Sugar Rush Christmas (2019–…): Season 1, Episode 2 - O Christmas Tree - full transcript

This is Sugar Rush Christmas,

the baking competition where time
is the most important ingredient.

Four teams of brilliant bakers compete
against each other and the clock

over three rounds of competition.

The faster they work, the better,

because any time saved
from round one: cupcakes,

Confections,

will be banked and added
to the third and final round: cakes.

I'm your host Hunter March,

and determining which of these teams

is going to find $10,000
under their Christmas tree today



is our cheery panel of judges.

Candace Nelson,
the star at the top of my Christmas tree.

Founder of the world's first
cupcake-only bakery.

Next up, Adriano Zumbo,

the celebrated Australian pastry chef
we all love.

Today, our talented group of bakers

will be lighting up three rounds
of Christmas tree-themed challenges.

And finally, our guest judge.

Acclaimed baker, known for her explosive
and colorful cakes,

founder and owner of Flour Shop,

Amirah Kassem.

Candace is inside right now,

walking our bakers through round one

of their Christmas tree-themed
challenges...



...and that sound means

our round has just begun. Let's go inside.

- Good luck, bakers. Have fun!
- Thanks, Hunter.

Decorate with all of your hearts and love.

And speaking of all my hearts and love,
Candace, how's it going?

- Great, Hunter. Merry Christmas.
- Merry Christmas.

Amirah, welcome to the show.

- Thanks for having me.
- How do you feel right now?

Excited.

It's snowing, it's Christmas.

What's there not to love?

What are our bakers doing for round one
of their Christmas tree-themed challenge?

Well, the bakers today

are supposed to give us
cupcakes that look like gifts.

So anything from beautiful bows,

to colorful wrapping paper.

Most importantly though,

- we want festive flavors.
- Fantastic.

- We need a present on the inside.
- Okay.

Do, like, um, like a compote.

- How about a gift bag? Okay.
- Yeah, gift bag.

We can do a Mexican hot cocoa
and make that a ganache.

You're reading my mind.

It should definitely have a texture.

Maybe candied hazelnuts.

I was actually a little bit
intimidated by Kristi

the first time I met her

because she was, like,
much more highly skilled.

But she also had this, like,
kind of quirky, dorky sense of humor,

- which I really love.
- I'm a big dork.

I think hazelnut extract will really make
the hazelnut flavor stand out.

Erin is really awesome
with flavor profiles.

So that's definitely going to help out
in this competition.

I'm grabbing us more bowls

in case we need to make more components.

For round one, we are making
a Christmas present-inspired cupcake.

We are going to do
a hazelnut cupcake

with candied hazelnuts,

and a chocolate hazelnut filling.

And then for the buttercream,

we're gonna infuse a little coffee liqueur

and some cinnamon to make it
a little spicy for the holidays.

And it's all going to be topped
with a super cute edible fabric bow.

I'm gonna add this coffee liqueur.
I think it will make it so good.

Alcohol kind of runs through
the Christmas theme

of both me and Kristi's families.

So we're going to incorporate a shot.

Hopefully.

People get a little buzzed.

Gotta taste this buttercream.

It's really good.

Needs a little bit of salt.

Come on, Kevin,
keep pushing through.

We're from Seattle, Washington,

and we work together
at Cubes Baking Company.

We bake all the ingredients
that both Mayra and I grew up with.

We're both Mexican-American,
and on top of that,

everything happens to be square
or cube-shaped.

We don't call our cupcakes "cupcakes."

They're called "cup cubes."

How's the cake batter coming along?

I'm going to add a little more cinnamon
because I really want that flavor to pop.

Two of my favorite things
to eat and drink around Christmas

are buñuelos
and Mexican hot chocolate.

So we're combining the two.

We're making
a cinnamon "cup cube"

with a Mexican hot chocolate ganache,

and a fried cinnamon sugar buñuelo.

They have food markers. I'll use these
for the design on the wrapping paper.

Perfect.

To wrap our presents,

we're doing edible silk

made with edible food markers
and wafer paper.

Okay, Kevin, I'm putting the cupcakes
in the oven.

So fast, and I'm taking so long.

It's all good, I got you.

Yeah, we makin' boxes,

for our cupcakes.

I'm Ta'Nisha,

and I'm from Winston-Salem,
North Carolina,

and I own Ta'Nisha Monique Cupcakes.

I'm Tim, from Humboldt, Tennessee,

and I own How Sweet It Is by Tim.

Tim and I recently met
through social media.

Does your filling need to sit?

I'm starting on it, though.

I am a full-time culinary instructor
at Haywood High School,

and I'm doing this for them,
to show them,

hey, you can do anything
you put your mind to.

I am also competing for children,
my children.

I am a single mother.

I am very much able to multitask.

I hear everything.

Don't be talking about me over there
in the other station.

Don't forget the peppermint.

Yeah.

It's Christmas.

We're making a peppermint cupcake
with a white chocolate mousse

with a vanilla bean buttercream.

So we got cupcakes, cupcakes going.

When you think of Christmas,
you have gift bag presents,

you have box presents with bows,

so we're going to top each cupcake
with a different present.

It smells delightful.

I need one more ingredient
for your spice cake.

- We are...
- The gluten-free goddesses.

I just need the oil. Oil.

I have celiac disease.

My son was diagnosed
with a wheat allergy,

and I actually have
an extreme intolerance to gluten as well.

A little nutmeg in there, warm it up...

We are making a gluten-free spice cupcake.

We're gonna fill that with
a really nice tart blackberry compote.

And we're going to top it
with an ermine frosting

that has cream cheese in it.

It's an ancient Victorian recipe,

when they cooked their frosting
instead of whipping it.

Five ingredients in. I'll grab your mixer.

With the gluten-free cupcake,

you can't just take one flour.

Where do you want it?

So in this one,
I chose a little bit of white rice flour,

and a little bit of sweet rice flour,
otherwise known as mochi,

and mochi has that elasticity,
because without it

it tastes like a dry sponge.

It's going to be
the perfect Christmas cupcake.

What do we have here?

Judges...

This is for Amirah.

Whoo!

Adriano.

- Yeah!
- And my sweet, sweet...

Aww. Is it a ring?

You know what? I don't know
if we had that in the budget.

- No.
- Get outta town.

- My gosh.
- Get out of town.

There's one of each.

- And if you notice...
- This is hilarious.

...I also have
some very special ones going on.

My god.

These are amazing.

I'm not sure what's going on over there.

Are they cute?

- Of course they're going to be cute.
- My god, they look so good.

Our edible bows are made
from a sugar sheet, basically,

that is flexible and allows you
to create amazing things

that look super realistic.

All right, bows are done.

I'm gonna take these out.

Adding a filling to our cupcakes
is even more of a present in itself.

We also want to package it
inside of a gift box.

It's like a present Inception.

Cupcakes are out.

Hi, Tim. Hi, Ta'Nisha.

Hi!

How do you two know each other?

We follow each other on social media.

How do you feel now? Confident?

- We're very confident
- We're good.

This is our first time working together.

I can say I am a little nervous.

It's a little bit intimidating,

but it's like we instantly
knew each other.

I don't wanna take up more of your time.

- Good luck, bakers.
- Thanks.

- Ro, how do the cupcakes look?
- Amazing.

I'm so excited.

Getting onto the bags.

If we can make every component
on that plate edible,

we're going to show
that we're not just gluten-free,

we're great decorators.

- Hi, Roanna and Lisa, how are you?
- Hi.

We're doing great.

How do you guys know each other?

We met at a gluten-free expo.

She's intolerant, I'm celiac.

I'm gluten intolerant, too.

- You can... All of our stuff.
- This is amazing!

Before I go, I love the menorah
on your uniform.

Thank you. I mean,
I know everyone's celebrating Christmas,

but I wanted to, you know,
sort of represent a little bit...

- It'll be a dual episode today.
- Yes.

Good luck with your cupcakes.
I am so excited to come back.

I'm so excited for you to try them!

This is time consuming, Mayra.
I don't know what I was thinking.

Kevin, you're using wafer paper?

Are you using wafer paper?

Imitation is the kindest form of flattery,
right?

Are you altering your wafer paper
or is it going to stay stiff?

I am still working on
this damn wrapping paper.

I start by mixing powdered gelatin
with water,

and I add glycerine.

And then it's ready to start brushing on.

Don't rip!

It turns the wafer paper very elastic.

They look just like edible fabric.

Little gift bags are done, finally.

- Are you doing the buñuelos now?
- Yeah.

A buñuelo is a really delicious,
crispy pastry that you make

by taking a decorative iron,

which is kind of like a stamp,

that you insert into the liquid batter,

then immediately into super hot oil.

It releases from the iron

and fries for just a minute on both sides.

Yeah.

Seems like the rest of the teams
are, like, just finishing up.

All right, bags are done
for our cupcake toppers.

Those... those are big!

Those boxes.

Just going to weigh, like...
Really heavy.

I don't think my presents are too big
because I like big presents.

Who doesn't like a big present?

I'm downsizing the boxes a little bit.

Why don't you just cut the bottom off?
We don't have time for that.

What are you working on now?

We're just making the winning cupcakes.

- What about you guys?
- Okay...

- Trying to distract me?
- She's definitely trying to distract you.

How's this looking?

- I love it!
- Nice and sparkly?

- Amazing.
- Yeah.

Kristi, that drink is good.

It's adorable.

Right. Ready with bows.

I see bows over on
Erin and Kristi's station,

and a gift tag.

- They're beautiful.
- Wow, a gift tag, great idea.

Are they edible?

Kristi, these look awesome.

We're approaching an hour,

and I can feel the heat
from Erin and Kristi's station.

They are right on our heels

and I want to hit that buzzer first.

It is going to be a tight...
Who's going to buzz in first?

Yes!

Okay, Roanna and Lisa,
first ones done.

Judges, time to try
our first cupcake of the day.

Y'all playing to win!

Are they gonna taste
as good as ours?

Maybe not, Ta'Nisha.

We're not ready.

Roanna and Lisa, the first ones done!

Okay, I'm ready. I think we're good.

Whoo!

But right behind us,
Erin and Kristi right...

- We're gonna be right there in a second.
- Right on your heels.

We wanted to make it interactive

because it's not Christmas
if you don't open your own present.

I love it.

So the wrapping paper
is all edible.

How is that?

We thought we'd start
with a warm spice cake,

and a really nice tart
blackberry compote.

This is one of the few times on the show

people at home will see me
actually take a real bite of a cupcake.

- I'm so happy.
- Enjoy.

Warm Christmas, right there.

I would never have known this cupcake
was gluten-free.

It has all those warm and tasty spices.

I was a kid on Christmas morning
with this cupcake.

The cupcake was delicious.

Really love that blackberry center,
nice and fresh and tart.

Um, it really balances out

with that cupcake
that has a slight spice to it.

I loved it.
I love the whole experience of it.

That feeling of Christmas morning

where you're wanting to unwrap everything
to get to the center of it.

I actually think it's like
a warm hug inside.

Well, thank you, bakers, so much.

Adriano, what does
that second round look like?

For round two, we want you
to create a confection

that's a ornament that can be hung
on a Christmas tree.

- All right, let's do this.
- Okay.

- All right, we got to do an ornament.
- An ornament that hangs.

So I'm thinking maybe we do,
like, a wreath shape,

because it has a hole.
We can string something through it.

A dacquoise. Okay.

We are turning right around.

- Erin and Kristi, how are you?
- Good!

How are you?

What's going on?

Another buzzer in on the other corner.

We will be right over to Tim and Ta'Nisha.

Pass out your cupcakes,
and tell us what you made.

So we did a hazelnut cupcake.

It's filled with a chocolate
hazelnut whipped cream.

And we did a coffee liqueur
and cinnamon spice buttercream.

Kristi and I both enjoy a few cocktails
with family around the holidays.

So we wanted to kind of incorporate that.

- Cheers.
- Cheers.

I like the straw, though.

You do enjoy some cocktails in the family.

- Is this bow edible?
- Yeah.

What's it made of?

- It's like an edible sugar paper.
- Beautiful.

Adriano, you're impressed with the bow.

- Yeah, it's very realistic.
- It is.

- Even the feel.
- It's light, yeah.

There's so much realism
in this edible bow.

It's so beautiful.

It kind of makes me wonder
why you went with all the inedible stuff.

I kind of feel like it took
the sophistication down a little bit.

I love all of the flavors in this.

There was different textures
within the inside.

You got, like, a crunch,

but then you also had
this chocolate flavor,

and you had... salt.

I loved the saltiness and I love... Yes.

I love a sweet and salty moment.

Good luck, bakers. You have
an hour and 41 minutes left

on your ornament confections.

Judges, we've another cupcake to eat.

- Thank you.
- Thanks.

Sugar cookies are a staple at Christmas.

Um, we can make them into stockings.

- Hi, Ta'Nisha. Hi, Tim!
- Hello, hello.

- How are you doing?
- Hi.

Here we have a peppermint cupcake
with a white chocolate mousse

with an American buttercream.

On top, you have a Tiffany gift box.

Right off the bat,
this is one of the heaviest cupcakes

I have ever felt.

The scale of your decorations
were just a little grand

for your delicate cupcake underneath.

I love the details,

and I could instantly see
that that was a Tiffany box,

and I was just sort of secretly jealous

that Hunter got it and not me.

- What did I get? Let's trade.
- You got a gift bag.

It's got a nice mint taste.
For me, the frosting was a little gritty.

With the... I can still feel
a little bit of the sugar.

It's like a Christmas
fresh breath of air...

because it's very light and airy,

then very minty.
I love the peppermint.

Thank you.

All right, get to work
on your ornament confections.

- We'll see you in a little bit.
- Thank you.

- All right.
- Sphere.

And we're gonna put the truffle
in a glass ornament,

and then we're going to make
a little chocolate drop.

It has to hang.

Okay, we done?

Yeah, go ahead.

Kevin, Mayra...

- How's it going?
- Great, how are you?

You know, that round took us a while,

but we're confident that round two
won't take us as long.

We thought about our favorite snacks
around Christmas time.

Both Mayra and I are Mexican-American,

so we started with cinnamon vanilla cake.

It's filled
with a Mexican hot chocolate ganache,

wrapped up in a little edible gift sack.

It's wafer paper we brushed
with gelatin and glycerine

to make it like a silk.

That's incredible!

I'm loving this challenge.

I've learned two new things.

I actually am Mexican, too.

And I grew up having buñuelos
over the holidays.

So this is bringing me back, definitely,
to, like, my grandma's kitchen.

- That's what we wanted to do.
- Yeah.

Just from the start,
I was so interested in this cupcake,

from that wrapping paper.

I thought it was a super cool technique.

When you open it up,

that cupcake
is chock-a-block full of goodness.

The buñuelo, which...

Sometimes I think the fried thing
won't really add to the dessert itself,

but this added this
really great crunchy texture.

The flavor was perfect,

and the Mexican chocolate inside

added a delicate spice

- to a fluffy cupcake.
- Awesome.

Okay, bakers, get to work
on your ornament confections.

Judges, let's head back
to the judges' table.

Thank you, bakers.

- Thank you so much.
- Thank you.

We got to do something to save some time,

so let's think of what we...

We love empanadas.

You can fry that, that's easy. Done.

Judges, tell me if I'm wrong,

but all four cupcakes, very good.

Very good, very strong round today.

But unfortunately, only three teams

can continue to the confection round.

So, we have to send one team home.

Who had your two favorite cupcakes?

Roanna and Lisa.

I loved the freshness
of that blackberry compote filling

in the middle of their cupcake.

Kevin and Mayra, for me, just...

That first technique, that wrapping,
it was amazing.

Something new.

I did grow up having buñuelos
and Mexican chocolate,

but I had never had both of them
together in a cupcake,

which really loved.

We also have to look at

who our two least favorite cupcakes
came from this round.

It's unfair to say
that my least favorite cupcakes

were Erin and Kristi's
and Ta'Nisha and Tim's

because they gave us delicious cupcakes,

but there were just some missteps.

Ta'Nisha and Tim,

I felt like the scale
of their fondant decorations

took away from what was otherwise
a delightfully fresh cupcake.

Once you took away the fondant,

then there really wasn't much
presentation left.

I think Erin and Kristi were up there.
The non-edible box.

I felt the shot didn't need to be there.

Unfortunately,
I'm picking on the minor things

because the round was so strong.

Sounds like a decision has been made.

I will go ahead and let our bakers know.

All right, bakers.

Can I have your attention, please?

Our judges enjoyed
all of their gifts this year.

The gift that our judges loved most
belongs to...

Kevin and Mayra.

It was the perfect way to start
a Christmas morning.

You guys are safe from elimination,
continue working on your confection.

Thank you, judges.

But the team with our judges'
least favorite cupcake this round

belongs to...

Ta'Nisha and Tim.

I just cannot stress to you

how tough this competition was.

But unfortunately, your time
in the Sugar Rush kitchen has run out.

I am disappointed.

However, I got to meet Tim,

he got to meet me,

and we took on the challenge.

I don't like to lose.

- I mean, I'm not a sore loser, but...
- You're a sore loser.

Just say you're a sore loser.

Okay. Whatever.

Okay.

Go, go, go, go.

Kristi, a really good thing
about this recipe

is that we don't need to cool it
before we can roll it and bake it.

- Perfect.
- That's going to save us on so much time.

Our whole strategy with round two
is saving and banking time.

Our challenge for round two
is an ornament.

We decide to go with a stocking shape

because it's cute,
and you can personalize it.

We are going to make
a rosemary sugar cookie.

It's going to be decorated
with a marzipan fondant blend on top.

We're going to put a hole
through the top of it

and hang it from the tree.

I love how you can see
the chunks of rosemary.

It literally looks like pine needles.

All right,
I'm gonna start on the marzipan.

Thank you.

You know, it's so interesting to see
how people play this game, right?

Because the second round
is really the only round

where you can really bank time.

Hey, Chicago girls!
How's it going over there?

It's going pretty good.

How about you, what are you making?

We've got a French pastry.

La, la.

We are just... about there.

For the confection round,

we are going to come in
with a coconut almond dacquoise.

And it's a French cookie

that will be filled
with a tropical pastry cream

with mango, passion fruit,
a little bit of lime zest...

All right, Lisa,
I'm going to start piping these, okay?

Girl, you're rocking it right now.

My family lives in Hawaii,

and we spend a lot
of our Christmases there,

and for me
Christmas is being on the beach,

eating all those fruits that you don't
normally get on the mainland.

Popping this in the freezer first.

Pearls everywhere!

We find these sugar pearls,

and we think they'll cook in beautifully,

add another layer of crunch.
This is perfect.

- Okay, the dacquoise is in.
- The filling is freezing.

Okay.

Gonna mash these on up.

Pastry should take me ten minutes.

- Think the fillings can be done in ten?
- Yeah.

We're making a plantain and guava empanada

with white chocolate wings,

complete with a golden
white chocolate halo.

I'm going to do a really flaky pastry

as opposed to, like, the usual, like,
Mexican soft, doughy empanadas.

Cool. Gonna mash these on up.

My dad would be so happy.

These flavors, plantain and guava,
I'm very familiar with.

I am actually half Salvadoran.

And in, actually,
many Latin American countries,

those flavor pairings are very popular.

So, I want to pay homage to my culture,

and I know
it'll make my father very happy.

Did we decide we wanna fry them,
or do we wanna bake them?

- Baking's going to take 20 minutes.
- Let's fry them.

Our idea is to deep fry the empanadas.

Our fryer is still on,

so they're not gonna take very long,
and we're gonna be able to bank

a good amount of time for round three.

Plus, empanadas are supposed to be fried.

Lisa, I need you to look at this,

because the pearls melted everywhere.

That extra sugar ruined it.

- That didn't come out right.
- It's not good.

These pearls have melted.

It looks terrible
and we can't present this to the judges.

Thankfully, I've got an entire piping bag
of extra batter.

We're going to pipe them again.

And we're going to bake them again.

This time with no pearls.

We lost about 25 minutes on that,

um, but we still have an hour left,
so we can do this.

Okay, it's more important
to make it to the next round

than it is to bank time.

Absolutely. Absolutely.

Do these look done, Kristi?
Hot, behind you.

- Look good?
- Yeah.

We get the cookies out of the oven,

and they look good, they smell good...

I feel really confident
that we're going to win this.

Mixing the marzipan
and fondant now.

Fondant on its own
doesn't really taste that great.

So we think that mixing the marzipan in
with the fondant

will make it taste a lot better,

and the almond will pair
really well with the rosemary.

- What do you think about this, Erin?
- My gosh.

That looks like a sweater.

I love it.

Don't forget the loops.
We got to put those in there to fry them,

so that it really sticks.

All the stocking pieces
are cut, I'm gonna cut ribbon.

I'm gonna type their names
in royal icing.

I like that.

Okay. Are you ready?

Erin and Kristi,
already done with their confections.

Let's head on down.

Doesn't matter who finishes first.

It's who finishes best.

Erin and Kristi.

Look how clean this station is,
and look at your designs.

We made
a rosemary decorated sugar cookie,

and the top is a mix of marzipan
and fondant.

Can we just talk
about the glitter?

Lots of glitter.

I love the sparkle.

I'm always baking sugar cookies
with my boys,

and so this is like a gift.

Sugar cookies really are
just so reminiscent of Christmas for me.

And at first when I saw the decoration,
I thought, "-

there is a layer of fondant
on this cookie."

But I love how you cut it in

with the marzipan because it made it
delicious to eat as well.

I love the complexity of, like,
adding the rosemary and the almond.

It's unexpected, I think,
for a sugar cookie, which I really like.

I want to fill a whole Christmas tree
full of cookies.

I love the hint of rosemary you put in,
I thought it really elevated it.

The presentation...
I think it is just perfect.

The only thing I'll say
is I hope it's not too safe.

- Heard.
- Yeah.

Hope you feel confident
going into your third and final round.

Amirah, why don't you walk them through
what round three is going to be?

For your final cake round,

you have to bring all
of the elements from today

to create the centerpiece
for the holidays:

a magical Christmas tree cake

with all the trimmings.

- We got this.
- We got this.

You guys have 46 minutes banked.

We're gonna go ahead
and add three hours to that right now.

Good luck, bakers.

Thank you.

Round three. We need to make
an actual Christmas tree.

So we want to go height,
we don't wanna go, like, laying down.

It should be standing up.

- These are overfilled, Mayra.
- It'll be fine.

An empanada seems very flaky and light.

And how do you hang an empanada?

Like, I just... I don't know
how you would do that.

- I just hope they do.
- I know.

I'm gonna test one in the fryer,
make sure it works.

My god. This is the worst thing
that could've happened.

This dough doesn't fry very well.

We gotta bake them. Gotta bake 'em.

Take the filling out.
Let's cut new ones.

The pastry just has so much butter,
and it is so flaky,

that in the fryer
it has just completely fallen apart.

This is not going to work.

Another make-it-work moment
for Mayra and Kevin.

Baking these empanadas is going to take

at least 25 minutes.
So we're just gonna be sitting ducks.

We're not gonna serve them
sub-par empanadas.

- Oven.
- Oven.

- Should I pull these guys out?
- I think that's good.

As soon as they're cool,
we're ready to go.

The second batch comes out,

that panic feeling goes away
and it's just replaced by pride.

This is how we wanted them to look.

I need to, like, do it fatter.

Go easy
on the passion fruit chunks.

- Okay?
- Okay.

- What did they put inside?
- It's something...

They're like little dots
that are soaked in something.

Okay.

Okay, hang this guy.

They should be buzzing any second.

Ready, set, go.

We are coming right down, right now.

This is beautiful.

We've gone with a tropical Christmas.

To sort of pay homage to the fact
that not the entire world

celebrates Christmas with wintry flavors.

- Right.
- Beautiful.

We've got a French daquoise,

we've got a bit of coconut,
bit of almond.

I did a mango pastry cream
with a little lime zest.

We filled it with some passion fruit seeds
to give you that crunch,

and some cocoa nibs.

Adriano, is this kind of what it's like
to celebrate Christmas Down Under?

Yep. It took me back home.

Christmas in the summertime.

Those soft daquoises
with that nice little crispy exterior,

and those crunchy cocoa nibs,
super delicious.

- Thanks.
- And I love how you hung it,

and it almost looks like
an extension of the tree.

It, like, naturally wanted to be there.

So I really liked it.

You guys are really
mastering texture here

with the crispness and chewiness
of the daquoise,

extra crunch of the cocoa nibs,

and just that creaminess
of the fruit curd.

You did a really beautiful job.
I'm delighted.

And you saved just under 30 minutes.

We're going to add three hours
to that right now,

giving you a total of three hours
and 27 minutes.

Bakers, get going
on your Christmas tree cake!

- Bye!
- Thank you.

We got to go big on this.

- When you say big, like five tiers?
- Go vertical.

Give it height.

I am Jewish.

So I'm so excited,
because this is my first Christmas tree.

Let's do buttercream.

- Let's... Let's...
- Okay.

- Texture it? Like needles?
- Yes!

- Yeah.
- Okay, love it.

- Are they getting golden?
- A little bit.

It is so hard waiting around
for the empanadas to be done.

All the other teams
have already buzzed in.

They're already working
on their round three: cakes,

and it is so hard watching them get ahead.

- Call it a day?
- Yep.

That's as golden brown as it's gonna get.

Sorry to keep you waiting,
but I appreciate it.

- We're almost there.
- Good.

You better be almost there.

- You don't have a lot of time to not be.
- They're gonna be delicious.

As long as you're happy with it.

As long as they're hanging.

Maybe. Hopefully.

All right.

Let's do this.

We're almost done.

- Bakers, you have less than five minutes.
- Go, go, go!

- We got it! Good. I'm pressing the button.
- Okay.

Judges, we are heading down
for our final confection.

Not a lot of time left.

We had plenty of time!

We wanted to pay homage
to Mayra's Central American heritage.

Yeah, my father is Salvadoran,

and a lot of common flavors you find

in, like, pastries
are plantains and guava,

and we decided to incorporate that
in our empanada.

So you baked the string into the empanada?

- We wanted super extra support there.
- Clever.

So delicious, the flavors of your filling
are so bright, buttery, flaky.

I can't stop eating it.

- Awesome.
- Yay!

The creativity to make it into an angel,

so beautiful, and then it tastes amazing.

I mean, I'm very happy
that you took your time

because I, like, feel very lucky
to have tried this.

That pastry,
it just melts in your mouth,

and to balance it out
with that sweet guava filling,

I think it's perfect.

You really showed your creativity.

High fives all round.

My god! High five!

I touched Zumbo. My gosh.

Okay, now,
you guys had banked two minutes,

and that's it!

You don't have a lot of time,
so get started on your cake.

See you in a little bit, bakers.

- Thank you.
- Thank you.

Judges, we have a decision to make.

Let's make a Christmas tree
that looks like a piñata.

You want to make a piñata?

- I think we should make a piñata.
- You're loco.

Okay, all three teams
have finished their confections.

But, unfortunately, only two teams
can continue into the cake round.

I want to know your thoughts.

Who had your favorite confection?

I mean, the empanadas just blew me away.

It was so creative and so delicious.

Confection perfection.

Yeah, the guava and plantain
tasted really good,

which, with that buttery, savory pastry...

...it just balanced out really well.

We'll be thinking about that empanada
for a long time.

Whoo!

What of the other two teams
had your least favorite confection?

Erin and Kristi.

It was beautifully decorated
and the rosemary flavor was nice,

it hung on a tree, but, you know,
it was just safe.

What they delivered to us
was just a bit too simple.

Although amazing, it's a competition.

You have to bring everything you got.

Let me know if you need any help
with that deco stuff.

And when you go over here
to Lisa and Roanna,

it was amazing,

but there wasn't necessarily
the wow factor which I look for.

It's easy to forget they're working with
one of the biggest challenges in baking,

which is gluten-free.

Not sure how many bonus points
we give for that,

- but it's great.
- No, none.

Mix that up...

This is a really difficult position
to be in

because we have to eliminate
someone who's a great baker

and gave us something really wonderful.

But a decision has been made,

and I will let our bakers know.

All right, bakers,
can I have your attention, please?

Our judges have made
their second decision.

The confection that put our judges
in heaven belongs to...

- Kevin and Mayra.
- Yes!

Well done. Yet again,
you are safe from elimination.

You can continue working on your cakes,

- since you did not save any time.
- My gosh. Thank you, guys.

Erin and Kristi.

Roanna and Lisa.

The team going home is...

Erin and Kristi.

We're so sorry.

It was just a tad too safe.

Unfortunately, your time
in the Sugar Rush kitchen has run out.

Thank you.

We are almost finished baking
all of our cakes for round three,

and we're going home.

It's definitely a bummer,
to get so far into it

and have to go home.

I know that Kristi and I
are both very capable

of making something much more intricate.

But we chose as a strategy
to make something simple,

and that bit us in the butt.

Thank you.

Roanna and Lisa, Kevin and Mayra,

you guys are moving on
to your final cake round.

We want to see these
amazing Christmas trees come to life.

You have two hours and 40 minutes.

- Good luck bakers.
- Thank you.

We're going to go
in a really classic direction.

Straight Christmas tree.

So we'll be decorating our tree
with these isomalt lights.

We're gonna put a few snowflakes
on there,

and then, of course, an angel tree topper.

Winter wonderland.

I'm mixing the gluten-free flours.

We're going to have
a gooey chocolate fudge cake

with whipped white chocolate
peppermint ganache,

with some peppermint pieces inside,

and a classic American buttercream
on the outside.

It's going to be Christmas
in your mouth.

Where are the other two?
I'm gonna use big ones.

Do it.

With gluten free cake,
you can't slice through it

and have it come out clean.

And one of the keys to gluten-free baking

is to put a heat core
in the center of it.

It's made out of metal,
so you'll get these perfectly flat cakes.

I'm coming with the eights, top.

Come on in.

Looks like Roanna and Lisa
are done with their batter,

and they are on their way.

Meanwhile, Kevin and Mayra

literally just finished
the confection round.

So they've got some catching up to do.

They're moving,
she's knocking that batter in quickly,

and hopefully they can close the gap.

I think they can.

No, I got my balls dirty.

Mayra, I'm coloring the wafer paper
with lemon extract

- because it'll dry super, super fast.
- Okay.

It is absolutely imperative

that we stay true
to our Mexican-American heritage.

We are making our Christmas tree

a Christmas piñata,

and decorating it and using
edible wafer paper to cut fringe.

My gosh, I'm tired already.

We're taking inspiration from ponche.

Ponche is basically
like a very spiced punch

that's usually made
around Christmas time.

So we're going to make
an orange liqueur cake

with a walnut-guava paste filling,

a hibiscus piloncillo soak,

and a cinnamon Swiss meringue buttercream.

With toasted walnuts
to add a little bit of crunch.

Walnuts are toasting.

Winning Sugar Rush would mean

that I will be able
to bring my grandma up to Seattle

to see the bakery
that was completely inspired by her.

I just want her to be able to watch this
and be really proud of me.

There you go.

All right, I'm going to hold off
on more wafer paper for now.

We got pink, we got orange,
we got dark green, we got purple.

Adriano?

What snack do you have with you today?

What?

Not what you were expecting, right?

Adriano is famous for his pocket celery.

Pocket celery.

- I'm not sure it's for me.
- You could put glitter on it.

Looks like these cakes are beautiful.

I'm making a white chocolate ganache

that I'm going to flavor
with a little peppermint oil.

Whipped ganaches
are just one of my favorite fillings.

I add peppermint oil,

because we want that really Christmas-y,
warm, chocolate peppermint.

So you want one of these green
and one of them red?

No, one red, one white.

We wanna make sure when they cut it,
it looks like a candy cane.

I get it into the mixing bowl to whip up

into what should be a nice, light,
whippy consistency.

Wow.

It turns to concrete.

Yeah, it's hard as a rock.

I think the fat didn't emulsify.

- What do we do?
- We don't have time to start over.

Can we blend it with our old buttercream?

Okay, how's that looking?

Well, it looks smooth.

This is just magic.

When this stuff comes together,

it is like silk in your mouth.

- It's perfect.
- It's amazing.

Okay. An hour and 30.

Okay.

Since I don't know much about Christmas,

how do you guys celebrate?

Our Christmases, they're boozy,

they're delicious,
we eat a lot of good food.

So are you inviting me over next year?

Yeah, come up to Seattle, girl!

- Okay, let me make the simple syrup.
- Okay, go for it.

The flavor of our filling
come from that Mexican spice punch.

All right, I'm dropping a cone
of piloncillo for the simple syrup, Mayra.

I mixed jamaica,
which is dried hibiscus petals,

with piloncillo, which is
a type of Mexican unrefined sugar,

as well as a bunch of spices.

All right. I'm going to melt
some guava jam.

The guava jam is kind of
a modern take on classic Mexican flavors.

Hot coming through, hot.

What we do is unique,

and we know that these Mexican flavors
have a place in the pastry world.

We're gonna use it as a spread
inside of the cake.

Bakers, trim those trees,

you have less than one hour, officially.

Plenty of time, so much time.

I like the forced confidence.

We definitely want to get
the peppermint pieces only in the red.

It isn't going to be overwhelming.

I feel like this winter wonderland
is happening, and it is gorgeous.

I love it.

I'm so happy,
because seeing how many little children

are affected by celiac disease,

I want them to know

that if they want a fire truck cake,

they're not limited
by their food restrictions.

She's using a fork,
a very low-tech tool,

to create a great effect there.

Make sure that's on centered.

I'm going to make little
star toppers to go on top of our tree.

I am working on making
a lot of Mexican cookies,

to make ornaments.

I'm even making a little piñata stick.

I am just really hoping
that these extra additional details

can really wow the judges.

All right, I'm going to start
layering some cakes.

Instead of doing a very typical
cone-shaped Christmas tree,

we want this to be true to a piñata,

and those have hard edges,

just like the cubes that we make
at our bakery.

So I want to inject a little bit
of our personality

and what we do in this cake.

- You good?
- Forgot the walnuts.

I forgot to add walnuts
to the layers of this cake.

I am having to push through
these feelings of being defeated.

We don't have much time.

But I can't let that stop me.

So we go forward
with putting one layer of walnuts.

I'm really hoping that it's enough.

Bakers, you have 30 minutes left.

My gosh.

- No!
- Okay, we can do this.

All right, Ro.
I'm starting our cake topper.

Yeah.

I'm looking at Adriano Zumbo's eyes,

and he is looking right back at me.

I'm kind of feeling...

- we should make it look like Zumbo.
- Do it.

So some people call Adriano Zumbo
"the sweet assassin."

So we decide to flip the script,

and make him
the angelic cake topper on our cake...

Beaming down on everybody.

Just hope it looks good.

I don't want him to look at it
and get offended.

What is that?

Do you know what it is, Adriano?

It kind of looks like me.

What gave it away?

- I think the bald head.
- Wings?

The wings, yeah.

Roanna, Lisa,
how are y'all doing?

- We're rockin' it.
- Yeah, you are.

I look across to Roanna and Lisa's side,

and they have
a multi-tiered Christmas tree going up,

and we have nothing yet on our cake stand.

Kevin and Mayra are building their cake
at long last.

This stuff's brittle,
so when you get to the edge, cut it.

The next ten minutes, you'll see this cake
just form... like that.

That piñata fringe
is already transforming this cake.

You finish that.
I'm gonna start with green.

Go for it.

These lights look amazing.

All right, we ready for some snowfall?

That looks so good.

That looks so good!

So, ponches are out.

Perfect.

- What color we missing? Orange is next.
- Okay.

This is not my best work,
but gotta time crunch.

They're falling everywhere.

It's fine.

Their tree looks so cool!

- Do purple.
- Purple.

My mom's favorite color.

Yo, if we win this,
it's going to be a Christmas miracle.

I know, right?

- Five minutes left, bakers.
- Just five more minutes.

One, two, three.

Adriano, look at Adriano on top!

Okay, ready, set.

Adriano...

- Adriano... Grab him!
- I was gonna take a dive!

You were about to bite the dust.

She got you.

We have two more minutes.

Quick, cut me five inch things
of these in different colors.

We could get the stick covered.

Turns out, those two and a half minutes
that we saved from round two

really helped us on round three,

because I'm able to cover the piñata stick
with the fringe wafer paper.

A traditional piñata stick has fringes,

so the fact that we had extra two minutes
worked out perfectly.

What's the tree say?
What's it saying to you?

The tree is saying that we need
something on the bottom.

Let's get the crumpled up
wrapping paper.

We want to put presents
under the tree.

We make gluten-free cake and milk

that Santa enjoyed.

Be super careful, Lisa.

All right, bakers,
you have 20 seconds left!

- No, I got one. The perfect one.
- Okay.!

Just more snowflakes, more what?

More lights?

Five, four,

three, two,

- one...
- Don't touch your cakes!

Wow, very respectful
with the "don't touch your cakes."

They stopped immediately.

Okay! We made it.

All right, judges,

the only thing left to do is check out
these Christmas tree masterpieces.

Let's go.

Roanna and Lisa.

This is incredible.

So beautiful.

Santa ate the cookie
and drank the milk.

- He just left crumbs behind.
- It was cake.

We wanted to give you
big, tall, wintry Christmas.

We did want to put
an angel on there, Mr. Zumbo...

- He's holding a macaroon.
- Look at that!

We just wanted to give you
what I would think Christmas is like.

Really sweet touch on top,

who is obviously
an angel in our eyes, too.

Really beautiful,
classically done tree cake.

Very grand, but also a lot of movement
and texture.

Yeah, I just love
the realness of it.

This actually looks like a real tree,
but also a real tree I want to eat.

Thank you, guys.

One thing, you covered up those lights.

I would've liked to have seen
those a little bit clearer.

I know. With the cloudy isomalt,

- it sort of-- Yeah.
- It was challenging.

Why don't you cut us four slices,
and we'll see you at the judges' table?

Thank you, bakers.

- Thank you.
- Thank you.

To Kevin and Mayra's piñata...

Piñata!

Wonderful.

I wanna hug it.

The design came
after we figured out

what we wanted the flavor to be.

So it's based off of
a spiced Mexican punch

called ponche navideño.

So we needed to do something
beyond just a plain green tree.

We wanted color,
and a piñata Christmas tree

was... was perfect.

I think it's really cool
that you went in a different direction

to something that's very true
to who you are.

And I think you showed that
throughout the entire competition.

This cake is so much fun.
It is such an explosion of color,

and I... I do really have this urge

to pick up that baton
and just give it a swing.

- Just all the smell as well. It smells...
- So potent.

Kinda smells like a lemon candy.
It smells delicious.

We're really excited to try your cake.

Why don't you cut four slices
and we'll see you at the judges' table?

- Thanks a lot.
- Thank you.

Hello, Merry Christmas.

Feliz Navidad.

Kevin and Mayra,

why don't you walk us through
the flavors of your cake?

So the cake itself is
an orange zest and Grand Marnier cake.

It has a very light soaking

of a very spiced
hibiscus piloncillo simple syrup.

There's cloves, cinnamon, ginger,

with a cinnamon
Swiss meringue buttercream and...

And some toasted walnuts
in there, for crunch.

In some layers. Walnuts slipped my mind.

So we'll see if your slices have them.

I think they may be missing.

This was such a nice, light,
sort of springy cake.

It had just the right blend of spices,

and was very true to your vision,

but still with notes of Christmas

that I am nostalgic for as well.

When you said all of those
different complicated flavors,

I was a little bit scared

that it was going to be
all over the place,

and it really isn't.

It was put together so well.

Really original.

I love the presentation, the colors,
the textures.

I love that you brought
your culture into it,

something close to your heart.

It was a very subtle cake.
It thought it was well structured.

Not to rub it in, if you had put
the walnuts in that cake,

it would've been delicious.

Yeah, we know. We know.

Other than that,
you did an amazing job. Well done.

Thank you.

We can switch to Roanna and Lisa's cake.

We have
a dark chocolate fudge cake.

The outside frosting is a buttercream,

and the inside is a whipped ganache.

So in the red tiers,
we wanted to add a little crunch.

So you should get a couple pieces
of that peppermint candy.

This was a chocolate fudgy experience,

brightened up with those layers
of whipped chocolate peppermint ganache.

So fresh and really yummy.

I think that chocolate cake
is just decadent, delicious.

Would've loved to have seen
just another chocolate layer,

just to break
that peppermint down a little bit.

- But other than that, super work.
- Thank you.

I honestly rarely eat gluten-free cake.

If you hadn't told me,
I probably wouldn't be able to tell.

So that's amazing.

There is a lot of the peppermint flavor,

something to break it up would be smart,

but it really does feel like Christmas.

And I loved it.

Now, it's time to determine

which of your cakes

is going to gift you $10,000.

Judges, who had your favorite cake?

Kevin and Mayra,

it was just this really fun,
festive outside

with this very sophisticated cake inside.

Roanna and Lisa,

your Christmas tree was so elegant.

The chocolate and peppermint flavors
inside your cake spoke of Christmas to me.

Ultimately, my vote
for favorite cake today goes to...

Roanna and Lisa.

Roanna and Lisa,
that is one vote for you.

Meaning if you get one more vote,
you will have won $10,000

in the Sugar Rush kitchen.

Amirah, who had your favorite cake?

Kevin and Mayra,

you guys brought me back to my childhood
basically all day long,

and I love everything you did with decor.

And, Roanna and Lisa,

literally Christmas on a plate.

Almost a different nostalgic place for me.

So, yikes, I love them both.

No? Can't do that?

My vote on the cake today goes to...

Kevin and Mayra.

- I'm so happy.
- Thank you.

Kevin and Mayra, that's one vote for you.

It is now tied.

Chef Adriano.

I think, you all did
amazingly well today.

I've been on a high all day
because I've had such amazing things

to eat and try.

And so much creativity,
which has been spectacular.

Those walnuts obviously would've added
a different dimension of crunch

that was missing for me in your cake.

For me, the peppermint
was a bit overpowering.

It needed something else
to cut through it.

My vote today

is going to go with...

Kevin and Mayra.

My god.

It really came down to what I felt
was a bit more original.

Kevin and Mayra, congratulations,

you have just won $10,000!

We won Sugar Rush!

I could not be more proud.

I am just feeling so many emotions,

but overall I am just...

ecstatic, happy.

Maw-maw, we're getting you to Seattle.

You're gonna see the bakery
that you inspired.

- Do we get hugs from you guys?
- We're coming down.

Lisa, Roanna, thank you so much

for your incredible gluten-free cakes.

I mean,
we're a little disappointed,

but I feel so cliché
saying that it's okay not to win,

and the experience was great.

But it's okay that we didn't win,

and this experience was really great.

To come so close,
and to be gluten-free is...

it's an incredible experience.

Thank you so much for watching
this episode of Sugar Rush Christmas.

Merry Christmas and happy holidays.