Halloween Baking Championship recap: Spooky and sweet spirits

Are spirits spooking Halloween Baking Championship? From the pre-heat to the main heat, this week’s episode has the bakers looking over their shoulders.

Halloween Baking Championship may not be haunted, but some spirits are definitely in the kitchen this week. As the bakers start to find their confidence in this Food Network competition, will this week’s challenge spook them too much?

After last week’s challenges, the bakers are starting to assert themselves. Since no one wanted to be eliminated in week one, the bakers might have held back a little. This week, the oven mitts are off and the creativity is flowing.

For the pre-heat challenge, the bakers had to create a dessert that combined a particular liquor and incorporated a specific spirit theme. This spirit challenge might have sounded easier than what is truly was.

Adding liquor to a dessert takes a deft hand. Too much liquor and you feel like you are eating fire. Too little liquor and you don’t taste the flavor. Balance is key.

Since all of these bakers should be able to create a liquor infused dessert, the key to this challenge was the theme and decoration. The bakers who were a little more creative proved themselves to the judges.

Looking at the pre-heat, several bakers did well. Karl, who seems to be emerging as a front-runner, used a Venus theme to create a visually pretty dessert. Although his brandy was a little strong, it was a good dessert.

A few desserts had technical flaws. Sheldon’s semi-fredo was not set. Jocelyn’s dessert was nice, but it really didn’t convey a Halloween theme. Overall, the pre-heat had a lot of middle of the road desserts.

Winning the pre-heat was Julie. Although her cheesecake stuck to the mold a little, she was able to recover.

Julie won because she created a total theme with her dessert. The Irish Cream cheesecake paired well with the mermaid theme. From being light and airy to the delicate mermaid decoration, her dessert was the total package.

For winning the pre-heat, Julie’s advantage was that she was able to pick her dessert in the main heat. This type of advantage usually ensures the baker will do well in the main heat. Why would any baker choose a dessert that she couldn’t execute well?

In the main heat, the bakers had to honor the dead, dead desserts. With a Day of the Dead theme, the bakers had to bring back to life old (aka dead) desserts. The updated dessert needed to convey the Day of the Dead theme.

And, the twist for this week was that the bakers had to include 3D edible flowers in the design. This twist was controversial choice.

In previous Baking Championship seasons, judges have criticized bakers for using too much fondant in decorations. While edible, it isn’t the tastiest choice. In this challenge, the majority of flowers were fondant (and small). Apparently the twist wasn’t a huge component of this challenge.

Host John Henson on set as seen on Halloween Baking Championship Season 5 Episode 2. photo provided by Food Network

Looking at all the desserts, it was curious that the majority of bakers didn’t necessarily give the “dead desserts” a huge update. While no one expected a totally deconstructed dessert, these updated desserts were rather close to the originals.

While Julie had the advantage, she didn’t score a top two dessert. Her update on a coconut cream pie was nice, but it had too much gelatin. Also, the judges didn’t appreciate her decoration. It looked like some of her design was covering a mistake.

Scoring another top spot with the judges was Karl. His update on a Chess Pie was smart. The toasted corn crust was a smart update. Although the pie was a little loose, his decoration and update put him in the top two.

In a surprise, Pete’s German Chocolate Cake earned the win. The judges’ choice was a little surprising. This German Chocolate Cake didn’t stray too far from the original.

The dark chocolate was a nice touch, but the cake, itself, won over the judges. Even the coconut filling, which wasn’t a huge update, was so tasty that the judges had to award him top honors.

Still, his decorations were not as bold as Karl’s choices. Pete’s flowers disappeared into the design. It seems that Pete’s German Chocolate Cake won over the judges on flavor.

Unfortunately, the two bottom bakers were rather obvious. Sheldon, the home baker, got a tough dessert to update.

The Charlotte Royal is generally a dessert on Best Baker in America. It takes a deft hand to execute well. Still, he did a valiant job at this dessert.

Host John Henson talking to Sheldon Taylor-Timothy as seen on Halloween Baking Championship Season 5 Episode 2. photo provided by Food Network

Sheldon tried to redeem himself with a semi-fredo. While this choice was gutsy, he didn’t execute, again. The semi-fredo wasn’t set. It wasn’t a smart competition move for Sheldon.

Brittany struggled with her rice pudding. While her dessert definitely had an update (the blackberry gelee in the bottom of the bowl), she didn’t execute the rice pudding.

The rice pudding was a bowl of mush because the rice was overcooked. A rice pudding without texture has a poor mouth feel. No amount of pretty decoration can save a poorly executed dessert.

The baker sent home this week was Brittany. After having execution issues last week and again his week, it seemed like a smart choice.

Lastly, the judges’ costumes this week were interesting. Kudos go to Zac Young for dressing like a flamingo. Although the puns were fewer this week, his costume was definitely the winner on the judges’ table.

What did you think of this week’s Halloween Baking Championship episode? How would you have updated these dead desserts?