Sugar Rush Christmas (2019–…): Season 1, Episode 4 - The Nutcracker Sweet - 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 their third and final round: cakes.
I'm your host, Hunter March,
and determining
which of these teams is going home
with the $10,000 prize is
our enchanting panel of judges.
Candace Nelson.
She keeps me on my toes every single day.
She is the creator of the world's first
cupcake-only bakery.
Next, he is a tough nut to crack,
but once you do, he's amazing.
Celebrated Australian pastry chef,
Adriano Zumbo.
Today our brilliant bakers are competing
in three rounds
of Nutcracker- themed challenges.
And finally, our guest judge,
actress and dancer,
star of Roswell, New Mexico,
Jeanine Mason.
Candace is inside right now
walking our bakers through round one
of their Nutcracker- themed challenges.
And that sound means
that round has just begun. Check it out.
Have fun.
Adorable hats.
Good luck, bakers.
And there's nutcrackers everywhere.
- Hello, judges.
- Hello, Hunter.
Looking sharp.
Stop it.
- Jeanine, welcome to the show.
- Thank you for having me, Hunter.
This is gonna be a very fun episode.
Candace, what are our bakers doing
for round one?
- They're going nuts, Hunter.
- Okay.
They are working with nuts.
They can work
with whatever nut they want,
but it has to be highlighted.
Could it be... Adriano?
I've always said he's a very nutty dude.
They could use Adriano as their theme
if they sell that to us.
Nutcracker is
a classic children's story.
We should do, like, a pistachio spumoni.
Let's do pistachio.
I do a great pistachio buttercream.
We got this. Double!
I'm Melissa.
I'm Emma, and we're bakers
and best friends.
We're both from Asheville, North Carolina.
We can definitely do,
like, a pecan pie filling,
so we can make a pecan pie.
I mean, come on,
we're both from the South.
Pecan pie is, like,
what we eat at the holidays.
- It's "pecan"!
- It's pecan!
No, it's not. It's "pecan."
No, just like say it. It sounds so nice.
Like, pecan.
No, it sounds weird. It's "pecan."
Oops! Totally just got flour everywhere.
Cool, first round.
We're making an ooey-gooey
drunken pecan pie cupcake.
It has
a caramel bourbon pecan pie filling
and a caramel buttercream
with a perfect, little pie dough garnish
in the shape of a present.
I'm gonna do another teaspoon.
If we're gonna call it
a drunken cupcake,
it's gotta have the bourbon in it.
The pecan pie filling
is a very delicate process.
If we pull it off right,
they're gonna cut
right into that cupcake,
and it's gonna ooze.
What do you think?
That is so ooey-gooey.
Jeanine, this is
The Nutcracker-themed episode.
Have you seen the play?
God! I do every year.
Really?
I love the soldiers.
I love the, like, villainous Mouse King.
So it'll be fun to see
how they choose to incorporate it.
You won So You Think You Can Dance
season five.
- I did. Thank you.
- Congratulations.
Did you become a dancer at all
because of watching these plays
growing up?
I wanted to be a performer
when I was very young.
Everything that is theater dance
for me is exciting,
and every little girl grows up
wanting to be Clara
at some point in The Nutcracker, so...
Let's just do
a classic children's treat with nuts.
- PB&J.
- A peanut butter and jelly cupcake.
We met at a baking competition.
I was like, "Look,
she's got purple hair!" You were like...
- She's got purple hair.
- Great!
And it was like...
- Peanut butter to my jelly.
- Jelly!
Gonna put
some actual peanuts in here.
Peanuts in the peanut butter.
We're doing a peanut butter
cupcake filled with a raspberry jam,
topped with a French buttercream.
I really want the judges
to taste this peanut butter,
so I think I'm gonna do one more cup.
I know Adriano's looking for that flavor,
and I just want to put
so much peanut butter in there
he can't miss it.
All right, we gotta move. Time is ticking.
- Feeling good, Chuck?
- Excellent. Thank you.
I'm Charles.
I'm from Greenwood, Indiana,
and I own Grafton Peak Cakery.
I'm Liz, and I've been working for Charles
for almost three years now.
In everyday life,
Charles is the boss,
but in this competition,
I'm gonna take the lead.
Which one of you two works faster?
Baking, I would say I work faster.
- What about decorations?
- I work faster.
What does he do faster?
- Run my mouth.
- Runs his mouth.
- We're two peas in a pod today.
- That's exactly right.
We are gonna do a pistachio cupcake
with a pistachio buttercream,
a pecan lace cookie,
and a white chocolate nutcracker on top.
We really have to highlight the nut.
That's why I don't think we do a filling.
We should just do the cupcake
and pistachio buttercream.
I agree.
Pistachio's going in both the batter
and the buttercream.
We really want to get the feel
that when you take a bite of that cupcake,
you're actually eating a pistachio.
Perfect.
We have to make it through these rounds
so we can show off,
but I am nervous
about making it through these rounds.
We've known each other
for a few years,
and we've become friends
through the online cake community,
I'm one of two people
in the United States
that do buttercream sculpting.
- Things like mermaids and aliens.
- All things that are not normal.
- Yeah.
- Like these hats.
For the cupcakes,
it's gonna be
a maraschino cherry batter.
We're making a spumoni cupcake
with a maraschino cherry cupcake
dipped in chocolate ganache
with some toasted pistachios,
topped with a Swiss meringue
pistachio buttercream.
Well, it looks like Sarah and Renay
are using pistachios too.
Chocolate and maraschino cherries.
- Looks like spumoni.
- Did you taste the pistachio?
Spumoni is a classic
sort of Italian gelato dessert
that works with those chocolate,
cherry, and pistachio flavors.
Yes, girl, get them in the pan.
Our cupcakes will look like
a nice, little, delicate tutu
with a cute, heart-shaped bodice on top
as a nice nod to The Nutcracker.
That looks so pretty. It's so festive.
Time for the first installment
of today's episode of...
What would Adriano do?
I like macadamia, lime, and coconut.
I think they're three flavors
that go really well together.
That sounds great.
I'm really hoping for that today.
I just saw Jeanine in the background,
going like this...
Wow.
All right, pie dough's coming out.
The queen of pie crust.
I'm making my pie crust
that I make all the time
for our little present garnish on top.
Looks like a dough. She's...
- Folding it?
- Yeah, a lot.
Kind of feels like a beignet dough
or something like that.
Tell 'em your secret.
- I can't tell them my secret.
- You have to.
I fold my pie crust.
You're essentially making
a laminated dough,
like a croissant,
with all those flaky layers.
All right.
Pecan pie dough is in.
Love a pecan pie.
Which is always fun
to taste in a cupcake,
because there's a million ways
you can translate that flavor.
Delicious.
You got the raspberry jam going?
Got it going.
Raspberry is, I think,
the best berry choice to go with.
It's tart, you know?
It's gonna compliment the sweetness
of that peanut butter.
More sugar, less sugar?
It's too thin. It's too watery.
Don't forget the zest
and the lemon juice.
Okay, got it.
I think the difficulty comes in
if you don't balance the jam
with the nuts,
because we want to taste
the nuttiness of this cupcake.
- That's looking really good.
- Jam going in the cooler.
Get it in the cooler.
We feel like, coming into this competition
as home bakers.
they're gonna look at us
as the underdogs,
but you know what?
Don't underestimate the underdog.
- And I'll start on the...
- Buttercream.
Buttercream!
Christina and Tasha, looks like
they're using a French buttercream.
- What makes French buttercream different?
- French is very similar to Italian.
To Italian, but they just use egg yolks
in addition to the egg whites.
Tell me what you think.
Good?
Good.
I am making a pecan lace cookie.
This will go
on top of our pistachio cupcake,
and it will be shaped
into kind of like a trumpet.
You know me, I'm always afraid.
I don't want it to burn.
They've got something in the oven
that Charles just checked out.
The lace cookie?
It's like a tuille.
It's a very thin, crisp, sugary cookie.
Delicious.
- Hey, these are all broken.
- My god.
- We need four.
- I did something wrong.
Didn't put enough flour or something.
As I'm pulling out my pecan lace cookies
and rolling them,
they are very brittle.
We're just gonna crumble up
and chop it on top, okay?
Okay.
We have to think on our feet,
but this is not my proudest moment.
Whoops.
All right, cupcakes are out.
So far round one is going
really, really well,
and I feel pretty confident about it.
- Not done yet.
- Okay.
And then the pie dough...
I need these pie crusts to bake.
I don't know what to do.
We can just take the top
- and just take them apart.
- Yeah, take 'em apart.
We decide
to make them smaller
to help them bake faster.
- You cannot serve dough, raw dough.
- Definitely not.
Bake, bake.
Christmastime at our house,
we always have a bowl full of nuts.
Pistachio is my favorite.
It's green,
so with the cherries in the spumoni,
it's like a reflection of Christmas.
All right, I'm just scared
of the pistachio extract,
because I would prefer a paste.
And this is an extract,
which could scream almond,
and we don't want that.
We want pistachio.
They're doing pistachio.
That's okay. Ours will be better.
- Are you talking smack over there?
- Yeah.
We've got pistachio war
happening on this side.
I mean, you're wearing pistachio,
but we're gonna let 'em
taste the pistachio.
Rude.
Good. They're nice and big.
The cupcakes are doming very nicely.
How are the cupcakes?
- There are some that are overfilled...
- Nope, that one sunk.
But they start to sink
in the middle a little bit.
And I'm like, "This is no bueno!
What is this?
These are...
kind of sticking to the edges.
I think it's definitely underbaking,
- and the cherries lend more moisture...
- They do.
...which increases bake time
on the inside.
So I'm feeling pretty freaking scientific
right now, because I just thought of that.
Go for it. Dip 'em. Look!
Find the best ones. Dip 'em.
We don't have time to bake some more,
obviously,
and it tastes yummy,
so we'll just cover this up with frosting
and ganache.
Look! Let's use it.
Okay, we got to get that down.
We're gonna use their decorations.
It's gonna be our display.
Hey, look.
- This is done, right?
- Yeah.
Let's go. It's fine.
That's just a little hot.
You want to help me,
so we can get this done faster?
Is someone over there making humble-pie?
Because I'm gonna need a slice.
These cupcake wrappers are drums.
It'll go perfect with the theme.
Look at
these little pillows of heaven.
You're so good, Emma.
Almost there.
Let's do it.
Hit it! hit it! Hit it!
Glitter!
- You ready?
- I'm so excited.
Melissa and Emma, first ones done,
and they're...
One... Put it on! Put it on!
Hurry up and do it!
One, two, three.
Okay.
All right. There we go!
Judges, let's head on down.
Hey, Melissa and Emma,
first ones done!
- Hey, yeah!
- Hi, ladies!
Just give it a look. Ready?
We just execute these perfectly,
we'll be fine.
Christina and Tasha are done.
We'll head over there in a second.
Tell us what you made.
Emma and I are from the South,
so we brought you pecan pie.
We made you a spiced cake
with a drunken ooey-gooey
pecan pie filling.
We topped it with a caramel
Italian meringue buttercream,
and you have a little present there,
which is pie dough.
I get a little nervous
when people promise ooey-gooey centers,
because then you have that expectation.
And this was.
It was caramelly and delicious,
- and that hit of booze was just spot on.
- Perfect.
I thought
the pie crust dough was delicious.
It's a bit cakey inside
but really crunchy on the outside.
Um, I think it worked really well.
You guys totally sold
on exactly what you told us we'd get.
I love it. And I like the nuts in it.
The texture is excellent.
Thank you very much.
Okay, good. Well, bakers,
you were first ones done,
you used 55 minutes, so you have
a little over two hours.
Adriano, what's their second round
gonna look like?
For your second round,
we want you to be inspired by
"The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy."
So we want you to create a confection
that incorporates plums.
- Okay, got that.
- Okay. Cool.
- Can't wait.
- Thank you very much.
Thank you, bakers.
- So... biscuits, right?
- Definitely.
Okay, and then I'll make a plum compote.
We'll fill those biscuits
with the compote.
Yes.
Christina, Tasha, hello!
- Hey.
- Hi, guys.
You're making music
in here today!
Absolutely.
What we've got for you is noisy toys.
All right, let's do this.
- Buzzer, ready?
- Hit it, yes.
And another team is done.
Charles and Liz,
we'll be right over there.
What we got for you guys today
are PB&J cupcakes.
Love it.
We did a peanut butter cupcake,
chopped peanuts--
Yes, I love it!
That cupcake's got a good beat.
Dad joke!
She calling you out. I love it.
It's a peanut butter cupcake,
and it's filled with a raspberry jam,
topped with a French vanilla buttercream.
And we've got your drumsticks,
which are pretzels.
I mean, it was really smart to steal
this display from the background.
We're amazing.
Hit that buzzer.
- This one?
- Yeah.
Our final team is done.
We'll get there in a second.
We have a lot to do.
I think it's just, like, exactly
the nostalgic peanut butter and jelly
cupcake I would hope to get, you know?
And you even gave us a great texture
in there with those nuts.
My only note is,
I would've loved to have seen you put
a little flaky salt on top,
just to bring it all together.
Drumroll, please!
That was nuts.
- Thank you.
- That was amazing.
That fresh raspberry jam,
it was super tart.
Even just the color of it made me happy,
you know what I mean?
I'm here to make you happy.
That's what I'm here for.
We got it. You have a little less
than two hours left.
Time to start
on your plum confections.
Good luck, bakers.
- Good luck.
- Well done.
- All right.
- Okay.
- Sugar plum, sugar plum fairy...
- It's the second round.
- Galette.
- Yes, let's do a galette.
Hi, Charles. Hi, Liz.
- Hello.
- Hi.
We had a couple of hiccups, but we've got
a nice finished product here.
I mean, they look pretty.
That doesn't count for everything.
What we have is
a double pistachio cupcake.
We did a pistachio cupcake,
and then we also did
a pistachio buttercream,
and then we did
a pecan lace crumble on top,
to give it a little texture,
and then we have
a white chocolate nutcracker.
The pistachio flavor
in your cupcake is wonderful.
However, I did feel that your frosting was
- a little too sweet.
- Okay.
I thought your pistachio flavor
was really good.
Didn't taste artificial.
It had a really nice pistachio-y note.
I loved the crumble on the top.
It was so delicious
with the light pistachios. Really yummy.
It feels like something
that I would imagine
in the mezzanine area,
being, like, handed out at a show.
It's so cute. I love it.
- Thank you very much.
- Thank you.
Bakers, incredible job! You did it
with just under two hours left.
Time to start on your plum confections.
Good luck, bakers.
- Good luck.
- Thank you.
We wanna really make sure
we highlight the plum.
What do you think?
I think we should do,
like, a plum turnover
- with a delicate pastry dough.
- I like it.
- Hi, ladies.
- Hi there, Sarah, Renay.
So, it's a spumoni cupcake,
so we did a light cherry cupcake
dipped in a chocolate ganache,
toasted pistachio on top,
and a pistachio Swiss meringue
on top of that.
And we made them like ballerina dresses,
and we found that stage up there,
so we were like,
this might pimp us out a little bit.
I am a sucker for a stage.
Because it really is so sweet.
And I actually loved the cupcake.
It felt a little muddled,
but it's beautiful.
- Okay, we'll take it.
- Okay.
Icing was nice and light,
but I found the pistachio flavor
artificial,
because it has that bit
of an almond sort of taste,
- of almond extract.
- Yeah, that's what I was... yeah.
Did your cupcakes rise
as much as you were expecting them to?
No, they didn't.
I felt like I was working through
a lot of frosting.
Maybe a few technical issues,
but well done, ladies.
- Thank you.
- Thanks.
All right, good luck, bakers.
You have an hour 45 left.
Time for you to start
on your plum confection.
And judges,
it's time for us to deliberate.
Our only chance at this is
to redeem ourselves in round two.
Something with plum sake?
Judges, all four cupcakes have been tried.
Everyone's now working
on their plum confections,
but only three teams can continue
in the confection round.
It's time to decide who's going home.
Two favorites, Candace.
Melissa and Emma's,
and Christina's and Tasha's.
Melissa and Emma gave us
a really well-balanced
and layered, boozy pecan pie.
And that little present of flaky pie dough
on top was delicious.
Melissa and Emma, I loved the cake,
but I would hope that the topping would be
a little more Nutcracker-themed.
- Ice bath.
- Thank you.
Christina and Tasha gave us
just, like, a hit of peanut butter,
elevated by that tangy
fresh raspberry filling.
Those little salty pretzel sticks on top,
very clever touch.
I think it was honestly a perfect cupcake.
As were the decor elements,
so sweet and wonderful.
And your two least favorites?
Sarah and Renay.
Their cupcake didn't rise,
so the frosting-to-cake ratio was off.
The frosting for me was a nice texture,
but it was just too artificial.
They used that artificial pistachio paste.
I loved Sarah and Renay's cake.
It was really moist and yummy,
but didn't feel like the elements
were identified enough,
and it was a little muddled.
Charles and Liz, ultimately,
it was sort of a one-note cupcake.
They just needed
a bit more fruit flavor, more salt.
Just something else to balance that out.
I agree. It felt like there was
an element missing,
but they delivered
on the pistachio for me,
and I'm the pistachio lover on this panel.
All right, judges, well, it seems like
you have made your decisions.
I will go ahead and let our bakers know.
Okay, bakers,
can I have your attention please?
Our judges have made their first decision,
and the nutty cupcake
that they loved most belongs to...
Christina and Tasha.
You can go ahead and keep working
on your confection.
Unfortunately, the bakers going home today
with our judges'
least favorite cupcake are...
- Sarah and Renay.
- We knew. We wanna nap.
It's fine.
Unfortunately, your time
in the Sugar Rush kitchen has run out.
When you're looking
at something that is such a hot mess
that your hands created,
like, what else can you do
but make jokes about it?
It's not our best work.
It's our absolute worst work, ever.
- It's our absolute worst work, ever!
- It really is.
But we had a good time.
Bye.
Teams, you have one hour,
20 minutes left for your confections.
Keep baking.
We made it.
I'm getting the plums on for the sauce.
I'm feeling very relieved.
I'm sorry to see Sarah and Renay go,
but if anybody had to go,
it's them better than us.
Rude!
They would have said the same thing!
I'm gonna start rolling that dough.
Our confection challenge,
we have to highlight plums.
So we're going to do a plum turnover
with a sugar plum coulis,
which is a thickened fruit puree.
Needs a little more sugar.
If you go too much with the spice,
it's really overdone.
I don't bake a whole lot with plums,
because plums have
plenty of moisture in there,
so it sometimes prohibits the pie dough
from baking properly.
These look a little small.
- It's okay.
- That one just ripped.
- It's a confection.
Plum is an interesting flavor
that I genuinely don't know
if we've seen anyone work with.
I typically use it in pies and crumbles.
It goes with
a lot of different flavors.
Also, a lot of people don't know this,
but plums are voted year after year
the most disgusting fruit
to watch someone eat.
- Wow.
- Yeah, it's gross.
There's your sage.
Just throwing stuff at me?
We're going to do
a sage-y, southern doughnut,
which is a fried biscuit,
filled with plum compote on top of that,
warm winter compote,
and a black pepper whipped cream
right on top of that.
It's savory and sweet,
and that's what we do.
- Girl...
- All right, how you doing?
These plums smell so good.
I learned to make Southern doughnuts
when I was little,
and we used to buy frozen biscuits.
We would throw them in the fryer,
and those would be our doughnuts.
They're the best things
in the whole entire world.
Biscuits are going in the freezer.
You making biscuits over there?
I got the gravy, girl.
What? You got gravy?
Plum gravy and biscuits.
Not only did we not go home,
but we had the judges'
favorite cupcake of the day.
Feeling pretty good right now.
I got plum compote, right?
Because we want nice bites
of fruit in there.
For our confection,
we're going to make a plum galette
with a whipped cream topping
and a white chocolate ballerina.
A galette is a flaky, open-face pastry
filled with any type of fruit
or even savory filling.
I definitely need more sugar.
Plum isn't something we often cook with.
I think it's a underrated fruit.
What is better than a light flaky crust,
a delicious, airy whipped cream,
and a sweet filling?
All right, let's get it in the oven.
Yeah, pastries are browning,
- crisping up just like we want.
- Okay.
For our plating, we are creating
a white chocolate bodice on the plate,
and then we'll fill it
with the sugar plum coulis.
- Okay, do the arms.
- Okay.
And do a few abstract arms
to make it look like
the Sugar Plum Fairy is dancing.
- Can you dust the arms, too?
- I don't think they need it.
You're the boss.
Pastries should be done in...
four to five minutes.
You wanna try it?
- Just a little bit longer?
- Yeah.
- But it's getting real close.
- That tastes like a fair.
- Yes!
- That is a funnel cake! So good.
I'm taking my doughnuts
out of the fryer,
and they look amazing.
I'm so happy.
Okay, let's make the whipped cream.
For the doughnuts, it's gonna be topped
with a black pepper whipped cream.
Just a hint.
You don't want too much, just a bit.
The black pepper, the sage, the plum,
it all works together.
You do that. I'm gonna fill these.
I'm about to make paradise over here.
I need melting chocolate.
I'm melting the white chocolate.
Our goal is to take our ballerina cutter,
once our chocolate is cooled and set,
and heat it, and then press it in
to create that shape of the ballerina.
Hope this works.
But that does not work.
Either our white chocolate's too thick,
or the ballerina's not hot enough,
and I'm, like, freaking out.
Because I have to put a ballerina
on top of this galette.
She can't have a tutu of whipped cream
and no dancer.
I need to remelt the chocolate
and do it by hand.
I'm just gonna have to freehand this.
- These are done.
- Yeah.
Do this one first, okay?
Tell me when.
Got one more. All right, ready?
Charles and Liz!
Charles and Liz, done.
- They're done.
- Nice, okay.
- Hello.
- Hello, judges.
Nice to see you again.
So we did a plum turnover
and a sugar plum coulis.
We wanted to get the fresh plum
and then have that spice of coulis
to kind of warm it up.
And it's not too sweet, I believe.
- Good thinking.
- I thought it was really yummy.
I wanted more filling.
- Maybe a little bit bigger?
- A little bit bigger.
But I think it's really balanced
and delicious,
- and all the notes are hit.
- Thank you.
You captured
the flavor of the plum.
Only thing I will say, I would've loved
my pastry a little flakier.
Obviously, because of the moisture
of the filling, it got a little bit soggy.
I love the buttery flavor
of your turnover crust
and the jamminess
of that plum filling inside.
A turnover is a very rustic dessert,
but you managed to make it look
so elegant here on this plate.
- Well done.
- Thank you very much.
You're on to round three,
your final cake round.
For your final round,
we want you to create
a Nutcracker Suite masterpiece,
featuring the villainous Mouse King,
and to appease him,
you're going to incorporate cheese.
- That's your favorite.
- No!
Cheese is my arch-enemy.
I'm not lactose intolerant,
but I just don't like cheese.
- So I'm gonna have to work through this.
- I believe in you.
You banked 59 minutes.
We're gonna add three hours to that,
bringing your total to three hours
and 59 minutes for your cake.
- Good luck. Thank you.
- Thank you.
How about goat cheese?
Excellent, goat cheese. Let's see,
what goes with goat cheese?
Let's make a mousse.
- Shoot!
- It fell off?
They keep falling. They're too heavy.
They're having some trouble right now.
That beignet's not stable.
Could easily put that on the side,
and it would look just as elegant.
That's why I was worried
about putting it right on top.
It's gotta go on top.
We need height.
- That's way too top-heavy.
- Very similar to me, right?
- We're gonna hit it.
- Yep, let's go.
- Ready?
- Yep, go.
All right! Well, they're done.
Melissa and Emma. Let's head on down.
Finally.
Okay, bakers.
If any of the creams fall
on the way over to us...
- You stop that!
- Automatically eliminated, okay?
This is a doughnut.
A fauxnut, if you will.
It is actually a fried biscuit.
I love that.
You have a plum compote,
and it's sitting on a warm winter compote
that has apricots, cherries,
figs, Fuji apples.
Then we topped it off
with a black pepper whipped cream.
I love the compote.
It was just, like, evocative.
Like warm and comfy.
- And I got the plum.
- Big hug.
Yeah, big hug.
Big, old Christmas hug.
I like the fauxnut.
First, when you explained it,
I was thinking, "Fried biscuit.
It's gonna be stodgy."
It's actually delicious.
And that little bit of cream
is a nice little touch.
I would've loved
a little bit more black pepper.
Bring a bit of spice, know what I mean?
I've never had a fried biscuit before.
I felt like I was
at a really elegant county fair.
And I would've loved to seen a little bit
more of a nod to The Nutcracker,
Okay.
But, I mean,
I would like a dozen of these to go.
- Nice. No problem.
- Perfect.
You banked 47 minutes
for your final round.
We're gonna add
three hours to that right now,
bringing your total
to three hours and 47 minutes
for your Mouse King cake.
Good, luck bakers.
- See you in a bit.
- Thank you guys so much.
- Mad Mouse King, okay.
- Okay.
We have to do
some type of crown on top.
Flavors.
- Almond cake, Christmas fruit.
- Yeah.
- ...and bleu cheese.
- Perfect.
- That looks great.
- Thank you.
Trying to just do the best I can for you.
We start to plate our dish,
which is gonna be a martini glass
with a z-stem,
representing the dancer's legs
for the Sugar Plum Fairy.
We want to create a great balance,
so what we're going to do
is fill it like a trifle,
using the white chocolate curls
on the bottom,
then the plum puree,
then more whipped cream,
and then the galette
topped with whipped cream.
Just so many elements.
...and then
the white chocolate ballerina on top.
Don't we look like Sugar Plum Fairies?
So that might be the final touch, right?
Hope so.
- Ready? Tasha, we're losing minutes!
- Ready.
- Ready, ready.
- Ready.
They just hit the buzzer.
Christina and Tasha, done.
- Hi!
- Hi!
How are you?
We're giving you the dance.
You wanted a dance, right?
I love it.
Yes, yes.
We made a nice, flaky galette,
because we thought she's light and airy,
topped it with a plum compote
and whipped cream,
and then we plated it like a trifle.
So you got that second dessert for you.
Just in case you didn't get enough
of that delicious plum on there,
we put some on the bottom,
with a little white chocolate at the base.
What are the white chocolate curls for?
Just to fill the glass, or...
Balance. I have white chocolate on top,
white chocolate on the bottom.
Ballet is all about...
That's a good answer.
When Adriano asks a pointed question,
you've got pointed answers, and I love it.
I mean, that pastry's delicious,
the plums are delicious,
and that cream on top
obviously rounds it off nicely,
but I would have been happy
with just that.
Really? Okay,
I could've saved 20 minutes.
Right?
I think the galette was delicious.
This dancer on the top
was just so gorgeous and elegant,
and it took me
right to the time and place I want to be,
which is about to see the show.
From top to bottom, you guys are capturing
The Nutcracker here,
and that makes me really happy.
The white chocolate curls
were just a little too sweet,
but what a yummy dessert.
Thank you guys so much.
You saved about 30 minutes.
We're gonna add three hours to that.
You have three hours 30 minutes remaining
for your Mouse King cake.
We'll see you in a bit.
- All righty, thank you.
- Bye.
Of course, cream cheese.
Yeah, cream cheese, definitely.
Let's do some goat cheese.
Goat, mascarpone, cream cheese,
we're gonna have
a three cheese explosion.
Perfect.
All three confections down.
But unfortunately, only two teams
can continue through to the cake round.
Question is, who had your favorite
plum confection?
Candace, we'll start with you.
Melissa and Emma worked with plum
in unique and interesting ways.
They worked it into the filling.
They worked it into this winter compote
that incorporated a variety of fruits.
I just thought it was
a really sophisticated dish.
It was just elegant, well balanced,
lots of textures.
I thought that we got
a sense of who they were.
It felt like the holidays. I loved them.
Okay, so judges, that means
Charles and Liz
and Christina and Tasha
were in your bottom two.
For me, Christina and Tasha,
beautiful-looking dish.
I loved that galette.
Pastry was so crunchy and delicious,
but that white chocolate
was just a little sweet.
Christina and Tasha were the first time
today that I felt in my chest,
"We're at The Nutcracker.
We're at a ballet."
They just, for me, gilded the lily
a little bit too much.
I agree, too many elements.
Charles and Liz,
as beautiful as it was,
it was a little bit simple.
I think it was just really
a turnover and some sauce.
I mean, I bit into
this very tasty turnover,
and I thought, "Where's the plum?"
They just used a light hand
for something so simple.
I loved what they did
with the design.
It just felt a little more modern,
and that excites me for what they could
possibly bring in the next round.
Judges, it sounds like
you have made a decision.
I will let our bakers know.
Okay, bakers, can I have
your attention yet again?
Our judges have made
their second decision,
and the confection that they are just
plum crazy about belongs to...
- Melissa and Emma.
- Yes! Sorry.
Very well done.
You can continue working on your cake.
- Thank you.
- Thank you, guys!
Christina and Tasha, Charles and Liz,
that means unfortunately
you are on the chopping block right now.
And the team with our judges'
least favorite plum confection
belongs to...
Charles and Liz.
Aww!
The flavors were there,
but it just wasn't enough plum
for our judges.
So unfortunately, your time
in the Sugar Rush kitchen has run out.
Thank you so much, Charles and Liz.
We had a great time.
Having Charles there to believe in me
and push me through helped a lot.
Good luck, ladies.
I'm proud that the world gets to see
just how talented Liz is.
Melissa and Emma, Christina and Tasha,
good luck. Continue working.
I think we're golden, man.
It's gonna be so much fun!
We have a cake competition
where we have a winner
from the first round,
and a winner from the second.
And I'm really excited to see
what they do in a larger scale format.
All right,
I'm working on the filling, okay?
I'll come and do the mascarpone.
In the cake round,
the Mouse King from The Nutcracker
is the star of the show,
- and we have to use the ingredient cheese.
- Cheese.
I'm adding the goat cheese in now.
Personally, I like cheese on tacos
and not in cake.
You just don't like goat cheese.
Exactly.
Our plan is all about
the Mouse King's revenge.
We're flipping the story upside down.
Nutcracker doesn't win this time.
This time, the Mouse King reigns supreme.
We are gonna make a cheese cannon,
and the Mouse King
sitting on top of the cannon.
Our cannon is one of our favorite parts
of this whole cake.
It's shooting weapons
of mass cheese destruction...
Mass cheese destruction.
...all over the Nutcracker's Christmas.
I'm gonna start on the white velvet cake.
We're making a white velvet cake
with a cream cheese buttercream
and a blueberry mascarpone
goat cheese filling.
We're using not one, not two,
but three cheeses.
Judges asked for cheese.
We'll give you cheese.
What are you guys making?
Cake.
Really? Shocking.
You nervous about the competition?
Of course not.
Melissa and Emma are
classically trained pastry chefs.
I'm nervous about y'all.
Just because we didn't go
to culinary school doesn't mean
we can't throw down with the best of them.
Last batch of batter almost ready.
When you're working
with a cheese in a cake,
where's the most obvious place it can go?
I think the most natural thing to do
would be to put it in a frosting,
either work with a goat cheese
or a mascarpone,
but I'd love to see something
more daring.
I'd love to see somebody work
with even a stronger cheese
and try to incorporate that
into the batter.
If you're very creative,
there's so many things you can do.
- You're starting on the crown, right?
- Yep.
The challenge for the cake round is
to bring the Mouse King,
but we just want to bring all the elements
of The Nutcracker into this round.
So we're going to do a multi-tier cake,
and we want tall, tall, tall.
We're gonna do
a very large drum as the base.
And then on top of that we're gonna do
the Nutcracker's suit,
and then the Nutcracker's face.
On top of that,
we're gonna represent the Mouse King.
If you need me, I'll be chopping pears
for, like, 30 years.
One of my favorite combinations
is pear and bleu cheese.
We're gonna make an almond cake
with a pear compote
and a bleu cheese buttercream.
Listen, let me taste it
with the almond, okay?
Yeah, I know.
We want it to be great.
It's a family recipe.
My maw-maw and my grandma
used to bake all the time.
It's spot on, girl, spot on.
And so I get to keep
their memory alive.
It's really nice just to have
both of them with me.
All right, Melissa, all the cakes are in.
So my filling is going to be a blueberry
mascarpone goat cheese.
It's gonna be awesome.
I'm focused all on the filling.
I start with my compote,
where I'm taking blueberries
and just reducing them with sugar
and a little lemon zest in a pan.
Will you taste this?
Tell me what you think.
Baby.
That must be a good sign
when you say "baby."
I feel like it looks really good,
but it's missing something.
Just adding some fresh blueberries in.
So I grab some more fresh berries.
Folding... that in.
Now I'm satisfied with what I've got.
I smell cake.
The one thing that is gonna be tricky is
we want the decorations to be beautiful,
but the Mouse King is a real muenster.
My god.
I don't want any one
of those woulda, gouda, coulda.
- Woulda, gouda...
- Two strikes, okay?
Who's going home... with this cheddar?
That's three.
Okay, they're done, Emma.
I want to get
this compote and buttercream done.
My whole family baked together
at the holidays,
and that's so special to me.
I had to go to pastry school
to learn this.
She got, like, Mamaw and Grandma.
- Maw-maw.
- Mo... Sorry.
- M-A-W.
- That will never flow right for me.
We're gonna add the secret ingredient.
We're fighting for $10,000.
I want to give the judges something
to wow about.
The best thing to do with that,
stinky bleu cheese buttercream.
- It's so gross.
- But it'll be great.
- You ready?
- You got it open.
Sure did. You love it.
You love the stinky cheese.
That's perfect.
I can start
on the bottom of the cake?
Yes.
Once the cakes are cooled,
we cut them down into the shapes
that we want for our pieces,
and then we just fill them
and top with our cream cheese buttercream.
Working on the cheese cannon
over here right now.
As home bakers, never used
a sheeter before.
Not a clue.
But we're gonna.
Okay, it passes through...
fairly quickly.
Yeah, that shouldn't be called a sheeter.
It should be called a shooter.
Deep breaths, girl, deep breaths.
We got it.
I dunno.
Not my area.
Just smooth it.
There'll be things on it.
Anytime you have a gap,
I'll cover it with a toy or something.
The fondant begins to crack and tear.
It's better than you think it is, Tash.
We ain't looking at the same cake.
And now we build.
How tall do you want to go here?
We have to cover that with fondant,
you know.
This cake is tall,
and the entire cake needs to be
covered in fondant.
Then we have to add the decorations.
There's a lot of components here,
so there's a lot to do,
and there's no time to do it.
- Right behind you.
- Go! Sorry.
It didn't cover the back.
And the side is all cracked.
- Okay, you wanna pull it off?
- Yeah, I do.
- All right, I'm just gonna...
- Nope, go ahead.
The wonderful world of fondant.
The clock is there. It's huge.
We need this to happen quickly.
Well, that just went on the ground.
So I'm just gonna make some more blue.
Dropping that blue fondant cost me
at least 10 extra minutes.
Sheesh, I hate fondant.
What's wrong?
Everything's wrong.
Everything's fine.
Yes!
- Do not drop it on the floor.
- That's plenty. That's good.
- Short again?
- Too short.
You know, we can fix it.
- We can patch it.
- We're good. We're good.
Bakers, you have one hour left.
Just breathe.
I think this is enough
to cover your Christmas tree.
For the Christmas tree cake,
I decided to bake it all
in flat sheet pans,
and cut them out with ring cutters,
fill and stack.
Just putting all the fondant figures
together,
working on the little mice,
and all the little, um, fondant pieces.
Well, it looks better than this tree.
You know what I'd love to do?
If we each get some fondant,
and we try and sculpt a little mouse cake.
I mean, we have 51 minutes.
- What else are we gonna do, talk?
- Shall we?
- No.
- No.
He's lost his mind. Officially.
We gotta go, girl.
I know.
I'm literally going as fast as I can.
I know.
We are gonna incorporate some gears
into our cake,
because of the main clock.
And it's good filler.
- I'm doing this as well?
- We're all doing it.
Dear! I don't know
if I've ever used this.
This part right here
is the Rat King.
He's not all in his royal glory just yet.
We're getting him there.
All right, we have got to get this cape
on here because...
there's so much
that needs to be covered up.
'Cause it looks like
he's all angry and mean.
Bakers, you have 30 minutes left
for your Mouse King cheesy cake.
Good luck.
Okay, judges.
Are we ready to reveal our masterpieces?
I don't know if I'd call it
a masterpiece, but yes.
It's got a crown, so you know
it's the Mouse King.
- Very sweet.
- That's adorable.
My cheese head mouse.
He's got the key.
My little guy's munching
on a piece of cheese.
- You even gave him a bite mark.
- Yeah.
I was gonna do a Mouse King,
and then I decided to do
me and Candace growing old together.
My god.
You guys do look happy together.
Wow.
I look over at Melissa and Emma's station,
and it's intimidating.
But... their cake has no Mouse King.
So we're feeling pretty confident
about that part.
Okay, I have to make the Nutcracker.
- We have the cheeks.
- Yep.
You hate this. It is what it is.
For our cake, it's about The Nutcracker
as a whole,
not necessarily just the Mouse King.
I just don't wanna be that literal.
- So instead of his face...
- We're gonna do a big, red cape.
So that's gonna be
an ode to the Mouse King.
Bakers, you have ten minutes left.
You can spread the presents out
a little bit, I think.
God!
You know what? It's fine, Melissa.
Do you guys think that they're trying
to hide anything, maybe,
with all those decorations?
- Yeah.
- Yes.
Wait a minute. Do we need
another big gear anywhere?
- I need one back here.
- Yup.
Our fondant is ripping.
There's holes in the cake.
I don't think we have enough
to cover everything.
Do we have time
to make any more gears?
If you make 'em real quick.
Okay, Tasha, we still have to finish
the Nutcracker.
I'm just gonna tie him
to that drum.
It is not the Nutcracker of my dreams,
but he is on there.
Child. Okay.
Thirty seconds, bakers.
- Where?
- I don't care!
The clock turned red.
This is ridiculous.
Five, four, three, two, one.
Don't touch the cakes!
Don't breathe!
Judges, let's go ahead and check out
these fantastic Nutcracker cakes.
Hi, bakers.
- Hey!
- Hi!
Aw! How sweet!
I see the tail,
but where is the Mouse King?
- He's up here.
- He's there, and he has his cape.
He's looking down over the Nutcracker
and making sure he doesn't rise up
and beat him.
Where's his head?
- It's...
- Um...
- It's just imagination.
- Yeah.
I really love
how the gears look.
It almost looks like a... another crown.
I love the Nutcracker face.
I think it's really beautiful.
Obviously, you had some issues
with the fondant.
Our cape was a little heavy.
We tried to patch it up
with some of our gears.
The Nutcracker face is so nice.
It does make me wish
that I'd seen your interpretation
of the Mouse King face.
Thank you so much, bakers.
Cut us four slices,
and we'll see you at the judges' table.
Okay, thank you.
- Hello, bakers.
- Hey.
Let's get a close look at this cake.
This guy looks like he's out for revenge.
Originally, in the story, as you know,
the Nutcracker defeats the Mouse King,
but we flipped it on its head,
and we made the Mouse King's revenge.
- Is this the cheese cannon?
- Yes.
How cool!
I love the way you put your own
personal spin on the story.
Thank you.
I love the elements on the top.
I think they're cute.
- I would say you need to tidy the edges.
- Absolutely.
There's something whimsical about it.
I just see myself enjoying this
with my family
right before seeing The Nutcracker.
- It's super fun.
- Thank you.
Please cut us four slices,
and we will see you at the judges' table.
- Absolutely.
- Thank you, bakers.
- Good luck, ladies.
- Thank you, good luck.
We are going to start
with Christina and Tasha's cake.
In front of you is a white velvet cake
with a cream cheese buttercream
and a blueberry mascarpone
goat cheese filling.
Your cake was a dream.
I mean, your white velvet cake was
sort of a backdrop to this filling,
which was absolutely the star of the show.
I actually bit into a fresh blueberry,
and it just kind of popped in my mouth.
You really hit the nail on the head
with the challenge,
delivering a triple cheese flavor
that is very memorable.
I thought the cake was nice and moist.
The three cheeses balance each other.
Would've loved a bit more crunch,
but look, those blueberries
are good enough.
I love you guys. I love this cake.
It is... so good.
I am not the biggest cheese person.
It's just so delightful,
and it all just plays
so deliciously together.
I will not leave this on this plate.
I'm finishing this before I go.
All right, we're gonna go ahead
and switch.
We have an almond white cake.
It's got just a little bit of vanilla bean
to help balance out that almond flavor.
And then it's got a pear compote
and a bleu cheese buttercream.
First of all, bravo
for taking on blue cheese.
It was a surprising flavor
in a buttercream,
but once I tasted it with that pear,
it just really worked.
I will say, we were missing
a little texture in this cake.
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
And you gave me a Nutcracker face,
and I was looking for a Mouse King face.
I'm not a fan of bleu cheese,
but it's actually really nice.
Good to see it's just in pieces.
You just get little pockets.
I just wanted a little bit more texture
in there, that's all.
Just some more chunks,
just to balance it out a little bit more.
You've definitely got a knack
for mixing the savory with the sweet.
You just gave us such a beautiful cake.
The little blue speckles
that we're seeing...
And it's so delicate and balanced.
Could've used maybe
one more little element,
but honestly,
it's just pure deliciousness.
Well, the only thing
left to do now is decide.
Judges, who had your favorite cake?
Melissa and Emma, it felt romantic.
It felt warm with the pear.
It was everything I wanted
from a Nutcracker cake.
Christina and Tasha,
the cake was so whimsical and fun.
It really just made
an old and loved story for me new.
The cake that I think is $10,000...
is Christina and Tasha's.
Christina and Tasha,
that's one vote for you.
Meaning, if you get one more vote,
you will have won $10,000.
Adriano.
It was a tough round?
Melissa and Emma,
you gave us a delicious cake,
but I just wanted a little more texture.
Christina and Tasha,
I think you had a great cake,
and those fresh blueberries
just kind of popped.
To me it came down to taste.
Ultimately, my cake vote today
is gonna go with...
Christina and Tasha.
Two incredible cakes today,
but my vote too would've gone
to Christina and Tasha.
Christina and Tasha, congratulations!
You have just won $10,000
in the Sugar Rush kitchen.
Melissa, Emma, incredible job.
I'm gonna go home and put so much crunch,
more crunch than I care to admit
at this point.
I'm just gonna give you almonds
for every holiday.
My gosh.
My gosh! Thank you.
We just won!
I have no words, just tears of joy.
This is for you.
I couldn't have done it without you.
My baking bae.
Aww, my cake sis.
Thank you guys so much for watching
this episode of Sugar Rush Christmas.
Happy holidays. Bye.
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 their third and final round: cakes.
I'm your host, Hunter March,
and determining
which of these teams is going home
with the $10,000 prize is
our enchanting panel of judges.
Candace Nelson.
She keeps me on my toes every single day.
She is the creator of the world's first
cupcake-only bakery.
Next, he is a tough nut to crack,
but once you do, he's amazing.
Celebrated Australian pastry chef,
Adriano Zumbo.
Today our brilliant bakers are competing
in three rounds
of Nutcracker- themed challenges.
And finally, our guest judge,
actress and dancer,
star of Roswell, New Mexico,
Jeanine Mason.
Candace is inside right now
walking our bakers through round one
of their Nutcracker- themed challenges.
And that sound means
that round has just begun. Check it out.
Have fun.
Adorable hats.
Good luck, bakers.
And there's nutcrackers everywhere.
- Hello, judges.
- Hello, Hunter.
Looking sharp.
Stop it.
- Jeanine, welcome to the show.
- Thank you for having me, Hunter.
This is gonna be a very fun episode.
Candace, what are our bakers doing
for round one?
- They're going nuts, Hunter.
- Okay.
They are working with nuts.
They can work
with whatever nut they want,
but it has to be highlighted.
Could it be... Adriano?
I've always said he's a very nutty dude.
They could use Adriano as their theme
if they sell that to us.
Nutcracker is
a classic children's story.
We should do, like, a pistachio spumoni.
Let's do pistachio.
I do a great pistachio buttercream.
We got this. Double!
I'm Melissa.
I'm Emma, and we're bakers
and best friends.
We're both from Asheville, North Carolina.
We can definitely do,
like, a pecan pie filling,
so we can make a pecan pie.
I mean, come on,
we're both from the South.
Pecan pie is, like,
what we eat at the holidays.
- It's "pecan"!
- It's pecan!
No, it's not. It's "pecan."
No, just like say it. It sounds so nice.
Like, pecan.
No, it sounds weird. It's "pecan."
Oops! Totally just got flour everywhere.
Cool, first round.
We're making an ooey-gooey
drunken pecan pie cupcake.
It has
a caramel bourbon pecan pie filling
and a caramel buttercream
with a perfect, little pie dough garnish
in the shape of a present.
I'm gonna do another teaspoon.
If we're gonna call it
a drunken cupcake,
it's gotta have the bourbon in it.
The pecan pie filling
is a very delicate process.
If we pull it off right,
they're gonna cut
right into that cupcake,
and it's gonna ooze.
What do you think?
That is so ooey-gooey.
Jeanine, this is
The Nutcracker-themed episode.
Have you seen the play?
God! I do every year.
Really?
I love the soldiers.
I love the, like, villainous Mouse King.
So it'll be fun to see
how they choose to incorporate it.
You won So You Think You Can Dance
season five.
- I did. Thank you.
- Congratulations.
Did you become a dancer at all
because of watching these plays
growing up?
I wanted to be a performer
when I was very young.
Everything that is theater dance
for me is exciting,
and every little girl grows up
wanting to be Clara
at some point in The Nutcracker, so...
Let's just do
a classic children's treat with nuts.
- PB&J.
- A peanut butter and jelly cupcake.
We met at a baking competition.
I was like, "Look,
she's got purple hair!" You were like...
- She's got purple hair.
- Great!
And it was like...
- Peanut butter to my jelly.
- Jelly!
Gonna put
some actual peanuts in here.
Peanuts in the peanut butter.
We're doing a peanut butter
cupcake filled with a raspberry jam,
topped with a French buttercream.
I really want the judges
to taste this peanut butter,
so I think I'm gonna do one more cup.
I know Adriano's looking for that flavor,
and I just want to put
so much peanut butter in there
he can't miss it.
All right, we gotta move. Time is ticking.
- Feeling good, Chuck?
- Excellent. Thank you.
I'm Charles.
I'm from Greenwood, Indiana,
and I own Grafton Peak Cakery.
I'm Liz, and I've been working for Charles
for almost three years now.
In everyday life,
Charles is the boss,
but in this competition,
I'm gonna take the lead.
Which one of you two works faster?
Baking, I would say I work faster.
- What about decorations?
- I work faster.
What does he do faster?
- Run my mouth.
- Runs his mouth.
- We're two peas in a pod today.
- That's exactly right.
We are gonna do a pistachio cupcake
with a pistachio buttercream,
a pecan lace cookie,
and a white chocolate nutcracker on top.
We really have to highlight the nut.
That's why I don't think we do a filling.
We should just do the cupcake
and pistachio buttercream.
I agree.
Pistachio's going in both the batter
and the buttercream.
We really want to get the feel
that when you take a bite of that cupcake,
you're actually eating a pistachio.
Perfect.
We have to make it through these rounds
so we can show off,
but I am nervous
about making it through these rounds.
We've known each other
for a few years,
and we've become friends
through the online cake community,
I'm one of two people
in the United States
that do buttercream sculpting.
- Things like mermaids and aliens.
- All things that are not normal.
- Yeah.
- Like these hats.
For the cupcakes,
it's gonna be
a maraschino cherry batter.
We're making a spumoni cupcake
with a maraschino cherry cupcake
dipped in chocolate ganache
with some toasted pistachios,
topped with a Swiss meringue
pistachio buttercream.
Well, it looks like Sarah and Renay
are using pistachios too.
Chocolate and maraschino cherries.
- Looks like spumoni.
- Did you taste the pistachio?
Spumoni is a classic
sort of Italian gelato dessert
that works with those chocolate,
cherry, and pistachio flavors.
Yes, girl, get them in the pan.
Our cupcakes will look like
a nice, little, delicate tutu
with a cute, heart-shaped bodice on top
as a nice nod to The Nutcracker.
That looks so pretty. It's so festive.
Time for the first installment
of today's episode of...
What would Adriano do?
I like macadamia, lime, and coconut.
I think they're three flavors
that go really well together.
That sounds great.
I'm really hoping for that today.
I just saw Jeanine in the background,
going like this...
Wow.
All right, pie dough's coming out.
The queen of pie crust.
I'm making my pie crust
that I make all the time
for our little present garnish on top.
Looks like a dough. She's...
- Folding it?
- Yeah, a lot.
Kind of feels like a beignet dough
or something like that.
Tell 'em your secret.
- I can't tell them my secret.
- You have to.
I fold my pie crust.
You're essentially making
a laminated dough,
like a croissant,
with all those flaky layers.
All right.
Pecan pie dough is in.
Love a pecan pie.
Which is always fun
to taste in a cupcake,
because there's a million ways
you can translate that flavor.
Delicious.
You got the raspberry jam going?
Got it going.
Raspberry is, I think,
the best berry choice to go with.
It's tart, you know?
It's gonna compliment the sweetness
of that peanut butter.
More sugar, less sugar?
It's too thin. It's too watery.
Don't forget the zest
and the lemon juice.
Okay, got it.
I think the difficulty comes in
if you don't balance the jam
with the nuts,
because we want to taste
the nuttiness of this cupcake.
- That's looking really good.
- Jam going in the cooler.
Get it in the cooler.
We feel like, coming into this competition
as home bakers.
they're gonna look at us
as the underdogs,
but you know what?
Don't underestimate the underdog.
- And I'll start on the...
- Buttercream.
Buttercream!
Christina and Tasha, looks like
they're using a French buttercream.
- What makes French buttercream different?
- French is very similar to Italian.
To Italian, but they just use egg yolks
in addition to the egg whites.
Tell me what you think.
Good?
Good.
I am making a pecan lace cookie.
This will go
on top of our pistachio cupcake,
and it will be shaped
into kind of like a trumpet.
You know me, I'm always afraid.
I don't want it to burn.
They've got something in the oven
that Charles just checked out.
The lace cookie?
It's like a tuille.
It's a very thin, crisp, sugary cookie.
Delicious.
- Hey, these are all broken.
- My god.
- We need four.
- I did something wrong.
Didn't put enough flour or something.
As I'm pulling out my pecan lace cookies
and rolling them,
they are very brittle.
We're just gonna crumble up
and chop it on top, okay?
Okay.
We have to think on our feet,
but this is not my proudest moment.
Whoops.
All right, cupcakes are out.
So far round one is going
really, really well,
and I feel pretty confident about it.
- Not done yet.
- Okay.
And then the pie dough...
I need these pie crusts to bake.
I don't know what to do.
We can just take the top
- and just take them apart.
- Yeah, take 'em apart.
We decide
to make them smaller
to help them bake faster.
- You cannot serve dough, raw dough.
- Definitely not.
Bake, bake.
Christmastime at our house,
we always have a bowl full of nuts.
Pistachio is my favorite.
It's green,
so with the cherries in the spumoni,
it's like a reflection of Christmas.
All right, I'm just scared
of the pistachio extract,
because I would prefer a paste.
And this is an extract,
which could scream almond,
and we don't want that.
We want pistachio.
They're doing pistachio.
That's okay. Ours will be better.
- Are you talking smack over there?
- Yeah.
We've got pistachio war
happening on this side.
I mean, you're wearing pistachio,
but we're gonna let 'em
taste the pistachio.
Rude.
Good. They're nice and big.
The cupcakes are doming very nicely.
How are the cupcakes?
- There are some that are overfilled...
- Nope, that one sunk.
But they start to sink
in the middle a little bit.
And I'm like, "This is no bueno!
What is this?
These are...
kind of sticking to the edges.
I think it's definitely underbaking,
- and the cherries lend more moisture...
- They do.
...which increases bake time
on the inside.
So I'm feeling pretty freaking scientific
right now, because I just thought of that.
Go for it. Dip 'em. Look!
Find the best ones. Dip 'em.
We don't have time to bake some more,
obviously,
and it tastes yummy,
so we'll just cover this up with frosting
and ganache.
Look! Let's use it.
Okay, we got to get that down.
We're gonna use their decorations.
It's gonna be our display.
Hey, look.
- This is done, right?
- Yeah.
Let's go. It's fine.
That's just a little hot.
You want to help me,
so we can get this done faster?
Is someone over there making humble-pie?
Because I'm gonna need a slice.
These cupcake wrappers are drums.
It'll go perfect with the theme.
Look at
these little pillows of heaven.
You're so good, Emma.
Almost there.
Let's do it.
Hit it! hit it! Hit it!
Glitter!
- You ready?
- I'm so excited.
Melissa and Emma, first ones done,
and they're...
One... Put it on! Put it on!
Hurry up and do it!
One, two, three.
Okay.
All right. There we go!
Judges, let's head on down.
Hey, Melissa and Emma,
first ones done!
- Hey, yeah!
- Hi, ladies!
Just give it a look. Ready?
We just execute these perfectly,
we'll be fine.
Christina and Tasha are done.
We'll head over there in a second.
Tell us what you made.
Emma and I are from the South,
so we brought you pecan pie.
We made you a spiced cake
with a drunken ooey-gooey
pecan pie filling.
We topped it with a caramel
Italian meringue buttercream,
and you have a little present there,
which is pie dough.
I get a little nervous
when people promise ooey-gooey centers,
because then you have that expectation.
And this was.
It was caramelly and delicious,
- and that hit of booze was just spot on.
- Perfect.
I thought
the pie crust dough was delicious.
It's a bit cakey inside
but really crunchy on the outside.
Um, I think it worked really well.
You guys totally sold
on exactly what you told us we'd get.
I love it. And I like the nuts in it.
The texture is excellent.
Thank you very much.
Okay, good. Well, bakers,
you were first ones done,
you used 55 minutes, so you have
a little over two hours.
Adriano, what's their second round
gonna look like?
For your second round,
we want you to be inspired by
"The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy."
So we want you to create a confection
that incorporates plums.
- Okay, got that.
- Okay. Cool.
- Can't wait.
- Thank you very much.
Thank you, bakers.
- So... biscuits, right?
- Definitely.
Okay, and then I'll make a plum compote.
We'll fill those biscuits
with the compote.
Yes.
Christina, Tasha, hello!
- Hey.
- Hi, guys.
You're making music
in here today!
Absolutely.
What we've got for you is noisy toys.
All right, let's do this.
- Buzzer, ready?
- Hit it, yes.
And another team is done.
Charles and Liz,
we'll be right over there.
What we got for you guys today
are PB&J cupcakes.
Love it.
We did a peanut butter cupcake,
chopped peanuts--
Yes, I love it!
That cupcake's got a good beat.
Dad joke!
She calling you out. I love it.
It's a peanut butter cupcake,
and it's filled with a raspberry jam,
topped with a French vanilla buttercream.
And we've got your drumsticks,
which are pretzels.
I mean, it was really smart to steal
this display from the background.
We're amazing.
Hit that buzzer.
- This one?
- Yeah.
Our final team is done.
We'll get there in a second.
We have a lot to do.
I think it's just, like, exactly
the nostalgic peanut butter and jelly
cupcake I would hope to get, you know?
And you even gave us a great texture
in there with those nuts.
My only note is,
I would've loved to have seen you put
a little flaky salt on top,
just to bring it all together.
Drumroll, please!
That was nuts.
- Thank you.
- That was amazing.
That fresh raspberry jam,
it was super tart.
Even just the color of it made me happy,
you know what I mean?
I'm here to make you happy.
That's what I'm here for.
We got it. You have a little less
than two hours left.
Time to start
on your plum confections.
Good luck, bakers.
- Good luck.
- Well done.
- All right.
- Okay.
- Sugar plum, sugar plum fairy...
- It's the second round.
- Galette.
- Yes, let's do a galette.
Hi, Charles. Hi, Liz.
- Hello.
- Hi.
We had a couple of hiccups, but we've got
a nice finished product here.
I mean, they look pretty.
That doesn't count for everything.
What we have is
a double pistachio cupcake.
We did a pistachio cupcake,
and then we also did
a pistachio buttercream,
and then we did
a pecan lace crumble on top,
to give it a little texture,
and then we have
a white chocolate nutcracker.
The pistachio flavor
in your cupcake is wonderful.
However, I did feel that your frosting was
- a little too sweet.
- Okay.
I thought your pistachio flavor
was really good.
Didn't taste artificial.
It had a really nice pistachio-y note.
I loved the crumble on the top.
It was so delicious
with the light pistachios. Really yummy.
It feels like something
that I would imagine
in the mezzanine area,
being, like, handed out at a show.
It's so cute. I love it.
- Thank you very much.
- Thank you.
Bakers, incredible job! You did it
with just under two hours left.
Time to start on your plum confections.
Good luck, bakers.
- Good luck.
- Thank you.
We wanna really make sure
we highlight the plum.
What do you think?
I think we should do,
like, a plum turnover
- with a delicate pastry dough.
- I like it.
- Hi, ladies.
- Hi there, Sarah, Renay.
So, it's a spumoni cupcake,
so we did a light cherry cupcake
dipped in a chocolate ganache,
toasted pistachio on top,
and a pistachio Swiss meringue
on top of that.
And we made them like ballerina dresses,
and we found that stage up there,
so we were like,
this might pimp us out a little bit.
I am a sucker for a stage.
Because it really is so sweet.
And I actually loved the cupcake.
It felt a little muddled,
but it's beautiful.
- Okay, we'll take it.
- Okay.
Icing was nice and light,
but I found the pistachio flavor
artificial,
because it has that bit
of an almond sort of taste,
- of almond extract.
- Yeah, that's what I was... yeah.
Did your cupcakes rise
as much as you were expecting them to?
No, they didn't.
I felt like I was working through
a lot of frosting.
Maybe a few technical issues,
but well done, ladies.
- Thank you.
- Thanks.
All right, good luck, bakers.
You have an hour 45 left.
Time for you to start
on your plum confection.
And judges,
it's time for us to deliberate.
Our only chance at this is
to redeem ourselves in round two.
Something with plum sake?
Judges, all four cupcakes have been tried.
Everyone's now working
on their plum confections,
but only three teams can continue
in the confection round.
It's time to decide who's going home.
Two favorites, Candace.
Melissa and Emma's,
and Christina's and Tasha's.
Melissa and Emma gave us
a really well-balanced
and layered, boozy pecan pie.
And that little present of flaky pie dough
on top was delicious.
Melissa and Emma, I loved the cake,
but I would hope that the topping would be
a little more Nutcracker-themed.
- Ice bath.
- Thank you.
Christina and Tasha gave us
just, like, a hit of peanut butter,
elevated by that tangy
fresh raspberry filling.
Those little salty pretzel sticks on top,
very clever touch.
I think it was honestly a perfect cupcake.
As were the decor elements,
so sweet and wonderful.
And your two least favorites?
Sarah and Renay.
Their cupcake didn't rise,
so the frosting-to-cake ratio was off.
The frosting for me was a nice texture,
but it was just too artificial.
They used that artificial pistachio paste.
I loved Sarah and Renay's cake.
It was really moist and yummy,
but didn't feel like the elements
were identified enough,
and it was a little muddled.
Charles and Liz, ultimately,
it was sort of a one-note cupcake.
They just needed
a bit more fruit flavor, more salt.
Just something else to balance that out.
I agree. It felt like there was
an element missing,
but they delivered
on the pistachio for me,
and I'm the pistachio lover on this panel.
All right, judges, well, it seems like
you have made your decisions.
I will go ahead and let our bakers know.
Okay, bakers,
can I have your attention please?
Our judges have made their first decision,
and the nutty cupcake
that they loved most belongs to...
Christina and Tasha.
You can go ahead and keep working
on your confection.
Unfortunately, the bakers going home today
with our judges'
least favorite cupcake are...
- Sarah and Renay.
- We knew. We wanna nap.
It's fine.
Unfortunately, your time
in the Sugar Rush kitchen has run out.
When you're looking
at something that is such a hot mess
that your hands created,
like, what else can you do
but make jokes about it?
It's not our best work.
It's our absolute worst work, ever.
- It's our absolute worst work, ever!
- It really is.
But we had a good time.
Bye.
Teams, you have one hour,
20 minutes left for your confections.
Keep baking.
We made it.
I'm getting the plums on for the sauce.
I'm feeling very relieved.
I'm sorry to see Sarah and Renay go,
but if anybody had to go,
it's them better than us.
Rude!
They would have said the same thing!
I'm gonna start rolling that dough.
Our confection challenge,
we have to highlight plums.
So we're going to do a plum turnover
with a sugar plum coulis,
which is a thickened fruit puree.
Needs a little more sugar.
If you go too much with the spice,
it's really overdone.
I don't bake a whole lot with plums,
because plums have
plenty of moisture in there,
so it sometimes prohibits the pie dough
from baking properly.
These look a little small.
- It's okay.
- That one just ripped.
- It's a confection.
Plum is an interesting flavor
that I genuinely don't know
if we've seen anyone work with.
I typically use it in pies and crumbles.
It goes with
a lot of different flavors.
Also, a lot of people don't know this,
but plums are voted year after year
the most disgusting fruit
to watch someone eat.
- Wow.
- Yeah, it's gross.
There's your sage.
Just throwing stuff at me?
We're going to do
a sage-y, southern doughnut,
which is a fried biscuit,
filled with plum compote on top of that,
warm winter compote,
and a black pepper whipped cream
right on top of that.
It's savory and sweet,
and that's what we do.
- Girl...
- All right, how you doing?
These plums smell so good.
I learned to make Southern doughnuts
when I was little,
and we used to buy frozen biscuits.
We would throw them in the fryer,
and those would be our doughnuts.
They're the best things
in the whole entire world.
Biscuits are going in the freezer.
You making biscuits over there?
I got the gravy, girl.
What? You got gravy?
Plum gravy and biscuits.
Not only did we not go home,
but we had the judges'
favorite cupcake of the day.
Feeling pretty good right now.
I got plum compote, right?
Because we want nice bites
of fruit in there.
For our confection,
we're going to make a plum galette
with a whipped cream topping
and a white chocolate ballerina.
A galette is a flaky, open-face pastry
filled with any type of fruit
or even savory filling.
I definitely need more sugar.
Plum isn't something we often cook with.
I think it's a underrated fruit.
What is better than a light flaky crust,
a delicious, airy whipped cream,
and a sweet filling?
All right, let's get it in the oven.
Yeah, pastries are browning,
- crisping up just like we want.
- Okay.
For our plating, we are creating
a white chocolate bodice on the plate,
and then we'll fill it
with the sugar plum coulis.
- Okay, do the arms.
- Okay.
And do a few abstract arms
to make it look like
the Sugar Plum Fairy is dancing.
- Can you dust the arms, too?
- I don't think they need it.
You're the boss.
Pastries should be done in...
four to five minutes.
You wanna try it?
- Just a little bit longer?
- Yeah.
- But it's getting real close.
- That tastes like a fair.
- Yes!
- That is a funnel cake! So good.
I'm taking my doughnuts
out of the fryer,
and they look amazing.
I'm so happy.
Okay, let's make the whipped cream.
For the doughnuts, it's gonna be topped
with a black pepper whipped cream.
Just a hint.
You don't want too much, just a bit.
The black pepper, the sage, the plum,
it all works together.
You do that. I'm gonna fill these.
I'm about to make paradise over here.
I need melting chocolate.
I'm melting the white chocolate.
Our goal is to take our ballerina cutter,
once our chocolate is cooled and set,
and heat it, and then press it in
to create that shape of the ballerina.
Hope this works.
But that does not work.
Either our white chocolate's too thick,
or the ballerina's not hot enough,
and I'm, like, freaking out.
Because I have to put a ballerina
on top of this galette.
She can't have a tutu of whipped cream
and no dancer.
I need to remelt the chocolate
and do it by hand.
I'm just gonna have to freehand this.
- These are done.
- Yeah.
Do this one first, okay?
Tell me when.
Got one more. All right, ready?
Charles and Liz!
Charles and Liz, done.
- They're done.
- Nice, okay.
- Hello.
- Hello, judges.
Nice to see you again.
So we did a plum turnover
and a sugar plum coulis.
We wanted to get the fresh plum
and then have that spice of coulis
to kind of warm it up.
And it's not too sweet, I believe.
- Good thinking.
- I thought it was really yummy.
I wanted more filling.
- Maybe a little bit bigger?
- A little bit bigger.
But I think it's really balanced
and delicious,
- and all the notes are hit.
- Thank you.
You captured
the flavor of the plum.
Only thing I will say, I would've loved
my pastry a little flakier.
Obviously, because of the moisture
of the filling, it got a little bit soggy.
I love the buttery flavor
of your turnover crust
and the jamminess
of that plum filling inside.
A turnover is a very rustic dessert,
but you managed to make it look
so elegant here on this plate.
- Well done.
- Thank you very much.
You're on to round three,
your final cake round.
For your final round,
we want you to create
a Nutcracker Suite masterpiece,
featuring the villainous Mouse King,
and to appease him,
you're going to incorporate cheese.
- That's your favorite.
- No!
Cheese is my arch-enemy.
I'm not lactose intolerant,
but I just don't like cheese.
- So I'm gonna have to work through this.
- I believe in you.
You banked 59 minutes.
We're gonna add three hours to that,
bringing your total to three hours
and 59 minutes for your cake.
- Good luck. Thank you.
- Thank you.
How about goat cheese?
Excellent, goat cheese. Let's see,
what goes with goat cheese?
Let's make a mousse.
- Shoot!
- It fell off?
They keep falling. They're too heavy.
They're having some trouble right now.
That beignet's not stable.
Could easily put that on the side,
and it would look just as elegant.
That's why I was worried
about putting it right on top.
It's gotta go on top.
We need height.
- That's way too top-heavy.
- Very similar to me, right?
- We're gonna hit it.
- Yep, let's go.
- Ready?
- Yep, go.
All right! Well, they're done.
Melissa and Emma. Let's head on down.
Finally.
Okay, bakers.
If any of the creams fall
on the way over to us...
- You stop that!
- Automatically eliminated, okay?
This is a doughnut.
A fauxnut, if you will.
It is actually a fried biscuit.
I love that.
You have a plum compote,
and it's sitting on a warm winter compote
that has apricots, cherries,
figs, Fuji apples.
Then we topped it off
with a black pepper whipped cream.
I love the compote.
It was just, like, evocative.
Like warm and comfy.
- And I got the plum.
- Big hug.
Yeah, big hug.
Big, old Christmas hug.
I like the fauxnut.
First, when you explained it,
I was thinking, "Fried biscuit.
It's gonna be stodgy."
It's actually delicious.
And that little bit of cream
is a nice little touch.
I would've loved
a little bit more black pepper.
Bring a bit of spice, know what I mean?
I've never had a fried biscuit before.
I felt like I was
at a really elegant county fair.
And I would've loved to seen a little bit
more of a nod to The Nutcracker,
Okay.
But, I mean,
I would like a dozen of these to go.
- Nice. No problem.
- Perfect.
You banked 47 minutes
for your final round.
We're gonna add
three hours to that right now,
bringing your total
to three hours and 47 minutes
for your Mouse King cake.
Good, luck bakers.
- See you in a bit.
- Thank you guys so much.
- Mad Mouse King, okay.
- Okay.
We have to do
some type of crown on top.
Flavors.
- Almond cake, Christmas fruit.
- Yeah.
- ...and bleu cheese.
- Perfect.
- That looks great.
- Thank you.
Trying to just do the best I can for you.
We start to plate our dish,
which is gonna be a martini glass
with a z-stem,
representing the dancer's legs
for the Sugar Plum Fairy.
We want to create a great balance,
so what we're going to do
is fill it like a trifle,
using the white chocolate curls
on the bottom,
then the plum puree,
then more whipped cream,
and then the galette
topped with whipped cream.
Just so many elements.
...and then
the white chocolate ballerina on top.
Don't we look like Sugar Plum Fairies?
So that might be the final touch, right?
Hope so.
- Ready? Tasha, we're losing minutes!
- Ready.
- Ready, ready.
- Ready.
They just hit the buzzer.
Christina and Tasha, done.
- Hi!
- Hi!
How are you?
We're giving you the dance.
You wanted a dance, right?
I love it.
Yes, yes.
We made a nice, flaky galette,
because we thought she's light and airy,
topped it with a plum compote
and whipped cream,
and then we plated it like a trifle.
So you got that second dessert for you.
Just in case you didn't get enough
of that delicious plum on there,
we put some on the bottom,
with a little white chocolate at the base.
What are the white chocolate curls for?
Just to fill the glass, or...
Balance. I have white chocolate on top,
white chocolate on the bottom.
Ballet is all about...
That's a good answer.
When Adriano asks a pointed question,
you've got pointed answers, and I love it.
I mean, that pastry's delicious,
the plums are delicious,
and that cream on top
obviously rounds it off nicely,
but I would have been happy
with just that.
Really? Okay,
I could've saved 20 minutes.
Right?
I think the galette was delicious.
This dancer on the top
was just so gorgeous and elegant,
and it took me
right to the time and place I want to be,
which is about to see the show.
From top to bottom, you guys are capturing
The Nutcracker here,
and that makes me really happy.
The white chocolate curls
were just a little too sweet,
but what a yummy dessert.
Thank you guys so much.
You saved about 30 minutes.
We're gonna add three hours to that.
You have three hours 30 minutes remaining
for your Mouse King cake.
We'll see you in a bit.
- All righty, thank you.
- Bye.
Of course, cream cheese.
Yeah, cream cheese, definitely.
Let's do some goat cheese.
Goat, mascarpone, cream cheese,
we're gonna have
a three cheese explosion.
Perfect.
All three confections down.
But unfortunately, only two teams
can continue through to the cake round.
Question is, who had your favorite
plum confection?
Candace, we'll start with you.
Melissa and Emma worked with plum
in unique and interesting ways.
They worked it into the filling.
They worked it into this winter compote
that incorporated a variety of fruits.
I just thought it was
a really sophisticated dish.
It was just elegant, well balanced,
lots of textures.
I thought that we got
a sense of who they were.
It felt like the holidays. I loved them.
Okay, so judges, that means
Charles and Liz
and Christina and Tasha
were in your bottom two.
For me, Christina and Tasha,
beautiful-looking dish.
I loved that galette.
Pastry was so crunchy and delicious,
but that white chocolate
was just a little sweet.
Christina and Tasha were the first time
today that I felt in my chest,
"We're at The Nutcracker.
We're at a ballet."
They just, for me, gilded the lily
a little bit too much.
I agree, too many elements.
Charles and Liz,
as beautiful as it was,
it was a little bit simple.
I think it was just really
a turnover and some sauce.
I mean, I bit into
this very tasty turnover,
and I thought, "Where's the plum?"
They just used a light hand
for something so simple.
I loved what they did
with the design.
It just felt a little more modern,
and that excites me for what they could
possibly bring in the next round.
Judges, it sounds like
you have made a decision.
I will let our bakers know.
Okay, bakers, can I have
your attention yet again?
Our judges have made
their second decision,
and the confection that they are just
plum crazy about belongs to...
- Melissa and Emma.
- Yes! Sorry.
Very well done.
You can continue working on your cake.
- Thank you.
- Thank you, guys!
Christina and Tasha, Charles and Liz,
that means unfortunately
you are on the chopping block right now.
And the team with our judges'
least favorite plum confection
belongs to...
Charles and Liz.
Aww!
The flavors were there,
but it just wasn't enough plum
for our judges.
So unfortunately, your time
in the Sugar Rush kitchen has run out.
Thank you so much, Charles and Liz.
We had a great time.
Having Charles there to believe in me
and push me through helped a lot.
Good luck, ladies.
I'm proud that the world gets to see
just how talented Liz is.
Melissa and Emma, Christina and Tasha,
good luck. Continue working.
I think we're golden, man.
It's gonna be so much fun!
We have a cake competition
where we have a winner
from the first round,
and a winner from the second.
And I'm really excited to see
what they do in a larger scale format.
All right,
I'm working on the filling, okay?
I'll come and do the mascarpone.
In the cake round,
the Mouse King from The Nutcracker
is the star of the show,
- and we have to use the ingredient cheese.
- Cheese.
I'm adding the goat cheese in now.
Personally, I like cheese on tacos
and not in cake.
You just don't like goat cheese.
Exactly.
Our plan is all about
the Mouse King's revenge.
We're flipping the story upside down.
Nutcracker doesn't win this time.
This time, the Mouse King reigns supreme.
We are gonna make a cheese cannon,
and the Mouse King
sitting on top of the cannon.
Our cannon is one of our favorite parts
of this whole cake.
It's shooting weapons
of mass cheese destruction...
Mass cheese destruction.
...all over the Nutcracker's Christmas.
I'm gonna start on the white velvet cake.
We're making a white velvet cake
with a cream cheese buttercream
and a blueberry mascarpone
goat cheese filling.
We're using not one, not two,
but three cheeses.
Judges asked for cheese.
We'll give you cheese.
What are you guys making?
Cake.
Really? Shocking.
You nervous about the competition?
Of course not.
Melissa and Emma are
classically trained pastry chefs.
I'm nervous about y'all.
Just because we didn't go
to culinary school doesn't mean
we can't throw down with the best of them.
Last batch of batter almost ready.
When you're working
with a cheese in a cake,
where's the most obvious place it can go?
I think the most natural thing to do
would be to put it in a frosting,
either work with a goat cheese
or a mascarpone,
but I'd love to see something
more daring.
I'd love to see somebody work
with even a stronger cheese
and try to incorporate that
into the batter.
If you're very creative,
there's so many things you can do.
- You're starting on the crown, right?
- Yep.
The challenge for the cake round is
to bring the Mouse King,
but we just want to bring all the elements
of The Nutcracker into this round.
So we're going to do a multi-tier cake,
and we want tall, tall, tall.
We're gonna do
a very large drum as the base.
And then on top of that we're gonna do
the Nutcracker's suit,
and then the Nutcracker's face.
On top of that,
we're gonna represent the Mouse King.
If you need me, I'll be chopping pears
for, like, 30 years.
One of my favorite combinations
is pear and bleu cheese.
We're gonna make an almond cake
with a pear compote
and a bleu cheese buttercream.
Listen, let me taste it
with the almond, okay?
Yeah, I know.
We want it to be great.
It's a family recipe.
My maw-maw and my grandma
used to bake all the time.
It's spot on, girl, spot on.
And so I get to keep
their memory alive.
It's really nice just to have
both of them with me.
All right, Melissa, all the cakes are in.
So my filling is going to be a blueberry
mascarpone goat cheese.
It's gonna be awesome.
I'm focused all on the filling.
I start with my compote,
where I'm taking blueberries
and just reducing them with sugar
and a little lemon zest in a pan.
Will you taste this?
Tell me what you think.
Baby.
That must be a good sign
when you say "baby."
I feel like it looks really good,
but it's missing something.
Just adding some fresh blueberries in.
So I grab some more fresh berries.
Folding... that in.
Now I'm satisfied with what I've got.
I smell cake.
The one thing that is gonna be tricky is
we want the decorations to be beautiful,
but the Mouse King is a real muenster.
My god.
I don't want any one
of those woulda, gouda, coulda.
- Woulda, gouda...
- Two strikes, okay?
Who's going home... with this cheddar?
That's three.
Okay, they're done, Emma.
I want to get
this compote and buttercream done.
My whole family baked together
at the holidays,
and that's so special to me.
I had to go to pastry school
to learn this.
She got, like, Mamaw and Grandma.
- Maw-maw.
- Mo... Sorry.
- M-A-W.
- That will never flow right for me.
We're gonna add the secret ingredient.
We're fighting for $10,000.
I want to give the judges something
to wow about.
The best thing to do with that,
stinky bleu cheese buttercream.
- It's so gross.
- But it'll be great.
- You ready?
- You got it open.
Sure did. You love it.
You love the stinky cheese.
That's perfect.
I can start
on the bottom of the cake?
Yes.
Once the cakes are cooled,
we cut them down into the shapes
that we want for our pieces,
and then we just fill them
and top with our cream cheese buttercream.
Working on the cheese cannon
over here right now.
As home bakers, never used
a sheeter before.
Not a clue.
But we're gonna.
Okay, it passes through...
fairly quickly.
Yeah, that shouldn't be called a sheeter.
It should be called a shooter.
Deep breaths, girl, deep breaths.
We got it.
I dunno.
Not my area.
Just smooth it.
There'll be things on it.
Anytime you have a gap,
I'll cover it with a toy or something.
The fondant begins to crack and tear.
It's better than you think it is, Tash.
We ain't looking at the same cake.
And now we build.
How tall do you want to go here?
We have to cover that with fondant,
you know.
This cake is tall,
and the entire cake needs to be
covered in fondant.
Then we have to add the decorations.
There's a lot of components here,
so there's a lot to do,
and there's no time to do it.
- Right behind you.
- Go! Sorry.
It didn't cover the back.
And the side is all cracked.
- Okay, you wanna pull it off?
- Yeah, I do.
- All right, I'm just gonna...
- Nope, go ahead.
The wonderful world of fondant.
The clock is there. It's huge.
We need this to happen quickly.
Well, that just went on the ground.
So I'm just gonna make some more blue.
Dropping that blue fondant cost me
at least 10 extra minutes.
Sheesh, I hate fondant.
What's wrong?
Everything's wrong.
Everything's fine.
Yes!
- Do not drop it on the floor.
- That's plenty. That's good.
- Short again?
- Too short.
You know, we can fix it.
- We can patch it.
- We're good. We're good.
Bakers, you have one hour left.
Just breathe.
I think this is enough
to cover your Christmas tree.
For the Christmas tree cake,
I decided to bake it all
in flat sheet pans,
and cut them out with ring cutters,
fill and stack.
Just putting all the fondant figures
together,
working on the little mice,
and all the little, um, fondant pieces.
Well, it looks better than this tree.
You know what I'd love to do?
If we each get some fondant,
and we try and sculpt a little mouse cake.
I mean, we have 51 minutes.
- What else are we gonna do, talk?
- Shall we?
- No.
- No.
He's lost his mind. Officially.
We gotta go, girl.
I know.
I'm literally going as fast as I can.
I know.
We are gonna incorporate some gears
into our cake,
because of the main clock.
And it's good filler.
- I'm doing this as well?
- We're all doing it.
Dear! I don't know
if I've ever used this.
This part right here
is the Rat King.
He's not all in his royal glory just yet.
We're getting him there.
All right, we have got to get this cape
on here because...
there's so much
that needs to be covered up.
'Cause it looks like
he's all angry and mean.
Bakers, you have 30 minutes left
for your Mouse King cheesy cake.
Good luck.
Okay, judges.
Are we ready to reveal our masterpieces?
I don't know if I'd call it
a masterpiece, but yes.
It's got a crown, so you know
it's the Mouse King.
- Very sweet.
- That's adorable.
My cheese head mouse.
He's got the key.
My little guy's munching
on a piece of cheese.
- You even gave him a bite mark.
- Yeah.
I was gonna do a Mouse King,
and then I decided to do
me and Candace growing old together.
My god.
You guys do look happy together.
Wow.
I look over at Melissa and Emma's station,
and it's intimidating.
But... their cake has no Mouse King.
So we're feeling pretty confident
about that part.
Okay, I have to make the Nutcracker.
- We have the cheeks.
- Yep.
You hate this. It is what it is.
For our cake, it's about The Nutcracker
as a whole,
not necessarily just the Mouse King.
I just don't wanna be that literal.
- So instead of his face...
- We're gonna do a big, red cape.
So that's gonna be
an ode to the Mouse King.
Bakers, you have ten minutes left.
You can spread the presents out
a little bit, I think.
God!
You know what? It's fine, Melissa.
Do you guys think that they're trying
to hide anything, maybe,
with all those decorations?
- Yeah.
- Yes.
Wait a minute. Do we need
another big gear anywhere?
- I need one back here.
- Yup.
Our fondant is ripping.
There's holes in the cake.
I don't think we have enough
to cover everything.
Do we have time
to make any more gears?
If you make 'em real quick.
Okay, Tasha, we still have to finish
the Nutcracker.
I'm just gonna tie him
to that drum.
It is not the Nutcracker of my dreams,
but he is on there.
Child. Okay.
Thirty seconds, bakers.
- Where?
- I don't care!
The clock turned red.
This is ridiculous.
Five, four, three, two, one.
Don't touch the cakes!
Don't breathe!
Judges, let's go ahead and check out
these fantastic Nutcracker cakes.
Hi, bakers.
- Hey!
- Hi!
Aw! How sweet!
I see the tail,
but where is the Mouse King?
- He's up here.
- He's there, and he has his cape.
He's looking down over the Nutcracker
and making sure he doesn't rise up
and beat him.
Where's his head?
- It's...
- Um...
- It's just imagination.
- Yeah.
I really love
how the gears look.
It almost looks like a... another crown.
I love the Nutcracker face.
I think it's really beautiful.
Obviously, you had some issues
with the fondant.
Our cape was a little heavy.
We tried to patch it up
with some of our gears.
The Nutcracker face is so nice.
It does make me wish
that I'd seen your interpretation
of the Mouse King face.
Thank you so much, bakers.
Cut us four slices,
and we'll see you at the judges' table.
Okay, thank you.
- Hello, bakers.
- Hey.
Let's get a close look at this cake.
This guy looks like he's out for revenge.
Originally, in the story, as you know,
the Nutcracker defeats the Mouse King,
but we flipped it on its head,
and we made the Mouse King's revenge.
- Is this the cheese cannon?
- Yes.
How cool!
I love the way you put your own
personal spin on the story.
Thank you.
I love the elements on the top.
I think they're cute.
- I would say you need to tidy the edges.
- Absolutely.
There's something whimsical about it.
I just see myself enjoying this
with my family
right before seeing The Nutcracker.
- It's super fun.
- Thank you.
Please cut us four slices,
and we will see you at the judges' table.
- Absolutely.
- Thank you, bakers.
- Good luck, ladies.
- Thank you, good luck.
We are going to start
with Christina and Tasha's cake.
In front of you is a white velvet cake
with a cream cheese buttercream
and a blueberry mascarpone
goat cheese filling.
Your cake was a dream.
I mean, your white velvet cake was
sort of a backdrop to this filling,
which was absolutely the star of the show.
I actually bit into a fresh blueberry,
and it just kind of popped in my mouth.
You really hit the nail on the head
with the challenge,
delivering a triple cheese flavor
that is very memorable.
I thought the cake was nice and moist.
The three cheeses balance each other.
Would've loved a bit more crunch,
but look, those blueberries
are good enough.
I love you guys. I love this cake.
It is... so good.
I am not the biggest cheese person.
It's just so delightful,
and it all just plays
so deliciously together.
I will not leave this on this plate.
I'm finishing this before I go.
All right, we're gonna go ahead
and switch.
We have an almond white cake.
It's got just a little bit of vanilla bean
to help balance out that almond flavor.
And then it's got a pear compote
and a bleu cheese buttercream.
First of all, bravo
for taking on blue cheese.
It was a surprising flavor
in a buttercream,
but once I tasted it with that pear,
it just really worked.
I will say, we were missing
a little texture in this cake.
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
And you gave me a Nutcracker face,
and I was looking for a Mouse King face.
I'm not a fan of bleu cheese,
but it's actually really nice.
Good to see it's just in pieces.
You just get little pockets.
I just wanted a little bit more texture
in there, that's all.
Just some more chunks,
just to balance it out a little bit more.
You've definitely got a knack
for mixing the savory with the sweet.
You just gave us such a beautiful cake.
The little blue speckles
that we're seeing...
And it's so delicate and balanced.
Could've used maybe
one more little element,
but honestly,
it's just pure deliciousness.
Well, the only thing
left to do now is decide.
Judges, who had your favorite cake?
Melissa and Emma, it felt romantic.
It felt warm with the pear.
It was everything I wanted
from a Nutcracker cake.
Christina and Tasha,
the cake was so whimsical and fun.
It really just made
an old and loved story for me new.
The cake that I think is $10,000...
is Christina and Tasha's.
Christina and Tasha,
that's one vote for you.
Meaning, if you get one more vote,
you will have won $10,000.
Adriano.
It was a tough round?
Melissa and Emma,
you gave us a delicious cake,
but I just wanted a little more texture.
Christina and Tasha,
I think you had a great cake,
and those fresh blueberries
just kind of popped.
To me it came down to taste.
Ultimately, my cake vote today
is gonna go with...
Christina and Tasha.
Two incredible cakes today,
but my vote too would've gone
to Christina and Tasha.
Christina and Tasha, congratulations!
You have just won $10,000
in the Sugar Rush kitchen.
Melissa, Emma, incredible job.
I'm gonna go home and put so much crunch,
more crunch than I care to admit
at this point.
I'm just gonna give you almonds
for every holiday.
My gosh.
My gosh! Thank you.
We just won!
I have no words, just tears of joy.
This is for you.
I couldn't have done it without you.
My baking bae.
Aww, my cake sis.
Thank you guys so much for watching
this episode of Sugar Rush Christmas.
Happy holidays. Bye.