.
10:45And then after pressing, I make sure that when I pull up, you make like the middle of the
10:50feather.
10:51One after one, each one, making sure you don't break it.
10:54Very thin.
10:55Very delicate.
10:56That's very tedious, very important, very precise job.
11:01I don't have time to work on anything else.
11:04So I'm going to have to rely on my team with this one.
11:08Francois's team is really, really good.
11:12But they have a lot of feathers to stick on.
11:14And I think that doing the feathers out of chocolate was definitely more time consuming
11:19than maybe they thought.
11:20I'm going to be honest, like if that was me, I would be a little bit panicky.
11:23Five hours left, bakers.
11:25You have five hours.
11:26Holy cow.
11:27This is going to be big.
11:28This is going to be big.
11:29Let me have the front first.
11:30I got to lift it again.
11:31Yeah.
11:32I'm pretty nervous.
11:33Building life-size cakes isn't something that I would really consider to be within my
11:46wheelhouse.
11:47So I'm really going to lean on Tatiana, who does have more experience with that.
11:51Tatiana, who is great with putting our armatures together to help bring this piece to life.
11:55I'm doing the leg and the arm first.
11:58Yeah.
11:59Since I am the cake sculptor, that's the most responsibility that falls on me.
12:03I have to make sure the proportion is right.
12:05Guys are really there to help me.
12:07But all the details, it really falls on me.
12:10Holy cow.
12:11This is going to be a lot of cake.
12:13Look at that.
12:14That's just one layer.
12:15He's huge.
12:16Let's do halfway for now.
12:18There are several challenges with making our polar bear vertical.
12:21One, the structure is really going to have to be strong to hold the weight of the cake and
12:26the mediums we use to bring our structure to life.
12:28We've got to put something in there so the sticks don't fall out.
12:31We've got to put some buttercream or something to it.
12:33Secondly, with this bear standing up, that's going to be really important that we get the
12:37proportions correct.
12:38Three, because this is such a massive cake, it's going to take a lot of time to fill the
12:43cake, to sculpt the cake, and ultimately get it covered.
12:46So we're really going to have to manage our time well.
12:49And perfect.
12:52Do you want to try the pumpkin pie, Philly?
12:54Sure.
12:58That's good.
12:59Mmm.
13:01Do you like these little lines in here?
13:03What do you think of these?
13:04They're nice, eh?
13:05Oh, I love that.
13:06Tusks are imperfect.
13:07They have lots of ridges and little cracks, just like humans might in their teeth.
13:11I'm currently cutting some cake to fill in any gaps.
13:14It's a really big cake and we just need a lot of cake to kind of get it nice and rounded
13:18and smooth.
13:19You have some of that ganache, right, Elizabeth?
13:21Yep.
13:22Right here, buddy.
13:25Trying to get too much on there.
13:26Yeah, I'm good.
13:27I'm done with it right now.
13:28Okay, good.
13:29Let's help me get the body put together.
13:31Okay, sure.
13:32I have another test still, but yeah, I'll help you as soon as I'm done.
13:35Elizabeth has listened to the judges.
13:37She knows she has to work on the teamwork aspect.
13:40It's hard to do these detailed things under pressure.
13:43Okay.
13:44Big team energy.
13:45I'll help you as soon as I'm done.
13:47I'm going to cut it in half here.
13:48Give me this.
13:50This is the one thing you're being slow at, Jonathan.
13:53I think she's trying, but I think it's hard for her.
13:56She has improved a lot.
13:57As long as we make it to the finale, that's really what matters.
14:01We do need to keep going, keep going.
14:03Yep.
14:04You can listen and we'll work at the same time.
14:06This owl has really bright yellow eyes.
14:08I'm just painting eyeballs here.
14:10Whenever you're trying to make something to look alive, the eyes are one of the most important things.
14:15I'm doing the eyeballs out of icing sheets.
14:19I'm coloring them with edible markers.
14:21The eyes got to be right, so owls have piercing eyes.
14:25I hand paint mine.
14:26So I paint on top of the fondant or gum paste, and then we put the isomalt lens or sphere over the top.
14:32And it really does just help capture the light.
14:35I'm going to pour like a half-dome sugar, and I'm going to back it with the icing sheet eyes.
14:39Let's go ahead and do this set.
14:44Here we go.
14:46I know they don't look good yet, but just give it a second.
14:49Watch this.
14:50Hit them with a torch.
14:52Oh, I see now.
14:54Ooh.
14:55Ah.
14:56It's coming together.
14:57It looks freaking amazing.
14:59Listen up, bakers.
15:01Four hours remaining.
15:02You have four hours.
15:04Dana, Tatiana, how are you two doing?
15:06Oh, we're busy.
15:07We are so busy.
15:09Choosing a bear is really bold.
15:12I think it's very ambitious, and I'm hoping that we can get it done.
15:16But the challenge is not easy.
15:18This body is so humongous.
15:20It's swallowing the cake.
15:22That's a huge cake.
15:23Like, how could you not go to the finals if you pull this thing off?
15:28Feeling good.
15:29All right, guys.
15:30That's my team.
15:31Let's go.
15:32The owl is going to be up on its post.
15:34When you're doing posts and stuff, you have to make sure all the pieces fit together really
15:37nicely.
15:38So when you measure your stencils, they have to fit together.
15:41And in this case, we're going to be doing brushed chocolate so it looks like wood, so
15:46we have to get it together, but we're going to pour some chocolate down into the base to
15:49sort of stabilize it.
15:50Coins go in with the liquid, and it causes it to crystallize faster, so it's not going to have
15:55to cool as much.
15:56I believe we have made this post strong enough that it will hold the body of the owl since
16:01it's cereal, treats, and cake.
16:02It's not crazy heavy, but it's heavy enough to cause some concern, so it's a little bit
16:07of a roll of the dice.
16:09How's it going, guys?
16:10It's going good.
16:11That'll hold over here.
16:13Hey, guys, so I'm going to work on finishing up the sign that our bear is going to be holding.
16:17Uh-huh.
16:18I think it'll be a really nice touch, a little joke for the judges, if you will.
16:21You're going to wood grain the top?
16:23Yeah.
16:24We got to go, go, go, go.
16:25We have to get this thing in shape.
16:28We're running out of time.
16:30We still have a lot of work to do.
16:33This one's definitely going to come down to the wire.
16:37As we continue to build on the piece, it's getting bigger and taller than we had envisioned
16:42just from the armature itself, which means more detail we have to add to it.
16:46This is way too much.
16:47Yeah, keep his shoulders down.
16:49Like, you're leaving me no neck now.
16:51You just go on the back there.
16:53The polar bear is bloody mahoosive.
16:55I mean, look at that thing.
16:57I wonder if they will be able to pull that off.
17:00Guys, whoever stole it, help me out.
17:03Do you want me to put it in?
17:04Yeah.
17:09Hold on, hold on.
17:10Pull that off.
17:11Why, is something stuck?
17:12Yeah, I think so.
17:13Hey, did you guys see that bear?
17:14Nope.
17:15The bear head's going on.
17:17It's gigantic.
17:18The polar bear is so terrifying to watch.
17:22It looks like it's going to topple over.
17:24You okay?
17:25There's something stuck in there.
17:26Hold on.
17:27Give me.
17:28Don't drop it.
17:29Not today.
17:30I've been there.
17:31I've seen wobble come down.
17:33This is definitely the most stressed I've felt in the entire competition.
17:38Hold on, hold on, hold on.
17:39There's something stuck in there.
17:43Hold on.
17:44Bring me.
17:45That.
17:46You want to use that one?
17:48There is a huge level of additional pressure in executing our bake.
17:53Because we don't want to go home at this point.
17:55Don't drop it.
17:59Don't you look at me like that.
18:00It was just a joke.
18:02Getting further into this competition, there's becoming more of a us versus them dynamic.
18:07So I think we're really going to have to keep our eyes on everyone here.
18:16Time is ticking away and I know we're going to get this walrus done.
18:19However, there's a lot of sugar elements that I have to finish to really sell this off.
18:23One being the whiskers.
18:24Pulling whiskers, it's definitely difficult because if the temperature of the sugar is not correct,
18:28you're not going to be able to get these nice, nice strong strands.
18:31And if it's too cold, it's just going to break.
18:33So just finding that temperature to be able to really, really pull it correctly.
18:37Look at this.
18:38Boom.
18:39Look how many I can get.
18:40Stunning.
18:41Fabulous.
18:42I also am pulling some sugar splashes.
18:44Sugar lends itself to looking really nice and translucent, which looks like water.
18:47So I just got to pull some really long shapes just to kind of represent like a splash of water.
18:51And once I let them harden in that like curve shape, they look amazing.
18:55Elizabeth.
18:56Yes.
18:57Ta-da.
18:58That's fantastic.
19:01Uh-oh.
19:03Okay.
19:04So teamwork is a big component of today's bake.
19:08Who do you think is the strongest team and who do you think has the most to work on?
19:12I'd say they each have their own unique dynamic and specific areas.
19:16To work on.
19:18Aaron is a great leader because he really lets his teammates play a huge part.
19:23Yeah.
19:24He plays to their role.
19:25I like Aaron's style of leading.
19:27Yes.
19:28He's really dedicating work and this is the way to grow.
19:31If you don't do that, you know, you get limited.
19:33With Elizabeth's team, she's a very clear leader.
19:37And you can tell she likes control.
19:40And I'm not sure if she's doing that because she's thinking, okay, we have three different skill sets.
19:44Let's utilize them all.
19:46Or if it's because she just wants total control over the cake making.
19:51Francois' team play where everybody's playing together.
19:54I think that's obvious.
19:56They also work harmoniously.
19:58Yeah.
19:59And they've been working that way and it's worked out for them.
20:02Let's talk about flavor.
20:03It's almost as important as how it looks.
20:05Yes.
20:06And I've seen you guys change your vote based on flavor.
20:10It's the perfect tiebreaker.
20:12There's never been a challenge more important than this one.
20:16And getting through to the next round.
20:18You know, you can't win a Super Bowl unless you get to the Super Bowl.
20:21So everything's on the line for these guys.
20:24Mm-hmm.
20:25So we're not supposed to have two tasting on this one.
20:28But I was like, if I have the time, I'll make one.
20:31I did a double tasting too.
20:32Well, we did.
20:33Yeah, we did.
20:34I cannot control myself and I want to show up everything I can make.
20:39I'm very motivated.
20:40I want to win this competition and I want to do more than what was asked.
20:45Looks great.
20:46Aw.
20:47So my number one role is to get the cake perfect.
20:52All the details make it hard to make a realistic animal.
20:56So I feel a ton of pressure knowing that if I mess up this cake, we might not make it to the finale.
21:04Don't freak out, but you have two hours left.
21:07We gotta move, we gotta move, we gotta move.
21:09Once we get him on, he can start the wings and then literally it's just spray and finish.
21:14He's cute.
21:16Hello, little pop-it.
21:17My little pop-it pop-it.
21:19With the walrus, in order to make it look convincing and hopefully impress the judges,
21:24we need to make sure we get all the textures right.
21:26We're gonna be rolling lots of little balls and lumps and we're gonna be putting them underneath the fondant.
21:31So when we lay the fondant over the top, we actually get this natural-looking bump.
21:36The walrus has a lot of texture.
21:38They do have a lot of lumps and bumps on them.
21:41You're seriously doing really, really good.
21:42Thanks.
21:43Elizabeth keeps Jonathan and I moving.
21:46It's really helpful for both of us that we can make sure we get all of the elements completed in time.
21:51Good job, guys.
21:52You're doing awesome.
21:53She is a great leader that way.
21:55Is it good? Is it good?
21:57It's delicious.
21:58I love my team.
22:00I think we work fairly well together.
22:03I mean, we're all so different, but we have this strong common goal, and that is we love what we do, we're passionate, and we want to just do good work.
22:12Great. That looks fantastic.
22:13Renu's placing her tusks, and they look bloody beautiful.
22:18I mean, they look pretty real.
22:19Sick!
22:21This whole thing is not covered yet.
22:23Let's get these big pieces out.
22:25Don't make me wait for pieces, guys.
22:26Let's make it move.
22:27We know.
22:28I can tell you're stressed.
22:29You're getting a little intense.
22:31We can't fall apart or lose our team dynamic now.
22:34No, I'm not falling apart.
22:35We have to go very fast, and when I get nervous, my tone changes.
22:40Too many holes because I gotta cover what I'm doing.
22:43If you leave me this, I have a problem.
22:45Not a pretty tone, but the guy's never done a fur texture, and it's not easy.
22:50We might be in trouble.
22:52You're gonna have to jump in helping with this, okay?
22:55Okay, don't be mad at me, but one hour.
22:58Just dip and paint.
23:00Okay.
23:01Ready, ready?
23:02Yeah, we're ready.
23:03Go.
23:04Just hold it there.
23:06You gotta go down.
23:07Perfect.
23:08All right, ready?
23:09Here we go.
23:10We're good.
23:12We're in.
23:13So the big risk that we took in this challenge is making a smaller animal.
23:18Obviously, everyone else is making these massive structures.
23:22So every single detail will matter, especially the wings.
23:26These wings have to be huge.
23:29Damn, I need only one wing.
23:30You're good.
23:31You're fine.
23:32You're fine.
23:33Just focus on that, and then we'll see where we're at for that second tasting element, and
23:35we'll make a judgment call, all right?
23:37Okay.
23:38You're fine.
23:39Just focus on this.
23:41Francois is very nervous about finishing up these feathers.
23:45I don't know if he knew that these feathers were going to take forever.
23:48It looks real good.
23:50I know what he can do, but I'm worried about how many feathers that Francois is going to
23:57have.
23:58Are we going to be able to pull it off?
23:59Like, I'm not sure.
24:00This feather taking forever.
24:02That's okay.
24:03But it's going to be worth it.
24:06Those little, tiny details will make or break this build.
24:10You've got 30 minutes remaining.
24:17That's the texture.
24:18Dana went in the zone.
24:20The fondant's home.
24:23This could send us home.
24:24Not enough texture.
24:25This could be our make and break between $50,000, and I'll see you later.
24:30Oh, okay.
24:31He looks so good.
24:33To really finish off this walrus, to make him look really, really cool, we obviously are
24:39going to do some airbrushing.
24:40So I'm really going to add, like, a darker gray airbrush on top and really bring out,
24:45like, those creases and wrinkles to really break up the brown.
24:48Cool.
24:49That's fantastic.
24:50That's great.
24:53Each challenge is just a little bit closer to that $50,000.
24:58Big talent.
25:02We do not want to go home.
25:04We want to win this whole thing.
25:07Bakers, you have five minutes.
25:09Five minutes left.
25:10Dana, I'm going to need help to put this on, okay?
25:13Okay.
25:14You got it?
25:15Good.
25:16Yes.
25:17Okay.
25:18I made a bunch of these, like she asked.
25:21Got them all very fast.
25:23Okay, we're getting even covered, guys.
25:25What's going on to the thing?
25:28Oh, sweet.
25:32Corner.
25:33Do not run right here.
25:34Stress level's pretty high.
25:35You know you have to deliver, and if you don't deliver, man, goodbye.
25:39You don't make the finale.
25:44Did it rip out the front?
25:45It sure did.
25:46Of course the sign topples out of the bear's hand.
25:50An absolute nightmare.
25:52Sticks.
25:53Sticks, sticks, sticks.
25:55You have got to be kidding me right now.
25:59How the hell are we going to fix this?
26:01Oh, my God.
26:02Oh, my God.
26:03Help me with the board.
26:06Please, please, please.
26:07Of course, this is when everything that can go wrong starts happening.
26:11I quickly have to jump in and re-texture the piece to make it look like it's still one solid sign again.
26:18We have to get that reattached.
26:19One minute remaining, bakers.
26:21Oh, my God.
26:22If we're missing this detail, we're missing part of our story.
26:26So this has to get back onto our piece.
26:29Okay.
26:30We need chocolate or something.
26:3310, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
26:43Hands up, bakers.
26:45I can't believe we did it.
26:47Girl, you and me both.
26:48All right, guys.
26:49He looks like a she, though.
26:51I finally get a chance to look around the room, and I'm like, oh, man, this is going to be close.
26:56It's just a question of detail.
26:58Did we do enough?
26:59That was a lot.
27:07Bakers, we asked you to work as a team to create North Pole animals with flavors that would warm us up on the chilliest of days.
27:15We can see that those animals are quite large, and I'm anxious to see all the details.
27:21In addition to design, we'll be judging you on your teamwork.
27:26Team Elizabeth, we'll start with you.
27:28Even though he's pretty hefty, he has a kind of rather delicate name.
27:32His name is Poppet.
27:33He is made of cake, modeling chocolate, fondant, chocolate tusks, sugar whiskers, sugar eyes.
27:41We also have sugar waves for our splash because we obviously wanted to bring a little bit of movement to him with his clams slash mollusks because they eat a lot of those, apparently.
27:52Hey, judges.
27:54I brought you some mollusks.
27:57Please don't eat me.
27:58I think Poppet looks phenomenal.
28:04The texture specifically on the skin is beautiful.
28:08I mean, as beautiful as it would be on a walrus, I suppose.
28:12I love his facial expression, the nose, the eyes.
28:15His eyes are very lifelike.
28:17The tusks really steal the show for me.
28:20They look real.
28:21They're gorgeous.
28:22I watched you make them, Renu.
28:24They're the perfect finishing touch for the walrus.
28:28Can we taste him?
28:29Absolutely.
28:31I went for, like, a pumpkin spice latte.
28:32That was my inspiration.
28:34I did an espresso and hazelnut cake with a coffee liqueur soap, a pumpkin pie espresso filling, and a chocolate fruillotine pumpkin seed hazelnut crumble, and then a coffee buttercream.
28:44For our second tasting element, Renu made a rum and habanero truffle, and they are encased in the mollusk, so you have to crack them open like you would crack open the mollusk.
28:53The flavor worked very well.
28:55The buttercream is excellent.
28:57The cake is a little bit on the drier side, but for a cake like that to hold, you have to make it not too wet because everything will collapse, so I get it.
29:06The truffle is good.
29:07Delicious.
29:09I like the little heat at the end, and the flavor are good.
29:12It has literally warmed me up slowly.
29:17Yeah.
29:18Regarding teamwork.
29:22Today is the best that I have seen you work as a team.
29:25You were really all hands on walrus, as they say.
29:29You were working harmoniously, and you seem to be having fun despite the stress level.
29:35Whatever you drink during the competition or before the competition, keep doing the same because it's working.
29:42It was rum.
29:43Yeah.
29:44Well done.
29:45Thank you so much.
29:49I'm so thrilled.
29:50The judges really appreciated all the detail and work we put into, and I think they really did see us come together as this unified empire.
29:59I feel pretty good about our walrus, but there's still two more pieces to judge, so we'll see.
30:05Team Francois, you're up.
30:07Who wants to tell us about the owl?
30:10We do the snowy owl, and he is standing on the post that's saying the North Pole.
30:17So all the stand is made of chocolate, the owl.
30:20He is cake, and all the wings and the feathers are made of chocolate too.
30:25It's very well done.
30:26I love the chocolate that you scrape and try to make it not shiny.
30:30Jacques is right.
30:31The wooden beam is gorgeous.
30:33It's obviously not more magnificent than the owl itself,
30:36but it's the perfect perch for the owl.
30:39The owl has a lot of details.
30:41Those feathers, that take time.
30:44The feathers are all in slightly different directions.
30:47You can see them separate as well, so there's a lot of life to them.
30:51The face and the expression, the eyes, the beak, look good.
30:55I do wish his talons were a little stronger or a little thicker.
31:00Let's talk about teamwork.
31:01Camille, she did the body, and she did all the texture of the feather and the owl.
31:06I make the tasting elements, and I work on all the feather, and Nils work on the paw.
31:11And Nils also did all the sugar details, the bean and the eyes.
31:15So we devised very well all the work.
31:18I think that was a very nice teamwork.
31:21We have a lot of fun together.
31:22Oh, yes.
31:23I don't know how we eat this bird.
31:26Don't hurt him.
31:28We have an hazelnut cake, a caramelized white chocolate whipped ganache,
31:32some bourbon caramel, and some crunchy hazelnuts covered with dark chocolate.
31:37So this one, we got chocolate cremeux with smoked chipotle,
31:42then a pumpkin cake, and a praline with pecan and pumpkin seed.
31:48As usual, both of these tastings are delicious.
31:52The bourbon caramel with the chocolate-covered walnuts and the hazelnut cake,
31:57it's so rich and indulgent.
31:59The type of dessert I want to eat during the winter when I'm hibernating.
32:03The outside of the snowball is so white and crisp and sparkly,
32:07and then the inside is pure warmth.
32:10I love the ratio cake and cream. Chipotle also has a smoky flavor.
32:16Yes.
32:17I can also feel that.
32:19Delicious.
32:21It warms you up on a chilly day.
32:23Well done. Thank you so much.
32:25I'm very happy about the reaction.
32:27We work so well together.
32:29We have a beautiful choppies, a beautiful cake.
32:32The most important is not to be eliminated, of course,
32:35but I feel confident that we can win this one.
32:38Team Aaron, tell us about your bear.
32:43So we have our polar bear here.
32:46They've come bearing a gift for you with our little sign.
32:49We love to incorporate a little humor into our piece with opportunity.
32:53I love that he brought us a gift.
32:55I really appreciate that.
32:57I think this was a very ambitious build.
33:00Very.
33:01The structure of the bear is fantastic.
33:03He's standing there proud.
33:05Making him stand on two legs with his size, it's not an easy task.
33:10I do like what you did with his face.
33:13It's a little bit more hair-like.
33:15And then when you look at his body, it's different.
33:17It's almost not the same animal between the body, the face, and the arms.
33:21The texture on his face is really well done.
33:25But like Jacques said, it's drastically different on the body.
33:29And you had to nail that texture from head to toe, front to back.
33:34Tell us about your teamwork.
33:36How exactly did you divvy up the tasks?
33:39The bear itself was all hands on deck.
33:43That was very much a team endeavor.
33:45And because Tatiana, our lovely cake artist here, brought the face to life,
33:50Dana and I focused on the present and the sign that the bear has
33:54and kind of a team effort getting those paneled, covered, textured,
33:58and decorated onto the piece.
34:00Great teamwork.
34:01All right, let's dig into this bear.
34:06Taking that theme of something that keeps you warm and cozy during the holidays,
34:09my brain immediately went soup.
34:11So we have a sweet potato coconut curry soup-inspired cake.
34:15Very strange choice, but per usual Aaron's style,
34:18he goes for some really, really outlandish, crazy flavor profile
34:22that I would never do.
34:23It's wild.
34:24So we have a brown sugar and sweet potato cake
34:28with a sweet potato butter, and both of those contain a garam masala.
34:31And then we have a coconut tres de chees soak
34:34with a little bit of Thai chili and lime in there.
34:37We have a golden milk custard.
34:39It's a turmeric latte with milk, and it has a little bit of cinnamon,
34:43a little bit of black pepper and ginger in it.
34:45And then to add some texture, we have some curried cashews and coconut in there.
34:50Have you made a cake like this before?
34:52I have not.
34:53Man, this is risky.
35:00You have guts to do something like that.
35:03It's very interesting, very savory-like.
35:05Strangely, it's sweet enough that it go.
35:10I have never had a cake like this.
35:12It's fantastic, dude.
35:14This is one of the most interesting pieces of cake I've ever had.
35:17Yeah.
35:18Yeah.
35:19And I can taste all the flavors.
35:20The texture of the cake is wonderful.
35:22It's extremely moist.
35:23And because of that moisture, it's carrying the flavor perfectly.
35:27I always ask you for bold flavor.
35:29You get it.
35:31Yeah.
35:32I don't think you guys got here because you've been playing it safe.
35:34This was a risk, but...
35:35But it paid.
35:36Mm-hmm.
35:37Yeah.
35:39Fantastic job.
35:43After hearing the critiques from the judges across the three pieces,
35:46I'm really hoping that our flavors and our choice to be so ambitious
35:50were really curious into the finale.
35:52It does taste like soup.
35:53It does.
35:54It does.
35:55It's wild.
35:56It is.
35:57Yeah.
35:58It's amazing.
35:59My flavors have kept us around once.
36:00Who's to say it won't do it again?
36:01Bakers, once again, you've absolutely blown us away.
36:04It's literally going to be.
36:06Two teams make it through to the final.
36:09Whoever doesn't, they're off.
36:11They're gone.
36:12I'm feeling so confident.
36:13But this is pretty intense.
36:15Uh, yeah, I want to throw up.
36:17I'm nervous.
36:18The sheer size and magnitude of what we did.
36:21It is amazing.
36:23Is it enough?
36:24I don't know.
36:31Bakers, I gotta say, you really captured the magic of the North Pole.
36:35While you all made incredible creations, only two teams will be going to the finale and one team will be going home.
36:48So the first team that's going to go to the finale is a team that show us presentation that tell us a story.
36:59Just looking at it.
37:01Beautiful facial expression.
37:04Beautiful texture.
37:06Delicious cake.
37:08And I think that all things really tell us a story of the North Pole.
37:13And that team is...
37:15Team Elizabeth.
37:16We have come pretty far.
37:29Even the judges could see the work and effort and the growth that our empire's had.
37:35It's a little bit hard relinquishing that control and trying not to step in all the time to help people.
37:41But...
37:42It works.
37:43How do we feel?
37:44Relieved.
37:45Lucky.
37:46Relieved.
37:47And now I'm stressing.
37:52I'm like, oh my God.
37:54It's 50-50.
37:55We have 50% chance of going home.
37:57I'm stressing, stressing, stressing, stressing.
38:00Team Francois, Team Aaron.
38:04That means one of your empires will fall and one of your teams will be eliminated.
38:11Yolanda, who's the next team coming to the finale?
38:14Boy, oh boy.
38:15You guys haven't made our jobs easy.
38:17This is really difficult.
38:19And to be clear, you're all worthy of making it to the finale.
38:23Both were spectacular in very different ways.
38:27Aaron, you took a huge risk as usual, but it paid off.
38:31And we all tasted something we never expected to taste and have never tasted before.
38:36And Francois, you always bring it with the flavor.
38:39Different every time, but equally delicious each time.
38:43In terms of design, your cakes are completely different, but superb in their own unique way.
38:50And in the end, what this boiled down to was execution.
38:54My heart is beating out of my chest.
38:58We created something so beautiful.
39:01We just cannot go home right now.
39:03I've been in this exact same spot before, making it to the semifinals and not being quite enough to make it into the finale.
39:11So I'm really, really hoping that things are different this time.
39:15And the second team that will be headed to the finale is...
39:27Team Francois.
39:36First show, first time on final.
39:38First time on final.
39:39Congratulations, you guys.
39:40You're headed to the finale, and you are one step closer to $50,000.
39:45It pains me to say this, because your cake was so freaking good today.
39:51But unfortunately, Team Aaron, your empire has fallen.
39:57That doesn't mean that you didn't impress us.
40:00From the beginning, we have our eyes on you guys.
40:03You are amazing bakers.
40:05All three of you are incredible.
40:07On your own and even better together.
40:09And that was the best part of watching you work as a team.
40:12I'm pretty disappointed.
40:13But at the end of the day, I've learned a lot.
40:15I've been able to teach some old school bakers a few new tricks.
40:20And some of the bakers have even pushed me outside of my comfort zones and helped me to grow.
40:25I wouldn't have had anyone else on my empire and wouldn't have had it any other way.
40:29I don't have any regrets.
40:30We did what we can do.
40:31We showed our skills.
40:33I think we did very good.
40:36When they bring me back for Sweet Empire All-Stars, I'm going to come fast and furious.
40:42Just want to put that in the hat right now if any executives are watching.
40:47Well, we have our final two empires.
40:53The win feels good for this challenge.
40:56But Francois' team, I know that they are going to be hard to beat.
41:00It is now all the pressure.
41:02Everybody's going to do everything they can to possibly win.
41:05Congratulations.
41:06You've built and maintained amazing empires.
41:10But the real battle lies ahead.
41:13Oh, God.
41:15Elizabeth.
41:16We're coming for you.
41:21Next time on Sweet Empire.
41:23May the best team win.
41:25We will.
41:26This is the finale.
41:27So you're meant to go big.
41:29We're making this huge Christmas tree.
41:32It's the finale.
41:35If this tree falls apart, we're toast.
41:38You're good.
41:39Keep going.
41:40Spread buttercream.
41:41Jonathan, cover the backboard.
41:42Oh, my God.
41:43I need you to get this done in eight to ten minutes.
41:47Uh, well...
41:48Get the body done.
41:49Uh...
41:50Are you serious?
41:53And the winner of Sweet Empire is...
41:55...
41:57...
41:58...
42:01...
42:03...
42:05...
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