Halloween Baking Championship Season 4 episode 4 recap: Creepy ever after

In the Halloween Baking Championship Season 4 episode 4 recap, the contestants add some spooky elements to Halloween wedded bliss.

Halloween Baking Championship Season 4 episode 4 recap adds a creepy twist to happily ever after. In this episode, the bakers add some spooky to traditional wedding treats. From petit fours to wedding cakes, these tempting bites might frighten the wedding guests.

With just five bakers remaining, the competition is getting as hot as Hades. This week’s challenges have the bakers tackling two quite difficult challenges, both with a Halloween wedding theme. Would a spooky bride and groom want these treats at their dreadful nuptials?

For the pre-heat challenge, the bakers had to create petit fours. Each baker’s theme had to be apparent in these little cakes. While petit fours are common at bridal showers, these little bites needed to be impeccable in both flavor and presentation.

In the pre-heat, the bakers seems to struggle with this challenge. Petit fours are very precise. Layers need to be even, cuts need to be clean and fondant needs to be impeccable. Unfortunately, more bakers struggled than succeeded.

Overall the balance of flavors in the petit fours were the major issues for the bakers. Most of the small bites were too sweet. With such a small bite, the correct balance is a must. Too much sweetness from raspberry overpowers all the other flavors in the tiny bite.

In a larger dessert, flavor balance can be a little more forgiving, but petit fours aren’t. Steven’s fondant was too thick, Brenda had too much raspberry and Michelle had too many flavor combinations. No amount of pretty decorations could save these petit fours.

Contestant Jamal Lake discusses his dish with host John Henson in the pre-heat, as seen on Food Network’s Halloween Baking Championship, Season 4. photo provided by Food Network

Continuing his win streak was Jamal. His petit fours were simple, yet exquisite. The combination of passionfruit, raspberry and almond was nicely balanced. Overall, his plate was playful yet tasteful. Plus, the blood sauce was apparently delicious. I wonder if Food Network could share that recipe. I could think of many desserts that could use that sauce.

For winning the pre-heat, Jamal received a special prize for the main heat. Zac Young would come help Jamal for 10 minutes during the larger challenge. This extra help is a huge advantage, especially with the difficult main heat challenge.

In the second part of Halloween Baking Championship Season 4 episode 4 recap, the bakers had two hours to create a Halloween inspired wedding cake. This cake needed to represent a creepy Halloween couple. From werewolves and mummies to witches and trolls, these unlikely couples definitely had a spooky side.

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Having only two hours to create a wedding cake is crazy. Granted these cakes have a small scale, it is still a lot of effort in a short period of time. While I appreciated some of the cakes, I think that the judges’ decision on the winner was wrong.

The top three bakers this week were Michelle, Steven and Lyndsy. These three bakers excelled in flavor, which put them in the top. Since this week’s added ingredient twist was herbal flavors, these bakers made best use of their twist ingredient.

If I was choosing a winner, my top choice would have been Lyndsay. First, her flavor profiles were on point. The choice of a margarita key lime cake fit with her theme and incorporated the twist ingredient perfectly. It was a lovely bite of dessert.

More importantly, her decorations were impressive. The beating heart held in the troll’s hand was impeccable. If this decoration didn’t make you say ick and wow, you’re watching too many Food Network competition shows. While Lyndsy was my top choice, she wasn’t the judges’ winner.

Personally, I completely disagreed with Michelle being in the top three. While her cake flavors were amazing, the decoration was sub-par. Broken fondant made for a sloppy look. Also, her wedding cake didn’t showcase robot, which was part of the couple.

In previous challenges, the baker who didn’t accomplish the task was on the chopping block. While I appreciate that there is still a home baker in the competition, I think that her presentation shouldn’t have been in the top three. Granted, she might not have been the worst. Still, she shouldn’t have won.

The baker winning this creepy couple wedding cake challenge was Steven. His wedding cake was very different than the other cakes. Overall, this decoration was less scary and more approachable.

The judges deliberate the main heat results, as seen on Food Network’s Halloween Baking Championship, Season 4. photo provided by Food Network

While I like his cake decoration, it is a different choice from the judges. Usually, the judges lean toward the scary, icky and gruesome displays. This cake was almost family friendly.

Steven did have creative use of decoration. The idea of two layers representing the couple was nice. Also, he had a creative, unusual cake flavor. His use of elderflower, the twist ingredient, worked well with the Earl Gray tea.

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In a way, it was nice to see someone other than Jamal and Lyndsy win a challenge. Still, I think that those two bakers seem to have a stronghold on this competition overall. It remains to be seen if one of them will win the title.

The bottom two bakers were Jamal and Brenda. Both bakers struggled with the twist ingredient. Jamal used way too much lavender in this cake. This super floral ingredient overpowered everything. Zac said that it tasted like eating body lotion (definitely not a compliment).

I was a little disappointed with Jamal’s decoration. While the cake was modern and represented the creepy couple, it lacks a wow factor. Even with Zac’s roses, the wedding cake just seemed lacking. In Halloween Baking Championship, I expected a bigger visual impact.

Brenda was the other bottom baker. While her cake was visually impressive, her flavors were missing. The judges couldn’t taste rose water, her twist ingredient. While rose water can be a hard ingredient, she was too subtle with her flavor addition.

Also, Brenda had an error on her bake. The cake was a little overcooked and the edges were dry. This mistake late in the competition can’t be overlooked. The little items come with bigger consequences now.

It was surprising that Brenda was the only baker who had a bride and groom wedding topper. It would have been nice to see other bakers add more elements to their wedding cakes. Between Lyndsy and Brenda, those wedding cakes were the only ones with bold decorations.

Additionally, I was surprised that Brenda didn’t incorporate more sugar flowers. While the flowers didn’t necessarily tie to the theme, she is a talented sugar flower artist. Maybe some of those decorations would have given her an advantage.

Unfortunately, Brenda was sent home. I don’t think that these challenges showcased her pastry talents. Maybe she is better suited for Best Baker in America, which has more emphasis on more elevated plated desserts.

Since this episode focused on weddings, I was surprised that the judges’ costumes didn’t have a wedding theme. Although bride and groom have been done in various ways, this week’s costumes were a little disjointed.

Zac seemed unhappy in this cupcake costume. Granted, he was in the kitchen helping Jamal for part of the challenge. It didn’t seem likely that he would have an elaborate make-up or costume given his additional part in the challenge.

Carla Hall’s make-up was incredibly elaborate. The colorful make-up was visually stunning and almost reminded me of the Lion King. How she didn’t smudge her make-up while eating is baffling.

With only a few episodes remaining in Halloween Baking Championship Season 4, which baker do you think could walk away with the title? My money is still on either Jamal or Lyndsy. Check back next to see which bakers are still in the running.