Crime Scene Kitchen recap: Which team didn’t rise to the finale?

While Crime Scene Kitchen recap requires following the clues to the right dessert, the baking teams must actually execute that dessert. Although some bakers can use a secret ingredient to make the tastiest desserts, tears in the batter do not add an appetizing flavor. Which team’s dessert felt flat just short of the finale?

Unlike other baking competitions, Crime Scene Kitchen added another element to the mix. Requiring the baking teams to decipher the clues means that a delicious dessert could go home just because it didn’t answer the question. While your baking professor might give you partial credit, there is no middle ground this close to the finale.

For the semi-final dessert round, a first happened. Previously, there had never been a dessert round where every baking team made the same dessert. Whether the clues were obvious or the teams have become more adept, the reality is that the similarities were served.

In this challenge, the bakers had to make Ken Jeong’s favorite dessert. While these special appearances by FOX personalities have been entertaining, this episode had a little more excitement. From the banter between Jeong and Joel McHale to everyone being excited to see Jeong on set, the reality is that this appearance seemed to be a big boost going into the dessert round.

So, what is Ken Jeong’s favorite dessert? It is an opera cake. The pristine layered cake is rich with coffee notes and a luscious ganache. While all the baking teams made an opera cake, not all cakes were the same.

One big clue that only a few teams recognized was the shape. Thanks to the ruler, the opera cake should have been a larger cake, not individual slices.

By solving that clue, a visually stunning cake and a delicious flavor, Luis and Natalie won the dessert round and the extra clue. Although not a guarantee, this win might have helped pave their way to the finale.

The biggest mistake came from Erinn and Amanda. Unfortunately, they built their cake on a cutting board and couldn’t transfer it. That issue lead to a poor presentation. Even though the flavors were on point, the presentation was disappointing.

Were tears an extra ingredient in the Crime Scene Kitchen recap?

As the baking teams looked to solve the showpiece, it is interesting to see how far the teams have come from the first episode. Now, the team scour the dishwasher, trash can and every nook and cranny. Still, they need to be thoughtful. That element was the difference between being safe and going home right before the finale.

The showpiece was meant to be a fault line cake in a banana flavor. Decorated with colored sugar crystals, only two cakes solved it correctly. The team who got almost every aspect correct was Thomas and Cathy. Needless to say, they won and moved onto the finale.

Throughout the season, Thomas and Cathy seemed to have a cheat sheet to the challenges. From solving the clues to executing the desserts, they only had one major mis-step. With the amount of desserts made, that accomplishment was quite impression.

https://twitter.com/CrimeKitchenFOX/status/1415491574314766336

The other team that properly solved the showpiece mystery was Lorie and Jason. When the challenge involves a cake, this team is usually spot on. If the finale involves some type of cake, it seems that they will have a good chance at the title.

Although Luis and Natalie received the extra clue, they didn’t solve the crime. The geode cake was quite good, but it missed the mark on the décor.

The bottom two baking teams were Erinn and Amanda and Emma and Leslie. Neither team solved the clues for the right showpiece. Even though Emma and Leslie usually get close, this challenge saw them at their breaking point.

As the chefs have said on Hell’s Kitchen, there’s no crying in the kitchen. Whether or not those tears add too much salt to the batter, the reality is that the mistakes happen. The important thing is how the team recovers from the mis-step.

For Emma and Leslie, there was no saving their cake. The caramel was causing the cake to buckle. It was only a matter of time before the cake slid off a cliff. But, they did get the flavor correct, even if their execution was poor.

Erinn and Amanda made several mistakes. Although the cake tasted delicious, it was the wrong cake. Also, the team didn’t decorate the cake correctly. The flowers were never meant to be on the cake.

With the multiple mistakes, Erinn and Amanda were sent home. Even though the spice cake was tasty and well executed, flower decorated cake was not a fault line cake.

As Curtis Stone said, Emma and Leslie were “bloody lucky.” This episode was not a good one for them. Between some egg bits in their opera cake and a sliding geode cake, they made the finale just by the skin of their teeth. If these challenges were based just on flavor and technical execution, this baking team would have gone home.

With the finale coming next week, any of the four remaining teams could earn the win. Although, based on past performances, it could be Thomas and Cathy’s title to lose.

Who you do you think will the Crime Scene Kitchen title? Did the right bakers go home in this Crime Scene Kitchen episode?