Halloween Baking Championship might have only just ended, but Food Network is keeping the holiday fun going with a brand-new season of Holiday Baking Championship!
Season 12 kicked off on November 3 with 12 new bakers heading into the kitchen to compete for the $25,000 grand prize and a feature in Food Network Magazine. The season began with host Jesse Palmer welcoming the bakers to the holiday village and revealing a franchise-first twist! This season, the bakers are getting divided into two teams: Naughty and nice.
Once the bakers were divided into two teams of six, Jesse outlined the first challenge of the season. Team Nice would be making warm and toasty desserts, while Team Naughty was tasked with making chill and frosty desserts. On the line was an advantage in the Main Heat Challenges that would help the entire team.
Team Naughty and Team Nice face off in their first battle of the season
Up first to serve the judges is Team Nice! In yet another new twist for the season, this year, the bakers will watch their teammates face judging from the Jingle Java coffee shop.
Jean Carlos serves us a spiced apple caramel cake which wins over judges Duff Goldman, Nancy Fuller, and Kardea Brown, who love the warm and toasty flavors of the dish. While Team Nice starts strong, they falter as we go along.
Alyx’s bananas foster bread pudding needs more custard and runs into some issues in the decoration department. Chase’s milled spiced pear tarts leave the judges unimpressed with frangipane that doesn’t deliver, but his pears are a highlight for the judges. Erin’s chai Paris-Brest misses the mark with too much spice and not enough sugar, while Violet’s smoky spiced smore is a bit overcooked. Closing out the judging, Camrey’s honey sweet potato pie surprises with delicious flavor despite not being the prettiest dish in the round.
We then move along to Team Naughty, and it’s a rough start as Nico’s chestnut sablé with frangipane left the judges with a toothache from its overwhelming sweetness. Ashleigh turns things around for the team right after with her triple citrus tart impressing the judges with its perfect zest and curd.
Charles gets mixed feedback for his blueberry jalapeño mousse cake with the judges praising his use of jalapeño as genius, but his white chocolate mousse letting the dish down for being too gummy. Tarek gets similar criticism for his mimosa mini pavlova which is a little gummy, but his flavors wow the judges.
Daniel’s berry mint and tequila cream pie leaves the judges disappointed and unable to taste any tequila, while Gia’s coconut chocolate mint cake is a miss with dense frosting and a dry cake.
After tasting each dish, the judges name Jean Carlos’ dish as the best from Team Nice and Ashleigh’s dish as the best from Team Naughty. There can be only one winner, though, and the win goes to Ashleigh for Team Naughty.
Who goes home first on Holiday Baking Championship season 12?
For Main Heat Challenge, each team has to make a holiday village display. Each member of the team will have to make a specific dessert, and the top dish will win immunity for their entire team. The baker with the most unsuccessful dish on the losing team will then be eliminated.
Before the challenge begins, Jesse reveals that Team Naughty’s advantage is getting to choose between three flavors that Team Nice will be unable to use. Choosing between citrus, nuts, and chocolate, they quickly land on stealing chocolate away from Team Nice. From there, the bakers get to work on their villages with two hours and 30 minutes to bake their dishes and put their villages together.
During the challenge, Team Naughty struggles to work together, which shows in their display. The judges aren’t impressed with the overall look and cohesiveness of the display, but how about the flavors?
Ashleigh once again impresses the judges with an oatmeal cream pie that wows the judges and impresses Nancy, who notoriously hates cranberries but loves them in her dessert. Charles’ black cocoa peppermint cake has a tender cake and perfect frosting, but the marshmallow is too firm for the judges’ liking.
Tarek’s key lime, blackberry and rum pie is a bit of a letdown with a broken meringue and failed crust. It’s also negative remarks for Gia, whose cinnamon orange sugar cookie tree leaves the judges unimpressed.
Daniel gets mixed reviews for his coffee liqueur brownie, while Nico’s black sesame and lemon Paris-Brest leaves the judges wanting more lemon – a note Ashleigh had given him earlier in the challenge when he asked for her thoughts on the dish’s taste, only to then ignore.
Up next, the judges check out Team Nice’s village and are impressed with the overall look of the spread. But the judges’ feedback of the dishes isn’t the best for the team.
Jean Carlos’ pate a choux teddy bears are lacking sugar and the cranberry filling doesn’t impress Nancy. Erin’s gingerbread sandwich cookies are a little too sweet thanks to the cream cheese frosting. Camrey’s ginger citrus olive oil cake is delicious, but they want the flavors punched up; Violet’s snowman macarons are slightly overcooked; and Alyx’s spiced chiffon cake leaves the judges divided.
It’s not looking good for Team Nice until Chase serves up his brown butter coconut chess pie which gets rave reviews. Nancy calls it the best crust she’s tasted in the history of the show and is so impressed she asks for the recipe.
Chase ends up pulling out a win for Team Nice, earning his team safety by defeating Team Naughty’s best dish, which again came from Ashleigh. With Team Nice safe, the judges reveal that Gia and Tarek are in the bottom two, but it’s Gia who goes home after struggling in both rounds of the competition.