Holiday Baking Championship - Season 12 Episode 08- Naughty and Nice Christmas - video Dailymotion

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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.

00:00:08Groovy cake.

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

00:00:12by winning back-to-back challenges.

00:00:14Stop.

00:00:15You killed it, baby.

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

00:00:18I love this.

00:00:20And it was Giancarlo 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.

00:00:31I'm going to have a mental breakdown.

00:00:40Tonight, the final five bakers are going all out.

00:00:45You are the final five.

00:00:49Originally on the nice team, Chase has hovered near the top

00:00:52most of the competition.

00:00:54Chase.

00:00:54Yes.

00:00:56Chase, well done.

00:00:58Uh-huh.

00:00:58Chase.

00:00:59Yes, yes, yes, yes.

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

00:01:03I 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.

00:01:12Hey, 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.

00:01:23Listen, you should, like, do the, yeah.

00:01:25Anne took a long time to break through with the win.

00:01:27I'm a little sick of being the bridesmaid, ready to be the bride.

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

00:01:34Charles.

00:01:35Oh, thank you, thank you.

00:01:36Oh, 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 and carried them through several challenges.

00:01:48How does your back feel?

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

00:01:50No, I'm kidding.

00:01:51I figured that was coming.

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 strong, independent woman take it all?

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

00:02:05OK, judges.

00:02:06Happy Hariga.

00:02:09Nico is the wildest wild card in the Holiday Village.

00:02:12He's incredibly creative.

00:02:14Today we are celebrating Kutmaka.

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

00:02:18Oh, God.

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

00:02:20This 22-year-old culinary school graduate has overcome so much.

00:02:25Nico.

00:02:26Oh, my God.

00:02:28I did not think I was going to be loud.

00:02:30He wants to make his mark in his own way and win, win, win.

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

00:02:35I break the rules.

00:02:37I'm pretty nervous because I was, like, on edge.

00:02:39College student Tarek, the youngest baker in the kitchen,

00:02:42he came in wanting redemption from 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!

00:02:55Eating seasoned pastry chefs at their own game.

00:02:58Really?

00:02:59Who will become Holiday Baking Champion?

00:03:02Bye, you're off.

00:03:05Oh, my God.

00:03:08Oh, God.

00:03:09Stupid Holiday Elves.

00:03:12Just the worst.

00:03:14Oh, hey, bakers.

00:03:15Hi, Jesse.

00:03:16Congratulations on making it to the finale.

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

00:03:20I'm so proud of us.

00:03:22You survived a lot to get here, but the road ahead is not easy, so let's get started.

00:03:27Just a fair warning.

00:03:28The Naughty Elves snuck in last night, and I'm inspired by the Little Mischief Makers to bring you some mischief of my own.

00:03:34Okay.

00:03:35What does that mean?

00:03:36For your pre-heat challenge, make any dessert you like with Naughty Elf-themed decorations and Naughty ingredients like red curry, avocado.

00:03:46Interesting.

00:03:47Jalapenos.

00:03:48I'm into that.

00:03:49You can't have that one, Charles.

00:03:50Oh, what the hell?

00:03:51Black licorice or sauerkraut.

00:03:56Naughty Naughty.

00:03:58Well, then I bet you're wondering, how are we going to assign all these different ingredients?

00:04:02Well, the naughty answer is, you're going to be bidding with your own baking time for the right to assign these ingredients.

00:04:11Oh, my God.

00:04:13Whoa.

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

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

00:04:17You may bid in five-minute increments of your own baking time for the ability to assign all the Naughty ingredients to everybody, including yourself.

00:04:25Oh.

00:04:26And just to be clear, if you are the winning bidder, everyone else gets two and a half hours for this bake, and whatever you bid gets taken off your clock.

00:04:34Now, you know you need to make a Naughty Elf dessert with 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, where one of you will leave the Holiday Village with $25,000, a feature in Food Network magazine, and, of course, the title of Holiday Baking Champion.

00:05:03So, the stakes could not be higher.

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

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

00:05:12I 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, and it's the finale.

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

00:05:33Do 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.

00:05:38That's a lot of time.

00:05:39Fifteen.

00:05:40Oh, Nico joins in at 15.

00:05:44I love the confidence.

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

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

00:05:50All right.

00:05:50Charles 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.

00:05:59Let'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?

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

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.

00:06:24Oh.

00:06:26Oh, what a pity.

00:06:28Wow.

00:06:30Man.

00:06:30I'm actually okay with this.

00:06:31Happy Christmas.

00:06:32I'm going to make a bomb sauerkraut cake.

00:06:35You'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.

00:06:42We'll give Nico jalapeno.

00:06:44Look.

00:06:45Nico looks very, very peaceful.

00:06:47I was going to pick that for myself.

00:06:49I think Ashley, I want to give her avocado.

00:06:51Okay.

00:06:53Secretly wanted that one all along.

00:06:54Mm-hmm.

00:06:55That's what they all said somehow.

00:06:57You did a good job with that.

00:06:59That was funny.

00:06:59That was funny, Charles.

00:07:01All right, holiday bakers, you got your naughty ingredients.

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

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

00:07:11And your baking time starts.

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

00:07:17No problem.

00:07:1720 minutes?

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

00:07:20No, don't take it.

00:07:22Don't take the thing I need.

00:07:24Wait for me.

00:07:25I took Speculous.

00:07:25Perfect.

00:07:26No, I don't care.

00:07:27All right, bakers, this is your last preheat Naughty Elf dessert with naughty ingredients.

00:07:31It's 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.

00:07:45I 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.

00:07:52There'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.

00:08:05So 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,

00:08:15my 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 definitely like a big joke in my family, right?

00:08:31You know, butt humor.

00:08:32It's funny.

00:08:32And 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 drain, and I cooked it with some apple juice, some brown sugar,

00:08:50some butter, some orange zest, and some salt until the sauerkraut lost its funky taste and rather turned more like caramelized.

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

00:09:04Oh, all right.

00:09:08It's fine.

00:09:11So strong smelling.

00:09:13Oh, my God.

00:09:16And 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.

00:09:31I want the spice to come through and want the punchiness to come through.

00:09:34But I don't want it to taste like curry curry.

00:09:36So 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.

00:09:45Because I only have time to do you one time.

00:09:49So 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.

00:09:57Every layer is going to have a little bit of curry in it.

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

00:10:02And to decorate, I will make a mischievous little elf cookie that has taken a bite out of my cake.

00:10:08Something 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.

00:10:16I got avocado.

00:10:17So I'm making an avocado cheesecake and with a cinnamon graham crust.

00:10:23It's perfect.

00:10:23And then I'm going to do an avocado curd and a avocado whipped ganache.

00:10:29And 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.

00:10:40Just blending all my avocados now.

00:10:42And I'm adding a little bit of the lime juice to brighten it, but also to keep it from turning brown.

00:10:48Working with avocado is the fact that it's very subtle in flavor.

00:10:51I'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.

00:11:31I'm not behind.

00:11:33You're not behind.

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

00:11:37I assign 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.

00:11:52And 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 some of a bunch of different dark

00:12:01black ingredients to tie into this black licorice theme.

00:12:05I'm making a black licorice butterscotch tart with black currants, black cocoa, black sesame

00:12:11to 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

00:12:20in 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, start 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.

00:12:47And then cook that so it really has that licorice flavor and kind of a nod to the chewy texture

00:12:55of licorice.

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

00:12:58Me too.

00:12:59We're almost to the finish line and you kind of have to just put it all out there to get

00:13:03that 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

00:13:17home.

00:13:18Tarteau 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 and to incorporate some spice

00:13:41into the sweet, I think it'll be fun.

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

00:13:47It'll include layers of a mint Fouillotine crunch, a lime and yogurt sponge soaked with

00:13:55a jalapeno simple syrup, a jalapeno gelée, 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.

00:14:10And 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.

00:14:16Gelatine, we're going to make it set.

00:14:17Ta-da.

00:14:18This 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

00:14:26this all done in time.

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

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

00:14:29But 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 gelée.

00:14:38Oh, much better.

00:14:40For 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

00:14:46in 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.

00:14:51Hey, yo.

00:14:52What's up?

00:14:53Dude, I feel like for the first time in a long time, you're working with an ingredient

00:14:56that you're excited about.

00:14:57These last few we-get-assigned ingredient challenges, I have not been thrilled with

00:15:01what I've been given, but it is very different this time.

00:15:04I love what I have.

00:15:05This 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

00:15:15had 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?

00:15:22Yeah.

00:15:23It'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.

00:15:28I had a pretty deep, dark battle with anorexia for a lot of my childhood, flu culinary school,

00:15:35the 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

00:15:51I made it to this competition, but that I just made it here and that I'm able to do this.

00:15:57Yeah.

00:15:58It could be really proud.

00:15:58I 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 really my vlog.

00:16:09All right.

00:16:09Give me a hug.

00:16:10Come on, man.

00:16:11Absolutely, brother.

00:16:12I'm so proud of you.

00:16:13This is the spice.

00:16:13I got my jalapeno.

00:16:14I was going to get it right.

00:16:15The jalapeno's making him cry.

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

00:16:17Everyone knows that.

00:16:18It was the pepos.

00:16:18Good luck, man.

00:16:20To win this would be such an affirmation to myself of, like, I'm actually worth the time

00:16:26and effort that I've put into this, that other people have put into me to get me here.

00:16:29I 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.

00:16:42And 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, and 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.

00:17:19Made my knife, and now I am going to get started on decoration.

00:17:22As 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.

00:17:44I don't know.

00:17:45Works for me.

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

00:17:50To 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.

00:18:01I'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, and 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.

00:18:16I'm so silly.

00:18:19It's so funny.

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

00:18:24What just happened?

00:18:26Hello?

00:18:27Hello?

00:18:29No.

00:18:30How 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.

00:18:4130 minutes left.

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

00:18:53Oh, sorry.

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

00:18:56I'll never know.

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

00:19:01It's not that bad.

00:19:02It's not great.

00:19:07Okay.

00:19:09Gojina.

00:19:11Okay, I'm feeling great right now, Loki.

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.

00:19:22Back in the blast.

00:19:23You balls are going to be ours.

00:19:25Just 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.

00:19:42Yeah, this works.

00:19:44Ha ha.

00:19:44Oh, no.

00:19:47Actually, it's not that bad.

00:19:52It's salvageable.

00:19:531-10.

00:19:5530 degrees to go.

00:19:57Experimental butterscotch.

00:19:58Charles, how we doing?

00:20:00We're getting there.

00:20:01Was it a good idea to bid for the 20 minutes?

00:20:04TBD.

00:20:05Ha ha.

00:20:05TBD.

00:20:07I'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.

00:20:18You can taste it.

00:20:19Once my butterscotch is ready, I pour that on top and have a nice flat layer of the black licorice butterscotch, and 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,

00:20:34and 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?

00:21:28Cheeky?

00:21:28It's a butt.

00:21:29It's a butt.

00:21:31Ashley, that looks so good.

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

00:21:34I'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.

00:21:51All of my heads are ready, all of my hats are ready, but I don't have any other decor, but I need to get these heads with these hats on these plates.

00:22:01Nico, are they going to have eyes and a nose and a mouth?

00:22:03Yes, sir.

00:22:04Okay, hurry up.

00:22:06Hey, 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, gives them some mean mugs, some eyebrows frowned, so at least give them nod to naughty.

00:22:21Whatever.

00:22:23I'm going to make this look so much better than it does right now.

00:22:27I'll fix it.

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

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

00:22:36Let's see who's going straight to the main heat.

00:22:39That's unfortunate.

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

00:22:41Time is out, and I have no time to put middle fingers on my plate, which is a bummer, because 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, but I don't think this looks like a finale-worthy dish right now.

00:22:55Oh, 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?

00:23:08Oh, Cartier Brown.

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

00:24:09Watch it before us.

00:24:10The 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.

00:24:19Thank 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 tarte.

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

00:24:45who kind of destroyed the holiday village

00:24:48and kept it black and white.

00:24:49So it's really all kind of monochromatic.

00:24:51I think the tarte 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.

00:25:03Same.

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.

00:25:09I get the licorice in all components.

00:25:15The butterscotch.

00:25:17I'm very impressed with how you've created that texture

00:25:21to emulate chewing on a piece of licorice.

00:25:24I don't know about that.

00:25:25For me, the butterscotch layer took over so much

00:25:28that technically it's kind of hard to eat

00:25:31because the jam isn't really stabilized.

00:25:34The licorice is heavy.

00:25:35And 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.

00:25:42Thanks so much.

00:25:43Thank you, Jeff.

00:25:44I liked it.

00:25:46I thought it was different.

00:25:50Hello.

00:25:51Hi, Tari.

00:25:52Tari.

00:25:52Good to see you.

00:25:53Okay.

00:25:54So what naughty ingredient did you get?

00:25:55I got sauerkraut.

00:25:58I know.

00:25:58That's what I thought, too.

00:25:59So what did you make?

00:26:01I made a sauerkraut cheesecake

00:26:03with a speculose and coconut crust

00:26:06and a sauerkraut caramel.

00:26:07And on top of it is battered and fried sauerkraut

00:26:10that's like tossed in cinnamon sugar.

00:26:12Tell us about the decorating.

00:26:13Um, I'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.

00:26:20Is the elf mooning Charles

00:26:27for giving you sauerkraut?

00:26:30Perhaps.

00:26:31Perhaps.

00:26:34I've never been speechless.

00:26:39Oh, Nancy.

00:26:40Does the crack, I mean, crust look good?

00:26:46Oh, boy.

00:26:48Thank you, Tari.

00:26:50Well, I like this a lot more

00:26:55than I liked the look of it.

00:26:57Um, I think the sauerkraut in the cheesecake

00:26:59was a really brilliant idea.

00:27:01It plays with the cream cheese so well,

00:27:03and 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.

00:27:19I win.

00:27:20All right, Tari.

00:27:22Thanks.

00:27:22I'm sorry.

00:27:23No, it's so dope.

00:27:24No apologies.

00:27:25Oh, my God.

00:27:26I have to say,

00:27:27I actually really like the cheesecake itself.

00:27:29Mm-hmm.

00:27:32Hello.

00:27:33Hi, Chase.

00:27:34Welcome, Chase.

00:27:34I got 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

00:27:51and has spray painted,

00:27:53walked 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,

00:28:02and I like that you could tell

00:28:03he'd been eating a little dirty on him.

00:28:05I just wish the presentation had been as refined

00:28:08as how you described the dessert.

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

00:28:14The flavor is almost savory,

00:28:18but there's enough sweetness

00:28:20to 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,

00:28:29but you've got to work on your decoration.

00:28:30Heard.

00:28:32Make this caramel again,

00:28:34cook it a hair longer,

00:28:35and then individually package it and sell it.

00:28:39Like, first customer.

00:28:41Like, that is...

00:28:42I ripped it all out.

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

00:28:46Thank you all.

00:28:48Thanks, Chase.

00:28:49Wow.

00:28:50Yeah, I could eat this whole thing.

00:28:51I am going to.

00:28:52Hi, Nico.

00:28:54Hi, Nico.

00:28:55Hi.

00:28:55All right, what naughty ingredient did you get?

00:28:57I got jalapeno.

00:28:59What did you make?

00:28:59A 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.

00:29:14What is this?

00:29:16That was brutal.

00:29:17I would start crying.

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

00:29:23The fringe on your hat is not well.

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

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

00:29:38with 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.

00:29:48Ooh, nice 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.

00:30:07I 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.

00:30:17You 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.

00:30:26I 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, but I really enjoyed it,

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

00:30:40Well, bakers, I gotta say,

00:30:41two of you made it particularly hard for the judges.

00:30:45Ashley.

00:30:46Yes, mate.

00:30:47Awesome.

00:30:47And Chase.

00:30:50Okay.

00:30:52But only one baker gets a trip straight to the main heap from here,

00:30:55competing for all the dough.

00:30:58And it all came down to masterful use of the naughty ingredient

00:31:01in an undeniable bite.

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

00:31:09Chase.

00:31:11What?

00:31:11Okay.

00:31:12Oh, my gosh.

00:31:13Yeah, I mean, no cagots.

00:31:17Wow.

00:31:17Chase, 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 the heat

00:31:29and 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,

00:31:36there's one last hurdle before you get a chance

00:31:38at all the money.

00:31:40Come on, everybody.

00:31:40Let's take a walk together.

00:31:43Following the lead-o.

00:31:44Oh, no.

00:31:45Oh, my God.

00:31:46I knew it.

00:31:48What do you guys think?

00:31:51Anybody want one?

00:31:52I would not want one.

00:31:53Huh?

00:31:54Please.

00:31:55Ladies first.

00:31:57Chase.

00:31:58Winner, winner.

00:31:59Nico.

00:32:00Spike, right?

00:32:00All right.

00:32:01Only for you, Nico.

00:32:03Charles, let me go, sir.

00:32:04Cheers, everyone.

00:32:05Cheers.

00:32:06Cheers.

00:32:08Mmm.

00:32:08Yum.

00:32:09I love a warm cup of hot cocoa this time of year.

00:32:12Don't you?

00:32:13Nothing to eat.

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

00:32:20It is quite nice.

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

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

00:32:27Love it.

00:32:27So for this final elimination challenge that we are calling the Hot Hot Heat, please create

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

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

00:32:40Whoever's the least successful is going to be leaving the Holiday Village just short of

00:32:45the 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.

00:33:10The four of you have only two hours to make the most impressive hot cocoa-flavored Christmas

00:33:14dessert you can to keep your place here and win a big advantage in the main heat.

00:33:20And your baking time starts.

00:33:22Now, good luck.

00:33:23Go.

00:33:23Good luck, everybody.

00:33:24How are you, sir?

00:33:25I'm better now.

00:33:28All right.

00:33:29Chocolate.

00:33:29Let's do this.

00:33:31Move.

00:33:32Get out of the way.

00:33:33Whoa.

00:33:33Aggressive.

00:33:35I'm so...

00:33:37I'm so...

00:33:38I'm so...

00:33:39I'm so...

00:33:39Good luck, bakers.

00:33:41Hey, I'm turning this bottom oven to 400.

00:33:47There'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 ass 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 and 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, to just keep it super airy and light.

00:34:29To decorate, I plan on making a white chocolate hot cocoa cup to 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, I've put her through so many hard moments.

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

00:35:02I 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, knowing that I'm pouring my love for her into this dessert,

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

00:35:17What's up?

00:35:18Hopefully that works.

00:35:20A little pea mint.

00:35:23That's code for peppermint.

00:35:26Are the kids at home?

00:35:27Working in this industry is not easy.

00:35:29It's long hours.

00:35:31It's very stressful.

00:35:32Especially in the high-end restaurant world, you're held to such a high standard.

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

00:35:38And getting the title in this competition would make all that worth it and prove that I'm doing what I'm meant to do.

00:35:47Hot cocoa dessert.

00:35:49What 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.

00:35:59My 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, dry brownies, no bueno.

00:36:09Yeah.

00:36:09So I am going to make a peppermint hot chocolate brownie.

00:36:13I'm going to do peppermint milk chocolate brownie layer, make 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, and I'm going to make a rice cereal treat in the shape of a Christmas tree.

00:36:30So I'm going to do kind of that tree lighting ceremony at the beginning of the holiday.

00:36:34I remember drinking peppermint hot chocolate at tree lighting ceremonies with my family as a kid,

00:36:40so just kind of tying it all together.

00:36:42Extra colorful lights to, you know, give the judges what they want.

00:36:47I just want to really prove that 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 putte creme with some chocolate pearls.

00:37:06A putte creme is usually, like, a baked custard.

00:37:09Think, like, a creme brulee.

00:37:11My version, however, is no-bake, because the way I make it is by basically making a creme anglaise

00:37:17and then pouring it into chocolate so it sets up.

00:37:20It has a texture of, like, a very soft pudding, almost like a hybrid between a mousse and a pudding.

00:37:23So this figured, like, it was the best option for making a hot cocoa-based dessert,

00:37:27because I feel like I'm essentially just making, like, fancier hot cocoa.

00:37:31And then I'm going to top it with my torched meringue and a graham cracker shortbread cookie decorated like a dog.

00:37:40Every Christmas, my grandparents and I will take a walk with 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 through this dessert.

00:37:51So I'm playing with, like, s'mores, because we roast s'mores in the fireplace every holiday.

00:37:55And I wanted to do something classic and to meet hot cocoa and s'mores.

00:37:59It just makes sense.

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

00:38:02We did it.

00:38:03That is fabulous.

00:38:04I really, really, really want to make it to the final main heat,

00:38:06because it's just one bake away from winning the entire thing.

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

00:38:25Okay.

00:38:29It's a little under, but I'm going to pull it, because I know pretty it looks.

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

00:38:38Uh, actually, 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.

00:38:46Today you have to make a hot cocoa dessert.

00:38:48What are you going to make?

00:38:48So today I am making a really good decadent brownie with a homemade marshmallow.

00:38:53Then I throw toffee bits in there and a molted milk chocolate sauce.

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

00:39:00I know.

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

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

00:39:02It's a brownie off.

00:39:03Yeah.

00:39:03Okay, I asked him earlier.

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

00:39:06Yeah.

00:39:07How's yours?

00:39:07I don't think I would have chosen it in this point in the competition if I didn't believe

00:39:11in it, so.

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

00:39:12Hopefully.

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

00:39:14Yeah.

00:39:14With 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, so I've made a chocolate malted

00:39:22sauce for the, like, top to make it look like a little hot cocoa cup, and I'm going to

00:39:27make a little handle.

00:39:28Got to figure it out.

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

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

00:39:33Well, I'm going to be enjoying this, I'm sure.

00:39:35Excellent.

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

00:39:36See you later.

00:39:36The support system I have at home is incredible.

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

00:39:48My dad is a liver transplant recipient and has not been able to travel a whole lot the

00:39:52last few years ever since he got sick, and he now has the clearance.

00:39:57So I have one more competition, and Scotland is calling our name.

00:40:0245 minutes to go.

00:40:07Everything is sticky.

00:40:11Oh, that's colder than I thought it was going to be.

00:40:14Praise Santa.

00:40:17Mmm.

00:40:17Just a thin layer.

00:40:18I want it to be sexy and even.

00:40:21I put a ganache on this brownie just because if there's any unevenness with the top of the

00:40:25brownie, it 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, so it kind of adds this, like, gooey aspect.

00:40:38Oh, my God.

00:40:39I try to loosen it around the edge, flip it out of the pan, and it is, like, not coming

00:40:47out.

00:40:48Oh, my God.

00:40:50This could not be worse.

00:40:58As my brownie is breaking apart, I am just, like, seeing myself getting eliminated.

00:41:04Oh, my God.

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

00:41:09How many minutes?

00:41:1320 minutes left now.

00:41:15Only three of you are going to move on to the main heat with Chase.

00:41:18Sadly, we're going to be saying goodbye to one of you after this challenge, so come on.

00:41:22Bake 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 of 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.

00:41:36I really need to start my decorations.

00:41:43I am making a hot cocoa peppermint rice cereal tree that I'm shaping into a little Christmas

00:41:47tree.

00:41:48To decorate this Christmas tree, I am using a leaf tip, but I just actually cut it out

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

00:41:57All it is is just a V-shape cut into the plastic bag, and then I make some royal icing just

00:42:02because it'll be faster, and I think it will look cleaner and better as the piping of the

00:42:07greenery on the tree.

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

00:42:11Next, I melt some colored chocolate and quickly pipe some kind of light bulb shapes.

00:42:15I do a variety of colors because I want to really make a colorful Christmas experience.

00:42:20Are these going to stick?

00:42:22Yeah.

00:42:23Good enough.

00:42:24Those are done.

00:42:27I'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.

00:42:33I'm going to dye it, and then I'm going to use both, like, a little squeeze bottle for

00:42:37some designs, but for the most part, because I'm trying to emulate, like, fur on a dog,

00:42:40I'm going to paint my cookies with my royal icing, and I'm thinking it'll look really cute

00:42:44when it's all said and done, because I'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 to be my chocolate cup that I'm

00:42:56going to put my tiramisu in.

00:42:57I pull out the excess, just so there's a very thin layer left, and then I put them in

00:43:01the blast freezer to set up.

00:43:03Once they're set up, I take a knife and very delicately cut into the paper of the cup to take out

00:43:09my cup made out of chocolate from within.

00:43:12Now that my cups have come out cleanly, it'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, and then I'm going

00:43:21to pipe some of my hot chocolate mascarpone cream, and then just layer it like that.

00:43:28Okay.

00:43:29Two out of five.

00:43:30On our way.

00:43:32Fifteen minutes left now.

00:43:35That is four.

00:43:36Time is crunching.

00:43:37So, I get started on my tuile cookie straws for my decor.

00:43:42I then split my batter into two bowls, and I color one red and one green, because for

00:43:47my straws, I want them to have a Christmas stripe to them.

00:43:50I'm flipping it upside down because I want to cut it, but I want it to stay on the hot

00:43:54board as long as I can while I cut it, and then that way I can roll it.

00:43:58All right.

00:43:59I set my cookies aside and start the handles for my coffee cups.

00:44:03All right, bakers, you got ten minutes.

00:44:05It's so nice.

00:44:07Ten minutes left in this elimination heat.

00:44:10Sadly, one of you will be going home.

00:44:13I'm making buttercream so I can hide my failures.

00:44:18The edges are so rough.

00:44:19I 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.

00:44:32That's good.

00:44:32Now is the time.

00:44:35I ice the sides and press some peppermint candies into the edge to just hide as much

00:44:39of 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.

00:44:48There's a breeze in this village.

00:44:50If I do a little Cocoa Paddle Dust, I think I will.

00:44:53Ten seconds left.

00:44:56Ah, perfect.

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

00:45:03All right.

00:45:04Done.

00:45:06That's it.

00:45:07Who's Hot Cocoa Desserts?

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

00:45:10Judges 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, who enjoyed a

00:45:27nice little break after this NAS challenge after winning the last preheat.

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

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.

00:45:38All right, Nico.

00:45:39All right, tell 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.

00:45:47She'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.

00:45:59We'll see how it tastes.

00:46:01Oh.

00:46:03Oh.

00:46:07All right, Zach, we'll start with you.

00:46:09I love that you made the ladyfingers.

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

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

00:46:17I think there's more chocolate in the ladyfinger than there is in the mousse.

00:46:21Yeah.

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.

00:46:32But as one bite, mainly coffee.

00:46:35All right, Nico.

00:46:36Thank you, guys.

00:46:42All right, Charles.

00:46:42So 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.

00:46:54Your choice of piping on the tree is fantastic.

00:46:57It 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.

00:47:04So I just, I'm, like, obsessed with it.

00:47:11Peppermint 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.

00:47:24So 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.

00:47:41This is a hot cocoa brownie with peppermint.

00:47:44Charles, thanks.

00:47:45Thank you, judges.

00:47:47Good 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.

00:48:14Take 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.

00:48:37Appreciate you, Ashley.

00:48:38Okay, 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, and so I really wanted to dedicate

00:48:50a 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.

00:49:09Mmm, cookie 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.

00:49:23I 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, and I feel like had you done peppermint,

00:49:38in that meringue, that would have brought me more into a hot chocolate space.

00:49:43Okay.

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

00:49:44Thank you, Tarek.

00:49:49Bakers, 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, and

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

00:50:04And it came from Ashley.

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?

00:50:19Your peppermint browning was also good enough to move you on to the main heat.

00:50:26You'll both see Chase there.

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

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

00:50:31I could still be going home, and it's between me and one other person that I'm really good

00:50:37friends 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,

00:50:49too.

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

00:50:55Nico, we struggled to get hot cocoa flavor from your dessert.

00:50:59Tarek, your pot de creme was simple and, frankly, a little underwhelming for such an important

00:51:07challenge.

00:51:08You are both such talented bakers, and I hope you know that.

00:51:15Look how far you've made it.

00:51:17And might I add, two of the youngest bakers we had this entire season.

00:51:21This is the hardest goodbye.

00:51:24We are genuinely going to miss you.

00:51:27Unfortunately, the baker leaving the Holiday Village right now is...

00:51:31Unfortunately, the baker leaving the Holiday Village right now, just short of the chance

00:51:42to compete for the cash is...

00:51:47Nico.

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

00:51:53You made such wonderful desserts.

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

00:52:00Yes.

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

00:52:03Take as much time as you'd like.

00:52:06You can say your goodbyes, and when you're ready, you can exit.

00:52:08You guys sure?

00:52:12You can change your mind.

00:52:15Nico!

00:52:15I'm not busy.

00:52:16I have nowhere to be.

00:52:17I can hang out.

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

00:52:20I would have loved to have been that final bake and, like, had a shot for the end, but,

00:52:24like, I just feel really great about what I did, what I presented in this last challenge.

00:52:28Woo!

00:52:29I'm waiting for a callback for Holiday Baking Championship All-Stars.

00:52:33I'm going to just keep being me, keep having fun.

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

00:52:37Yeah.

00:52:37Au revoir.

00:52:38All right.

00:52:40Thank you, judges.

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

00:52:42Okay.

00:52:47All right.

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

00:52:50All right.

00:52:51Okay.

00:52:53All righty, then.

00:52:53Guys, just grab a coffee.

00:52:55Just take a second.

00:52:56Oh, thank you.

00:52:56Just let it sink in.

00:52:58Cheers.

00:52:59Cheers.

00:53:00Final four, baby.

00:53:00Final four.

00:53:01There is just one more challenge standing between one of you and $25,000.

00:53:08Oh, my gosh.

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

00:53:09All season long.

00:53:10You'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-nice, multi-tier cake.

00:53:24Oh, my gosh.

00:53:26Oh, my gosh.

00:53:26Okay.

00:53:26Do it.

00:53:27Okay.

00:53:28Oh, my God.

00:53:29Okay.

00:53:30I'm excited.

00:53:30Best of both worlds.

00:53:31All right.

00:53:31Well.

00:53:32And your cake themes are Scrooge versus Santa, Cole versus holiday gifts, naughty reindeer versus

00:53:41nice reindeer, and naughty nutcracker versus sugarplum fairy.

00:53:45Wow.

00:53:46Okay.

00:53:47Those are all fun.

00:53:48I know.

00:53:48Now, whatever theme you receive, the judges really want to see both images clearly represented

00:53:53in your decorating.

00:53:54They'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.

00:54:08And first off, why don't you pick your own theme?

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

00:54:14Wow.

00:54:14How come?

00:54:15Wow.

00:54:16I wanted that one.

00:54:16Because it's glittery for the sugarplum fairy, and nutcrackers are kind of sacred to our

00:54:23family.

00:54:23Like, my aunt collects them.

00:54:25All right.

00:54:26So, you got your theme.

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

00:54:30Scrooge versus Santa for Chase.

00:54:32Ooh.

00:54:33That's exciting.

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

00:54:39Okay.

00:54:40Because he kind of held us for that Cole challenge with his lovely rock, and I want to see what

00:54:46he can do again.

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

00:54:48And then, we're going naughty reindeer versus nice reindeer for Tarek, because I feel like

00:54:55with that dog cookie that you just made, you're going to kill a reindeer challenge.

00:55:00Aw.

00:55:00That's really sweet.

00:55:01Here we go, bakers, for all the sugar.

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

00:55:06It all comes down to this bake.

00:55:09You have five hours to 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, it's too hot.

00:55:25All right.

00:55:26Whoa.

00:55:27I'm going to grab ingredients.

00:55:31Where is it?

00:55:32I can't find it.

00:55:35I need this pot.

00:55:37Seems like a good place to start.

00:55:38We have five hours to make a multi-tiered cake with a naughty and nice theme.

00:55:43And while it sounds like a lot of time, it's really just not enough time to make a perfect

00:55:49multi-tiered cake, because you have to make a lot of cake.

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

00:56:00it 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.

00:56:08This is the last bake we have, and 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

00:56:26cream, some, like, pretzel, almond, guillotine, chocolate crunch, a Swiss meringue buttercream.

00:56:32Awesome.

00:56:32Cakes in.

00:56:34To show Nice Reindeer, I'm going to use one tier of my cake and kind of do, like, a bunch

00:56:39of reindeer pulling a sleigh and, 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

00:56:58with doing something like that, and I feel like it feels very, like, me.

00:57:01Holy cow.

00:57:02Hello.

00:57:03Look who it is and look where we are.

00:57:06We did it.

00:57:07You, 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.

00:57:15Oh, my God.

00:57:15Like, you've made history.

00:57:17At least I did something.

00:57:19$25,000.

00:57:20$25,000.

00:57:21Big ones.

00:57:22I think this cake could be a $25,000 cake.

00:57:24Really?

00:57:24I think so.

00:57:25I think it'll taste that way.

00:57:26This is going to be great.

00:57:27Thanks, Jesse.

00:57:27Cheers.

00:57:30Cart with a little evil elf.

00:57:33My theme is cold versus holiday gifts, so I get to incorporate both those into my tiered

00:57:39cake.

00:57:39I am making a maple pecan cake.

00:57:42So there's a brown butter pecan cake.

00:57:44I'm making a maple caramel, I'm making some spicy candied pecans to kind of do that sweet

00:57:49and spicy for the naughty and nice, and then a pecan praline.

00:57:52To 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.

00:58:10Hopefully 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.

00:58:22One 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.

00:58:30I want to do a third tier, which is a whole other tier above the required two layers.

00:58:35One, because I like the height.

00:58:36I 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.

00:58:47I choose to do maple pecan because it was one of my favorite bonbons I made as a chocolatier in New York.

00:58:54And 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.

00:59:20And I want to win this competition to prove that hard work and effort in this industry pays off.

00:59:28Making 12 cakes is no joke.

00:59:30Literally.

00:59:31Well, 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.

00:59:41We'll see if I regret that decision.

00:59:44Woo, girl.

00:59:52Perfect.

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,

01:00:00and 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.

01:00:12That'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,

01:01:15and 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

01:01:31has been able to persevere through a lot and go through all of the trials and tribulations,

01:01:36and that she was meant to be here.

01:01:39Perfect golden brown, just what I wanted.

01:01:42I'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

01:01:49and 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. You're back baking again.

01:02:00And, yeah, for my cake, I got Scrooge versus Santa.

01:02:03Which I love for you.

01:02:04I do, too. It's really funny.

01:02:06My boyfriend played Scrooge in a modern rap, Christmas Carol.

01:02:10So, yeah, it was hilarious.

01:02:10I chose a spice cake.

01:02:13And 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.

01:02:22The 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.

01:02:34What have you learned about yourself?

01:02:36I'm just walking away from this, no matter what happens, with a ton of new friends,

01:02:40with 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.

01:02:48Yeah, I'm not going to cry.

01:02:49When I was 24, I had a really successful bakery, and it burnt me out.

01:02:54And now I'm in this competition, and throughout my time in the Holiday Village,

01:02:58I 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

01:03:05or a bed and breakfast, but I really want to just do it right this time.

01:03:08Okay, 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?

01:03:16That's what we want.

01:03:17Chest is turned to the side, but your gaze is forward towards your hand.

01:03:22Awesome.

01:03:23Strong warrior, baby.

01:03:24Strong warrior.

01:03:24Rich warrior, I call this.

01:03:25Rich warrior, hopefully.

01:03:26$25,000 in my bank account, warrior.

01:03:28Give me that money, warrior.

01:03:31Awesome, man.

01:03:32Thanks, man.

01:03:32Good luck, brother.

01:03:33Three hours to go.

01:03:35It's your last chance to impress the judges and walk out of here a champion.

01:03:39Oh, oh.

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

01:03:49judges.

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 was expensive pecans.

01:04:02I apologize.

01:04:02Take 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, filling's done.

01:04:13I'm on a roll.

01:04:14So far.

01:04:15So good.

01:04:16All right, to build my cakes, I'm going to start with my cherry and raspberry cake soak.

01:04:20This 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.

01:04:29And 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.

01:04:38Then I'm going to do some of my cherry and raspberry pom coat.

01:04:42Then I'll do my moss carpone.

01:04:45Then I'll whip, kind of use it to, like, glue everything in.

01:04:49And that's, like, the filling.

01:04:50So I'm going to do my same.

01:04:51Just kind of keep doing that.

01:04:53But, yeah, this is looking so good.

01:04:55Nice.

01:04:55This 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.

01:05:11And 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.

01:05:24But if, 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.

01:05:48He has been second for a lot of these competitions.

01:05:51And 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 to myself with the speed with which I decorated my cakes.

01:06:06Amazing.

01:06:07Damn, I can do cake.

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.

01:06:27I 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?

01:06:41You need to start decorating unless you can decorate like the Dickens.

01:06:44Talk about crumb coat.

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.

01:06:53I got a whole hour and a half.

01:06:55Okay, let 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

01:07:04because I really want the theme to come across in 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 it 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.

01:07:23And the naughty reindeer are going to be drinking out of little plastic cups.

01:07:28Delta Alpha.

01:07:29Slema.

01:07:29It doesn't matter.

01:07:30It's giving frat.

01:07:31It works.

01:07:32Foundations are there.

01:07:33Foundation is there.

01:07:35It's a very fat reindeer, but I don't care.

01:07:37He's got a beer belly.

01:07:39Pink 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

01:07:46and different variants of sprinkles.

01:07:49I originally had gum paste and all the things in mind,

01:07:51but building and baking and all the stuff of a cake in five hours happens a lot faster than you think.

01:07:58Using different colored coating chocolate and different textures of sprinkles,

01:08:02I make nutcrackers.

01:08:03And then for my sugar plum decorations, all I wanted to do was some candy theme

01:08:08and some glittery snowflakes and some sugar plums here and there,

01:08:13as 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.

01:08:23We're going to figure it out.

01:08:24I need to make some chains.

01:08:25I need to make some coins.

01:08:27And I need to make my bah humbug.

01:08:28To make Santa's face, I am going to add some ivory food coloring to white fondant

01:08:34and 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 is going 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.

01:09:20I've never seen Charles jog.

01:09:23Rude.

01:09:23I 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 coal 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.

01:09:51Give some final details to really tie it together.

01:09:53All right, bakers.

01:09:54Ten minutes left.

01:09:55Oh, my gosh.

01:09:57Sorry.

01:09:58That was crazy.

01:10:02This is crazy.

01:10:02How you doing, Tark?

01:10:05Good.

01:10:05I just need to get, like, final touches on.

01:10:07Stuff like that.

01:10:08In these final minutes, I'm trying to bring the greed to Scrooge.

01:10:11Who's going home with $25,000 today?

01:10:14Me.

01:10:15Me.

01:10:16Nobody else answered, so it's between me and Ashley.

01:10:19I'm freaking out.

01:10:21Final touches.

01:10:22Here we go.

01:10:22Ten seconds.

01:10:23Ten seconds.

01:10:33That's it.

01:10:35Now it's all up to the judges.

01:10:37Woo!

01:10:38Good job, everybody.

01:10:40My hands are hella sticky.

01:10:43Good job.

01:10:44We did it.

01:10:44We're done.

01:10:51Hey, Zach, thank you for coming in on short notice

01:10:54and being such an outstanding and phenomenal judge

01:10:56on 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?

01:11:12I was assigned Scrooge versus Santa.

01:11:15So I made a spice cake with eggnog custard and almond praline

01:11:20and an orange buttercream.

01:11:21To decorate Scrooge, I represented the bah humbug

01:11:25and the ho-ho-ho contrast of Santa and Scrooge,

01:11:27and I gave him his chains decorated with coins

01:11:30and money signs to represent him.

01:11:33And then in contrast, Santa is a jolly little face

01:11:36and 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

01:11:44is hair on his chest.

01:11:46Yes, yeah, that's his hair.

01:11:48Kudos to the humor, to your workmanship.

01:11:51I get bah humbug, obviously, which is naughty.

01:11:55And then you have this wonderful Santa

01:11:58whose eyes have such personality that's nice.

01:12:02Santa does seem to be leaning forward,

01:12:05probably 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.

01:12:12Whenever you're ready, Chase, thank you.

01:12:14Ooh.

01:12:16Thank you so much, Chase.

01:12:21Zach, this is absolutely delicious.

01:12:29The spice cake, it's warm.

01:12:31It has that perfect moisture content

01:12:33that's somewhere between a cake and a muffin.

01:12:36The eggnog pastry cream you have in here, wow.

01:12:39So many spices and it's so like luscious and velvety

01:12:44and just has a really great mouthfeel.

01:12:46You 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.

01:13:00All right, Chase, thank you so much.

01:13:01Thank you, Chase.

01:13:01It's been so much fun.

01:13:02Thanks, Chase.

01:13:03Bye.

01:13:04Oh, my goodness.

01:13:05Great bite of food.

01:13:09Hello, judges.

01:13:10Hi, Charles.

01:13:10What naughty versus nice thing were you assigned?

01:13:12I 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

01:13:22pecan, and a pecan praline.

01:13:24I just kind of went half and half down vertically to do it a little different.

01:13:29And I wanted the height of three tiers.

01:13:30So I did kind of the coal mine where the naughty coal gets made.

01:13:34And then I have the gifts on the nice side.

01:13:37I love what you did.

01:13:38Your tiers are flawless.

01:13:41So clean.

01:13:42Laser level.

01:13:42And I think because everything is so clean, including the presents, the ribbons end up

01:13:49looking sloppy 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.

01:13:58We see that.

01:13:59But I think you could have gotten a little bit more grungier on the coal side.

01:14:03I think it's time to dive in to this mine.

01:14:07Ooh.

01:14:08Ooh.

01:14:12Well, that's where you got naughty.

01:14:20It's like breakfast in 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,

01:14:31Dude.

01:14:32What?

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.

01:14:56Bye.

01:15:00My God, that was good.

01:15:05Hi, judges.

01:15:06Hi, Ash.

01:15:07Jesse.

01:15:08Good to see you, Ashley.

01:15:09Hi, Jesse.

01:15:09Okay, you got to choose your own theme.

01:15:10What did you pick?

01:15:11So I chose Naughty Nutcracker and Sugar Plum Fairies.

01:15:16I have some Nutcrackers and Tangled Lights and Broken Christmas Presents,

01:15:20and that's the Naughty theme of the Nutcracker.

01:15:23And then the sweet side being the Sugar Plum Fairies.

01:15:26The flavor of this cake is a chocolate cannoli cake.

01:15:30There's a cannoli filling that has candied pistachios, orange zest,

01:15:34and the secret ingredient is goat cheese.

01:15:37This is spectacular.

01:15:39I see the Naughty in the Nutcracker's face.

01:15:41Like, they look really mischievous and, like, they're doing things they shouldn't be doing.

01:15:45I love the Christmas tree up top, all of your little decor, and it does read Sugar Plum Fairy.

01:15:51And it does read Nutcracker at the bottom.

01:15:54I think you've met the challenge as far as the visual aspect of it.

01:15:57Your 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.

01:16:12This 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.

01:16:28And goat cheese is a new twist for me, but I think I'm going to start filling my cannolis with goat cheese now.

01:16:34It's been a pleasure.

01:16:35Thank you, guys.

01:16:36Appreciate you.

01:16:36As always, Ashley, great work.

01:16:37Thank you so much.

01:16:41It was absolutely divine to me.

01:16:43I loved it.

01:16:44I am going to eat some more.

01:16:48Tariq, welcome back.

01:16:49Hello.

01:16:50Okay, so which Naughty vs. Nice theme were you assigned?

01:16:52I was assigned Naughty Reindeer vs. Nice Reindeer.

01:16:56For 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 from 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.

01:17:23So 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.

01:17:36I got the story right away.

01:17:38I think your, uh, overindulged reindeer is really funny and really cute.

01:17:44I love your stars.

01:17:45I love your dark sky.

01:17:47And I get naughty and nice.

01:17:49All right, let's give it a try, Tariq.

01:17:51All right.

01:17:51Oh, nice.

01:17:53Oh, wow.

01:17:57Cartier.

01:17:58Yeah, your chocolate cake is moist.

01:18:01It is spot on.

01:18:03Your 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's sort of a little tart.

01:18:14And I'm chewing that and I'm chewing the seeds.

01:18:17So 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.

01:18:25I don't think it's necessary.

01:18:26And I think if you could have edited to be just cherry pretzel crunch and cake, boom, boom, boom.

01:18:32Okay.

01:18:32Done.

01:18:32Your pretzel almond crunch is delicious and really adds a lot to the cake because the buttercream is soft, the cake is soft.

01:18:41But a nice bite of food.

01:18:43I'm pleased that you've done so well.

01:18:46You're welcome.

01:18:47Tarek, great stuff all the way around.

01:18:49Way to go.

01:18:50Thank you, Tarek.

01:18:51Keep up that sense of humor, please.

01:18:53Mm-hmm.

01:18:53And don't be drinking too much.

01:18:56I don't drink.

01:18:57Neither do I.

01:19:06All right, well, judges, it's finally that time for our beloved holiday village to name a new holiday baking champion.

01:19:14It's so exciting.

01:19:16It is exciting.

01:19:17And it's also easily the biggest decision of the season.

01:19:20Let's check our list twice, just like Santa does.

01:19:23Yeah.

01:19:23Let's talk about these cakes you just saw.

01:19:25Yeah, I think Chase, out of the gate, did an exceptional job.

01:19:28I think Chase also kept it clean, didn't overdo it.

01:19:33Yes.

01:19:33I thought also really showed the naughty versus nice.

01:19:36Yes, it did.

01:19:37The sponge was beautiful.

01:19:40And the eggnog pastry cream.

01:19:41Ooh.

01:19:43It was a delicious cake.

01:19:45But the structure.

01:19:46Santa was a little askew.

01:19:49I kind of feel that Ashley played it a little too safe.

01:19:51We just had chocolate cake.

01:19:53The 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.

01:20:03But 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.

01:20:17And 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.

01:20:25You could see every little flaw.

01:20:28Those ribbons just screamed.

01:20:30You all hated those ribbons.

01:20:31Just screamed.

01:20:32Because everything else was so perfect.

01:20:35And 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.

01:20:47Well, 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, okay.

01:21:00I loved Tarek's naughty versus 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.

01:21:24Which 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?

01:21:34I do.

01:21:36Yeah?

01:21:37Yes.

01:21:38Yes.

01:21:40Bakers, what a holiday season it's been.

01:21:43So just take a moment and let it sink in.

01:21:48You've persevered through a gauntlet of naughty and nice mischief.

01:21:52And 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.

01:22:03Chase, your eggnog filling was luscious and the sponge was tender and filled with spice.

01:22:10Ashley, you had the audacity to put goat cheese filling in your chocolate cannoli cake, and we absolutely could not get enough of it.

01:22:20Charles.

01:22:22You brought spice pecan and maple together in a delicious bite.

01:22:28And Tarek, your chocolate sponge was tender and tasty with a satisfying pretzel crunch.

01:22:36You baked up some of the most magical mouth-watering cakes this place has ever seen.

01:22:43Yes.

01:22:44And now, one of you is about to become a hometown hero with $25,000, a feature in Food Network magazine, and the title,

01:22:53The Toast of Our Holiday Town, the Best Cake Maker in the Village, and the Holiday Baking Champion is...

01:23:02Charles!

01:23:13Congratulations!

01:23:13I 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.

01:23:31Yes.

01:23:33Oh, my God.

01:23:34Congratulations.

01:23:35It's so great to be here.

01:23:36It's so great to see you.

01:23:37It's so great to meet you.

01:23:38It's nice to meet you.

01:23:39Hi, honey.

01:23:40Congratulations.

01:23:41Man, you did it.

01:23:42Way to go.

01:23:43Great job.

01:23:44That was awesome.

01:23:45I 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.

01:23:54How do you feel?

01:23:55It's amazing.

Holiday Baking Championship - Season 12 Episode 08- Naughty and Nice Christmas

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