Holiday Baking Championship S12E08

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Transcript

00:00:00Finally!

00:00:01It's now every baker for themselves.

00:00:03I have a good feeling.

00:00:04I'm making it to the finale.

00:00:06The theme was retro Christmas desserts.

00:00:09Ruby cake!

00:00:10And Ashley earned an early ticket to the finale

00:00:13by winning back-to-back challenges.

00:00:15Stop.

00:00:16You killed it, baby.

00:00:17Tart took the main heat win.

00:00:19I love this.

00:00:21And it was Giancarlos who said his final goodbye

00:00:23to the village.

00:00:24Love you!

00:00:25Bye!

00:00:26Bye, village!

00:00:27Moments away, it all comes together

00:00:29in one nail-biter of a finale.

00:00:32I'm gonna have a mental breakdown.

00:00:41Tonight, the final five fakers are going all out.

00:00:46You are the final five!

00:00:50Originally on the nice team,

00:00:51Chase has hovered near the top most of the competition.

00:00:54Chase!

00:00:55Yes!

00:00:56Chase!

00:00:57Well done!

00:00:58Uh-huh!

00:00:59Chase!

00:01:00Yes!

00:01:01Yes!

00:01:02Yes!

00:01:03But he can struggle with decorating.

00:01:04I made a filling with forest green,

00:01:05and I had to throw it out because it was too green.

00:01:07So this is my third time.

00:01:08Can he bring it all together to win the big prize?

00:01:11This is mine, everybody.

00:01:13Hey, Charles.

00:01:14Yeah?

00:01:15She's also making a bun cake.

00:01:16Yeah!

00:01:17Wow.

00:01:18Let the best baker win.

00:01:20Charles started out on the Naughty team for a good reason.

00:01:23You should, like, do the...

00:01:24Yeah.

00:01:26And took a long time to break through with the win.

00:01:28I'm a little sick of being the bridesmaid,

00:01:29ready to be the bride.

00:01:30It brings tears to my eyes.

00:01:36Charles!

00:01:37Oh, thank you, thank you.

00:01:38But everyone thinks he's a contender.

00:01:40Everything comes down to this.

00:01:41No pressure.

00:01:42But you can make this Ashley's world.

00:01:43Yeah, this is my world.

00:01:44Ashley began on Team Naughty

00:01:46and carried them through several challenges.

00:01:48How does your back feel?

00:01:49From holding the weight of the team...

00:01:51No, I'm kidding.

00:01:52From carrying the Naughty team?

00:01:53Ashley.

00:01:55Ashley.

00:01:56Good job, Ash.

00:01:57Nice.

00:01:58Will this self-described,

00:01:59strong, independent woman take it all?

00:02:01I want to kind of steal the show, so...

00:02:05Okay, judges.

00:02:06Happy Hanukkah.

00:02:07Niko is the wildest wildcard in the Holiday Village.

00:02:12He's incredibly creative.

00:02:14Today we are celebrating Krismaka.

00:02:16I'm gonna make a pig eating some bacon.

00:02:18Oh, God.

00:02:19Food Network, please don't cancel me.

00:02:21This 22-year-old culinary school graduate

00:02:23has overcome so much.

00:02:25Niko!

00:02:26Oh, my God.

00:02:29I did not think I was going too loud.

00:02:31He wants to make his mark in his own way

00:02:33and win, win, win.

00:02:34That's why I'm on the Naughty team.

00:02:35I break the rules.

00:02:36I'm pretty nervous,

00:02:38because I was, like, on edge.

00:02:39College student Tarek,

00:02:40the youngest baker in the kitchen,

00:02:42he came in wanting redemption

00:02:43from his near-miss six years ago

00:02:45in another competition.

00:02:46He struggled early.

00:02:47That leaves Tarek and Daniel.

00:02:49Gentlemen, please step forward.

00:02:50But lately, he's been on the upswing.

00:02:53Tarek!

00:02:54I'm gone!

00:02:55Eating seasoned pastry chefs

00:02:56at their own game.

00:02:58Really?

00:02:59Who will become holiday baking champion?

00:03:03Fire you off.

00:03:05Oh, boy.

00:03:07Oh, my God.

00:03:08Oh.

00:03:09Oh, God.

00:03:10Stupid holiday elves.

00:03:12Just the worst.

00:03:14Oh.

00:03:15Hey, bakers.

00:03:16Hi, Jesse.

00:03:17Congratulations on making it to the finale.

00:03:19I'm so proud of you all.

00:03:20I'm so excited.

00:03:21I'm so proud of us.

00:03:22You survived a lot to get here,

00:03:23but the road ahead is not easy,

00:03:25so let's get started.

00:03:27Just a fair warning.

00:03:28The Naughty Elf snuck in last night,

00:03:30and I'm inspired by the Little Mischief Makers

00:03:32to bring you some mischief of my own.

00:03:34Okay.

00:03:35What does that mean?

00:03:36For your pre-heat challenge,

00:03:37make any dessert you like

00:03:39with Naughty Elf-themed decorations

00:03:41and naughty ingredients like

00:03:43red curry.

00:03:45Avocado.

00:03:46Interesting.

00:03:47Jalapenos.

00:03:48Ooh.

00:03:49I'm into that.

00:03:50You can't have that one, Charles.

00:03:51What the hell?

00:03:52Black licorice or sauerkraut.

00:03:56Ooh.

00:03:57Naughty Naughty.

00:03:58Well, then I bet you're wondering,

00:03:59how are we gonna assign

00:04:00all these different ingredients?

00:04:02Well, the naughty answer is,

00:04:05you're gonna be bidding with your own baking time

00:04:08for the right to assign these ingredients.

00:04:11Oh, my God.

00:04:13Whoa.

00:04:14So here's how it's gonna work.

00:04:16There are two and a half hours on the clock.

00:04:18You may bid in five-minute increments

00:04:19of your own baking time

00:04:20for the ability to assign all the naughty ingredients

00:04:23to everybody, including yourself.

00:04:25Oh.

00:04:26Oh.

00:04:27And just to be clear,

00:04:28if you are the winning bidder,

00:04:29everyone else gets two and a half hours for this bake,

00:04:31and whatever you bid gets taken off your clock.

00:04:34Now, you know you need to make a Naughty Elf dessert

00:04:36with one of these ingredients.

00:04:38But did I mention that you are baking to skip the next heat?

00:04:41Yeah.

00:04:42Which, by the way, is an elimination heat.

00:04:45Yeah.

00:04:46Okay.

00:04:47And win a free pass to the final bake,

00:04:49where one of you will leave the holiday village with $25,000,

00:04:54a feature in Food Network magazine,

00:04:57and, of course, the title of holiday baking champion.

00:05:02Whoo!

00:05:03Whoo!

00:05:04So, the stakes could not be higher.

00:05:07So, what's more important to you?

00:05:09Time or avoiding a tough, naughty ingredient?

00:05:13I think I understand the power that comes with giving out these assignments.

00:05:17You can really put people in a good spot or in a bad spot,

00:05:20and it's the finale.

00:05:21So, I want this power, and I don't really want to hold back

00:05:24because $25,000 is on the line.

00:05:27Okay.

00:05:28Let's kick this thing off.

00:05:29Show of hands.

00:05:30Who's ready to bid five minutes off their bake?

00:05:32Five minutes.

00:05:33Five minutes.

00:05:34Do I see ten minutes off of their own baking time?

00:05:35I'll do ten.

00:05:36Oh, the fighting.

00:05:37Fifteen minutes off of 150.

00:05:39That's a lot of time.

00:05:40Fifteen.

00:05:41I'll go.

00:05:42Oh, Nico joins in at 15.

00:05:44I love the confidence.

00:05:45Is anybody willing to go 20 minutes off of their baking time?

00:05:49I'll do 20 minutes.

00:05:50All right.

00:05:51Charles gives 20 minutes.

00:05:52Nico.

00:05:53No, I'm good.

00:05:54Sold to Charles.

00:05:56So, come on up here.

00:05:57Let's take a peek.

00:05:58Let's see what you want to do.

00:06:00Oh, God.

00:06:01What do you want to bake with?

00:06:03Black licorice.

00:06:04Black licorice for Charles.

00:06:06Wow.

00:06:07Interesting.

00:06:08How come?

00:06:09I love black licorice, and it's the only sweet thing that's really on here.

00:06:15Well, that was the really fun and naughty part.

00:06:17You get to assign flavors.

00:06:19Who would you like to start with?

00:06:21Only because I'm feeling naughty.

00:06:23Tarek, come get sauerkraut.

00:06:24Oof.

00:06:25Oh, what a pity.

00:06:27Wow.

00:06:28Man.

00:06:29I'm actually okay with this.

00:06:31Happy Christmas.

00:06:33I'm going to make a bomb sauerkraut cake.

00:06:34You'll see.

00:06:35Next baker.

00:06:36I'm going to do Chase with red curry.

00:06:39Chase, come on up.

00:06:40Red curry is yours.

00:06:41We'll give Nico jalapeno.

00:06:43Look.

00:06:44Nico looks very cheesy.

00:06:45I was going to pick that for myself.

00:06:47I think Ashley want to give her avocado.

00:06:51Okay.

00:06:52Secretly wanted that one all along.

00:06:54Mm-hmm.

00:06:55Just kidding.

00:06:56That's what they all said somehow.

00:06:57Interesting.

00:06:58You did a good job with that.

00:06:59That was funny.

00:07:00That was funny, Charles.

00:07:01All right, holiday bakers.

00:07:02You got your naughty ingredients.

00:07:03Make sure the judges taste your assigned ingredient in the dessert.

00:07:06Everybody but Charles has two and a half hours on the clock.

00:07:11And your baking time starts.

00:07:13Now.

00:07:14Charles, you can come on up with me and hang out.

00:07:16No problem.

00:07:1720 minutes.

00:07:18You got some time to kill.

00:07:19No, don't take it.

00:07:21Don't take the thing I need.

00:07:24I took the speculation.

00:07:25Perfect.

00:07:26Then I don't care.

00:07:27All right, bakers.

00:07:28It's your last preheat Naughty Elf dessert with naughty ingredients.

00:07:31Looks like you and I got some time to just kind of hang.

00:07:33A little bit.

00:07:34You kind of jumped all over black licorice.

00:07:36Was there one that you absolutely were like, I do not want?

00:07:39The one I didn't want was sauerkraut.

00:07:41My favorite.

00:07:43You think Tarik's going to struggle with it?

00:07:45We'll see.

00:07:46I literally gave it to him because he said he didn't want it.

00:07:47So that was my whole thought process.

00:07:49Yeah, it's so naughty.

00:07:51Oh, God.

00:07:54There's nothing good about this.

00:07:56Sauerkraut's just not good.

00:07:58It's very acidic.

00:07:59It's not like a weird funk to it.

00:08:01And it definitely doesn't go well in a dessert.

00:08:04But I got to use it.

00:08:05Like, that's my ingredient.

00:08:06So I'm just going to try my best with this.

00:08:07I'm going to try to play into the funk with maybe like a cheesecake.

00:08:10My cheesecake will be layers of my speculose and coconut crust, sauerkraut cheesecake filling,

00:08:16my caramel, and I'll also add deep fried sauerkraut on top.

00:08:20And I'm going to decorate the tops of them with little butt cracks because I feel like that's a pretty naughty.

00:08:26That's why.

00:08:27I thought it'd be funny.

00:08:28It's like definitely like a big joke in my family, right?

00:08:31You know, butt humor.

00:08:32It's funny.

00:08:33And for a naughty elf, it felt pretty appropriate.

00:08:35I don't know why, but I'm a big proponent of making cheesecake with a hand mixer.

00:08:38I feel like you can get it more incorporated.

00:08:41So that's what I'm going to do.

00:08:42While my crust is in the oven, I can make my filling.

00:08:45So I started off by taking my sauerkraut, drained, and I cooked it with some apple juice, some brown sugar, some butter, some orange zest, and some salt.

00:08:53Until the sauerkraut lost its funky taste and rather turned it more like caramelized.

00:08:58And then I add my sour cream, my mascarpone, my cream cheese, my eggs, my vanilla, my corn starch.

00:09:05All right.

00:09:08That's fine.

00:09:10So strong smelling.

00:09:13Oh my god.

00:09:14And I was assigned red curry paste.

00:09:18For the most part, I like it.

00:09:19It's a bold, intense flavor.

00:09:21It's not like I have to worry about it disappearing.

00:09:23I just have to worry about it overtaking.

00:09:26There's some garlic.

00:09:27There's some like really savory things in it that I know I need to mask with a decent amount of sugar.

00:09:32I want the spice to come through.

00:09:33I want the punchiness to come through, but I don't want it to taste like curry curry.

00:09:37So I'm going to play with chocolate and caramel to really like balance out the spicy flavor.

00:09:41I'm not going anywhere from you, caramel, because I only have time to do you one time.

00:09:50So I'm going to do it right.

00:09:51I'm going to make a chocolate caramel mousse cake with a cake layer on the bottom.

00:09:56Every layer is going to have a little bit of curry in it.

00:09:59Then I'm going to candy some peanuts with curry on the top, pulverize it.

00:10:03And to decorate, I will make a mischievous little elf cookie that has taken a bite out of my cake.

00:10:08Nothing like red curry cream.

00:10:10Red cream.

00:10:11How are you feeling about your avocados, Ashley?

00:10:13I mean, I'm fine.

00:10:14They're ripe enough.

00:10:15I got avocado.

00:10:16So I'm making an avocado cheesecake and with a cinnamon graham crust.

00:10:22That's perfect.

00:10:24And then I'm going to do an avocado curd and a avocado whipped ganache.

00:10:28And to decorate, I'm going to make a naughty elf who is surrounded by cookies, a Christmas tree, and a not-so-sorry, sorry letter to Santa.

00:10:39Just blending all my avocados now, and I'm adding a little bit of the lime juice to brighten it, but also to keep it from turning brown.

00:10:47Working with avocado is the fact that it's very subtle in flavor.

00:10:50I'm just using a lot of cream and white chocolate to help enhance that creaminess that avocado gives.

00:10:58The baker that wins pre-heat gets to go straight to finale.

00:11:02I am ecstatic.

00:11:03And I mean, this is the motivator for me that's going to fast track me to the finale.

00:11:07And that's the spot I want to be in.

00:11:10Guys, less than one minute.

00:11:11Charles is entering the arena.

00:11:13Oh, you haven't started yet?

00:11:14That sucks.

00:11:15I think two hours and ten minutes is enough time for me to have a successful dessert.

00:11:20Every minute counts, but we'll see what I can get done.

00:11:23Three, two, one.

00:11:25Off you go, Charles.

00:11:27It's time.

00:11:28Black licorice time.

00:11:29Black licorice.

00:11:30It's going to be a lot of fun being behind.

00:11:32I'm not behind.

00:11:33I'm not behind.

00:11:35That's what he wants you to think.

00:11:38I assigned myself black licorice, which I know is controversial, but I personally love it.

00:11:42The inspiration really for choosing black licorice is my mentor, Chef Melissa Root.

00:11:48She was the executive pastry chef I learned under, and after she left, I got promoted up.

00:11:54So she's been a huge influence on my career.

00:11:57So I kind of want to do a dessert inspired by her with a bunch of different dark black ingredients to tie into this black licorice theme.

00:12:04I'm making a black licorice butterscotch tart with black currants, black cocoa, black sesame to really make this very dark, knotty tart.

00:12:15To decorate my tart, I want to make a little black sesame whipped cream with a little licorice in there to pipe around the border.

00:12:22And then I want to make a wanted sign for the elf that vandalized the holiday village.

00:12:28All right.

00:12:29Start of the show.

00:12:30Licorice, baby.

00:12:31I'm going to be putting the licorice in that main butterscotch layer.

00:12:35I'm going to steep the cream I'm going to use for the butterscotch with the licorice candy.

00:12:40Let it kind of infuse, blend it up so it's fully kind of dissolved and mixed in.

00:12:45Delicious looking licorice paste.

00:12:48And then cook that so it really has that licorice flavor and kind of a nod to the chewy texture of licorice.

00:12:56I am really excited to see your dessert, Charles.

00:12:58Me too.

00:13:00We're almost to the finish line, and you kind of have to just put it all out there to get that title.

00:13:04It is a little sad to come to the end of this journey.

00:13:08It's definitely missed my fellow bakers that I've really grown close to.

00:13:12But I'm definitely going to stay in cock with them after I beat them all and take the winning home.

00:13:18Tart dough is almost done.

00:13:19I'm going to get it in the oven.

00:13:21Anyone have heavy cream extra?

00:13:23I have some.

00:13:26You're so welcome, Charles.

00:13:28Oh.

00:13:29You're my favorite nice baker left.

00:13:30Wow.

00:13:31My naughty ingredient today was jalapenos.

00:13:34I love working with weird ingredients.

00:13:36I would have been happy with any of them, honestly.

00:13:37But jalapenos, I feel like, have a really lovely flavor profile.

00:13:40And to incorporate some spice into the sweet, I think it'll be fun.

00:13:43For my dessert, I will be making a jalapeno, lime, yogurt, and mint petit gateau.

00:13:47It'll include layers of a mint fouillotine crunch, a lime and yogurt sponge soaked with a jalapeno simple syrup, a jalapeno gelet, and a lime curd.

00:14:02It will all be encased with a yogurt and jalapeno syrup mousse.

00:14:06It will then be coated in a cocoa butter shell.

00:14:09And I'm going to decorate it to look like the naughty elephant itself.

00:14:12And I really want him to put out his little middle finger.

00:14:15Gelatine, we're going to make you set.

00:14:18Ta-da.

00:14:19This is a lot to do in two and a half hours.

00:14:21If just one of these elements don't work out, I don't know if I'll be able to get this all done in time.

00:14:27So that's really worrisome.

00:14:28I'm being really ambitious here.

00:14:30But, like, it's a finale.

00:14:31Go big or go home, right?

00:14:32Right now, I'm just making a jalapeno puree to put in my jalapeno gelet.

00:14:38Oh, much better.

00:14:39For this, I'm using just the flesh.

00:14:42So I want kind of like that, like, really, like, fruitiness of the jalapeno to come through in some aspects.

00:14:47And then I want that spice that the seeds provide in some aspects.

00:14:49I just want to celebrate in every way.

00:14:51Nico.

00:14:52Hey, yo.

00:14:53What's up?

00:14:54Dude, I feel like for the first time in a long time, you're working with an ingredient that you're excited about.

00:14:57These last few, we get assigned ingredient challenges, I have not been thrilled with what I'm doing.

00:15:01But it is very different this time.

00:15:03I love what I have.

00:15:04This could put you right into the main heat.

00:15:06Yeah, I really hope so.

00:15:07You could avoid the elimination round.

00:15:08Yeah, that would be really ideal.

00:15:10What would teenage Nico say to you watching you right now and seeing the success you've had here?

00:15:16Honestly, if I'm being so real, this is a little sad.

00:15:19Teenage Nico wasn't even sure he was going to get to this age.

00:15:22Really?

00:15:23Yeah.

00:15:24It's real depressing, but that's part of my story.

00:15:26I thought it was always just going to be dominated by my disorder.

00:15:29I had a pretty deep, dark battle with anorexia for a lot of my childhood, flu culinary school, the past eight years.

00:15:37And at a certain point, I was like, I can't keep living like this.

00:15:43Yeah, but I feel like if he saw me doing this, he would just be really proud that, not that I made it to this competition, but that I just made it here and that I'm able to do this.

00:15:56Yeah.

00:15:57Yeah.

00:15:58He'd be really proud.

00:15:59I think there's a lot of people back home that are really proud of you.

00:16:01They're going to be so proud when they see this, too.

00:16:02I'm proud of you.

00:16:03You're meant to be here.

00:16:04I hope you feel that.

00:16:05Yeah, I feel it.

00:16:06I think this is going to be my vlog.

00:16:09All right.

00:16:10Give me a hug.

00:16:11Come on in.

00:16:12Absolutely, brother.

00:16:13I'm so proud of you.

00:16:14This is the spice.

00:16:15I cut my ass off.

00:16:16Yeah, right.

00:16:17Jalapeno's making him cry.

00:16:18It's making everybody cry.

00:16:19Everyone know that.

00:16:20It was the peppers.

00:16:21It would be such an affirmation to myself of, like, I'm actually worth the time and effort that I've put into this, that other people have put into me to get me here.

00:16:30I really want to use this money to travel, explore, and experience the world.

00:16:35One hour left, bakers.

00:16:37What I'm going for is, like, a circle, and I want, like, a butt.

00:16:44So my components are all made, so now I'm working on my deco.

00:16:46To make my elf butt decorations, I'm going to use coating chocolates and pipe, like, a little round that I can place on top of my cheesecake.

00:16:54I use a round piece of parchment paper, and I spread out the skin tone coating chocolate, and then I, like, chill it, and I come back, and I just do, like, clothes with, like, green and red, and then I pipe the cheeks themselves with black coating chocolates.

00:17:05And it looks really good.

00:17:06It looks funny.

00:17:07It's definitely an elf butt.

00:17:08Hi, my name is Tark.

00:17:09I'm five years old, and I made a butt.

00:17:16I made my knife, and now I am going to get started on decoration.

00:17:23As my cheesecake is baking and my avocado curd is in the freezer, I now can get started on the decoration portion of my dessert.

00:17:30First, I start with the modeling chocolate elf that I'm trying to achieve and decide to go for a little bit of a mischievous face because, you know, he doesn't care what Santa thinks about him eating his cookies.

00:17:43Now I'm trying to make a little toupee.

00:17:45I don't know.

00:17:46Works for me.

00:17:47Okay, I think I am going to have time to do this freaking cookie, so let's do it.

00:17:51To decorate, I want to make some elf-like sugar cookies.

00:17:54I used gingerbread men cutouts for the elves.

00:17:57Oh, they're so cute.

00:17:59To decorate my elves, I'm using coating chocolate.

00:18:02I'm going to pipe on little hats.

00:18:03I'm going to make them have a nice little smile, even though they have done something very naughty.

00:18:08And I'm so confident in my bake.

00:18:11Obviously, I know decorating isn't my strongest suit, but I know it's a taster.

00:18:17I'm so silly.

00:18:20It's so funny.

00:18:21All right, please don't break.

00:18:24What just happened?

00:18:27Hello?

00:18:29No.

00:18:31How did this happen?

00:18:32This is my entire decoration.

00:18:34If it doesn't look good, I have to start over.

00:18:36And I don't know if I have the time for that.

00:18:38This is not good.

00:18:39This is not good.

00:18:40This is not good.

00:18:4130 minutes left.

00:18:47You're making a naughty elf dessert with the mischievous ingredient that, of course, Charles assigned you.

00:18:53Oh, I'm sorry.

00:18:55I'll fix it on the back.

00:18:56You'll never know.

00:18:57I'm just going to glue it together from the back, and I think it should be fine.

00:19:02It's not that bad.

00:19:03It's not great.

00:19:08Okay.

00:19:09Gorge-ina.

00:19:11Okay.

00:19:12I'm feeling great right now, okay?

00:19:14Now that I have all the components of my petite gâteau, eventually, once they're frozen, I can combine the two halves together to make one sphere with four inserts.

00:19:22Okay.

00:19:23Back in the blast.

00:19:24You balls are gonna be elves.

00:19:26Just you wait.

00:19:27Next, I want to make my elf hat out of a twill because I feel like I'll be able to shape it into that cone elf hat shape that I want.

00:19:34And I think it's just more fun than using modeling chocolate as decor.

00:19:37I think having an actual taste component on top will just be more impressive to the judges.

00:19:42Okay.

00:19:43Yeah, this works.

00:19:44Haha.

00:19:45Oh, no.

00:19:46Gnar.

00:19:47Actually, wait.

00:19:48It's not that bad.

00:19:51It's salvageable.

00:19:53110.

00:19:5430 degrees to go.

00:19:56Experimental butterscotch.

00:19:57Charles, how we doing?

00:19:58We're getting there.

00:19:59Was it a good idea to bid for the 20 minutes?

00:20:03TBD.

00:20:04TBD.

00:20:05I'll know when the judges say I'm the winner.

00:20:10I have all my components made and they're in my tart, but this butterscotch is taking longer than I really expected.

00:20:16You can taste it.

00:20:17Once my butterscotch is ready, I pour that on top and have a nice flat layer of the black licorice butterscotch and then it's looking pretty good.

00:20:27And feeling okay on time, I think I'm kind of cutting into my decorating, but I just have to get this set because that's the priority and then I will just quickly throw together a beautiful naughty elf.

00:20:39Time's running out and I have to get some decoration made for this.

00:20:43So I quickly grab, gum paste, roll it out and start sketching out this elf face.

00:20:48Luckily I have a little experience drawing, so I want to make a wanted sign for the elf that vandalized the holiday village.

00:20:55Just because I know it can be black and white and just a, yeah, a naughty flair to tie into the whole challenge.

00:21:02All right.

00:21:03The hardest part.

00:21:04Wanted.

00:21:07Okay, bakers, it's that time.

00:21:0915 minutes to go.

00:21:10There's barely any time left.

00:21:11I quickly pipe a border and get my wanted poster on the tart.

00:21:15I slice a few pieces of the real licorice candy and put it on this garnish.

00:21:19I have fingerprints everywhere.

00:21:22This can't be happening.

00:21:24This is not looking good.

00:21:27What do you think, tart? Cheeky?

00:21:28It's a butt.

00:21:29It's a butt.

00:21:30Ashley, that looks so good.

00:21:32I was going for that retro green carpet vibe.

00:21:35I'm also going for my third win in a row.

00:21:37Every man for himself.

00:21:39For the decoration, I'm going to put my naughty elf off to the side.

00:21:42I'm going to put my scroll letter to Santa in the back, and then I'm going to put my Christmas tree behind my elf.

00:21:47This is when you should be well into your decorating.

00:21:50All of my heads are ready.

00:21:52All of my hats are ready.

00:21:54But I don't have any other decor.

00:21:56But I need to get these heads with these hats on these plates.

00:22:00Nico, are they going to have eyes and a nose and a mouth?

00:22:03Yes, sir.

00:22:04Okay, hurry up.

00:22:05Hey, who has the black edible marker?

00:22:08With about 30 seconds left, I know I need to give these guys at the very least faces.

00:22:13So I take a black edible marker, give them some mean mugs, some eyebrows and frowns,

00:22:18so at least give them not to naughty.

00:22:22Whatever.

00:22:24I'm going to make this look so much better than it does right now.

00:22:26I'll fix it, I'll fix it.

00:22:28Five, four, three, two, one.

00:22:35Time's up, mischief makers.

00:22:37Let's see who's going straight to the main heat.

00:22:39That's unfortunate.

00:22:40Didn't get a finger on, though.

00:22:42Time is out, and I have no time to put middle fingers on my plate, which is a bummer,

00:22:45because that would have been hilarious.

00:22:46Like, this is the finale, so I really wanted to go ambitious,

00:22:49I really wanted to go for, like, a lot of elements,

00:22:51but I don't think this looks like a finale-worthy dish right now.

00:22:54Oh, that's so sad.

00:22:56This just looks a little boring.

00:23:00Hey, Ashley, come on in.

00:23:02Hi.

00:23:03Ashley, good to see you again.

00:23:04Good to see you as well.

00:23:05All right, of course, you know our judges, Nancy Fuller.

00:23:07How do you do?

00:23:08Cartier Brown.

00:23:10Duff's still feeling a little bit under the weather,

00:23:12so please welcome Zach Young, talented pastry chef.

00:23:15Yes, very.

00:23:16If you say naughty elf three times, I appear, apparently.

00:23:22Well, Ashley, why don't you tell us which naughty ingredient you got for this?

00:23:25I got avocado.

00:23:26So what I've prepared for you is a cinnamon graham cracker and avocado cheesecake with an avocado curd and just a plain vanilla whipped cream.

00:23:35And then for my decoration, my elf got a little naughty and decided to eat Santa's cookies.

00:23:40And then felt a little bit bad, so he decided to write a little love note and then took it back and said, no, I'm not really that sorry.

00:23:48I think that's pretty naughty, Ashley.

00:23:51And especially with the smirk on his face.

00:23:54It's so naughty elf and holiday.

00:23:56I love it.

00:23:57I'm not a fan of avocado and desserts.

00:24:00I'm so worried.

00:24:01When I heard avocado, I'm like, oh, what is she going to do with this?

00:24:04You nailed it.

00:24:05You made it enjoyable.

00:24:07Oh, Lord.

00:24:09Why'd you go first?

00:24:11The textures are beautiful.

00:24:13I mean, that cheesecake, it's so silky.

00:24:15The curd is so creamy.

00:24:17Beautiful work.

00:24:18Ashley, thank you.

00:24:20Thank you, Ashley.

00:24:21It was safe, but it was technically spot on.

00:24:27Charles, welcome back.

00:24:28Hello, judges.

00:24:29Tell us what you made.

00:24:30I made a black licorice butterscotch tart.

00:24:34Inside, I have some black currant jam and a black sesame praline.

00:24:39I really wanted to dive into kind of that color scheme.

00:24:42And then, yeah, I made a wanted poster of the naughty elf who kind of destroyed the holiday village.

00:24:48And kept it black and white, so it's really all kind of monochromatic.

00:24:51I think the tart itself looks great.

00:24:53The work is super clean.

00:24:55I get the wanted poster.

00:24:57Let's give it a taste.

00:25:00I hate black licorice.

00:25:02Same.

00:25:04Same.

00:25:05Thank you, chef.

00:25:06And I love your outfit.

00:25:07Oh, thank you so much.

00:25:08Very cute.

00:25:12I get the licorice in all components.

00:25:15The butterscotch.

00:25:16I'm very impressed with how you've created that texture to emulate chewing on a piece of licorice.

00:25:23I don't know about that.

00:25:25For me, the butterscotch layer took over so much that technically it's kind of hard to eat because the jam isn't really stabilized.

00:25:33The licorice is heavy, and then you're trying to cut into this very hard crust.

00:25:38It was just a little sloppy and a little bitter.

00:25:42All right, Charles.

00:25:43Thanks so much.

00:25:44Thank you, Judge.

00:25:46I liked it.

00:25:47I thought it was different.

00:25:51Hello.

00:25:52Hi, Tari.

00:25:53Good to see you.

00:25:54Okay, so what naughty ingredient did you get?

00:25:56I got sauerkraut.

00:25:58I know.

00:25:59That's what I thought, too.

00:26:00So what did you make?

00:26:01I made a sauerkraut cheesecake with a speculose and coconut crust and a sauerkraut caramel.

00:26:08And on top of it is battered and fried sauerkraut that's like tossed in cinnamon sugar.

00:26:12Tell us about the decorating.

00:26:14I've decided to go a little cheeky with it.

00:26:16Pun intended.

00:26:17What's that on the top of that cake?

00:26:19A butt.

00:26:24Is the elf mooning Charles for giving you sauerkraut?

00:26:31Perhaps.

00:26:32Perhaps.

00:26:35I've never been speechless.

00:26:40Oh, Nancy.

00:26:41Does the crack, I mean, crust look good?

00:26:46Oh, boy.

00:26:49Thank you, Tari.

00:26:50Well, I like this a lot more than I liked the look of it.

00:26:57I think the sauerkraut in the cheesecake was a really brilliant idea.

00:27:01It plays with the cream cheese so well and it gives you this kind of like farmer's cheese.

00:27:06So it's actually pretty tasty.

00:27:09I got sauerkraut all day long.

00:27:11It wasn't bad.

00:27:12It was creamy and it was light and fluffy.

00:27:15I didn't get enough of the sauerkraut caramel sauce.

00:27:20Okay.

00:27:21All right, Tariq.

00:27:23Thanks.

00:27:24I'm sorry.

00:27:25No, no apologies.

00:27:26Oh, my God.

00:27:27I have to say, I actually really like the cheesecake itself.

00:27:30Mm-hmm.

00:27:33Hello.

00:27:34Hi, Chase.

00:27:35Welcome, Chase.

00:27:36I have a red curry paste.

00:27:37Oh.

00:27:38I have a mousse cake.

00:27:40On the bottom is a chocolate cake.

00:27:42There is a red curry caramel, ganache, mousse.

00:27:45And then I made a cookie elf that has vandalized my cake.

00:27:49He took a bite here out of the front and has spray painted, walked all over the ganache,

00:27:55and left his tracks.

00:27:57I like the naughty aspect of it.

00:27:59I think the little elf is adorable and I like that you could tell he'd been eating a little dirty on him.

00:28:05I just wish the presentation had been as refined as how you describe the dessert.

00:28:11I could eat this all day long.

00:28:14The flavor is almost savory, but there's enough sweetness to make me want to keep eating it.

00:28:22It's like pang nang curry in a dessert form.

00:28:26My goodness.

00:28:27You're great with flavor, but you've got to work on your decoration.

00:28:30Heard.

00:28:32Make this caramel again, cook it a hair longer, and then individually package it and sell it.

00:28:39Like, first customer.

00:28:41Like, that is, I ripped it all out.

00:28:44All right, Chase, way to go, man.

00:28:47Thank you all.

00:28:48Thanks, Chase.

00:28:49Wow.

00:28:50Wow.

00:28:51Yeah, I could eat this whole thing.

00:28:52I am going to.

00:28:53Hi, Nico.

00:28:54Hi, Nico.

00:28:55Hi.

00:28:56All right, what naughty ingredient did you get?

00:28:58I got jalapeno.

00:28:59What did you make?

00:29:00A jalapeno, lime, yogurt, and mint petite gato.

00:29:03And then I made a little elf hat on top of it.

00:29:07Nico, this is not holiday baking championship worthy.

00:29:13What is this?

00:29:14That was brutal.

00:29:16I would start crying.

00:29:18I guess it's the fringe.

00:29:23The fringe on your hat.

00:29:25Yeah.

00:29:26Is not well affected.

00:29:27I have a lot more intentions with the core.

00:29:30That's a lot of elements packed into one little elf head.

00:29:35So I feel like you probably bit off more than you could chew with what's inside the head.

00:29:41I hope that everything that you put into that blender is delicious.

00:29:45Let's give it a try, guys.

00:29:49Nice little center.

00:29:51There is a lot going on.

00:29:53Separately, every layer is pretty delicious.

00:29:56First of all, jalapeno, I think, is excellent.

00:29:59You got a really nice punch from it, along with that kind of green pepper flavor.

00:30:05I loved it.

00:30:06I think it was absolutely delicious.

00:30:09And I could eat the whole thing.

00:30:11I love the mint.

00:30:12The mint brought a freshness.

00:30:14I think it's a great pairing with a jalapeno.

00:30:16You have redeemed yourself with the contents of the ugly elf.

00:30:21Nico, thank you.

00:30:22Thank you, Nico.

00:30:23I feel really hurt.

00:30:25I know the decorations were not what I wanted them to be.

00:30:28And I feel like it really, like, hit my soul.

00:30:31It hit me pretty heavy.

00:30:32I think it had too many components.

00:30:34But I really enjoyed it.

00:30:36And I really liked the mint.

00:30:40Well, bakers, I gotta say, two of you made it particularly hard for the judges.

00:30:44Ashley.

00:30:45Ashley.

00:30:46Yes.

00:30:47Awesome.

00:30:48And...

00:30:49Chase.

00:30:50Oh, wow.

00:30:51Okay.

00:30:53But only one baker gets a trip straight to the main heat from here, competing for all the dough.

00:30:58And it all came down to masterful use of the naughty ingredient in an undeniable bite.

00:31:04And that came from...

00:31:09Chase.

00:31:10What?

00:31:11Okay.

00:31:12Oh, my God.

00:31:13Yeah.

00:31:14I mean, no congrats.

00:31:16It's great.

00:31:17Wow.

00:31:18Chase, congratulations.

00:31:19You are in the final main heat.

00:31:22I don't even know what to say.

00:31:24Oh, my gosh.

00:31:26I can't believe it.

00:31:27I get to skip a heat and go straight to the competition for $25,000.

00:31:33Now I just need to win it all.

00:31:35And for the rest of you, there's one last hurdle before you get a chance at all the money.

00:31:40Come on, everybody.

00:31:41Let's take a walk together.

00:31:43Follow in the lead-o.

00:31:44Oh, no.

00:31:45Oh, my God.

00:31:46I knew it.

00:31:48I knew it.

00:31:49Ooh.

00:31:50See us down.

00:31:51What do you guys think?

00:31:52Anybody want one?

00:31:53I would love one.

00:31:54Huh?

00:31:55Please.

00:31:56Ladies first.

00:31:57Chase.

00:31:59Winner, winner.

00:32:00Niko.

00:32:01Spike, right?

00:32:02Only for you, Niko.

00:32:03Charles, there you go, sir.

00:32:04Cheers, everyone.

00:32:05Cheers.

00:32:06Cheers.

00:32:07Cheers.

00:32:08Mmm.

00:32:09Yum.

00:32:10I love a warm cup of hot cocoa this time of year, don't you?

00:32:13Nothing to eat, huh?

00:32:14It's just so...

00:32:17nice.

00:32:19It is quite nice.

00:32:21We know that the preheat leaned naughty with the elves.

00:32:23Now we want to embrace nice with a warm hug of hot cocoa.

00:32:27Love it.

00:32:28So for this final elimination challenge that we are calling the Hot Hot Heat,

00:32:33please create hot cocoa desserts with a Christmas theme.

00:32:36Remember, you're fighting to stay in the game.

00:32:40Whoever is the least successful is going to be leaving the Holiday Village just short of the chance to compete for it all.

00:32:47It would really suck to, like, go home right before the finish line.

00:32:51It would just be a huge blow, but I just have to put my best foot forward.

00:32:56So we want you to bake your best.

00:32:58There's no naughtiness, no tricks.

00:33:00It is a completely level playing field.

00:33:03And may the nice vibes help you make it through to this final bake.

00:33:07Cheers.

00:33:08May the nice be with you, honey.

00:33:09The four of you have only two hours to make the most impressive hot cocoa-flavored Christmas dessert you can

00:33:15to keep your place here and win a big advantage in the main heat.

00:33:20And your baking time starts now.

00:33:22Good luck.

00:33:23Go. Good luck, everybody.

00:33:24How are you, sir?

00:33:25I'm better now.

00:33:26All right.

00:33:27Chocolate.

00:33:28Let's do this.

00:33:29Move.

00:33:30Move.

00:33:31Get out of the way.

00:33:32Whoa.

00:33:33Aggressive.

00:33:34Corn syrup.

00:33:36Chocolatin.

00:33:37Good luck, bakers.

00:33:40Hey, I'm turning this bottom oven to 400.

00:33:45There's four of us, so it doesn't matter, but you know.

00:33:49I'm a little nervy, right?

00:33:51This is the last challenge someone gets eliminated before the main heat.

00:33:54So it's like either do good here or you're not in that last challenge.

00:33:57So the challenge is to make nice hot chocolate desserts.

00:34:02And I will be making a hot chocolate-inspired tiramisu.

00:34:08So for my dessert, I will be making a hot cocoa and espresso-soaked ladyfinger

00:34:13and a hot cocoa mascarpone cream.

00:34:15A ladyfinger sponge is super, super airy.

00:34:18The whole purpose of it is to soak up that liquid that you're soaking in it.

00:34:22So you want to make sure you're keeping all that air inside.

00:34:25That's why you're whipping both the whites and the yolks,

00:34:27to just keep it super airy and light.

00:34:29To decorate, I plan on making a white chocolate hot cocoa cup

00:34:33to resemble a literal paper cup that you would see hot cocoa in.

00:34:37This one is all for my mom.

00:34:39It is her number one dessert in the world.

00:34:42The critiques from the preheats just kind of took a toll on me.

00:34:46But that's really why I'm making a tiramisu.

00:34:48It's my mom's favorite.

00:34:49And after that, I just really need my mom's presence here.

00:34:53Especially in recent years with my recovery,

00:34:56I've put her through so many hard moments.

00:34:59She's had to watch her kid struggle so much.

00:35:02And I just know she's so proud of me.

00:35:04And I've caused her so much fear.

00:35:06It's really hard for me.

00:35:08But no matter what happens,

00:35:10knowing that I'm pouring my love for her into this dessert,

00:35:14it's what's getting me through this.

00:35:16What's up?

00:35:18Hopefully that works.

00:35:20A little pea mint.

00:35:23That's code for peppermint for the kids at home.

00:35:26Working in this industry is not easy.

00:35:29It's long hours.

00:35:30It's very stressful,

00:35:32especially in the high-end restaurant world.

00:35:34You're held to such a high standard.

00:35:36I've sacrificed so much.

00:35:38And getting the title in this competition

00:35:42would make all that worth it

00:35:44and prove that I'm doing what I'm meant to do.

00:35:47Hot cocoa dessert.

00:35:48What are you going to go with?

00:35:49I am doing a peppermint hot chocolate brownie.

00:35:53Ooh.

00:35:54Peppermint hot chocolate brownie.

00:35:56How's your brownie game?

00:35:57It's incredible.

00:35:58Is it gooey?

00:35:59It is.

00:36:00My belief is there's only fudgy brownies.

00:36:02If you like cakey brownies, you like cake, not brownies.

00:36:04I agree.

00:36:05To everybody out there listening,

00:36:07dry brownies, no bueno.

00:36:09Yeah.

00:36:10So I am going to make a peppermint hot chocolate brownie.

00:36:13I'm going to do peppermint milk chocolate brownie layer,

00:36:17make a hot chocolate ganache on top,

00:36:20and then make a peppermint buttercream to pipe on it.

00:36:23Ooh, and some rice treats I see.

00:36:25Yeah, I'm going to make marshmallow

00:36:27and I'm going to make a rice cereal treat

00:36:29in the shape of a Christmas tree.

00:36:30So I'm going to do kind of that tree lighting ceremony

00:36:32at the beginning of the holiday.

00:36:34I remember drinking peppermint hot chocolate

00:36:36at tree lighting ceremonies with my family as a kid,

00:36:39so just kind of tying it all together.

00:36:42Extra colorful lights to, you know,

00:36:46give the judges what they want.

00:36:47I just want to really prove

00:36:49that I deserve to be in that finale.

00:36:51It's too thick.

00:36:52We'll find out.

00:36:54Man, I'm sweating a lot in this suit and tie.

00:36:57My mustache is drenched.

00:37:00It's giving hot cocoa.

00:37:02I'm going to make a hot cocoa pot de creme

00:37:04with some chocolate pearls.

00:37:06A pot de creme is usually like a baked custard.

00:37:09Think like a creme brulee.

00:37:11My version, however, is no bake,

00:37:13because the way I make it is by basically making

00:37:16a creme anglaise and then pouring it into chocolate

00:37:18so it sets up.

00:37:19It has a texture of, like, a very soft pudding,

00:37:21almost like a high between a mousse and a pudding.

00:37:23So this figured, like, it was the best option

00:37:25for making a hot cocoa-based dessert

00:37:27because I feel like I'm essentially just making, like,

00:37:29fancier hot cocoa.

00:37:31And then I'm going to top it with my torched meringue

00:37:34and a graham cracker shortbread cookie decorated like a dog.

00:37:40Every Christmas, my grandparents and I will take a walk

00:37:43with their dog through the park

00:37:45and go get hot cocoa from this coffee shop in St. Louis.

00:37:48And I wanted to kind of emulate that experience

00:37:50through this dessert.

00:37:51So I'm playing with, like, s'mores

00:37:53because we roast s'mores in the fireplace every holiday,

00:37:55and I wanted to do something classic.

00:37:57And to me, hot cocoa and s'mores just makes sense.

00:38:00Like, that is my childhood.

00:38:02But we did it. That is fabulous.

00:38:04I really, really, really want to make it

00:38:06to the final main heat

00:38:07because it's just one bake away

00:38:09from winning the entire thing.

00:38:11And I was so close when I was a kid

00:38:13that if I can redeem myself, that would be awesome.

00:38:17But right now, I need to focus on getting through this one

00:38:20because if I mess up, I could be going home.

00:38:26Okay.

00:38:27It's a little under, but I'm going to pull it

00:38:32because I know Cartier links.

00:38:36Any nice memories of hot cocoa growing up?

00:38:38Actually, not really because I actually am not a chocolate fan.

00:38:43I know. I know.

00:38:45Who are you?

00:38:46I know. So then you have to make a hot cocoa dessert.

00:38:47What are you going to make?

00:38:48Yep. So today I am making a really good decadent brownie

00:38:51with a homemade marshmallow.

00:38:53Then I throw toffee bits in there

00:38:55and a malted milk chocolate sauce.

00:38:58You and Charles are both making brownies.

00:38:59I know. It's a battle of the brownies.

00:39:01It's a battle of the brownies.

00:39:02The brownie off.

00:39:03Yep.

00:39:04Okay. I asked him earlier.

00:39:05He said his brownie game is pretty amazing.

00:39:06Yeah.

00:39:07How's yours?

00:39:08I don't think I would have chosen it

00:39:09in this point in the competition

00:39:10if I didn't believe in it.

00:39:11Yeah. I mean, you need it.

00:39:12Hopefully.

00:39:13This takes you to the final bake.

00:39:14Yeah.

00:39:15With all the moolah on the line.

00:39:16Yep, yep, yep, yep.

00:39:17Well, how's your brownie going to look?

00:39:18I'm going to make it look like a little cup of hot cocoa

00:39:20so I've made a chocolate malted sauce

00:39:22for the, like, top to make it look like

00:39:25like a little hot cocoa cup

00:39:26and I'm going to make a little handle.

00:39:28Got it figured out.

00:39:29Hope that's enough decoration.

00:39:30Sounds like it's going to be pretty good.

00:39:32Well, I'm going to be enjoying this, I'm sure.

00:39:34Excellent.

00:39:35All right, Ashley. Thank you.

00:39:36See you later.

00:39:37The support system I have at home is incredible.

00:39:39If I won $25,000 in this competition,

00:39:42I have told my dad that I wanted to take him to Scotland.

00:39:45Kind of go back to the motherland of where he's from.

00:39:47My dad is a liver transplant recipient

00:39:50and has not been able to travel a whole lot

00:39:52the last few years ever since he got sick.

00:39:54And he now has the clearance.

00:39:57So I have one more competition

00:40:00and Scotland is calling our name.

00:40:0545 minutes to go.

00:40:07Everything is sticky.

00:40:08Everything is sticky.

00:40:12Oh, that's colder than I thought it was going to be.

00:40:14Praise Santa.

00:40:17Mmm.

00:40:18Just a thin layer.

00:40:19I want it to be sexy and even.

00:40:21I put a ganache on this brownie just because

00:40:23if there's any unevenness with the top of the brownie,

00:40:26it can kind of create a nice level surface.

00:40:29And it's just another texture.

00:40:30I want it to be a little on the soft side,

00:40:32so it kind of adds this, like, gooey aspect.

00:40:38Oh, my God.

00:40:42I try to loosen it around the edge, flip it out of the pan,

00:40:44and it is, like, not coming out.

00:40:47Oh, my God.

00:40:49This could not be worse.

00:40:58As my brownie is breaking apart,

00:41:00I am just, like, seeing myself getting eliminated.

00:41:04Oh, my God.

00:41:05I can't believe this is happening.

00:41:13How many minutes?

00:41:1420 minutes left now.

00:41:15Only three of you are going to move on

00:41:16to the main heat with Chase.

00:41:18Sadly, we're going to be saying goodbye to one of you

00:41:20after this challenge,

00:41:21so come on, bake your hearts out.

00:41:23We're so close to the end.

00:41:25I can't let this happen.

00:41:26I just go into, like, hyperdrive mode

00:41:29of how do I cover up this mistake as much as I can

00:41:32to still give a presentable dessert to the judges.

00:41:35I'm going to have to cover these sides.

00:41:41I really need to start my decorations.

00:41:43I am making a hot cocoa peppermint rice cereal treat

00:41:46that I'm shaping into a little Christmas tree.

00:41:48To decorate this Christmas tree,

00:41:49I am using a leaf tip,

00:41:52but I just actually cut it out of the piping bag

00:41:54instead of using a metal piping tip.

00:41:56All it is is just a V shape cut into the plastic bag,

00:42:00and then I make some royal icing just because it'll be faster

00:42:03and I think it will look cleaner and better

00:42:06as the piping of the greenery on the tree.

00:42:08Oh, my poor carpal tunnel.

00:42:10Next, I melt some colored chocolate

00:42:12and quickly pipe some kind of light bulb shapes.

00:42:15I do a variety of colors

00:42:17because I want to really make a colorful Christmas experience.

00:42:20Are these going to stick?

00:42:22Yeah, good enough.

00:42:24Those are done.

00:42:26I'm going to do a little painting moment.

00:42:28I'm going to paint this on.

00:42:29I'm going to paint my dogs.

00:42:30I'm making my icing to decorate my cookies with.

00:42:32I'm going to dye it and then I'm going to use both,

00:42:35like, a little squeeze bottle for some designs,

00:42:37but for the most part,

00:42:38because I'm trying to emulate, like, fur on a dog,

00:42:40I'm going to paint my cookies with my royal icing

00:42:42and I'm thinking it'll look really cute

00:42:44when it's all said and done.

00:42:45I'm leaving myself with enough time to do that.

00:42:47Oh, this is her.

00:42:50Right now, I'm just making what I'm going to attempt

00:42:54to be my chocolate cup that I'm going to put my tiramisu in.

00:42:57I pull out the excess just so there's a very thin layer left

00:43:00and then I put them in the blast freezer to set up.

00:43:02Once they're set up, I take a knife and very delicately

00:43:06cut into the paper of the cup to take out my cup

00:43:10made out of chocolate from within.

00:43:12Got one.

00:43:13Now that my cups have come out cleanly,

00:43:14it's time for me to start assembling this tiramisu.

00:43:17I'm just starting with a layer of Ladyfinger soaked in the hot cocoa

00:43:21and then I'm going to pipe some of my hot chocolate mascarpone cream

00:43:26and then just layer it like that.

00:43:28Okay.

00:43:29Two out of five.

00:43:30We're on our way.

00:43:31Fifteen minutes left now.

00:43:33Time is crunching.

00:43:34So I get started on my tuile cookie straws for my decor.

00:43:38I then split my batter into two bowls and I color one red and one green

00:43:42because for my straws, I want them to have a Christmas stripe to them.

00:43:46I'm flipping it upside down because I want to cut it,

00:43:48but I want it to stay on the hot board as long as I can while I cut it.

00:43:51And then that way I can roll it.

00:43:53All right.

00:43:54I set my cookies aside and start the handles for my coffee cups.

00:43:57All right, bakers, you got ten minutes.

00:43:59So nice.

00:44:00Ten minutes left in this elimination heat.

00:44:02Sadly, one of you will be going home.

00:44:04I'm making buttercream so I can hide my failures.

00:44:08The edges are so rough.

00:44:09I change plans and I make my peppermint buttercream and use that as edging to just kind of conceal

00:44:25the mistakes that I've made.

00:44:28I can't believe I'm putting buttercream on a brownie.

00:44:30Well, we got five minutes left.

00:44:31That's good.

00:44:32Now is the time.

00:44:33I ice the sides and press some peppermint candies into the edge to just hide as much of the rough state of my brownie as possible.

00:44:41Put my tree on there and by some miracle, it is actually not looking too bad.

00:44:47There's a breeze in this village.

00:44:50Can I do a little cocoa powder dust?

00:44:52I think I will.

00:44:53Ten seconds left.

00:44:54Ah, perfect.

00:45:00Oh, they're so cute.

00:45:02All right.

00:45:04Done.

00:45:06That's it.

00:45:07Who's hot cocoa desserts?

00:45:09We'll get them through.

00:45:17Judges, for the last elimination heat of the season, we're going nice with hot cocoa desserts.

00:45:22All right, so joining back up with his fellow bakers is, of course, Chase.

00:45:26Who enjoyed a nice little break after this Nass challenge after winning the last preheat.

00:45:30How are we feeling, Chase?

00:45:31Welcome back.

00:45:32I'm feeling pretty good.

00:45:33Not a care in the world.

00:45:35All right, first up is going to be Nico.

00:45:37Hi.

00:45:38Hi.

00:45:39All right, Nico.

00:45:40Tell us about this hot cocoa dessert.

00:45:41I've made for you a hot cocoa tiramisu, and this is a 100% love letter to my mom.

00:45:48She's my biggest supporter.

00:45:49She's like my absolute best friend, and tiramisu is her far and beyond favorite dessert.

00:45:53I like this.

00:45:54It's clean, it's tight, and it shows that you want to go to that finale.

00:45:59Yeah.

00:46:00We'll see how it tastes.

00:46:01Oh.

00:46:03Oh.

00:46:04All right, Zach, we'll start with you.

00:46:10I love that you made the ladyfingers.

00:46:12I think the sponge is perfect.

00:46:13It soaks up that cocoa liqueur beautifully.

00:46:16I think there's more chocolate in the ladyfinger than there is in the mousse.

00:46:20Yeah.

00:46:21But what a lovely bite of food.

00:46:23I mean, it's airy and light.

00:46:25And yes, there's a little hot chocolate, but it's a little watered down.

00:46:28I'm not getting a lot of hot cocoa.

00:46:31When I taste it separately, yes, but as one bite, mainly coffee.

00:46:35All right, Nico.

00:46:36Thank you, guys.

00:46:42All right, Charles.

00:46:43So I made a peppermint hot chocolate brownie with a gooey hot chocolate ganache on top.

00:46:49And I wanted to pay homage to the first time I had peppermint hot chocolate at a tree lighting ceremony.

00:46:55Your choice of piping on the tree is fantastic.

00:46:58It reminds me of those ceramic trees that have the little mini lights that I always wanted growing up.

00:47:03I never got that tree, so I just, I'm like obsessed with it.

00:47:08Peppermint hot cocoa, for sure.

00:47:13I love the flavor of it.

00:47:15But there's a little issue in the structure.

00:47:18I'm getting mainly ganache and about a half an inch or a quarter inch of brownie.

00:47:23So I don't know what happened.

00:47:26This is definitely the worst case scenario in this challenge because there's so much riding on this last bake before the real finale.

00:47:34How about you, Nance?

00:47:37I don't know.

00:47:38I got all brownie.

00:47:39So I'm happy.

00:47:40This is a hot cocoa brownie with peppermint.

00:47:43Charles, thanks.

00:47:44Thanks, you judges.

00:47:45Good job, buddy.

00:47:54Hi, judges.

00:47:55Ashley, great to see you.

00:47:56Good to see you as well.

00:47:57Okay, so tell us about your hot cocoa dessert.

00:47:58My hot cocoa dessert is a toffee brownie with a malted chocolate sauce on the inside.

00:48:05And it has a hot cocoa homemade marshmallow, whipped cream, and a tuile straw.

00:48:10The swirl that you got on the straw, the marshmallow, boink, boink, is perfect.

00:48:15Take a picture of this.

00:48:16This is a calendar.

00:48:17It tasted like a cup of hot chocolate.

00:48:20I like that the crunch is on the outside and your brownie is nice and soft on the inside.

00:48:27But the outside of your mug is a little too hard for me.

00:48:31It was a little hard to cut into, but the flavors are outstanding.

00:48:35All right, nice work, Ashley.

00:48:38Appreciate you.

00:48:39Thank you, Ashley.

00:48:40Okay, Tarek, a hot cocoa dessert.

00:48:44What did you decide to make?

00:48:45Being here, I just missed my grandpa's 80th birthday.

00:48:48And so I really wanted to dedicate a dish to him.

00:48:51So I decided to really emulate that hot chocolate flavor, like the one I had growing up.

00:48:56And I made a pot de creme with a graham cracker shortbread cookie and a torched meringue.

00:49:01I absolutely love your dog and the dog's hat.

00:49:05I think he's well done, well created.

00:49:09Cookie is fantastic.

00:49:10It is buttery, it is crumbly and sandy, and it's really, really good.

00:49:15Maybe a little too much of the royal icing.

00:49:17I think because it was served in a dish, you're headed for that pudding concept.

00:49:22I might have used a cup.

00:49:24The texture of your pot de creme is superb.

00:49:28You know, it just kind of like wilts off of the spoon.

00:49:32I'm wondering about the hot chocolate of it all.

00:49:35And I feel like had you done peppermint in that meringue, that would have brought me more into a hot chocolate space.

00:49:42Okay.

00:49:43All right, Tarek, thank you.

00:49:44Thank you, Tarek.

00:49:46Bakers, I gotta say, you did not make this easy on our judges.

00:49:52No, you did not.

00:49:54Your hot cocoa desserts warmed our hearts, but one was more memorable than the rest.

00:50:00And it really said hot cocoa and delivered on decor.

00:50:04And it came from...

00:50:07Ashley.

00:50:08Good job, Ash.

00:50:09Great job, Ashley.

00:50:11You are going to the main heat with an advantage in your pocket.

00:50:15And Charles, guess what?

00:50:17What?

00:50:20Your peppermint browning was also good enough to move you on to the main heat.

00:50:25You'll both see Chase there.

00:50:27That, of course, leaves Tarek and Nico.

00:50:30Please step forward, you two.

00:50:33I could still be going home.

00:50:34And it's between me and one other person that I'm really good friends with.

00:50:38This is a lose-lose situation.

00:50:42Only one of us can make it to this final challenge.

00:50:44It's heartbreaking because almost as much as I want to be there, I want him to be there, too.

00:50:50But I came here to win.

00:50:56Nico, we struggled to get hot cocoa flavor from your dessert.

00:51:01Tarek, your pot de creme was simple and, frankly, a little underwhelming for such an important challenge.

00:51:08You are both such talented bakers.

00:51:11And I hope you know that.

00:51:13Look how far you've made it.

00:51:16And might I add, two of the youngest bakers we had this entire season.

00:51:21This is the hardest goodbye.

00:51:23We are genuinely going to miss you.

00:51:26Unfortunately, the baker leaving the Holiday Village right now is...

00:51:37Unfortunately, the baker leaving the Holiday Village right now, just short of the chance to compete for the cash, is...

00:51:47Nico.

00:51:49Nico, I'm so sorry.

00:51:51You made such wonderful desserts.

00:51:56You made this experience so much fun for us.

00:51:59Yes.

00:52:00You absolutely should hold your head high leaving the kitchen.

00:52:04Take as much time as you'd like.

00:52:06You can say your goodbyes.

00:52:07And when you're ready, you can exit.

00:52:11You got a show.

00:52:12You can change your mind.

00:52:14Nico!

00:52:15I'm not busy.

00:52:16I don't know what to be.

00:52:17I can hang out.

00:52:18It could be a final five.

00:52:19I would have loved to have been in that final bake and like, had a shot for the end.

00:52:23But like, I just feel really great about what I did, what I presented in this last challenge.

00:52:29Woo!

00:52:30I'm waiting for a call back for Holiday Baking Championship All-Stars.

00:52:33I'm gonna just keep being me.

00:52:34Keep having fun.

00:52:35That's how to live life.

00:52:37Yeah.

00:52:38Au revoir.

00:52:40All right, thank you judges.

00:52:41We'll see you at the main heat tasting.

00:52:47All right.

00:52:48You guys have been through a lot.

00:52:51All right.

00:52:53All righty then.

00:52:54Guys, just grab a coffee.

00:52:55Just take a second.

00:52:56Oh, thank you.

00:52:57Just let it sink in.

00:52:58Cheers.

00:52:59Cheers.

00:53:00Final four, baby.

00:53:01Final four.

00:53:02There is just one more challenge standing between one of you and $25,000.

00:53:07Oh my gosh.

00:53:08And here's what it is.

00:53:09All season long, you've been naughty and you've been nice.

00:53:13And now it's the challenge you've been waiting for.

00:53:15It's really time to bring it all together into one large scale over the top naughty versus

00:53:21nice multi-tier cake.

00:53:23Oh my gosh.

00:53:24Okay.

00:53:25Do it.

00:53:26Okay.

00:53:27Okay.

00:53:28Oh my God.

00:53:29Okay.

00:53:30I'm excited.

00:53:31Best of both worlds.

00:53:32All right.

00:53:33Well.

00:53:34And your cake themes are Scrooge versus Santa.

00:53:37Cole versus holiday gifts.

00:53:39Naughty reindeer versus nice reindeer.

00:53:42And naughty nutcracker versus sugar plum fairy.

00:53:45Wow.

00:53:46Okay.

00:53:47Those are all fun.

00:53:48I know.

00:53:49Now, whatever theme you receive, the judges really want to see both images clearly represented

00:53:54in your decorating.

00:53:55They're also looking for a moist cake with wow flavors and a big visual impact.

00:54:00Oh, and Ashley, as the winner of the hot, hot heat, you get to assign themes for everybody.

00:54:05So why don't you come on up here?

00:54:06Okay.

00:54:07Take a look at that beautiful board.

00:54:09And first off, why don't you pick your own theme?

00:54:11I'm going to go naughty nutcracker and sugar plum fairy.

00:54:14Wow.

00:54:15How come?

00:54:16Wow.

00:54:17Because it's glittery for the sugar plum fairy.

00:54:21And nutcrackers are kind of sacred to our family.

00:54:24Like, my aunt collects them.

00:54:26All right.

00:54:27So you got your theme.

00:54:28Now, let's start giving some themes away.

00:54:30Scrooge versus Santa for Chase.

00:54:33Ooh.

00:54:34That's exciting.

00:54:35I'm going to go coal and holiday gifts for Charles.

00:54:39Okay.

00:54:40Because he kind of held us for that coal challenge with his lovely rock.

00:54:45And I want to see what he can do again.

00:54:47Oh, thank you so much.

00:54:48And then we're going naughty reindeer versus nice reindeer for Tarek.

00:54:54Because I feel like with that dog cookie that you just made, you're going to kill a reindeer challenge.

00:55:00Aw.

00:55:01That's really sweet.

00:55:02Here we go, bakers, for all the sugar.

00:55:04Remember, nothing here is cumulative.

00:55:07It all comes down to this bake.

00:55:09You have five hours.

00:55:11Wow.

00:55:12To complete your naughty versus nice cake.

00:55:14In hopes of being crowned the holiday baking champion.

00:55:19And your baking time starts now.

00:55:22Okay.

00:55:23It's too hot.

00:55:24All right.

00:55:25Whoa.

00:55:26I'm going to grab the ingredients.

00:55:27Where is it?

00:55:28I can't find it.

00:55:29I need this pot.

00:55:30Seems like a good place to start.

00:55:31We have five hours to make a multi-tiered cake with a naughty and nice theme.

00:55:44And while it sounds like a lot of time, it's really just not enough time to make a perfect multi-tiered cake.

00:55:50Because you have to make a lot of cake.

00:55:52You have to make a lot of frosting.

00:55:53A lot of your fillings.

00:55:54You have to really do a lot for your decorations.

00:55:56And since we only have five hours, you have to work at a very fast pace in order to get it all done.

00:56:01I can't believe there were 12 people that shared over this stuff.

00:56:03That's kind of insane.

00:56:04I've made plenty of multi-tiered cakes before.

00:56:06I even made a three-tiered cake in a college kitchen.

00:56:09This is the last bake we have.

00:56:10And I'm ready to, like, make this my best one yet.

00:56:13I was assigned the theme, naughty reindeer versus nice reindeer.

00:56:16I'm kind of excited about it.

00:56:17I think there's a lot of creativity I can bring into it.

00:56:20So I'm going to make a chocolate cake with cherry and raspberry, spiced compote, a mascarpone cream,

00:56:27some, like, pretzel, almond, fuitine, chocolate crunch, a Swiss meringue buttercream.

00:56:32Awesome. Cake's in.

00:56:34To show nice reindeer, I'm going to use one tier of my cake and kind of do, like, a bunch of reindeer pulling a sleigh

00:56:41and, like, a very, like, festive, very classic holiday design.

00:56:44And then for the naughty reindeer, I'm going to pull some inspiration from my college experience

00:56:48and have a bunch of reindeer basically, like, having a frat party.

00:56:52Just go as naughty as I can because I feel like nobody else in this room can get away with doing something like that.

00:56:58And I feel like it feels very, like, me.

00:57:00Holy cow.

00:57:01Hello.

00:57:02Look who it is and look where we are.

00:57:05We did it.

00:57:06You, no, no. You did it.

00:57:08I did it.

00:57:09You now are officially the youngest baker to ever make it to the final bake.

00:57:14That's sick. Oh, my God.

00:57:15Look, you've made history.

00:57:17At least I did something.

00:57:1925.

00:57:2025K.

00:57:21Big ones.

00:57:22I think this cake could be a $25,000 cake.

00:57:24Really?

00:57:25I think so. I think it'll taste that way.

00:57:26This is going to be great.

00:57:27Thanks, Jesse.

00:57:28Cheers.

00:57:29A card with a little evil L.

00:57:33My theme is cold versus holiday gifts.

00:57:36So I get to incorporate both those into my tiered cake.

00:57:40I am making a maple pecan cake.

00:57:42So there's a brown butter pecan cake.

00:57:44I'm making a maple caramel.

00:57:46I'm making some spicy candied pecans to kind of do that sweet and spicy for the naughty and nice.

00:57:51And then a pecan praline.

00:57:53To make my spicy candied pecans, I grind down some whole pecans to kind of, like, crumble pieces.

00:57:58I cook it in a spicy simple syrup.

00:58:01So it's just water, sugar, cayenne pepper, and a whole jalapeno sliced in half to really infuse the spice into the nuts.

00:58:09Hopefully it gives them that salty, sweet, spicy, complex flavor that will impress the judges.

00:58:16For my decoration, I'm going to do the cake kind of split down the middle vertically instead of doing different tiers.

00:58:21One half is going to be a coal mine, and then the other side is going to be this mountain of gifts and kind of North Pole holiday village.

00:58:29I want to do a third tier, which is a whole nother tier above the required two layers.

00:58:34One, because I like the height. I like the look of a three-tier cake.

00:58:38Hopefully that impact of a taller, kind of more statuesque cake can really set me above the other bakers.

00:58:44I need to toast it.

00:58:46I choose to do maple pecan because it was one of my favorite bonbons I made as a chocolatier in New York.

00:58:53And this was kind of a staple flavor at Per Se.

00:58:56Working at Per Se in New York City was a very formative part of my career.

00:59:01I am a perfectionist, and I hold myself to a very high standard.

00:59:04So it was very mentally challenging and physically demanding, and I've had to work on those holidays.

00:59:10So I haven't spent the actual days with my family.

00:59:13I would use that $25,000 to say thank you to my family and go on a trip.

00:59:19And I want to win this competition to prove that hard work and effort in this industry pays off.

00:59:27Making 12 cakes is no joke.

00:59:29Literally.

00:59:30Well, overachiever making a three-tier.

00:59:34Yeah, I mean, you did it to yourself, you know.

00:59:36Yeah.

00:59:37I need more space for my decoration.

00:59:39Two is just holding me back.

00:59:41Two is holding me back.

00:59:42We'll see if I regret that decision.

00:59:44Ooh, girl.

00:59:51Perfect.

00:59:53I got the advantage in this last round.

00:59:55The advantage was I got to choose my theme for my multi-tiered cake.

00:59:59And then got to assign everybody else their theme.

01:00:02I wanted to choose the girliest of all of them and do Sugar Plum Fairies.

01:00:06I didn't really mind the nutcracker, but that actually plays into the family because my aunt collects nutcrackers.

01:00:11That's good going on some cannoli smelling.

01:00:14I am doing a chocolate cannoli cake with a chocolate mousse center with a cannoli crunch and pistachios.

01:00:22So I'm hoping that it screams family and Christmas because we used to wait in line for cannolis at a bakery when I was a kid.

01:00:30And cannoli just speaks to me.

01:00:32So next I get started on my cannoli filling, and this contains ricotta, mascarpone, and the secret ingredient is goat cheese.

01:00:40Because I like things to be a little bit more sour than sweet.

01:00:44So it's going to be a little bit tangy, so kind of on that naughty side.

01:00:47For my cake, I am doing a square bottom that looks like a Christmas present.

01:00:51And I'm going to do two nutcrackers, and then I'm going to make some beautiful glittery sugar plums,

01:00:57and then at the top do this big Christmas tree and just really scream Christmas.

01:01:01I spent a lot of my childhood being told I wasn't enough in a lot of different ways.

01:01:07And that kind of broke me down a little bit.

01:01:11Now I am the executive pastry chef at the world headquarters of the Dallas Cowboys,

01:01:16and we do a lot of public events, and we also feed the players and the coaches and headquarters.

01:01:21And, you know, I have been able to persevere through a lot,

01:01:24and I'm here to prove that the eight-year-old little girl that was quiet and not confident in herself,

01:01:30has been able to persevere through a lot and go through all of the trials and tribulations,

01:01:35and that she was meant to be here.

01:01:38Perfect golden brown, just what I wanted.

01:01:41I'm in full-on panning.

01:01:45Oh, no.

01:01:46So I make my pastry cream, and I am adding just a little bit of cinnamon and a lot of nutmeg.

01:01:51I am adding some dark rum.

01:01:53What's eggnog without just a little bit of booze?

01:01:56Hello.

01:01:57Hello. How are you?

01:01:58You made it.

01:01:59You're back baking again.

01:02:00And, yeah, for my cake, I got Scrooge versus Santa.

01:02:02Which I love for you.

01:02:04I do, too.

01:02:05It's really funny.

01:02:06My boyfriend played Scrooge in a modern rap, Christmas Carol.

01:02:09So, yeah, it was hilarious.

01:02:11I chose a spice cake.

01:02:13Beautiful.

01:02:14And then I'm doing a spiked eggnog pastry cream, praline in there as well.

01:02:18That'll be nice and salty.

01:02:19I am going to do the bottom half is going to be Scrooge.

01:02:22Okay.

01:02:23The top half is going to be Santa.

01:02:24His beard's overflowing.

01:02:26Scrooge is in his pajamas.

01:02:27He's going to have chains all around him.

01:02:29Kind of giving, like, Ghost of Christmas past a little bit.

01:02:32Yeah, yeah.

01:02:33This has been a crazy journey.

01:02:34Yeah.

01:02:35What have you learned about yourself?

01:02:36I'm just walking away from this, no matter what happens, with a ton of new friends, with a lot more confidence in myself, with this spark in me again.

01:02:43That I can do anything that I put my mind to.

01:02:46I can dream.

01:02:47Okay.

01:02:48Whew.

01:02:49Yeah, I'm not going to cry.

01:02:50When I was 24, I had a really successful bakery, and it burnt me out.

01:02:55And now I'm in this competition, and throughout my time in the Holiday Village, I feel like I've reignited my spark.

01:03:01I really want to win this money because I want to put it towards another bakery or a bed and breakfast, but I really want to just do it right this time.

01:03:08Mm-hmm.

01:03:09Okay, there's only one thing left to do.

01:03:11Holiday Baking Championship yoga pose.

01:03:13Oh, let's do warrior two.

01:03:15How about a warrior?

01:03:16Warrior two, yeah.

01:03:17That's what we want.

01:03:18Chest is turned to the side, but your gaze is forward towards your hand.

01:03:21Awesome.

01:03:22Oh, yeah.

01:03:23Strong warrior, baby.

01:03:24Strong warrior.

01:03:25Rich warrior, I call this.

01:03:26Rich warrior, hopefully.

01:03:27$25,000 in my bank account warrior.

01:03:28Give me that money, warrior.

01:03:31Awesome, man.

01:03:32Thanks, man.

01:03:33Good luck, brother.

01:03:35Three hours to go.

01:03:36Give me a chance to impress the judges and walk out of here and champion.

01:03:39Oh.

01:03:40Oh.

01:03:41What did this oven do?

01:03:43All right, those are burnt.

01:03:45I burnt my pecans that I'm turning into praline, and I don't want to serve bitter nuts to the judges.

01:03:50I can't stack my cake until I get this praline made and cooled.

01:03:54I have a lot of things to make, and this isn't helping.

01:03:57A single mistake could cost me this competition, so I need to make sure it's perfect.

01:04:00Sorry, that's expensive pecans.

01:04:02I apologize.

01:04:03Take two.

01:04:04Two and a half hours left.

01:04:06You are making naughty versus nice cakes.

01:04:09It's time to lay it all on the line.

01:04:11Okay, fillings done.

01:04:13Wow, I'm on a roll.

01:04:14So far, so good.

01:04:16All right, to build my cakes, I'm going to start with my cherry and raspberry cake soak.

01:04:21This will keep it moist, add some nice, like, flavor.

01:04:23Then I'm going to pipe my border.

01:04:26A border's important because it helps prevent fillings from, like, going out.

01:04:30And since I have so many of them, I don't want to, like, risk my cakes collapsing at all.

01:04:34Then I'm going to put some of my crunch layer.

01:04:37Then I'm going to do some of my cherry and raspberry compote.

01:04:42Then I'll do my mascarpone with, kind of use it to, like, glue everything in.

01:04:48And that's, like, the filling, so I'm going to do my same, just kind of keep doing that.

01:04:52But, yeah, this is looking so good.

01:04:55Nice.

01:04:58This main heat is designed for everyone to really play up to their strengths.

01:05:01And everyone's very good at what they do when they do what they know.

01:05:05I've already beaten all of them before.

01:05:07So, like, I kind of, like, checked that box.

01:05:09But I just need to do it again, and I'll win.

01:05:11If I won, I feel like I should give back to my parents because they're my biggest supporters.

01:05:15They supported literally anything I put my mind to.

01:05:18And I can't think of a better use of $25,000.

01:05:22When I was nine years old, like, I had no idea how to do this.

01:05:24I feel like if I, like, told myself that I knew how to, like, make cakes just like this casually, crazy.

01:05:30Never would have believed you.

01:05:32Okay.

01:05:33Assemble these cakes.

01:05:35My biggest competition right now.

01:05:37I think Charles will be my biggest competition.

01:05:39Ooh.

01:05:40That was gutsy.

01:05:43He and I have done plenty of wedding cakes in our lifetime.

01:05:46Charles is very much an equal to me as well.

01:05:49He has been second for a lot of these competitions.

01:05:52And whether it be against me or someone else, I think my goal every week is just to beat out Charles.

01:05:58Moment of truth.

01:06:02Ashley, I was surprised myself with the speed with which I decorated my cakes.

01:06:06Amazing.

01:06:07I'm so proud of you.

01:06:09I mean, making cakes is really fun, but am I that great at it?

01:06:15Oh, I don't know.

01:06:17Stir my nuts again.

01:06:18I think they're done.

01:06:19Finally, I get my nuts toasted to perfection.

01:06:22I make my praline.

01:06:23It's cooled.

01:06:24It tastes delicious.

01:06:25I'm very stressed.

01:06:26I wanted to have a full two hours to decorate, but I am building cakes.

01:06:31But at least we're at that point.

01:06:33Oh, Charles is just now processing his cake?

01:06:37Homeboy.

01:06:38What's going on?

01:06:40You need to start decorating unless you can decorate like the Dickens.

01:06:44Talk about Crumb Co.

01:06:46Bakers, you got 90 minutes.

01:06:48Charles, have you started decorating yet?

01:06:50Uh, right now.

01:06:51Kind of got to get going.

01:06:52I got a whole hour and a half.

01:06:54Okay.

01:06:55Let us see what I have done.

01:06:57Oh, those are beautiful.

01:06:59Look how golden they are.

01:07:01I'm trying to leave myself with a lot of time so I can really focus on my decoration because

01:07:05I really want the theme to come across and the way I have it in mind.

01:07:08To make my nice and naughty deer, I'm going to decorate them with royal icing.

01:07:12So for the nice reindeer, I paint like a very cutesy like little face on it.

01:07:17But for the naughty reindeer, I go a little more cheeky and I have like their neck bent down

01:07:21and then I have like a little mischievous face on it.

01:07:24And the naughty reindeer are going to be drinking out of little plastic cups.

01:07:28Delta Alpha Slema.

01:07:29It doesn't matter.

01:07:30It's giving frat.

01:07:31It works.

01:07:32Foundations are there.

01:07:33The foundation is there.

01:07:34It's a very fat reindeer, but I don't care.

01:07:37He's got a beer belly.

01:07:38Pink and purple.

01:07:40This is coating chocolate.

01:07:42I'm going to make all of my little figurines for my cake out of coating chocolate and different

01:07:48variants of sprinkles.

01:07:49I originally had gum paste and all the things in mind, but building and baking and all the

01:07:54stuff of a cake in five hours happens a lot faster than you think.

01:07:59Using different colored coating chocolate and different textures of sprinkles, I make nutcrackers.

01:08:04And then for my sugar plum decorations, all I wanted to do was some candy theme and some glittery snowflakes and some sugar plums here and there, as well as a pastel tree as a little bit of a topper to add extra height to my cake.

01:08:19Doing some extra chocolate deco for my naughty side.

01:08:22It's fine.

01:08:23It's fine.

01:08:24We're going to figure it out.

01:08:25I need to make some chains.

01:08:26I need to make some coins.

01:08:27And I need to make my bah humbug.

01:08:29To make Santa's face, I am going to add some ivory food coloring to white fondant and cut out about a half circle just to frame his face so I can then work on his beard.

01:08:41For Scrooge, I am thinking v-neck pajamas.

01:08:44And I am piping on his crossover button-up collar.

01:08:49I am drawing on some chest hairs.

01:08:52I don't normally do faces, so this has got to be simple and it's a big deal for me.

01:08:57Scrooge has got to look like Scrooge.

01:08:5930 minutes to go, bakers.

01:09:01Less than an hour and I don't have a single decoration on my cake.

01:09:04I am stressed.

01:09:06Jesse is calling out times and the clock just keeps ticking down.

01:09:10I'm freaking out.

01:09:11I'm definitely feeling the pressure.

01:09:13I'm minutes behind everyone else.

01:09:15I need to get something on this cake or it's going to be disastrous.

01:09:18Moving fast.

01:09:19Oh, Charles is running.

01:09:21I've never seen Charles jog.

01:09:23Rude.

01:09:24I roll out some white gum paste to punch out some snowflakes that I'm going to use as the kind of transition border between the cull and presents.

01:09:32I use different colored chocolates to put into a square silicone mold and let that set so I can pop them out.

01:09:39And that will be some of my 3D presents.

01:09:41Then I roll out some marbled white and black fondant to make the entrance of my coal mine.

01:09:47My final minutes, I'm trying to just get as much as I can on there, give some final details to really tie it together.

01:09:53All right, bakers.

01:09:54Ten minutes left.

01:09:55Oh, my gosh.

01:09:56Whoa.

01:09:57Sorry.

01:09:58That was crazy.

01:10:00This is crazy.

01:10:03How you doing, Tark?

01:10:04Good.

01:10:05I just need to get, like, final touches on, stuff like that.

01:10:08These final minutes, I'm trying to bring the greed to Scrooge.

01:10:11Who's going home with $25,000 today?

01:10:14Me.

01:10:15Nobody else answered, so it's between me and Ashley.

01:10:19I'm freaking out.

01:10:21Final touches.

01:10:22Here we go.

01:10:23Ten seconds.

01:10:34That's it.

01:10:35Now it's all up to the judges.

01:10:37Whoo!

01:10:38Good job, everybody.

01:10:40My hands are hella sticky.

01:10:43Good job.

01:10:44We did it.

01:10:45We're done.

01:10:51Hey, Zach, thank you for coming in on short notice and being such an outstanding and phenomenal judge on the biggest, most important day.

01:10:58Yes.

01:11:00I mean, anything for my ladies.

01:11:03Aw, thanks, Zach.

01:11:05Judges, naughty versus nice cakes for everything.

01:11:09Chase, welcome back.

01:11:11Okay, so which theme were you assigned?

01:11:13I was assigned Scrooge versus Santa.

01:11:16So I made a spice cake with eggnog custard and almond praline and an orange buttercream.

01:11:22To decorate Scrooge, I represented the bah humbug and the ho-ho-ho contrast of Santa and Scrooge, and I gave him his chains, decorated with coins and money signs to represent him.

01:11:33And then in contrast, Santa is a jolly little face in his beard and his hat.

01:11:38He's brighter, bolder in color.

01:11:40I just want to know if the little V in the neckline is hair on his chest.

01:11:46Yes, yeah, that's his hair.

01:11:49Kudos to the humor, to your workmanship.

01:11:52I get bah humbug, obviously, which is naughty.

01:11:55And then you have this wonderful Santa whose eyes have such personality that's nice.

01:12:03Santa does seem to be leaning forward, probably from the hefty weight of his beard.

01:12:08So there's a little leveling issue on the top cake.

01:12:11All right, it's the moment of truth.

01:12:13Whenever you're ready, Chase, thank you.

01:12:15Ooh.

01:12:16Thank you so much, Chase.

01:12:23Oh, wow.

01:12:26Zach.

01:12:27This is absolutely delicious.

01:12:29The spice cake.

01:12:30It's warm.

01:12:31It has that perfect moisture content that's somewhere between a cake and a muffin.

01:12:36The eggnog pastry cream you have in here?

01:12:39Wow.

01:12:40There's so many spices and it's so, like, luscious and velvety and just has a really great mouthfeel.

01:12:47You really get every flavor, every spice.

01:12:50I would have liked just a tad bit of brandy or rum or bourbon with the nutmeg.

01:12:57Well, Chase, really memorable work.

01:12:59Certainly is no exception.

01:13:01All right, Chase, thank you so much.

01:13:02Thank you, Chase.

01:13:03It's been so much fun.

01:13:04Bye.

01:13:05Bye.

01:13:06Oh, my goodness.

01:13:07Great bite of food.

01:13:09Hello, judges.

01:13:10Hi, Charles.

01:13:11All right, Charles.

01:13:12What naughty versus nice theme were you assigned?

01:13:13I had coal versus holiday gifts.

01:13:15I've made a maple pecan cake for you, a pecan sponge, a maple caramel, some spicy candied

01:13:23pecan, and a pecan praline.

01:13:25I just kind of went half and half down vertically to do it a little different, and I wanted the

01:13:30height of three tiers, so I did kind of the coal mine where the naughty coal gets made,

01:13:35and then I have the gifts on the nice side.

01:13:37I love what you did.

01:13:38Your tears are flawless.

01:13:41So clean.

01:13:42Laser level.

01:13:43And I think because everything is so clean, including the presents, the ribbons end up looking

01:13:50sloppy because they're not as precise as those presents.

01:13:54I think you've done a good job with showing us the theme.

01:13:57There's a coal side.

01:13:58There's a holiday gifts.

01:13:59We see that.

01:14:00But I think you could have gotten a little bit more grungier on the coal side.

01:14:03I think it's time to dive into this mine.

01:14:06Ooh.

01:14:07Ooh.

01:14:08Well, that's where you got naughty.

01:14:20It's like breakfast and a cake.

01:14:23There's so much maple everywhere.

01:14:25I think this is the best flavor combination you have given us this entire season.

01:14:28In the words of my dear friend, Carla Hall,

01:14:32Dude!

01:14:33What?

01:14:36It's soft and supple, but it still has the heartiness and chew of the nut.

01:14:41It's a really great balancing act.

01:14:44The pecans are so crisp and toasted with just the right amount of sugar.

01:14:49So you get that wonderful crunch.

01:14:51All right, Charles.

01:14:52Great work, man.

01:14:54Thank you, Charles.

01:14:55Thank you, Charles.

01:14:57Bye.

01:14:58My God, that was good.

01:15:03Mm.

01:15:06Hi, Judges.

01:15:07Hi, Ash.

01:15:08Jesse.

01:15:09Good to see you, Ashley.

01:15:10Hi, Jesse.

01:15:11Okay, you got to choose your own theme.

01:15:12What did you pick?

01:15:13So I chose Naughty Nutcracker and Sugar Plum Fairies.

01:15:16I have some nutcrackers and tangled lights and broken Christmas presents,

01:15:21and that's the naughty theme of the nutcracker.

01:15:23And then the sweet side being the sugar plum fairies.

01:15:27The flavor of this cake is a chocolate cannoli cake.

01:15:30There's a cannoli filling that has candied pistachios, orange zest, and the secret ingredient is goat cheese.

01:15:38This is spectacular.

01:15:40I see the naughty in the nutcracker's face.

01:15:42Like, they look really mischievous and, like, they're doing things they shouldn't be doing.

01:15:46I love the Christmas tree up top, all of your little decor, and it does read sugar plum fairy.

01:15:52And it does read nutcracker at the bottom.

01:15:54I think you've met the challenge as far as the visual aspect of it.

01:15:59Your buttercream is delicious, just the right amount of sugar.

01:16:03The cake is moist, it's tender, and your chocolate cake isn't too sweet.

01:16:07It was really an enjoyable bite.

01:16:10I love goat cheese in desserts.

01:16:13This is, like, so smooth, appropriately tangy.

01:16:17It's, like, cream cheese elevated.

01:16:19The pistachio goes really well with it.

01:16:22I do get cannoli.

01:16:23I didn't get any of the flea team, though.

01:16:25I don't think I got any in my slice.

01:16:28Okay.

01:16:29And goat cheese is a new twist for me, but I think I'm gonna start filling my cannolis with goat cheese now.

01:16:33Thank you. It's been a pleasure.

01:16:35Thank you, guys. Appreciate you.

01:16:36As always, Ashley, great work.

01:16:37Thank you so much.

01:16:38It was absolutely divine to me. I loved it. I am going to eat some more.

01:16:47Tarek, welcome back.

01:16:48Hello.

01:16:49Hi, Tarek.

01:16:50Okay, so which naughty versus nice theme were you assigned?

01:16:52I was assigned naughty reindeer versus nice reindeer.

01:16:55For the naughty theme, I decided to embrace my, like, college roots since I just got done with my first year at Yale and decided to have a bunch of reindeer at a little frat party.

01:17:06So some of them are, like, drinking out of little red plastic cups.

01:17:10There's, like, the frat stable as opposed to, like, a frat house.

01:17:13And then there's, like, a passed out reindeer on top.

01:17:15I'm having a little too much eggnog.

01:17:17And then for the nice side, I had a bunch of reindeer all reined up ready to go help, like, deliver presents for Santa.

01:17:24So it's a chocolate cake with a spiced raspberry and cherry filling, a chocolate almond butter and pretzel crunch, a mascarpone cream, a Swiss meringue buttercream, and a shortbread cookie.

01:17:34I think it's hysterical. I got the story right away. I think your overindulged reindeer is really funny and really cute.

01:17:43I love your stars. I love your dark sky. And I get naughty and nice.

01:17:49All right, let's give it a try, Tariq. Thank you.

01:17:51All right.

01:17:52Oh, nice.

01:17:53Oh, wow.

01:17:57Cartier.

01:17:58Yeah, your chocolate cake is moist. It is spot on. Your sponge is just absolutely beautiful.

01:18:05My only problem is I am not the biggest fan of eating whole berries, especially, like, a raspberry that is sort of a little tart.

01:18:14And I'm chewing that and I'm chewing the seeds, so it wasn't as pleasurable for me, but all in all, good bite in that cookie.

01:18:20You know your way around a cookie.

01:18:23I think you could have extracted the raspberry. I don't think it's necessary, and I think if you could have edited to be just cherry pretzel crunch and cake, boom, boom, boom.

01:18:31Okay.

01:18:32Done.

01:18:33Your pretzel almond crunch is delicious and really adds a lot to the cake because the buttercream is soft, the cake is soft, but a nice bite of food. I'm pleased that you've done so well.

01:18:46You're welcome.

01:18:47Tariq, great stuff all the way around. Way to go.

01:18:50Thank you, Tariq.

01:18:51Tariq, keep up that sense of humor, please.

01:18:53Mm-hmm.

01:18:54I will try.

01:18:55And don't be drinking too much.

01:18:56I don't drink.

01:18:58Neither do I.

01:19:03All right, well, judges, it's finally that time for our beloved holiday village to name a new holiday baking champion.

01:19:15So exciting.

01:19:16It is exciting, and it's also easily the biggest decision of the season.

01:19:20Yeah.

01:19:21Let's check our list twice, just like Santa does.

01:19:23Yeah.

01:19:24Let's talk about these cakes you just saw.

01:19:25Yeah, I think Chase, out of the gate, did an exceptional job. I think Chase also kept it clean, didn't overdo it.

01:19:33Yes.

01:19:34It also really showed the naughty versus nice.

01:19:37Yes, it did.

01:19:38The sponge was beautiful.

01:19:40And the eggnog pastry cream.

01:19:42Ooh.

01:19:43Mm.

01:19:44It was a delicious cake.

01:19:46But the structure.

01:19:47Santa was a little askew.

01:19:49I kind of feel that Ashley played it a little too safe.

01:19:52We just had chocolate cake.

01:19:53Mm-hmm.

01:19:54The chocolate cake was just the foundation for that goat cheese cream.

01:20:00It was so good.

01:20:01She's really great at cake decorating, but I think she spends so much time with every minute detail that she did not get to the back of that cake, which for me was her biggest mistake.

01:20:13I'll say, Charles, in terms of decorating, I think it was the hardest theme.

01:20:18And I really loved the split cake of the coal and the presents.

01:20:21And I think Charles' downfall is his perfectionism.

01:20:25Yes.

01:20:26You could see every little flaw.

01:20:28Those ribbons just screamed.

01:20:31You all hated those ribbons.

01:20:32Just screamed.

01:20:33Because everything else was so perfect.

01:20:35Mm-hmm.

01:20:36And for Charles, his focus was the taste of the cake.

01:20:40So he had to sacrifice those ribbons for us to thoroughly enjoy the inside of that cake.

01:20:48Well, I'm glad he did.

01:20:49That pecan cake, the nuttiness, the kind of sturdiness of it, getting soaked in that maple syrup and then the spicy, crunchy pecan.

01:20:58Oh.

01:20:59Okay.

01:21:00I loved Tarek's Naughty vs. Nice Reindeer.

01:21:04I loved that reindeer that was sleeping it off.

01:21:07I just, I think Tarek really, you know, wanted to show everything he could do.

01:21:11I thought his dark sky.

01:21:13I thought he did a great job with the second tier.

01:21:15No doubt in my mind, he knows flavor.

01:21:17He's extremely talented.

01:21:19Okay, so judges, this is your final big decision you have to make, but it's also obviously the most important one.

01:21:24Mm-hmm.

01:21:25Which of these cakes do you think was worthy of earning that baker $25,000 and the title of Holiday Baking Champion?

01:21:32Do you feel like you know?

01:21:33I do.

01:21:34Yeah?

01:21:35Yes.

01:21:36Yes.

01:21:37Bakers, what a holiday season it's been.

01:21:41So just take a moment and let it sink in.

01:21:45You've persevered through a gauntlet of naughty and nice mischief, and the whole time you've been baking against each other relentlessly and joyfully to get to this exact moment.

01:21:58But now, everything comes down to this one final bake.

01:22:02Chase, your eggnog filling was luscious and the sponge was tender and filled with spice.

01:22:09Ashley, you had the audacity to put goat cheese filling in your chocolate cannoli cake, and we absolutely could not get enough of it.

01:22:19Charles, you brought spice pecan and maple together in a delicious bite.

01:22:27And Tarek, your chocolate sponge was tender and tasty with a satisfying pretzel crunch.

01:22:36You baked up some of the most magical mouthwatering cakes this place has ever seen.

01:22:43Yes.

01:22:44Yes.

01:22:45And now, one of you is about to become a hometown hero with $25,000, a feature in Food Network magazine, and the title, the toast of our holiday town, the best cake maker in the village, and the holiday baking champion is...

01:23:03Charles, congratulations!

01:23:10I can't believe it.

01:23:23Congrats, Charles.

01:23:24Way to go, man.

01:23:25I put everything I had into this cake, and I did it.

01:23:30I did it.

01:23:31Congratulations.

01:23:33Oh, my God.

01:23:34Congratulations.

01:23:35It was so great to be here.

01:23:37It's so great to see you.

01:23:38It's so great to meet you.

01:23:39It's nice to meet you.

01:23:40Hi, honey.

01:23:41Congratulations.

01:23:42Man, you did it.

01:23:43Way to go.

01:23:44Great job.

01:23:45That was awesome.

01:23:46I feel on top of the world, and I'm just thrilled that I got that win at the end.

01:23:53All of it was worth it.

01:23:55How do you feel?

01:23:56It's amazing.

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