Holiday Gingerbread Showdown Season 1 episode 1 recap: More than nice is needed

On Holiday Gingerbread Showdown Season 1 episode 1 recap, the three competing bakers needed to go beyond just nice to impress the scrutiny of these judges.

In Holiday Gingerbread Showdown Season 1 episode 1 recap, the three bakers had varying approaches to the theme of naughty and nice. Even with a substantial time frame, these bakers found that gingerbread houses are only as strong as a good foundation. Which baker was able to find that winning combination of creativity and visual perfection?

Holiday Gingerbread Showdown is a new Food Network competition. Thinking about this show, it is slightly different from other Food Network baking competitions. Since sturdy gingerbread needs time to hold up a substantial structure, some of the bakers’ components were shipped to the competition. While this idea is needed, it doesn’t come without peril.

Gingerbread can be fragile and even the most careful packing can be problematic. The clock face for Chad was broken. Having to bake another piece definitely put him behind in this challenge. Like in many Food Network Challenges, these competitions are as straight forward as it seems.

While I could talk about the technical builds of these gingerbread houses and their themes, I think that this show has some really good unique qualities to the competition. The rules are clear. There is a height requirement, gingerbread percentage requirement and an edible requirement. All of these factors are important. A visually impressive gingerbread house that hardly has any gingerbread won’t win this competition.

Judges Kerry Vincent, Molly Yeh, and Adam Young and host Marcella Valladolid, as seen on Holiday Gingerbread Showdown, Season 1. photo provided by Food Network

Equally important, this competition showed how bakers can use different, innovative techniques to create a visually impressive gingerbread house. For example, Van used Isomalt, a sugar substitute, to adhere pieces of gingerbread together. The clear isomalt kept the gingerbread house visually clean, which seemed very important to one of the judges.

Beyond the isomalt, Chad used a blonde gingerbread in his design. I had never heard of a blonde gingerbread, but it created visually stunning candy canes. This idea seemed very innovative and something new. While I don’t recall the judges talking about the taste, it seems like an interesting twist on the classic holiday treat.

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Although the visual component for this challenge was huge, the tasting components weren’t overlooked. While I understand that each Food Network challenge needs some type of twist, I don’t think that these bakers were really prepared for the added twist challenge.

For the twist, the bakers had to create a new, edible component that needed to be used in their gingerbread display. This particular challenge was quite difficult for all three bakers. While Chad’s dessert seemed to be the most visually pretty, his bake on the traditional yule log was off. Van used an inedible wick in his candle (not to mention that the molding chocolate was quite thick. Nikki’s gelee was nice, but it was miniscule.

One of the three bakers would win an advantage (having the other two bakers take a 20 minute break from assembly). Personally, I didn’t think that any baker really deserved the advantage, but the judges chose Nikki’s peach gelee.

Overall, all the three bakers had technical issues in their final presentations. But, the biggest criticisms came from judge Kerry Vincent. If you don’t remember her from former Food Network baking competitions, you should go back and watch them. She is a judge that doesn’t let anything slide, and it is wonderful.

Kerry didn’t like the globs of royal icing (thought to be hidden) go unnoticed. She didn’t let the broken pieces slide under the rug. Kerry called out the mistakes and made those bakers take ownership. I applaud her attitude. It is a huge competition and everyone doesn’t deserve a medal. Thanks for bringing some clear, vital opinions to the judging table.

In the end, only one baker would move on to the finale. Unlike other Food Network shows, this baking competition has one baker move on and the others go home. Each week stands on its own, with a winner from each episode heading to the finale.

The baker winning this week’s Holiday Gingerbread Showdown season 1 episode 1 recap was Van. His display was the most impressive. Beyond having a clean design, he did incorporate the edible element well (luckily removing the inedible wick). With a moving fan and a movable door, this German inspired advent calendar earned him a place in the finale.

The biggest takeaway from this week’s episode was to think about structure. A strong structure is vital to a successful gingerbread house. While the home baker might not be an engineer, it is important to carefully plan. And, don’t forget about the back side of your gingerbread house. Remember, a house isn’t just a façade.

What did you think of Holiday Gingerbread Showdown season 1 episode 1? Which gingerbread house would you want on your holiday table?