Wedding Cake Championship recap: Destination wedding cake

Viva Mexico! This week’s Wedding Cake Championship recap has the bakers creating a destination wedding cake. Who’s ready to travel?

Ready for another Wedding Cake Championship recap? In this week’s episode, the bakers are taking on a destination wedding cake, aka a travel theme or Viva Mexico. From the wedding cake topper to the elaborate multi-tiered wedding cake, this week’s challenge had everyone wishing for a vacation.

For the wedding cake topper challenge, the bakers had to incorporate a beach theme. With such a broad theme, the bakers could have gone in almost any direction. Two teams did extremely well and the other teams struggled.

Similar to last week, the teams that could create a well-conceived story with a clear vision stood out. While their cake topper was a little juvenile, Reva and Viki, did well. The starfish were cute, but it wasn’t very elevated for a destination wedding. Sure, cute works sometimes, but the starfish bride and groom were a little too cartoon like. It was beautifully done and impeccable, but it was a little too whimsical.

The best, and winning, wedding cake topper came from Sabrina and Regina. Their anchor was impeccable made. With a rope entwined around it and starfish at the base, this wedding cake topper looked like the perfect choice for a beach wedding.

Judges Maneet Chauhan, David Tutera, and Kimberly Bailey during the judging of the Cake Round, Wedding Cake For Bryce and Josette, Viva Mexico!, as seen on Wedding Cake Championship, Season 1.

As for the other teams, many of the wedding cake toppers had flaws. From falling leaves to hugging palm trees, these cake toppers were a little disappointing. The technical issues were quite apparent. It can be difficult to create these impressive cake toppers in such a short amount of time. Still, it is a Food Network challenge and these teams should want to do more.

With their win in the cake topper challenge, Sabrina and Regina received a big advantage for the elimination round. They had a table of special ingredients that no one else could use. This type of advantage can be huge because flavor is such an important part to a wedding cake. Clean, elevated flavors can really set a cake apart from others.

The theme of the elimination round was Viva Mexico. The engaged couple loves everything about Mexico. With their destination wedding planned for Mexico, this destination wedding cake needed to feature Mexican culture. From flavors to décor, this cake was definitely Viva Mexico. Lastly, the cake needed to include a fish, as a reference to the groom’s father.

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Looking at this wedding cake theme, the engaged couple wanted to incorporate almost every Mexican theme. From colorful blankets and tiles to Dia de Los Muertos, it was a colorful explosion. The cake’s flavor was also to incorporate Mexican influences, like chipotle and horchada. If the teams aren’t careful, this wedding cake could become an over-accessorized mess.

Although I was not consulted, my favorite cake was from Sabrina and Regina. The cake decoration captured the theme yet was lovely. The Mexican tile work was impeccable and the color scheme was subtle. As David Tutera said, the cake looked like beautiful interior design.

The flavors of the cake were equally as impressive. By using the special ingredient of canelé, a Mexican cinnamon, the cake was lovely. That special ingredient really made a difference.

Reva and Viki’s cake was an over-accessorized cake. Each layer had so many colors and elements that your eye didn’t know where to look. Similar to getting ready for a night out, they should have looked at the design and taken something off. It was extremely well made, but it was too busy.

Judges Maneet Chauhan, David Tutera, and Kimberly Bailey with contestant Holly Webster during the Cake Round, Wedding Cake For Bryce and Josette, Viva Mexico!, as seen on Wedding Cake Championship, Season 1.

Holly and Kylinn had a technical issue with their bottom layer. While using the technique of printed rice paper was smart, the seams came apart. Although they tried to cover the mistake, it made the mistake more obvious. Why didn’t they add more black fondant stripes to make it look intentional?

The most disappointing cake was Van and Estella. First, their cake was leaning. In a competition like this Food Network show, the bakers should be able to make a structurally sound cake. Sure, everyone is pressed for time, but some technical flaws can’t be overlooked.

Also, their cake used an unusual flavor for this challenge, sweet potato cake. It was almost as if they wanted to make this flavor of cake and didn’t care what the challenge entailed. While there was some spice flavor, it didn’t really apply to the Mexican theme. It was a very disappointing showing.

The winning team was the comeback kids, Jared and Stephen. After last week’s cake decapitation, this week’s destination wedding cake was a huge hit. They definitely redeemed themselves with heads as wedding cake toppers. This cake was a lovely interpretation of a Mexican theme wedding cake.

Hosts Tara Lipinski and Johnny Weir with contestants Stephen Lowry and Jared Sullivan during the Cake Round, Wedding Cake For Bryce and Josette, Viva Mexico!, as seen on Wedding Cake Championship, Season 1. photo provided by Food Network

For such a colorful, multi-faceted cake, it didn’t appear too busy. Each layer built on each other until it reached the impressive Dia de Los Muertos cake toppers. It never appeared heavy handed or overdone. While the cake flavor was a little muted, it was still good. It seems that decoration trumped flavor.

For the second week in a row in the Wedding Cake Championship recap, the cake’s overall appearance and decoration seems to be the focus of this baking competition. While the cake flavors need to be good, the best tasting cake doesn’t seem to earn the top spot. For example, Sabrina and Regina’s cake flavor was better than Stephen and Jared. But, the guys won the challenge. I wonder if this trend will continue.

The team sent home was Van and Estrella. The leaning tower of cake and poor flavor choice was too much to overlook. Plus, last week’s cake was a little disappointing as well. It seemed likely that they were going home.

Going into next week’s challenge, I think that Reva and Viki still are the front runners. Their cakes and decorations are impeccable. Since there cake was a little too busy this week, they weren’t in the top two. Still, they understand time management and nature of this baking competition.

Next: Ridiculous Cakes new season showcases even more outrageous cakes

Who do you think has a chance at winning Wedding Cake Championship? Check back next week for the next Wedding Cake Championship recap.

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