Spring Baking Championship Season 9 episode 7: Swooning for muffins and chocolate pie

For many people, cooking and baking is a way to tell someone that they are loved. While it might be a special occasion where day begins with a tempting aroma coming from the kitchen, that first whiff can make a person’s heart go aflutter. In Spring Baking Championship Season 9 episode 7, the bakers start and end the day with a gift that will make that special someone fall in love with that first bite.

In the previous episode saw Jai leave the Food Network kitchen, which proves that any of these bakers can go home on a simple mistake. The collection of flowers and butterflies on the station does not guarantee a place in the finale.

For the Spring Baking Championship Season 9 episode 7 pre-heat, the bakers had to make breakfast in bed muffin towers. While the bakers could pick any flavor, the concept was to bring big breakfast flavor into the muffin. It was not about a pretty blueberry muffin. These muffins needed to impress both in flavor and vision. They better bring the razzle dazzle to the bedroom.

Looking at the muffins, some bakers stepped way out of the box. Christian continues to push flavor boundaries. Although the appearance was more holiday than spring, the Bloody Mary Muffin idea was genius. Someone better take this idea for the next Sunday brunch.

Other flavors featured a take on sweet and savory. Although Clement needs to learn how to cook bacon, his muffin was nice. Josh did a better job with bacon cookery, but it was missing a little something.

April took a step backwards with her strawberry bellini muffins. Maybe there was one too many bottles popped the night before which made these muffins a little too simple. There razzle dazzle was definitely missing.

After struggling in recent challenges, Molly knocked it out of the park. Her raspberry yogurt parfait muffins were moist, flavorful and pretty. More importantly, her streusel was a huge hit. It goes to prove sometimes the muffin top needs to invite that first delicious bite. Just do not leave any crumbs in bed.

For winning the pre-heat in Spring Baking Championship Season 9 episode 7, Molly was able to not only choose her main heat flavor but also assign the bakers’ flavors. While she said it was random, it seemed like she could have played a little favoritism. Then again, sabotaging others might bring bad karma.

The main heat challenge had the bakers making a chocolate pie with chocolate décor. This dessert might be love by chocolate, but it cannot be one note. Unlike the intricate chocolate work on the pie, the dessert cannot be all looks and no taste.

Many Food Network viewers expected Josh to do well in this challenge. Since he works with chocolate in his normal job, it seemed that this challenge might be his to win.

The combination of white chocolate and cherries was a delightful flavor. In addition, the appearance was superb. The flower was delicate, yet it nailed the intricate component. It was almost too pretty to cut.

Another top dessert was Clement. Although his flower was shades of chocolate, it was visually stunning. In addition, his flavor was impeccable, which was expected. While there might be some debate whether his dessert was a tart or a pie, it was clearly a sweet bite that would make anyone swoon.

While Josh and Clement were both top bakers in Spring Baking Championship Season 9 episode 7, Clement walked away with another win. It seems that Josh gets close but has yet to win any challenge. Could he make the finale and have never won a challenge? It has happened and it could happen again.

Christian impressed with his Ruby Chocolate cage and his wonderful pie crust. It was described as almost a croissant like texture. It might not have been as out of the box as his Bloody Mary muffin, but it was impressive. Plus, the fruity quality of the Ruby Chocolate is a tall task to manage.

Luke had another nice dessert. His idea of a decorative arbor over the pie was good, but it needed a little better execution. Also, his flavor was good for a few bites, but then it became a little too rich.

Unfortunately, the two bottom bakers were Molly and April. After earning the pre-heat win, it was disappointing to see Molly fall to the bottom. While the judges appreciated her dark chocolate bird nest décor, it was the pie crust that let her down. The texture was wrong. The dark chocolate made the mouth feel mealy and unpleasant.

April had a bad day in the Food Network kitchen. Her pre-heat muffins were a little sad. The flavor was fine, but the décor was simplicist.

With her chocolate pie, the décor was a miss. Also, her pie crust was not good since the cocoa powder was unbalanced. Even though she had milk chocolate, which should have been an easy choice, it was not an amazing milk chocolate cream pie.

Even though she had many previous wins, April was sent home in Spring Baking Championship Season 9 episode 7. Her desserts did not wow the judges. At this point in the competition, everything needs to be a wow factor.

With only a few more episodes remaining, which baker will rise to the top of the class? Be sure to watch a new episode on Monday nights at 8 p.m. on Food Network or stream on discovery+.