In Spring Baking Championship Season 11 episode 7, the magical forest has come alive. From roll cakes to macaron cakes, these desserts need to be rooted in delicious flavor.
The competition is becoming more and more difficult. Not only is immunity off the table, but there is also no more room to hide in the middle. A simple mistake can cause a top baker to be sent home.
For the Pre-Heat challenge, the bakers had to create a roll cake with an imprint design as well as decorate it with a magical creature theme. Additionally, each roll cake had a citrus flavor.
The imprint design can be problematic. While these bakers should know how to implement this technique, many things can go wrong. As seen with these cakes, several split. From the cakes being too dense to having too much filling, the floppy spirals were far from magical.
It was surprising how many bakers missed the mark on this challenge. Luckily, it was a Pre-Heat. Even though everyone wanted the monetary prize, only one baker had a rolled cake that accomplished all aspects of the challenge.
Lisa’s key lime and coconut cake had wonderful flavor balance. Additionally, her fairy design was precious. It was clear that she was the winner.
All the other bakers had an issue either with flavor or execution. Raveena’s cake looked like a troll sat on it. Kari’s cake was way too tough.
The most curious offering was Paul’s cake. Since he forgot to add an imprint before he baked the cake, he added some fondant on the outside. Nancy Fuller called out that his cake did not represent the challenge. It was a good thing that the bakers were not facing elimination.
For the Main Heat, the bakers had to create macaron cakes with vegetable flavors. Additionally, the mid-round twist required that they incorporate fresno chilis into the dessert. Given that there have not been many twists, this flavor curveball seemed to throw them for a loop.
While these bakers should be able to make macarons without issue, many people struggled. It was more than just short feet. Many of the macarons were underbaked, broken, and just plain wrong. Truthfully, the majority of macarons were technically wrong.
In a twist that no one saw coming, Mary Frances soared to top baker. After a good Pre-Heat where she got her flavors in balance, the macaron challenge was almost perfect. Although her chili flavor was faint, her dessert was the most technically well done. It was nice to see her rise to the occasion.
Since it was the last week to use his immunity, Corey was safe. Given his issues with his macaron, he was lucky to still have immunity.
Unfortunately, the two bottom bakers had big issues with their cakes. First, Lisa went from top to bottom in one episode. She knew that her macarons were improperly baked. While the judges appreciated her décor, the rest of the cake was a mess.
Kari knew that she was in danger of going home. While she remade her macarons, both batches had technical issues. The texture was very off.
Since Kari had issues in both the Pre-Heat and the Main Heat, she was sent home. Having an off day at this point in the competition is never a good scenario.
Can Mary Frances continue her momentum or will a favorite baker find their path to redemption. New episodes of Spring Baking Championship Season 11 debut on Food Network every Monday night at 8 p.m. Episodes can be streamed the next day on MAX.