Halloween Baking Championship Season 10 winner: Taking a bite out of the competition

After channeling the ghost with the most and surviving rotten desserts, the Halloween Baking Championship Season 10 winner survived every fright. Which baker made all the ghouls drools with delicious desserts and compelling visuals?

In the finale, four bakers, Aaron, Hollie, Joel, and Manny, hoped to find the path to the coveted Food Network title. Some people might have given Aaron and Joel a slight advantage, Hollie won the last challenge and Manny has created out some visually stunning desserts.

While each baker has had highs and lows, it came down to success in two challenges. No one could stand on the past.

For the Thriller Challenge, the bakers had to create dissected desserts. Each dessert required a gummy or gelatin heart, which the judges dissected from the dessert.

While the concept was clear, the bakers could pick any dessert, flavor, or décor. This idea allowed them to showcase their creativity, both flavor and visual. It would set the tone for the finale. After all, the Thriller winner would get a significant advantage.

Manny created a firefly that had been squashed. The visual was compelling and his flavors resonated with the judges. The mixed berry cobbler with a vanilla bean cream read like the classic dessert with a scoop of ice cream. The pomegranate lime heart drove home all the jamminess. As the judges said, Manny swung for the fences with this challenge.

Aaron’s cyclops was a little more cute than creepy. His smart use of fondant offered movement. While the choux in his cream puff was perfect, the dessert needed more jam. It was a good dessert, but it needed to be great.

Joel went over the top with his killer bee. With all the mixed medium ingredients, it felt as if he needed to take at least three ingredients off the plate. Overall, the dessert tasted like a continental breakfast. While those flavors were nice, it needed more frangipane in the dessert.

Hollie made a delightful chocolate peanut butter cookie with a raspberry heart. While the flavors were spot on, her décor was lacking. No one could understand what she was trying to visually convey.

The Halloween Baking Championship Season 10 finale Thriller Challenge winner was Manny. The judges loved his take on a mixed berry cobbler. For that big win, his advantage was that he was able to pick the bakers’ themes for the Killer Challenge.

In the Killer Challenge, the bakers had to create cakes from different points in history. While the themes traveled back in time, these cakes needed to have modern flavors and bold décor.

Manny picked medieval vampires as his theme. He chose the following themes for the other bakers, Joel – Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein, Hollie – ancient werewolves, and Aaron – early aliens. Aaron clearly got the hardest theme. Who knows what an early alien looks like.

Hollie was the first to present her cake. The judges appreciated the werewolf visual but wanted more attention to the other buildings. The graphic novel vibe worked, but it was slightly incomplete.

Her cake was delicious. The coconut cake with peach mango filling was vibrant. The cake’s texture was controversial. The tres leches soak make the texture a little chewy.

Joel continued a theme that has been his signature from the beginning, too much on the plate. While his sugar work, chocolate work, and sculpting was great, he needed to edit.

In contrast, his devil’s food cake was delicious. The chocolate with a touch of mayonnaise made for a perfectly moist cake. Paired with passion fruit and caramel macadamia nuts, the textures and flavors were successful.

Manny created a moody vampire visual. It was the most effective storytelling. From the pooling blood to the wrought iron pipping, it just worked.

His cake was equally as success. The black magic cake with caramel swiss buttercream and toffee hazelnut mousse was divine. The flavors caught the judges under its spell. They all agreed the flavor was witch craft.

Lastly, Aaron presented his ancient alien cake. The Egyptian theme worked, but the judges felt that the scale was slightly off.

His cake flavor was a pumpkin cake with a praline cheesecake mousse. It was a delightful seasonal flavor. It was a well-executed cake.

Only one baker would earn the Food Network title. Manny is the Halloween Baking Championship Season 10 winner. His back to back win was well-deserved. From captivating visuals to great flavors, he earned the crown.

Want to catch up on all the episodes? Halloween Baking Championship can be streamed on MAX.