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00:00Christmas truly begins in my house right after Thanksgiving.
00:11I like to decorate my Christmas tree with a different theme every year.
00:16This week, we are stepping up the competition with highly decorative bakes.
00:21Welcome to Baked With Love.
00:30Last week, the teams were challenged to make a pie.
00:35Be a happy pie.
00:36Gaby and Ben struggled.
00:37Our oven was not on.
00:38But redeemed themselves in challenge two.
00:41The walnuts are just...
00:43Inda and Armand ended up with a runny filling.
00:46Maybe a hot mess.
00:47While Amy and Sally...
00:49Let's say a little prayer.
00:50Presented a winning pie.
00:52Excellent job.
00:54And Susan and Salman wowed the judges.
00:57You see, now I love that.
00:59As father and son Fabio and Fabio Jr...
01:02Oh, it's so broken.
01:04...were sent home.
01:06Thank y'all.
01:11Feeling great.
01:12Well rested.
01:13We can go into that oven.
01:15Well, not into that oven, but into that kitchen and put some good stuff in the oven.
01:19Hello.
01:20We may look calm on the exterior, but the wheels are always turning in my head.
01:26We're aiming for nothing but the top at this point.
01:28There's no point in trying to be shy.
01:30There is a prize at the end of this, so that's what we're really focused on.
01:35Well, welcome back, bakers.
01:37How are you guys, first of all?
01:38Good.
01:39Good.
01:40Good.
01:41This is great.
01:42As you can see, one of our stations is empty.
01:44Sadly, Debbie and Kristen have left the competition due to personal circumstances.
01:49However, the show must go on.
01:52And remember, there's a lot at stake here.
01:55One team of family bakers will walk away with $50,000.
02:01And one of their family recipes will appear in a Hallmark movie.
02:06So are you guys ready to do this again?
02:08Yes.
02:09Whoo!
02:10Whoo!
02:11I love it.
02:14Today's theme is Deck the Halls.
02:18So now I think it's time to bring in our amazing judges, Anna and Vaughn.
02:23Please join us in the barn.
02:32Hello, lovely.
02:33Feeling festive?
02:34La, la, la, la.
02:35La, la, la, la.
02:36La, la, la, la.
02:38Oh, wait.
02:40Top marks for me, harmony.
02:41Yeah, we harmonize.
02:42High five.
02:43Can't leave me hanging on that.
02:44Our first challenge is called the Holiday Classic.
02:49So, Vaughn, what would you like our contestants to make today?
02:52We want you all to make cookies, specifically sugar cookies.
02:58They need to be fun and festive and transport us to the 25th.
03:03We want you to make single cookies and sandwich cookies.
03:06You can add whatever you want to make it your own.
03:09You know there's going to be a twist to it, right?
03:11We want you to transform these cookies into an edible cookie wreath.
03:17Oh.
03:18It has to be gorgeous and decorative.
03:20And the base has to be a cookie, too.
03:23No.
03:24Yes.
03:25Marco.
03:26You got this.
03:28You have an hour and 30 minutes.
03:31Off you go.
03:32Oh.
03:33Go.
03:34Let's do it.
03:35Oh, wow.
03:36All right, so filling.
03:37It's about to be a party, the mama.
03:39This is peak happiness for me with baking.
03:42My girlfriends come over and we decorate cookies together.
03:44We always do a classic sugar cookie.
03:46So we're doing a vanilla for the base.
03:48Which we're not so sure about.
03:50Time is of the essence.
03:51Ah!
03:52So I don't know.
03:54I should be better about this deadline thing.
03:57You know, working, being that I was a former reporter, but...
04:00I was a journalist and also working for an emergency response agency.
04:04So working under pressure is nothing for me.
04:06I mean, I just sort of kind of just got to get through it.
04:09Yeah.
04:10And I teach.
04:11I know.
04:12I'm sorry.
04:13I'm sorry.
04:14Right there.
04:15That's a lot of personalities.
04:16Beautiful personalities in one room.
04:17So, yeah, you got to be able to manage that as well.
04:20Yeah.
04:21And so I think, yeah.
04:22So this is a piece of cake.
04:23No pun intended.
04:24We've got our recipe book over here.
04:27So we're definitely incorporating flavors that we love at home.
04:30And we're excited to incorporate that.
04:33So doing some caramel.
04:35But we really need to set aside enough time to decorate.
04:38We want to win.
04:39We want to win this amazing prize money.
04:41We have a baby that's going to be here in a few months.
04:44So dreaming about their future is really going to be our motivation.
04:49Cookie wreaths.
04:50I love them.
04:51Oh, I'm so excited.
04:52They could be so pretty.
04:53And also I love cookies.
04:54I love cookies.
04:55Cookies.
04:56But things can go wrong with the cookie.
05:01There's so many things that can go wrong with the recipe.
05:04Too much sugar.
05:05Too much butter.
05:06Too much heat.
05:07Too much water.
05:08All of that is actually going to make your cookie spread.
05:09Too much flour is going to make it dry and crack.
05:11I want to be wowed with the decoration.
05:15An hour and a half isn't that much time.
05:17But I think it's enough time for them to really turn out a good product.
05:20Okay.
05:21We have almond liqueur.
05:22Traditionally in Italian.
05:23To stay true to like our breeds.
05:24But .
05:25She said she forgot the egg.
05:26I forgot the egg.
05:27The scale is being so weird.
05:28This will not zero.
05:29Oh, do you want me to measure that out for you?
05:30I think I got it.
05:31You got it.
05:32Hi.
05:33How are you feeling?
05:34Feeling good.
05:35Pretty good.
05:36So what's the plan A for today?
05:37We're going to do a little buttercream on some.
05:38And we're thinking of like a sea salted caramel flavor.
05:39The decorations, there will be glitters and metallics.
05:41In our house, we also have a lot of glitter.
05:43My mom does specific themes.
05:44She did peacock feathers one year.
05:45Cool.
05:46Yeah.
05:47I turned to baking out of necessity.
05:48I got sick.
05:49And I used to be a pharmacy technician.
05:50And I lost my job.
05:52I began baking to help bring in money.
05:54That helped our family.
05:55Doing it.
05:56We're going to do a little buttercream on some.
05:57We're going to do a little buttercream on some.
05:58And we're thinking of like a sea salted caramel flavor.
06:00The decorations, there will be glitters and metallics.
06:01In our house, we also have a lot of glitter.
06:02I turned to baking out of necessity.
06:05I got sick.
06:06And I used to be a pharmacy technician.
06:09And I lost my job.
06:12I began baking to help bring in money.
06:15That helped our family during a very hard time.
06:19I began to like it.
06:21And I was really good at it.
06:23So it's been awesome.
06:27Oh, my God.
06:28It is a stickier dough.
06:29I can't believe how sticky it is.
06:31We're just going to re-roll it.
06:32I don't like getting stuck.
06:33All right.
06:34I saw some amazing purple dough.
06:36Ube.
06:37Ube is a Filipino sweet potato, right?
06:41Yes.
06:42I'm representing our Filipino culture in a good way.
06:45The judges, I will tell you this.
06:47They love when you add a little bit of your personality into it.
06:51For sure.
06:52And I feel like you guys have done that beautifully.
06:56I appreciate that.
06:57You're welcome.
06:58Renee and Sade, les twins.
07:00Hi.
07:01I saw this whiskey on the table.
07:02I said, I'm coming over there.
07:03Our sandwich cookie is going to have a filling that mimics an old-fashioned.
07:07I love that.
07:08Okay.
07:09So how are your cookies going to tell the story of your family?
07:13I'm going to try and do a black Santa and like a Mrs. Claus that looks like us.
07:17Representation is really important to us.
07:18And we all want to be able to see ourselves in the world.
07:21Our mom had a set of little black drummer boys that she got when we were maybe like five or six and she still has them to this day.
07:27I'm very proud of my heritage.
07:29Our roots are in Memphis with all of our extended family and a lot of our traditions of going there for the holidays.
07:35The real pine tree that our grandmother had, tasting things, dancing, music, so many memories.
07:42Halfway through.
07:45Halfway through, bakers.
07:47Okay.
07:48We'll just start cutting out some shapes.
07:51These are all very cute, so we're excited.
07:54In the oven.
07:55This can go in the top.
07:56Just put all those in the oven.
07:58Oh, no.
07:59Our dough is really sticky and we're behind.
08:05It was my fault.
08:06I weighed it, but our scale was being really funky.
08:08The flour was so low.
08:09I know.
08:10I just don't think these shapes are going to hold.
08:13So at this point, I don't know if we should just scrap it and...
08:16Do what?
08:17I don't think we have time to start a new dough.
08:20I'm worried about the time restraint that we have.
08:23You should talk.
08:25I can talk.
08:27Our dough is not going well, and I don't know what we're going to do.
08:34Hi, guys.
08:35Hi.
08:36How are you?
08:37I know.
08:38A little overwhelmed.
08:39Something went wrong earlier.
08:40The best thing to do would be genuinely to take a deep breath, look at each other, and make a plan.
08:44Look at each other.
08:45What do we think?
08:46I'm a sweaty king.
08:47We've kind of given up in doing cookie shapes.
08:49They're going to be round cookies.
08:50They don't have to be in this shape.
08:52Okay?
08:53Right now in this moment, obviously, it feels like it's a nightmare.
08:56That's done.
08:57This is the base.
08:59All right.
09:00Okay.
09:01Thank God for this template, though.
09:02Thank God for this template, though.
09:03Were we supposed to do a sugar cookie circle?
09:06We didn't do it right?
09:07No, we were just using it as a template.
09:09I didn't know we were supposed to make a sugar cookie.
09:12But it does say that, so we missed that part.
09:17We're going to have to present without the cookie base and hope that maybe the taste and story and design helps us survive.
09:31What did I do wrong?
09:36We were supposed to put it on opposite sides to make it look like a sandwich.
09:39I did?
09:40No.
09:41It was supposed to look like this way.
09:43Yes, mother.
09:44So our rules will switch.
09:45I'll play the mom in the kitchen and...
09:49I'll be the soup painter.
09:50My soup chef.
09:51No, no, no, no.
09:52You cut it this way.
09:53You know, make a triangle.
09:54Don't cut it on the edge.
09:56So in that aspect, I'm like, okay.
09:58What's going on here?
09:59How will that be decorated?
10:01So in Italy, we celebrate St. Nicholas, which is on the 3rd of December.
10:05Oh.
10:06We put oranges inside of stockings.
10:08So we wanted to encompass that in our wreath.
10:10Sounds good.
10:12I need more silver.
10:13I need more silver, please.
10:14Marco and Steven, tell me about your cookies.
10:17The flavor profiles are a little bit more like a gingerbread.
10:20Steven's family being German, I wanted to kind of play off of that.
10:23My family, of course, being Latino, we love a good party.
10:26You got to have some glitter.
10:27Glitter and be gay, huh?
10:28Yeah.
10:29Exactly.
10:30You're doing so good, Mom.
10:31Thank you, Sam.
10:33Hello, ladies.
10:34Is there a story to this?
10:36We're using peppermint extract, and we just like color.
10:39You love color.
10:40And when we have Christmas, I have done things.
10:43But now that the kids are older, too tired, anything goes.
10:48I can totally relate to you, because sometimes you're just too tired to care.
10:53If I could tell my young mother self how I am now, same person, two different expectations.
10:59And now it's just fun and family.
11:01And you know what that sounds like?
11:03Growth.
11:04Growth.
11:05That's a good thing.
11:06As a grandmother of 11, I love Christmas, because watching my grandchildren is very entertaining.
11:15They're all running around being cool.
11:18Greatest gift a parent can have to see their children having children and making them happy and enjoy Christmas.
11:27We gotta get that in the oven, buddy.
11:28I know.
11:29We're a little behind.
11:30Oh, my God.
11:31I gotta cut.
11:32Oh, you do?
11:33Yeah.
11:34Are you okay?
11:35Ooh!
11:36I'm a little nervous.
11:37I just need a band-aid.
11:38Okay.
11:39How many minutes do you think you got over there?
11:4015 minutes!
11:41I know.
11:4215 minutes left, and we'll see what we can make happen, but you know what?
11:47Our dough is really not workable, and we are running out of time.
11:51Just go slowly, and it should be fine.
11:53Is it dangerous?
11:54Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.
11:55There will be drama.
11:56Quite a few things have gone wrong for you here, and it just feels so unfair.
12:01Probably about 10 minutes left.
12:06We are really behind.
12:08You almost done, Henny Bear.
12:11Just get it on in there.
12:12Yeah, it's no going back.
12:14Now start decorating, placing trees.
12:16I'm not being as delicate as I want.
12:19These cookies are too hot.
12:21We've got some in the ovens.
12:22They just need a little longer.
12:24Time, please.
12:25Five minutes!
12:26Five minutes?
12:27Oh!
12:28Praise be!
12:29Oh, Lord, have mercy.
12:31We're under the gun.
12:32We're under the gun.
12:33We don't have time.
12:34We just got to get it out.
12:35I love you, but we got to muscle through it.
12:37Be careful.
12:38This is super hot.
12:39The clock is ticking.
12:40Tick, tick, tick, tock.
12:41We have cookies, but we probably aren't going to be able to get too much together.
12:45How much time's left?
12:46One minute left!
12:47Crunch time.
12:48It's horrendous.
12:49Okay, hurry up.
12:5029 seconds.
12:51It's not over until the pregnant lady sings.
12:54Time's up!
12:56Yes!
12:57Oh!
12:58I hear a yes.
12:59It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.
13:02I'm pretty upset I did that wrong.
13:05I didn't know we had to cut out an actual template on the bottom.
13:08I just didn't know what I didn't know.
13:10I don't think I'm ever going to bake again.
13:12You know what?
13:13We're not going to surprise it.
13:16Now it's time for the judges to taste the cookies.
13:21Armand and Inda, please tell the judges about your cookie wreath.
13:26You have some oven mitts.
13:27Not oven mitts.
13:28You have some Christmas winter mitts that represent our outfits and our pajamas that we always match.
13:36I think what really stands out is the elegant cutting.
13:39It's really clean and crisp.
13:41What's the flavors?
13:42Salted caramel cookie with cookie butter buttercream.
13:46I did get salted caramel and I love the cookie butter.
13:49The cookie is definitely softer than I prefer.
13:52I like a soft cookie.
13:54Do you want to fight it out?
13:55Rosanna and Rosa?
14:01So this is a little almond, a little bit of amaretto, chocolate.
14:11This is a beautifully balanced cookie sandwich.
14:15It's got the tartness from the raspberry.
14:17The chocolate, like, gives a bitterness that I really love.
14:21Also, I love the almond in it.
14:22I think it's delicious.
14:23And it's got gold on it.
14:24Come on.
14:26Versace.
14:27Italian opulence.
14:28I love it.
14:29I love it.
14:31Excellent journey.
14:33Good job.
14:34Good job.
14:35Good job.
14:36What's up with the tears today?
14:41Amy and Sally.
14:42It's stunning.
14:43It could go on a door, you know?
14:45But it's going to go on our belly instead.
14:47Tell us about the flavor.
14:48We're from Alabama and we thought this is a representation of the flavors we love there.
14:52It's got traditional almond cookie icing with a peppermint buttercream.
14:58There's a really good peppermint balance flavor in here.
15:02And also, the cook on your cookie is very good.
15:05It held its shape so excellently.
15:07Well, amazing job, ladies.
15:08Thank you all so much.
15:09Thank you very much.
15:10I think I'm going to steal this one.
15:12Please do.
15:13It looks so good.
15:15Good job, Mom.
15:16Good.
15:17Proud of you.
15:19Marco and Steven?
15:20We made gingerbread men because we have all nephews.
15:24We now finally have our first little girl in the family.
15:27So the flavoring is gingerbread.
15:30I love the buttercream.
15:31I think it's really delicious.
15:32I might have wanted a little bit more spice, you know?
15:35But love, the glitz, the glam.
15:37If you've got it, wear it.
15:42Salmon and Susan, what inspired your cookie wreath?
15:45Every Christmas, I host, kind of mid-December, a cookie decorating party with my girlfriends.
15:50This wreath is kind of a compilation of the shapes that we have.
15:54Beautiful, but what's the flavors?
15:56We always do a classic sugar cookie.
15:58I'm a bit of a purist with mine.
16:00So we have a vanilla buttercream.
16:02I love vanilla.
16:03I'm actually the same as you.
16:04I'm a bit of a purist when it comes to it.
16:06I would say that that ratio of cookie defrosting is maybe a little heavy-handed.
16:09A little much.
16:10But they do look beautiful.
16:12Karen and James, please tell the judges about your cookie wreath.
16:17We put purple food coloring to kind of indicate that it's going to be an ube cookie sandwich.
16:23Ube jam.
16:24Jam.
16:25I love ube.
16:26I love ube desserts.
16:27I really enjoyed the ube jam in there.
16:30I think it's maybe a little bit rustic around the edges, but it's got this lovely, playful feeling of real Christmas.
16:37Well done.
16:40Great job, guys.
16:43Sade and Renee.
16:44You don't have a cookie base.
16:46What happened there?
16:47We thought the snowflakes kind of served as that.
16:48Okay.
16:49So we thought we were kind of using the guide just to kind of figure out placement.
16:52But even though we're missing the wreath, I absolutely love your story about representation being a big part of your holiday celebration.
17:00I think that's so important.
17:02It has orange zest, cherries, bourbon to kind of reflect a nice little old fashioned.
17:08Old fashions are our favorite drink.
17:10Oh, amazing.
17:11You chose well.
17:12You chose well.
17:13The flavors are delicious.
17:14I love the orange zest coming through it as well.
17:16But if you'd slowed down and heard the brief, you would have had the reason.
17:23Gabriel and Ben.
17:25It obviously looks very different than what you would have hoped for.
17:29It doesn't look very attractive.
17:31What's the flavors?
17:32Cookie butter.
17:33Almond with homemade caramel sauce.
17:36I mean, your cookie butter spilt out a little bit.
17:40I think maybe it was warm when it went on there.
17:42But the almond in it is delicious.
17:44And also the thing that really impressed me was that when the chips are down and everything's gone wrong, you stayed as a team.
17:51It's still baked with love.
17:52Baked with love.
17:53That was perfect.
17:54And that's what it's all about.
17:55And could we say that you both felt the love?
17:57Absolutely.
17:58Absolutely.
17:59We put a lot of that in there.
18:00So there's that.
18:01Yeah.
18:02Thank you both.
18:04Thank you guys.
18:06That was great.
18:07You did great.
18:11You all did an amazing job.
18:13Anna, who did you think excelled at this challenge?
18:17I'm so lucky I get this one.
18:19Sally and Amy.
18:22Rosa and Rosanna.
18:26And Inda and Armon.
18:29We really got to taste delicious flavors through your REITs.
18:33And there was some excellent finesse through them too.
18:36Top three.
18:37Now there were some teams that really struggled.
18:44Gabriel and Ben, you know, you shared your fair share of issues.
18:48Maybe just time management, that's probably the biggest no we have.
18:52Renee and Sade, the thing that we ultimately had to dock for was not having the cookie base.
18:58Well, you guys can go back and relax and we'll see you back for the ultimate festive bake challenge.
19:07I'm not too upset about it because I know that's something that's an easy fix.
19:11We're going to make sure we pay attention for the next challenge and hit all the marks for it.
19:15The way that this bake went, we really need to bring our A game for the second bake this week or we're going home.
19:23Holy Spirit, activate.
19:26The biggest challenge is making sure that we can get that quintessential Christmas tree shape.
19:31Oh, goodness.
19:39Ready for round two?
19:40Yeah!
19:41Now it's time for the ultimate festive bakes.
19:46Anna, what do they need to do to wow you today?
19:49What we want you to do is a 3D Christmas tree cake.
19:53It's going to be made of sponge and it's going to be layered.
19:56So we want it to be at least five layers.
19:58So that's going to test your knowledge of sponge, of buttercream.
20:02But above all else, we want them to be festive, decorated, and really tell your story of the holidays.
20:08You have two hours for this challenge, okay?
20:12So make sure every second counts.
20:15Off you go.
20:17Off you go.
20:19Okay.
20:20Go.
20:21Let's do it.
20:22The last challenge, our cookies did not look good.
20:25So we need this to look good.
20:28I knew that was going to happen.
20:30Time for a red light dance party.
20:35Okay, that's it.
20:36All right.
20:37That's our code word.
20:38When we drive.
20:39If you stop at a red light.
20:40Yeah.
20:41And you say red light dance party.
20:42Red light dance party.
20:43And you start dancing.
20:44And then you go on.
20:45But it's a perfect way of breaking tension.
20:46And it just relieves the stress.
20:47So red light dance party.
20:48Red light dance party.
20:49That's our code word.
20:50This sounded really tricky.
20:52Anytime I hear like 3D, I feel like a lot can go wrong.
20:56For any structural thing, especially when it has multiple layers, you really have to focus on your temperature control.
21:02What's crucial is their timing.
21:03Yeah.
21:04The filling and icing.
21:05But if your cake is warm, forget it.
21:07It's going to look like a hot mess.
21:08It's going to melt.
21:09Yeah.
21:10We're going to make this whole batter.
21:12Thyme, that's the biggest issue.
21:14I'm just going to hope for the best here.
21:16Our layer cake is called don't stop bay leafing.
21:21Basically, don't stop believing in Christmas.
21:26The cake is bay leaf and lemon.
21:29And then cover it on the sides with sliced almonds.
21:32I just like having herbs and sweet things.
21:35I am a U.S. history professor.
21:37I own over 400 cookbooks in my studio apartment.
21:41You're much more adventurous in your flavor palette than I am.
21:44I am.
21:45I'm very traditional.
21:46I'm very much whatever's in the pantry.
21:48If it's cinnamon, if it's chocolate, I'm good.
21:51I sifted your flower sauce.
21:54Thanks, baby.
21:55Beautiful.
21:56One and a half of Viking soda.
21:57All right, Amy and Sally.
21:59Tell me a little bit about your cake today.
22:01Okay, so today our cake is a gingerbread spice sponge.
22:05And then we have a bourbon vanilla buttercream in the middle.
22:09Our Christmas tree is I'm dreaming of a white Christmas.
22:12My girls love the movie White Christmas.
22:15The one with Bing Crosby.
22:16Yeah, yeah, yeah.
22:17Still do.
22:18Yeah.
22:19Yeah.
22:20And we also dream of a white Christmas in Alabama.
22:21I was going to say you probably...
22:22That never happened.
22:23It never happened.
22:24Yeah.
22:25Yeah, yeah.
22:26Rene, Sade.
22:28How's it going?
22:29I feel like that first challenge, we were at odds a little bit.
22:34We feel very vulnerable.
22:36But we really wanna get this one right, cause this one's for a very special person.
22:39Yeah.
22:40For my son Kamari, he's four years old.
22:43My son goes four very soon.
22:44This cake features all of Kamari's favorites.
22:47So it has chocolate cake, chocolate chip cookies,
22:50and his favorite superheroes.
22:53Christmas means more now that I'm raising a little one
22:56to make sure that he's meeting family
22:58and also just having those moments with them as well.
23:01This is actually the longest I've been away from him.
23:03It's really hard being away from them.
23:05But, you know, they need a strong mommy
23:07to use as inspiration for when they get older.
23:10Yeah, we're hoping we can make him proud.
23:13Obviously, we've got to deliver.
23:15We have no choice but to get this right.
23:17All right, I'm going to keep working.
23:18Okay, honey bear.
23:20Hello, Ben and Gabrielle. How's it going?
23:23Tell me about your cake today.
23:24This cake is really a tribute to our baby.
23:26Oh.
23:27So we're calling it Baby. It's Cold Outside.
23:30Oh, I love that.
23:32We recently had a gender reveal,
23:34and we were so excited to find out what baby was in my belly.
23:38We got to see the blue icing inside
23:40and just can't wait to have our baby boy this Christmas.
23:43So we're doing some cute little baby blue ornaments
23:45to have the Christmas tree decor.
23:49And our cake is delicious.
23:51It's a spice cake from Ben's mom's recipe
23:54that she made them a lot growing up.
23:55Yeah, it's a little bit of a nod to the past and the future
23:57at the same time, which is pretty fun.
23:59Are we worried about timing?
24:00You know, we struggled a little bit this morning.
24:03We've only got two hours, so we got to get these in the oven
24:05and cooled as fast as possible, or we're going home.
24:09Baking away, baking away against the clock as everyone is.
24:13The largest cakes will take about 45 minutes or so.
24:16Yes, very tight. We are very tight on time.
24:19They do their thing.
24:20We'll do, let them do their thing.
24:21We trust them. We trust the process.
24:23Bye.
24:24Hi, Simone. Hi, Susan.
24:25Hello.
24:26I see you've got lots of bread here.
24:28What are you guys making?
24:29There's a place near where I grew up
24:31that is beautiful at Christmas time.
24:33Yes.
24:34They have these huge, like, to the ceiling trees
24:36that they've decorated.
24:37Wow.
24:38They do lots of, like, bold colors.
24:39So we're doing a raspberry coconut pink Christmas tree.
24:42It's oh pretty and pink.
24:44In your family home, do you ever do a pink Christmas tree?
24:49No, we aren't traditional with the decor, so...
24:51Well, we could fantasize with pinks.
24:52Yeah.
24:53I love that.
24:54That's, you know...
24:55That's great.
24:56I do love Christmas time.
24:57She loves Christmas so much that we had a December wedding,
25:01and we decided to lean into it.
25:02And for the honeymoon, we decided to explore
25:06and find the world's greatest Christmas markets.
25:08I know most people go to the beach after they get married,
25:11and they're ready to relax, but...
25:12She's ready to do more Christmas.
25:13All right, he's got this.
25:14But the more important things,
25:16they also have to make the filling.
25:17I've tasted enough buttercream icing to rot my teeth.
25:20And then I'm on.
25:21Hello.
25:22Hi.
25:23What do we got going on here?
25:24We have Dutch chocolate cake.
25:26Cafe con leche.
25:27Puerto Rican style.
25:28There is a peppermint buttercream.
25:30I love it, like a peppermint mocha vibe.
25:31Yeah.
25:32And Armand, what are you working on over there?
25:33This right here is going to be the cake topper.
25:35Just another reference to our religion, our faith, and some angels.
25:39That's gorgeous.
25:40I have five kids, and he's the brave one to do this with me.
25:46My mom is definitely an inspiration.
25:48She's pursuing her baking dream,
25:50and it's just special being able to, like,
25:52just have this experience with her.
25:54Yeah.
25:55Yeah.
25:56So far, so good.
25:57This is going to be the peppermint buttercream.
25:59Is the blade in there?
26:01No.
26:02Wait, turn it off. Turn it off.
26:03Open it, and then we have to reset it.
26:05How many minutes do we have?
26:06Halfway through.
26:08This is crazy.
26:11Are they coming out clean?
26:13That one's not.
26:14Come on, baby.
26:15Steven, Marco, what's the cake that you're going to make?
26:18Uh, inspired by my grandparents' Christmas tree.
26:21The silver aluminum trees with the color wheel.
26:23To have something that newfangled for them was just,
26:27I thought that was the coolest thing.
26:28Oh, wow.
26:29Lay rings are orange, lime, and chocolate.
26:34You think you're going to have enough time?
26:36We hope so.
26:37Oh, we hope so, Anna.
26:3945 minutes left.
26:41Oh, goodness.
26:42Those are done.
26:43Okay, you want to check them out?
26:44Yeah.
26:45We're going to pop the cake into the freezer.
26:48If we can get it chilled, it's a lot easier to frost
26:50and get that quintessential Christmas tree shape.
26:53I want them to get as cold as they can get.
26:56Please, Lord.
26:57There will be drama.
26:59Ah!
27:00Careful.
27:01I'm so sorry.
27:02Cranberries down.
27:03In some cultures, that's a celebration, you know?
27:06Yeah.
27:07Opa.
27:08Greek.
27:09Maseltov.
27:10This cake is cherry and pistachio carrying out our Italian culture.
27:16But now it's Italian chaos.
27:18We work together.
27:19It's all good.
27:20At the end of the day, it ain't going to be perfect.
27:23It's going to be chaos.
27:24There's so much going on.
27:26That's what makes the holidays.
27:27If this doesn't exist, it wouldn't be Christmas, right?
27:30Be boring.
27:31Would be boring.
27:33Oh, dear.
27:35Everything's really hot.
27:37Oh, my God.
27:38This cake's still warm.
27:40Getting nervous.
27:41No, don't be nervous.
27:42Because we need everything cooled and time to frost it.
27:45We don't want warm cakes and putting buttercream frosting on there,
27:48because, of course, butter's just going to melt.
27:50Oh, it's still warm.
27:53She can't.
27:54It's all good.
27:55Take a break.
27:56It's not.
27:57All right, Lord Jesus.
27:58I've been a good, humble servant of yours.
28:01Please help me.
28:04It's showtime, baby.
28:05I'm going to have to decorate really, really fast.
28:07This is a pipe dream.
28:08The cake is, like, falling.
28:09Oh.
28:10It's falling like a mountain.
28:1930 minutes left.
28:20Should we just start constructing it now?
28:23I guess so.
28:24Get moving on the pipe.
28:26Definitely.
28:27Yeah.
28:28It's showtime, baby.
28:30Are we stressing out?
28:32Yes.
28:33God, help me.
28:35It seems like it's still hot.
28:39Oh, I can't do that.
28:41Because my cake is hot.
28:42Mama.
28:43Do it.
28:44Do it.
28:45Do it.
28:46Inhale.
28:47Exhale.
28:48No.
28:49The cake layers.
28:50Too hot.
28:51They're melting.
28:52Normally, we would probably give ourselves a little bit more of extended time
28:54to get all of our layers cooled the way we would like.
28:57One, two, three, four, five.
29:00I just need more filling.
29:03This little guy is just going to hold everything together.
29:06Just go slowly, and it should be fine.
29:08Not too much cake trauma, you know.
29:10I'm scared of it.
29:11We're going to carve this cake in about two minutes, and we're going to ice it.
29:13There's a lot of icing that we need to put on this cake to frost it and make it look like a tree.
29:17But the cake's breaking.
29:18This is not right, Armand.
29:20It's going this way.
29:22That's okay.
29:23Oh, my gosh.
29:24I've never done this hot in my life.
29:26Mama, keep going.
29:27It's falling like a mountain.
29:31It's not supposed to be a mountain or a shrub.
29:34It's supposed to be a Christmas tree.
29:36Oh, it is melting.
29:37Is that dangerous?
29:38Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.
29:40This is lopsided.
29:42It's really fragile.
29:43This one's going to fall apart.
29:45Oh.
29:46Oh, no.
29:48It's dying.
29:49Mom, keep going.
29:51Armand, it's, like, literally falling all over.
29:54Five minutes!
29:55Five minutes!
29:56Okay.
29:57My cake collapsed.
29:59I'm laughing and crying.
30:03Mama, it's okay.
30:04Oh, my gosh.
30:07Our cake is, like, falling.
30:09I don't know how to get it to stick.
30:11No, wait.
30:12You're smashing the rest of the cake down.
30:15Mama, it's okay.
30:16I'm trying to put this on the board.
30:17Mama, keep going.
30:18I don't even know what to do.
30:20Because this is something I've never experienced in my life.
30:24What am I supposed to do?
30:25Mom, it's okay.
30:26Keep going.
30:27Keep going.
30:28Do it.
30:29What's the time?
30:30We have one minute!
30:31One minute!
30:32One minute!
30:33Ah!
30:35Holy Spirit, activate.
30:36Look.
30:38Do what you can with it.
30:39You got this.
30:40Fly like the wind, Bullseye.
30:42Watch this.
30:43Okay, put this underneath.
30:44Ooh, Jesus.
30:46That feels dangerous.
30:47We're gonna rename this a dump cake.
30:51That's what we're gonna call it.
30:56Everything's melting.
30:57It's so hot in here.
30:58Pray that it doesn't fall over.
31:00Ten seconds!
31:01Oh, where's our angel?
31:02I made this angel.
31:04I made it.
31:05Hurry, hurry!
31:06It's going right up there.
31:08Bless it, Paula.
31:09So cute!
31:10Time's up!
31:13I don't want it to fall.
31:15Oh, no, no, no.
31:17That's broken.
31:18I did that wrong.
31:21No!
31:23I'm laughing and crying the same time.
31:25Hey, you gotta do it at the same time.
31:27I do the same thing.
31:30What happened?
31:32My stuff's been cool.
31:34It's a hot mess.
31:35No!
31:36Now it's time for the judges to taste.
31:42Salmon and Susan, you're up.
31:44It's based off Christmas trees that we've seen at the Homestead Resort.
31:47They truly deck the halls.
31:48Wow.
31:49How gorgeous.
31:50I mean, I love the ruched piping on the sides.
31:51It's really, really fun.
31:52Tell us about the flavor.
31:53Inside we have coconut cake layers, raspberry compote.
31:57It doesn't have a huge coconut flavor, but I think you've done a really nice sponge.
32:00It's light.
32:01It's airy.
32:02It's fluffy.
32:03Well done.
32:04Amy and Sally, you're next.
32:06It's a white Christmas tree because my girls love the movie White Christmas and my parents
32:13gave them the VHS.
32:14Y'all may remember those.
32:15Yeah.
32:16Gorgeous.
32:17It looks like a tree.
32:18The piping is very crisp.
32:19Your buttercream was at the right temperature, which I think is a sign of good technique
32:21there.
32:22The flavor is gingerbread.
32:23And then we have a bourbon vanilla buttercream in the middle.
32:26I think that's a good idea.
32:27It's a good idea.
32:28And you have a tart and a pepper.
32:29So, you're next.
32:30It's a white Christmas tree because my girls love the movie White Christmas and my parents
32:31gave them the VHS.
32:32You all may remember those.
32:33Yeah.
32:34Gorgeous.
32:35It looks like a tree.
32:36The piping is very crisp.
32:37Your buttercream was at the right temperature, which I think is a sign of good technique there.
32:40The flavor is gingerbread and then we have a bourbon vanilla buttercream in the middle.
32:46It's got such a gorgeous finish on it.
32:51You've got that lovely molasses feeling at the end of the cake.
32:55It's really good.
32:56It just reminds me of home a lot,
32:58because we did a lot of very molasses-y gingerbread growing up,
33:02and the bourbon is coming through, and I can taste it.
33:05Molasses bourbon? Oh, my.
33:07What more could you want?
33:09Sounds like a good Friday night to me.
33:11Yes.
33:13Marco and Steven?
33:16The inspiration came from my grandparents.
33:18Their tree change colors.
33:20Stop the lights! Look at this!
33:22Whoa!
33:24Whoa!
33:25We do have very psychedelic vibes going on in here.
33:29I feel like I'm in the 70s.
33:32See?
33:33What's the flavors?
33:34The ornaments on there actually cast chocolate.
33:36The sponge cake is orange with lime.
33:39I'm not really getting strong flavors of orange,
33:45and I'm not getting strong flavors of lime.
33:48Okay.
33:49I'm getting a little bit of a texture issue with the sponge as well.
33:52It's a little chewy, but you went there,
33:55and fortune favors the brave.
33:57It does.
33:58So, groovy baby.
34:03Karen and James, you're up.
34:05The cake is bay leaf, almonds, and lemon.
34:10I'm not sure I'm getting Christmas tree.
34:12I'm getting more of, like, a tiered cake.
34:14I don't know if it necessarily meets the brief.
34:19The flavor's amazing.
34:20It's interesting.
34:21I love the texture of the flaked almonds on the outside.
34:24They really complement the flavor of the bay.
34:26Well done.
34:27Inda and Armand, come on up.
34:31We have a mocha Dutch chocolate cake we call cafe con leche.
34:37There is a peppermint buttercream.
34:39Enjoy.
34:40Well, we asked you for 3D.
34:43That's a lot of Ds right there.
34:47Why do you think it collapsed?
34:49Well, the cake was not cooled down sufficiently.
34:52Okay.
34:53Well, let's taste it.
34:54Yeah.
34:55It seems a little underbaked or soggy.
35:02I think you have some good individual flavors here.
35:05Feel like there isn't a full gel of the flavors together.
35:08Hey, it would make a good cake pop.
35:10Absolutely.
35:11Put that thing in a mixer and just blend it around.
35:13Brilliant idea.
35:14You know?
35:15That's what I like to do with all...
35:16I mean, hey, we all have baking fails, right?
35:19We have.
35:20It's just part of the journey.
35:21Yeah, it's just part of the journey.
35:22Yes, I see.
35:23Wow.
35:24Thank you, guys.
35:25Thank you all.
35:26Thank you so much.
35:27Rosanna and Rosa, you're next.
35:31This was our living room tree, the traditional one.
35:33And inside, it's a pistachio cherry cake, carrying out our Italian culture.
35:40The flavors are quite lovely.
35:42The tartness of the cherry really complements and balances it.
35:46Your icing has melted, but I think the presentation is excellent.
35:52Gabriel and Ben, you're up.
35:56This is going to be our very first Christmas with our baby.
36:00So that is what we wanted to bring to life.
36:02Well, it looks fantastic.
36:04Yeah.
36:05I mean, it looks absolutely incredible.
36:07My mom always made spice cake for us around the holidays, so we made a spice cake.
36:16Spice is mild.
36:17The cake is really nicely baked.
36:18It's got a lovely crumb on it.
36:20That is a really well-executed cake.
36:22Yeah, it's just so clean.
36:23So, congratulations.
36:24The comeback kids.
36:25Every week.
36:26Come on.
36:27Well done.
36:28Sade and Renee, you're next.
36:30Today we made for you Kamari's superhero Christmas tree cake.
36:37Oh.
36:38Kamari is my four-year-old son.
36:40This cake features all of Kamari's favorites, so it has chocolate cake, chocolate chip cookies,
36:45because Kamari loves chocolate chip cookies.
36:47Oh.
36:48Oh.
36:49Why are you ladies emotional right now?
36:52Uh, we really wanted to do him proud.
36:54Yes.
36:55I just have to say, as a mother, too, we're never perfect.
36:59And our children, all they truly care about is that we're doing our best and that they feel that love.
37:06Our first bake together was when he was three months old.
37:10And I was holding him on my hip, and I was pouring a bag of chocolate chips, and my first baking lesson,
37:15my first tip to him was that we don't measure chocolate chips in chocolate chip cookies.
37:19We just pour with our heart.
37:25It's such a nice chocolatey flavor, which isn't always easy to get with a sponge cake.
37:31And yeah, I like the crunch of the sprinkles.
37:34I like where you were going with the chocolate chip cookie crumble in there.
37:38That is a cake that my nephew would love, because he loves superheroes and he loves chaos.
37:44I don't think your cakes are fully cooked.
37:48Oh, okay.
37:50Quite a few things have gone wrong for you here, and it just feels so unfair.
37:54Oh, that's so nice to see everything.
38:06You guys got a very tough decision to make.
38:11Yeah.
38:12Gabriel and Ben redeemed themselves, but Inda and Armin were in your top three and then struggled.
38:20Oh, the day. The day we've had. Rollercoaster.
38:25I love their holiday classic, but to see the final product from the ultimate bake was unfortunate.
38:32Shade and Renee struggled with the cookies and the Christmas tree cake.
38:37Coming out of challenge one, challenge two, a little bit of a letdown, I'm not going to lie.
38:41Honestly, we know how you feel. We were just there not too long ago.
38:45But we've seen you both make incredible bakes in the story.
38:48That was beautiful. You got me. I was emotional.
38:51Also, it tastes incredible.
38:53I think when it comes to flavor and story, Shade and Renee are wizards. I think they're brilliant.
38:59And their holiday classic was really good. They just were missing the cookie part of the wreath.
39:05Oh, this is so hard. That's true.
39:07It's all on you guys. I'm glad I don't have to do it.
39:12But I'm like such a better baker than what we did today.
39:17You're a better baker, period.
39:20Arman might be hanging out in my apron.
39:23We saw some pretty amazing Christmas decorations today.
39:37Let's start with the good news first.
39:39Who were the strongest baking team?
39:41One team really excelled in both bakes today.
39:45Seeing as today's theme is Deck the Halls,
39:48really their decorations were pretty top-notch.
39:53So the winner today is...
40:02Amy and Sally!
40:03Wow!
40:09Roll Tide!
40:12Sadly, there is one team that is going to be leaving us today.
40:18The two teams that struggle today were...
40:20Renee and Shade and Arman and Inde.
40:26This competition is all about baking with love.
40:31We all have got stories to tell,
40:33and some people are better curating them and applying flavor to them.
40:38So there's one team that I feel in captured flavor and story better than the other.
40:44And the pair that is leaving us this week is...
40:47And the pair that is leaving us this week is...
40:57Arman and Inde.
41:01I am so sorry.
41:03Please hang up your aprons in the barn.
41:06We hope you continue baking with love.
41:09Thank you, guys.
41:15Very interesting day.
41:17It was such a high this morning, and then it just all went downhill.
41:22Keep crashing down.
41:24But you know what?
41:26The experience was so fun, and we just tried to stay positive and see the joy in what we were doing.
41:31And I'm just so freaking proud of my mom.
41:34Aw, thank you.
41:35I love you so much.
41:36And you know what?
41:38We tasted it, and it was good, and we're proud still of what we did.
41:43It's so difficult to send anybody home, but I thought it was really important that the team that had the most potential stayed.
41:52Rene and Sade, the way they tell stories through flavor, through love and passion, I think they have something really special.
42:02And next week, they need to come back fighting.
42:04We're grateful to just get another opportunity to try again, because baking is my passion. I really do love it.
42:11It's just the idea of having, like, potentially one of our grandmother's recipes in a Hallmark movie. It just would be a dream.
42:17Would be a dream.
42:47We're so grateful to him!
42:49Thank you, Michael!
42:52.
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