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Halloween Baking Championship premiere recap: Fill it and let it ooze

By Cristine Struble

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Halloween Baking Championship premiere was a gooey, oozy baking event. From stuffed cookies to the oozing desserts, these Halloween treats were creepily good.

The spookiest time of year has hit Food Network’s kitchens. The Halloween Baking Championship premiere had the bakers blend delicious sweet treats with creepy, oozy elements. But, one baker will be sent to the graveyard by the end of the first episode. Was her oozing cake just not scary enough?

These type of baking shows are popular on the Food Network. While the short season baking show has some great baking tips, the Halloween Baking Championship premiere was full of creativity. These bakers wouldn’t be on the show if they couldn’t whip up a mean cake. But, do these bakers have the ability to showcase their creativity with the tasty treats?

Halloween Baking Championship premier, photo from Food Network

The first week’s pre-heat challenge had the bakers create candy stuffed cookies. The winner of the pre-heat would get an advantage in the pre-heat. These candy stuffed cookies were more like sandwich cookies than filled or stuffed cookies.

Truthfully, most of these cookies looked similar. Multiple cookies were stacked with a hole in the middle. The middles was filled with some type of candy. I think that the candy was picked more for color and shape than flavor.

Some of the cookie flavors sounded quite good. While a few bakers used traditional sugar cookies, some bakers had more elevated flavors. The chocolate espresso cookies would have been my must try. One cookie was more of a pie or a shortbread than a traditional cookie.

Halloween Baking Championship premier, photo from Food Network

Three bakers had noticeable mistakes. Dina was supposed to make spider webs, but she made a spider. Her cookie, although the wrong theme, was the most original. Tyler had a cookie that was more of a pie crust. Lastly, Maryanne forgot to cut a hole in her cookies to fill. The resulting cookie looked sad, not scary.

Ray, who had the cauldron cookies, won the pre-heat. The cookie worked well as a cookie and a stuffed cookie. His advantage for the main heat was the ability to choose his dessert filling for the main heat challenge.

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For the main challenge, each baker had to create a dessert with an oozy filling. When the dessert is cut, the filling, or slimy center, must ooze out. Ray, as the pre-heat winner, chose a raspberry filling. The remaining bakers made a mad dash to choose their slimy flavor.

This challenge didn’t have to be a cake. The bakers could make any type of dessert. But, the bakers had to balance flavor, decoration and ooze factor. If the dessert didn’t ooze when cut, they couldn’t be on the top. Unfortunately, ooze was an issue for many of the bakers.

After the bakers began their desserts, they were given a twist mid-challenge. Each baker had to create an edible, small creature that would be part of the dessert. Most of the bakers were able to add a creative twist on this added element.

Halloween Baking Championship premiere, photo from Food Network

Since this competition is the Halloween Baking Championship premiere, the desserts needed to be grotesque chic. Of course, everyone is going to eat these yummy treats, but the desserts need to have the creepy factor. If the dessert isn’t scary, it’s not right for Halloween.

Only a couple bakers really had an oozing dessert. Sublime slime desserts were not that slimy. Jasmine’s dessert won the challenge. Her flavor combination of lemon and blueberry was on point. More importantly, the dessert oozed. The contrast of colors added to the oozy factor. The judges loved her dessert.

My personal favorite was the Frankenstein puffs from Jessica. These bright green puff with the gooey, oozy center were creepy, yet sounded delicious. They looked like a fun Halloween dessert, not just a pretty dessert. I would have picked her as the winner.

With this episode being the Halloween Baking Championship premiere, most desserts, even those with flaws, were safe. Two bakers, who made major mistakes, were in the bottom two. Andrea and Jonathan had the bottom two desserts.

Andrea had problems throughout the first episode. Her pre-heat cookies were a mess (she was the one who forgot to cut a hole in her cookies). In the main challenge, Andrea burnt her cakes. The tops were completely burnt. She did some cake surgery, but it wasn’t enough.

Halloween Baking Championship premiere, photo from Food Network

Also, Andrea’s decoration was not good. Her fondant was beyond hard. If the judges can’t cut into the dessert, how can they eat it? No dessert should require a chisel to open.

Lastly, Andrea didn’t have an oozy center. Her cherry caramel became a harden caramel. Her dessert was a Halloween disaster.

Jonathan, aka balloon man, struggled with his dessert. He tried to use balloons to create a chocolate dome. But, the balloons kept breaking. It was a mess.

A major complaint from the judges was that the desserts weren’t all the same. One judge had a very different dessert. Jonathan needed to adapt when things aren’t working in the kitchen.

The biggest problem with Jonathan’s dessert was that the flavors were confusing. With so many different flavors on a single plate, the flavors over powered each other. He definitely needed to edit his dessert.

Next: Is Halloween the Food Network's biggest baking holiday?

Andrea was the baker sent home on Halloween Baking Championship premiere. With both of her desserts on the bottom, it seemed logical that she was the first baker sent home.

What will this season bring? Viewers will have to tune into to see all the tricks and treats this season. A new episode airs every Monday at 9 p.m. ET.

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