Halloween Baking Championship Season 7 episode 4 recap: Dripping success

While several bakers have been sent to the lake, this Halloween Baking Championship Season 7 recap is hoping that the remaining baking challenges will have a positive spin. Although there has been no finger pointing, only one person will lead the way to victory. Which baker succumbed to the perilous challenges ahead?

Since Halloween Baking Championship Season 7 has taken a darker turn, some viewers have appreciated the sinister theme. In some ways, it opens the Food Network baking competition to some new twists and turns. Even though the basic premise of the show remains, it does prove that even the most traditional desserts can be transformed by a variety of themes.

For the Thriller, the bakers had to create a terror-imsu. While this challenge was basically a re-envisioned tiramisu, the reality is that the idea is something that many home bakers can adapt. From a Halloween themed dessert to even a colorful Easter treat, this challenge proves that many desserts can fit a variety of situations.

Looking at the tiramisu, the top bakers used the challenge to push the creativity level. Although the Thriller challenge tends to focus on the flavor, the reality is that the desserts do need to have a visual appeal.

Overall, the desserts were on point. A few bakers had issues with not enough soak or flavors that were slightly muddled, the reality is that these desserts had more hits than misses.

Even though the theme had the “fingers” on display, a few desserts were pointing to a win. It was surprising that Guermillo didn’t receive more praise. His terrarium was creative, but there was a slight technical issue with his ganache.

The two top bakers were Renee and Adina. These two bakers have proven themselves in the thriller challenge.

Even though Renee had to recover from a mis-step, she won the Thriller challenge. The judges appreciated her flavors, but her visual was equally creative. That combination earned her the edge.

For winning the Thriller, Renee was able to pick her flavor for the main challenge. For the elimination challenge, the bakers had to create a drip cake which incorporated a particular candy flavor. While drip cakes can be visually stunning, the reality is that these cakes are not the festive, happy ever after creations.

Overall, it is interesting that Food Network is showcasing drip cakes. In Best Baker in America, some comments were made about this style of cake being overused. But, for this theme, the visual works well.

When looking at the elimination challenge, some bakers excel in the decorative aspect. For example, Megan has proven she can craft a great story and visual. Time and again, she impresses the judges.

Also, Guermillo has shown he is strong with presenting a great story. Although he has stumbled with flavors, he thinks outside of the box.

Renee seems to appreciate what it takes to win. It could be part of having competed before and it could be her skill. In either case, it is earning her praise.

In the end, the judges picked Germillo as the winner. His dancing ghosts told a great story and he had the best drip of the night.

Unfortunately, the two bottom bakers were Wes and Sherelle. Wes had issues with the inside of his cake. While the candy apple flavor was good, the texture of the cake was off. The apples added too much moisture to the cake.

Also, Wes had issues with his decoration. Although the candy apple on top fit the flavor theme, Wes’ cake didn’t really tell a story. Sometimes the visual has to speak for itself.

Sherelle continued a tale that has been told before. As a non-professional baker, she has time management issues, which leads her to not finishing a cake. Again, her cake didn’t really address the décor aspect of the challenge.

On the other hand, her flavors were impressive. The black chocolate with its bitterness was a smart choice on a s’mores cake. Basically, if the judges ate the cake with their eyes closed, Sherelle would not be in the bottom.

The baker eliminated from Halloween Baking Championship Season 7 episode 4 was Sherelle. There were only so many times that the judges could overlook her not technically finishing a challenge.

The bigger story seems to be Renee, Guermillo, Adina and Megan starting to pull away from the competition. Unless there is a big twist or failure, these bakers could make the top four.

What do you think of Halloween Baking Championship Season 7? Do you appreciate the darker themes?