Spring Baking Championship Recap: Rainy Day Desserts Bring Happiness
The old song doesn’t ring true on Spring Baking Championship Season 3, Episode 6. Rainy day desserts won’t bring you down, unless you were the baker who didn’t make the finale.
After last week’s dismissal of Courtney, this week’s episode could bring even more debate. Two professional bakers remain in the contest. The question remains: Can an at-home baker conqueror the Spring Baking Championship? To make it to the finale, these bakers had to bring some sunshine to rainy day desserts.
The penultimate episode of Spring Baking Championships season 3 focused on rainy day desserts. On a positive note, rainy days bring spring flowers, but this challenge left one baker just short of the finale. The bakers had two desserts that could bring them one step closer to the big $50,000 prize.
In the pre-heat challenge, Adam, Jordan, John and Daniella were tasked with creating whoopie pies. But, it’s Spring Baking Championship, so no regular whoopie pie is going to cut it. These bakers made garden critters. Don’t worry, though: these little critters are cute, not creepy.
A New England tradition, a whoopie pie is made with two soft cookies and a fluffy filling. The traditional whoopie pie is a chocolate soft cookie with a sweet, marshmallow fluff like center. Over time, whoopie pie have expanded to seasonal flavors, like pumpkin.
Rainy Day Desserts, photo by Food Network
Jordan, a professional baker, wasn’t accustomed to making whoopie pies. But, his honey flavor filling was a favorite with the judges. Maybe his hotel might start making these treats for guests. Still, a little decorative help might make them a little more elegant.
One whoopie pie is a little unusual. John opted for a somewhat savory tasting treat. His cream cheese filling lacked some sugar. While one judge appreciated the attempt, others were more skeptical.
Daniella triumphed during the pre-heat. For her, flavor won over everyone. By winning the pre-heat she received the advantage: Having a former winner help in the main heat.
Building on the garden/rain theme, the main heat challenged the bakers to make colorful drip cakes. While rain drops on your head may be a disappointment, the rain drop inspired cakes brought happiness to just three bakers.
In addition to the drip cake, the bakers had to incorporate a 3D rainbow element into the cake. Daniella’s advantage proved to be important. Her design used an ice cream cone to incorporate both the drip and the rainbow. The unique approach won over the judges.
Rainy Day Desserts, photo by Food Network
Adam turned in a disappointing cake. His problems were less on presentation and more on execution. Parts of his cake were raw. Overall, he presented a great-looking but horrible-tasting cake.
Still John’s cake landed him on the bottom. His cake itself was terribly dry. While he tried to save the cake with a yummy strawberry and mascarpone filling, the cake was not impressive. The decorations on his cake looked more like stripes, not drips. While not bad for the older baker, his cake just didn’t measure up against the others.
Daniella’s cake was crowned the drip cake winner. The home baker moved onto the finale. Jordan also impressed the judges enough to be part of the finale. Adam, with his quite good and bad cake, also earned a spot in the finale.
John was sent home on this episode. While he had a great run, I don’t think that he was truly up to the more complicated challenges. He seems like a great overall baker, but his presentation couldn’t compare to the other three.
Next: Spring Baking Championship Episode 4 Recap
The finale of Spring Baking Championship season 3 has Jordan, Daniella and Adam battling to the end. Which baker will be crowned champion? Check back to see the finale.