Sugar Rush Christmas (2019–…): Season 2, Episode 5 - Songs of the Season - full transcript

This is Sugar Rush Christmas,

the baking competition where
time is the most important ingredient.

Four teams of brilliant bakers
battle it out for sugary success

over three rounds of competition,

-racing against each other and the clock.
-[chimes]

The faster they work the better, because
any time saved in round one, cupcakes,

and round two, 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 walkin' away with a prize
to the tune of $10,000

is our choir of judges.



She's the song stuck in my head
that I never want to get out,

pastry chef and entrepreneur
Candace Nelson.

And his voice is music to my ears,

it's celebrated Australian pastry chef
Adriano Zumbo.

Our bakers are singing
for their supper today

as they compete in three rounds
of Christmas carol-themed challenges.

And finally our guest judge,

multi-platinum recording artist
and actor, Jordin Sparks.

Candace and Adriano are inside
presenting the first two rounds

-of our Christmas carol-themed challenges.
-[bleeping]

That sound means that competition
has just begun. Let's check it out.

Julian, Hector, good luck, bakers.

Sam and Todd, good luck, have fun.

Hello, judges.



-Hello, Hunter.
-Hey, Hunter.

-Hi, how's it goin'?
-Good, how are you?

Oh, my God, I am so happy to be here.

Jordin, of all the episodes, too,
our Christmas carol episode,

it's as if we planned it.

Almost as if.

I love everything about Christmas.
I'm so excited to be here. Really.

Candace, what are our bakers doing
in round one?

This first round is an homage

to the Christmas carol classic
"O Christmas Tree,"

and because Christmas trees are
truly the centerpiece of the holidays,

we want them to create 12 cupcakes
that actually come together

to form a Christmas tree, and then
we get to pull it apart and eat it.

It's two of my favorite things,
eating cupcakes and destroying things.

[laughter]

I'm with you, yes. Bring it on.

Okay, so we have to do
pull-apart cupcakes.

-Yeah.
-I'm thinking we go with something

more modern and kind of, like, glitzy,

-like we are.
-Fun like us!

-A white chocolate... peppermint?
-White chocolate peppermint?

We need to make it different, make it pop.

Christmas tree, we think...

-Favorite flavor has to be cinnamon buns.
-Cinnamon buns.

-How about with some goat cheese...
-Ooh, yeah.

-Goat cheese and...
-Ooh, and cardamom?

-There you go, perfect.
-Yes.

Hi, my name is Todd, I'm a pastry chef

at the Wave Resort
in Long Branch, New Jersey,

and this is my daughter Samantha.

Hi. I'm also a baker, just like him.

I'm from New York,
and I work at The Bakery in New Paltz.

And how about some orange zest in there?

-A little...
-Yeah. That's good.

To see Sam follow in my footsteps,
it warms my heart.

It makes me feel proud
that she's my daughter.

Oh! We should do a beach theme one.

-Yes.
-[Todd] Exactly.

-Then we'll put little starfish on top.
-Yep.

Since I was a kid, my parents would
bring me to the beach for Christmas.

Ever since then, I like to decorate
my tree with beach-themed ornaments.

I think this beach theme
is really gonna set us apart.

Oh, definitely is.

So, for this round we want to make
a beach Christmas tree.

We're making
an orange zest vanilla cupcake

with cranberry compote filling and

cardamom, goat cheese,
cream cheese frosting.

Here's somethin' funny,

-I almost forgot the goat cheese.
-[both laugh]

[Sam] So, for the decorations, I'm making
some fondant and isomalt seashells.

[Todd] It's a big swing,
and I hope we hit it out of the park.

[Todd] I wanna hit that buzzer first.

-[woman] Chocolate orange cupcakes...
-Okay.

Um... are we thinking about a filling?

Um, we... we can do a dark chocolate
and probably do an orange ganache.

I'm Chrystine, I'm from Atlanta, Georgia,
and I am a full-time baker.

I'm Erica, I'm a part-time baker.

-Okay.
-I'll get started on the batter.

-You start the buttercream?
-Yeah.

I can do the buttercream

-and the chocolate ganache.
-Okay.

We met in college.

-She borrowed my wine glass and broke it...
-[Chrystine laughs] Come on!

[Erica] And that was like,
either we're gonna be sisters...

or we'll hate each other
for the rest of our lives.

It's lookin' right. Smelling good, too.

For our "O Christmas Tree" cupcakes,

we are making chocolate orange
Grand Marnier cupcakes

with a dark chocolate
Grand Marnier ganache

and a orange zest vanilla buttercream.

And we also decide to do
the Grand Marnier simple syrup pipettes

to let the judges kind of decide how much
fun they want to have with their cupcake.

Cupcakes going in the oven.

-[Chrystine] How's it looking?
-Looking good.

V, I think... Veronica, I think
we should spend about an hour...

-Let's give ourselves time for round two.
-If we finish before the hour, great,

but I don't want to mess up.

-I'm Veronica.
-And I'm Kimberly.

[both] And we're twins.

[Veronica] Kimmy's a pharmacist,
and I'm an accountant.

When we were younger,
we were interested in baking.

But our parents gave us no choice.

We had to pick between medicine,
accounting, or being a lawyer.

I want a grocery cart for all this stuff.

But I think if we won Sugar Rush,

that would be the little push we need
to pursue baking full-time.

[Veronica] Your ovens are set to 350.

For our "O Christmas Tree" cupcakes,
we're going to make a cinnamon bun cupcake

filled with cinnamon brown sugar filling,

topped with cream cheese frosting.

-Four colors?
-Four colors.

So the idea for the pull-apart cupcake
is to make it

a white Christmas tree with chocolate
ornaments filled with sprinkles.

Melting chocolate.

So when the judges crack into them,
there's a sprinkle surprise.

-Cupcakes are going in the oven now.
-[Kimberly] Awesome.

How you guys doin' over there?

-Whoo!
-Pretty good, how about you?

Going, going.

-What are you guys making?
-Cupcakes, how 'bout you?

[twins laughing]

My name is Hector and I'm from Miami,
and I'm the owner of The Cake Savage.

My name is Julian, from Miami as well.
I'm a senior pastry chef at JW.

Working for such a big hotel, anything
that you could ask is what we create.

What are you up to right now?
I'm measuring my dries.

[Julian] Getting the liquid together
so we can put it in.

Hector and I have been neighbors
since I was a kid.

We've never competed together,
but we're gonna kill it.

-Gonna get the crushed candy to go in?
-[Hector] Yeah.

For our "O Christmas Tree" cupcakes,

we're making
a white chocolate peppermint cupcake...

with some crushed up
soft and hard peppermint for some texture,

and we're gonna do a Swiss buttercream
with a little bit of peppermint in it,

and some white chocolate leaves
to make the cupcake pop.

[Hector] Here comes some bangin'.

-[Julian] Don't break the table.
-[Hector] Trying not to.

♪ O Christmas tree, o Sugar Rush ♪

-Oh, look who it is!
-♪ Bakers, prepare for round one ♪

♪ Christmas tree cupcakes you will bake ♪

-♪ $10,000 dollars you could take ♪
-[Erica] That's so cute.

♪ O Christmas tree, o Sugar Rush ♪

♪ Bakers, prepare for round one ♪

-That was great.
-[whistling]

-We paid for the whole day! Encore!
-[laughter]

I love that there's carolers,
that's so awesome.

[Hunter] All right, bakers,
two hours and 35 minutes remaining.

-[Kimberly] God, time is going by so fast.
-[laughs]

[Todd] They sank.

-[Sam] What?
-[Todd] They sank.

I pull the first batch of cupcakes
out of the oven and my heart sinks.

They're just stuck to the pan,
and I panic.

See, look.

-Look. Nope.
-[Sam] Yeah, no way.

-Why don't we redo it?
-[Todd] Okay, redo it.

It's the first round. To get to the last,

-it has to be perfect.
-Okay.

-You do frosting, I'll do cupcakes.
-Okay.

[Todd] The time is ticking,
so Samantha just takes over

and redoes the recipe one more time.

[Sam] What do you think happened, Dad?

-What do you think...
-[laughs] I forgot the sour cream.

-Oh!
-Argh!

[Todd] I guess first one in,
first one out's not the right way.

It's okay.

[Kimberly] Cupcakes are almost done.

I'm working on the chocolate spheres
for the ornament sprinkle balls,

and I'm thinking that this extra special
touch for the judges will set us apart.

You all right?

[Kimberly] No, the cupcakes are sticking.

We don't really have a lot of time.

The piping is gonna
have to really fix these guys.

Their tops are not pretty.

How are the cupcakes?

They are... in need of frosting.

-Oh!
-But that's what frosting's for.

-How old is, uh, your son?
-He's two and a half.

Does he like your baking?

I assume cookies are not something
he's turning down very often.

He loves cookies.

He does like cupcakes, he definitely
got a sweet tooth like me, so...

[laughter]

Hector, I'm tempering the white chocolate
for the chocolate leaves.

We need a baguette pan or something
to give it some type of curl.

So I'm using the chocolate
to give it the look of a Christmas tree.

I'm gonna lay it on a acetate sheet

that allows the chocolate
to come off very clean and shiny.

I'm brushing the leaf
so we get a little bit of a texture to it.

I am cutting the chocolate with
a five-wheel pastry cutter,

and then we're putting it
in a baguette pan

to give the chocolate
a little bit of a curl,

and that way it gives you
the illusion of a leaf.

I would say we're, like, five minutes out.

[Erica] I don't know...

[Chrystine] They were over-filled.

[Erica] You don't feel
it was missing flour or something?

So cupcakes are out of the oven,
and we are not happy at all.

Some of them have sunken in
in the center.

It's just not the product that
we would want to put forward.

[Chrystine] You wanna start over?

We do have some more batter,
I can throw some in.

[Chrystine] Go ahead, but I don't know
if we have time for that.

I feel like it's still gonna be okay.

Putting these in. Second time's a charm.

Seeing that everybody did
the same kind of green,

-you wanna do a different green?
-[Sam] Yep.

Let's try to get within the hour, yeah?

Get ready to press the buzzer.

-[chimes]
-[bells jingle]

First team done.
Let's go check out their cupcakes.

Oh, no!

-Julian, Hector, first ones done.
-Wow!

-[Julian] Yes.
-How do you feel?

-Gotta hustle.
-Yeah, that's right.

Why don't you pass out your cupcakes
and tell us what you made?

So what we got here is
a white chocolate peppermint, uh, cupcake,

with soft and hard peppermints.

We have Swiss buttercream
on top so it's not so sweet,

garnished with white chocolate leaves
and chocolate bark.

Oh, that's so fluffy. Wow.

You guys balanced this amazingly.

-Thank you.
-Your buttercream is just barely sweet.

The added crunch
of your cracked peppermint candy

was really well thought out, well done.

It's the best peppermint cupcake
I ever had.

-Nice!
-It is just the right amount of flavor.

I love the chocolate decoration,
it shows a lot of skill.

-You did really well. Amazing.
-Thanks.

The cake itself
is just buttery and crumbly,

and that little surprise of the peppermint
is so nice.

I... I really loved it.

-[laughs]
-[both] Thank you.

[Hunter] All right, well done.

First ones done,
your confection is coming up.

Adriano, remind them what they have to do.

If you make it past this elimination,

we want a confection
with an international feel

inspired by the Christmas carol
"Joy to the World."

Remember to bring a global flavor.

-Cool. Awesome. Will do.
-All right.

-Thanks.
-Thank you, bakers.

As soon as I think about
international desserts for the holidays,

-the first thing I think is yule log.
-France. Let's do France.

We gotta... we gotta get
a bûche de Noëlin here.

I'm just finishing this one shell.

-Oh, no.
-No?

[Veronica] So soft.
I think I'm just gonna go pipe.

-[Kimberly] Yeah. Just pipe.
-[Veronica] Okay.

-[Kimberly] How's it look?
-It's fine.

-Oh, God.
-Ready?

-Ready, and... go.
-[bells jingle]

-Oh! Kimberly and Veronica done.
-And Veronica.

[Erica] Oooh.

[Sam] That's two down.

I think two more minutes and we're ready.

[Hunter] Hi, Kimberly, hi, Veronica.

-[Adriano] Hello.
-Hello.

So today we made for you
a cinnamon bun cupcake

with a gooey cinnamon filling
and a cream cheese frosting.

And the ornaments have a nice little
surprise if you break those open.

[Jordin gasps] Aaah! That's so fun!

Jordin, are you in heaven right now?

-Ssh!
-[laughter]

Well, I mean, I really shouldn't
talk with my mouth full,

'cause I want to keep eating it,
but I think it's delicious.

I love cinnamon rolls. It brings me back
into my kitchen with my nana and my mom.

And then the little cinnamon goo
in the middle...

-[laughter]
-[Jordin] Yes!

It's exactly like eating a cinnamon bun,
flavor-wise,

and it's got that sweetness of the icing.

The only thing I would say
is the cupcake, I think, is a bit crumbly,

falls apart a little bit,
uh, when you... when you eat it.

Well, you really captured the experience
of a cinnamon roll

with that cinnamon, um... goo.

-We're just gonna all go with that.
-The goo was good.

-The goo was good.
-Technical term.

And the cinnamon cream cheese
was reminiscent

of that glaze that goes on a cinnamon bun.

But the cupcake itself was sort of bowing

-under the weight of it.
-Yeah.

It was definitely
a very thick shelf of frosting,

and so I felt that the ratio
was a bit off.

-But a very yummy experience.
-Thank you.

-Thank you, bakers.
-Thank you.

-So, I'll be...
-You have an hour 35.

-Get goin'.
-Thank you.

"Joy To the World,"
confections around the world.

-Uh-huh. Uh...
-What are you thinking?

Our first trip to the Philippines,

-'96, Christmas time.
-Okay.

-[Todd] I think they're good.
-[Sam] Take 'em out.

Our second batch of cupcakes seem
a lot better than the first batch.

-I'll separate them so we can put 'em on.
-Okay.

[Sam] So time is of the essence

and I'm adding fondant decorations
as fast as possible.

Awesome.

I like the tacky look of it.

I feel very confident with our cupcake.

-Ready? Ready? Ready? Ready?
-Yeah! Go, now!

-[bells jingle]
-All right, Sam and Todd.

-[Chrystine] We're last.
-[Erica] It's okay.

-[Hunter] Hi, Sam, hi, Todd.
-[Sam] Hi.

-[Todd] Hello.
-Hi.

So we did, um,
a beach theme cupcake

because my dad is obsessed with the beach.

[Todd] And every year
my Christmas tree's beachy, so...

I might as well make
a beach Christmas tree.

[Sam] So we have
an orange zest vanilla cupcake,

a cranberry compote, and a cardamom,
goat cheese, cream cheese frosting.

The flavor's delicious.
I think the cardamom,

the cream cheese, cranberry and orange,
I thought that was a great combo.

It really went really well together.

I would've liked more acidity
out of the cranberry,

-pump that freshness a bit more.
-Mmm. Okay.

I love the tanginess of the goat cheese
with the cream cheese frosting.

In terms of your design,

I would've loved to have seen
a little more volume to your decorations.

-It felt a little flat.
-Okay.

I'm not actually a big cranberry fan.

-Oh.
-And you guys might have made me a fan

-with this... with this cranberry.
-[laughter]

I... I loved it.

All right, you had your issues,
but you have an hour 21 remaining.

-Get goin'.
-Thank you.

-Great.
-[Hunter] Thanks.

I always wanted to go to France,

-so how about we do...
-[Sam] Ooh, croquembouche.

-A croquembouche.
-[Sam] Yes!

[Erica] How are we doin' on cupcakes?

-[Chrystine] I would say two more minutes.
-Okay.

[Julian] You got the regular sugar?

-Oh, no, sorry.
-[Hector] It's brown sugar.

-[Julian] Yeah. [laughs]
-[Hector] Don't play with my emotions.

The country that we're representing
with our confection is France.

You got the egg whites, the sugar,
everything else?

I got everything. We just need
some, uh... spray for that pan.

For our confection, we're making
a gingerbread bûche de Noël

with a white chocolate cinnamon crémeux.

We are going to top it off
with a chocolate mirror glaze

and chocolate bark.

Then we're adding coconut for texture

and a couple of chocolate mushrooms
just for looks.

-[Julian] How you doin' over there?
-[Hector] Good, good.

[Julian] All right, goin' in.

Taking the cupcakes out.

So we take the second batch of cupcakes
out of the oven.

They are looking way better.

-[Erica] Not what we wanted...
-[Chrystine] We're losing ten...

[Erica] But it's okay.

It's comin' together.

-Where the hell...
-[Chrystine] Come on!

All right, finally done. Judges,
let's head down to Chrystine and Erica.

-Hi, Chrystine, hi, Erica.
-Hi, ladies.

-How's it goin'?
-Hi!

So we went
for an orange and chocolate cupcake.

We've got a Grand Marnier and
dark chocolate ganache on the inside.

The topping is an orange
and Grand Marnier buttercream.

We also have a nice little squeeze

of, like, a simple syrup
and Grand Marnier reduction.

Girl, what? I'm squeezing my whole thing.

-[laughter]
-Whoo!

-Love how interactive, that's fun.
-Mmm.

Well, ladies, this is definitely
a very chocolatey and lush cupcake.

-These are very fresh, just of the oven?
-[both] Yes!

-You had to do round two?
-Yes.

The cupcake itself is kind of too light

-under the weight of everything else.
-Yes.

But it certainly was
a really yummy, gooey bite.

[laughing] Thank you.

I thought it was a good presentation,

and the piping gave it a little bit
more volume, which was nice.

-Mm-hm.
-Only thing is I wanted more orange.

-Yeah.
-A bit more of that orange freshness.

-Yes.
-It's still delicious.

I loved the cake,
it was very soft and fluffy.

I loved the little snowflakes,
and the candy canes, they're really cute.

-I love that touch.
-Thanks.

My son would be
all over it trying to pick them off.

Thank you.

-Thank you, bakers.
-You got this.

[Erica] Thank you.

[Hunter] Let's head back
and make our first decision.

So, for the confections, I'm thinking
since, you know...

-Let's add a bit of Caribbean flavor in.
-Jamaica, Trinidad...

Judges, we have tried four cupcakes,

only three can make it
to the confection round.

-Who had your favorite cupcakes?
-My favorite cupcake

has to be Hector and Julian's,

because we are taking into consideration
the decoration of that pull-apart cake,

and it was really beautiful,
what they presented us.

Those decorations looked like
they took hours to work on.

When I walked up there I was thinking,

"I already brushed my teeth this morning.
I don't need more peppermint."

But when I ate it, it was a real delight.

It was a restaurant-style dessert
in the way of balancing the flavors.

The buttercream looked too thick,

then you bit into it,
and it was like a cloud.

It was delicious.

I really enjoyed Kimberly and Veronica's
ooey-gooey cinnamon roll cupcake.

I mean, it was just like tucking
into a really satisfying Christmas treat.

-I'm dreaming of it. Ssh!
-[Candace laughs]

You walked away with that plate.
[laughing]

[Adriano] I think they really represented
the cinnamon bun, flavor-wise.

If I was to be really picky,

they need to work on the consistency
of their cupcake, but I still enjoyed it.

So, who were your least favorite cupcakes
of the round?

My least favorite
is Chrystine and Erica.

I just felt like the flavor was one-note,

and there wasn't enough orange for me.

Chrystine and Erica actually got
their decoration on, which I loved,

but I'm not a fan of citrus and chocolate,
so it's a toss-up for me.

You know, this is really hard,

because I think
Sam and Todd did such great flavors,

but they had plenty of time
to really bump up their decorations

while they baked their second batch
of cupcakes in the oven,

and they didn't do it.

But I really loved the citrus
and the cranberry in the middle.

The Scandinavian touch with the cardamom,
for... for me is, like, really special.

Great flavor combo.

It could have just talked more beach.

I thought they could've
put extra effort in.

Judges, it seems like you have made
a decision. I will let our bakers know.

Bakers, can I have your attention, please?

Our judges have made their first decision.

And the team with our judges'
favorite cupcake this round belongs to...

Hector and Julian.

-Yeah.
-[Veronica] Yay!

-[Hunter] Very well done.
-[Julian] Let's go, let's go.

You're moving on to the confection round.

Because you cut down
the competition today,

we're gonna gift you
a brand new set of kitchen knives each.

-A Christmas present for winning.
-[Kimberly] Yeah!

-[Hunter] Well done.
-That's so cool.

[Julian] Thank you.

-Keep working. Good luck, bakers.
-[Julian] Awesome.

Unfortunately, that means one of the three
remaining teams must be going home.

And the team with our judges'
least favorite cupcake this round...

is...

...Chrystine and Erica.

-[Kimberly] Oh, jeez.
-Awww.

-We love you!
-[Hunter] So close.

You're so good.

[Hunter] Your time
in Sugar Rush has run out.

Thank you, bakers.

We're feeling disappointed, but our
partnership transcends this experience.

This is my soul sister here.

-So good, so good.
-[laughing]

It really means a lot to have a friend
that loves me unconditionally.

That was so sweet.

-Want a Kleenex?
-[both laughing]

All right, teams,
you have 55 minutes remaining.

Keep working on those confections.

Think we should make a...
like, a coconut milk panna cotta?

-That'll infuse the Filipino flavors, yep.
-Flavors, in an Italian dessert. Yeah.

For our confections,
we're making a cultural twist

on milk and cookies for Santa Claus.

So we're making a traditional Filipino
no-bake shortbread cookie called polvoron

to commemorate our very first
international trip together,

and our last international trip together
was to Italy,

so that's why we're making
a coconut milk panna cotta.

And a little wafer paper note to Santa.

-Hopefully we take 30 minutes?
-Yeah.

We lost some time
in that cupcake challenge,

so we're hoping making no-bake cookies
is gonna make up for it.

I should get my panna cotta setting.

-I got distracted.
-[Veronica] Focus!

So for the panna cotta,
I'm blooming the gelatin first,

and then add coconut milk
to the panna cotta

just to give it
a little bit of a tropical twist.

And I want them to be in shot glasses
to mimic a glass of milk for Santa Claus.

[Veronica] Oh, they're beautiful.

-[Todd] What do you need?
-[Sam] Cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice.

[Todd] Cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice.

For our international confection,

we are going to make a mini croquembouche,
which is a little cream puff tower,

with a brandy-spiked eggnog pastry cream,

dipped in white chocolate,
so it looks like snow,

with a fondant star on top.

-[Todd] We got it.
-Yep.

-[Todd] I could do this in my sleep.
-[Sam] Perfect.

We've heard that Zumbo is
the king of croquembouche,

so everything needs to be perfection.

Okay, first sheet pan's goin' in.

[Sam] All right, awesome.

[Todd] Puff away.

[Julian] I'm gonna mix this
since it's still a little soft.

I'm gonna just flash it like this.

-It should, uh, get to where we need it.
-[Hector] Got it.

-What country are you guys infusing?
-[Hector] France.

-Bûche de Noël.
-Uh... Ohhh!

-[Kimberly] We call it the bûche de hell.
-Bûche de hell.

-[Julian] Oh, my God.
-[Kimberly] Good luck.

What makes the bûchevery tricky is
if your cake is too thick, it can crack,

if it's too thin and you over-bake it,
it cracks.

A lot of things have to play together
to make a good bûche.

[Hector] The sponge
is smelling really good.

[drumming]

[Hunter] Oh, Jordin.

Um... bye.

[laughing]

♪ Joy to the world ♪

-♪ Let Earth receive her king ♪
-I wanna sing, too!

♪ Let every heart ♪

♪ Prepare Him room ♪

-♪ And Heaven and nature sing ♪
-♪ And Heaven and nature sing ♪

♪ And Heaven and nature sing ♪

-♪ And Heaven and nature sing ♪
-♪ And Heav'n ♪

♪ And Heaven and nature sing ♪

[Hunter] Oh, yeah.

[cheering and applause]

Thank you.

So incredible.

-Whoo!
-Thank you!

-That was fun.
-Think that was fun for you?

We just got to watch Jordin Sparks
perform on the show.

-I know, what a treat!
-You missed it, you were over there.

That was fun. My heart's pounding now.

[Kimberly] Take your time, make sure
you don't forget any ingredients.

I'm gonna add the flour
to the milk powder.

Polvoron is specialbecause you're
cooking the flour on your stovetop

and using milk powder
for a creamy consistency.

So we want some texture into this cookie,

and we think a crisp chocolate pearl
would add the perfect bite.

They're thick enough that they come out.

-[Kimberly] Yeah.
-[Veronica] But not to the top.

Doing good. Doing good.

[Sam] I start the pastry cream.

It's supposed to be
a very smooth and creamy texture.

This is definitely time consuming,
but the last thing that we wanna do

is serve Zumbo a imperfect croquembouche.

-[Sam] Pastry cream, freezer?
-[Todd] Yeah, just till it sets,

then keep it in the fridge.

[Julian]
I'm working on the chocolate for the bark.

That way, we can put it in the cooler.

-Hope it all finishes at the same time.
-Doing the mirror glaze, wrapping that up.

For our bûche de Noël,
we are going to top it off

with a chocolate mirror glaze
and chocolate bark,

using a brush to give it nice texture,

and it gives you the illusion of a bark.

-Hector, you havin' fun?
-[Hector] Havng a blast!

-Let's do this.
-[Julian] No pressure, no pressure.

While you finish that,
I'm gonna start plating up.

Look like notebook paper? [chuckles]

We wanna make
everything on the plate edible,

so we're using wafer paper
for our letter to Santa.

[Veronica] Let's pop 'em out carefully.

-[Kimberly] Oh, those look nice.
-Three might be too much.

-Two?
-[Veronica] Okay. Ready?

-[Kimberly] Don't trip!
-Almost tripped.

-All right.
-Ready?

-[chimes]
-[bells jingle]

All right, Kimberly and Veronica,
first done with their confection.

[Sam] Oh. There's already somebody.

Damn.

-Hi, Kimberly, hi, Veronica.
-Hi.

-Hi.
-Hey.

-[Hunter] Let us know what you made.
-Aww!

Our first international trip together
was to the Philippines,

where our parents are from.

And our most recent
international trip together was to Italy,

so we made a traditional Filipino
shortbread cookie called polvoron,

and then for the panna cotta,
we wanted to give you a different flavor,

so we made a coconut panna cotta.

These aren't baked, right?

No, in the Philippines
they don't really bake cookies.

-Mmm.
-It's a little hot there,

so their cookies
are actually cooked on the stove.

I love that you took inspiration
from all of your global travels

on this little plate.

This sandy shortbread cookie has such
an interesting texture

and a beautiful flavor.

I've never had one of these.

For me, I would have loved a little
hint of sweetness in the panna cotta,

-just to bump up the coconut a bit more.
-Gotcha.

I love the presentation, love the cookie.

It's got a good texture.
It's a very, uh, intense flavor.

I think that you could have
maybe paired it up

with something
that counteracted with it a bit more.

I found the coconut wasn't strong enough.

-Other than that, I think, good job.
-Can you eat this paper? It isn't edible?

-It is.
-You can.

-It's edible.
-[Candace] Yeah.

-[Adriano] It's rice paper.
-Now Santa won't bring you anything.

[Jordin] I love it.

I love shortbread cookies,
and I've never tasted anything like this,

same as Candace, and it's delicious.

[Julian] All right, get the cocoa nibs.

Work on the tops, and I'll do the bottoms.

Go for it.

-Good?
-Yeah, go, go, go.

-[bells jingle]
-Julian and Hector done.

We'll turn right around.
Thank you so much, bakers.

-Thank you.
-Thanks.

-Save me some of these to take home.
-Will do!

-No, for real.
-[Veronica] Yeah! Thank you.

[laughing]

-[Hunter] Okay, Julian and Hector.
-Hi, guys.

-Second to buzz in.
-[Hector] Hello, hello.

-Wow.
-[Hunter] Not far.

Why don't you pass out your confection

and tell us
about the international flavors you used?

the bûche de Noël,
but with a little bit of a modern twist.

So what we got is a bûche de Noël

with a spiced gingerbread, uh, sponge
in the center,

and then we went
with a white chocolate cinnamon crémeux.

We did the bark on the side
with a little bit of moss,

and, uh, a little bit of mushrooms

just to make it look
like you grabbed a log from the outside.

-Oh, my gosh.
-[laughs]

This is almost too beautiful...

-[Jordin] I know.
-...to break open, I'm, like, sad.

This is such a sophisticated confection.

I love to make bûche de Noël
during the holidays, but I have never seen

-such a tiny bûche de Noëlbefore.
-Yeah.

[Candace] I love all the flavors here.

The shiny glaze and how you did
that textured chocolate bark,

that texture of the cacao nibs,

I mean, I felt like I was really
in another world here, and it was divine.

Awesome, thank you.

I love the gingerbread,
really... really sings Christmas.

The cinnamon crémeux.

-I would've loved a bit of citrus.
-Okay.

Just to make it, you know, next level.
That would've been delicious.

-But you did an amazing job.
-Awesome.

She said divine, I'm gonna say heavenly.

-Just, it... it was amazing.
-Awesome.

I... I've never had one of these,
so it was a totally new experience for me,

just all the textures, and the layers,
and the details.

I mean, the moss on the side?
Come on. Yeah. Very well done.

-Thank you.
-All right, well done, bakers.

You banked
45 minutes and seven seconds.

-Is that what you wanted for the cake?
-A bit more, but we can make it happen.

-Judges, let's head back to the table.
-Great job.

-Thank you.
-I'll take this.

-[laughter]
-[Julian] Enjoy.

You're going to be spinning sugar?

-I'll do sugar.
-I'll start assembling them.

-These are almost ready.
-[Todd] Okay.

-[sizzling]
-Sugar's ready.

To make spun sugar,

take two forks and move it back and forth

to make very thin hairs of sugar
to put around the croquembouche.

Dad, I got sparkles, I got nonpareils,
all we need is you.

I just want the right consistency,
like a... a molasses.

-No pressure.
-[Sam] Pressure's on.

[Todd] Now...

-[Sam] It's not gonna work?
-Trying.

-[Sam] Forget it. Forget the sugar.
-Yes, do the buzzer.

Go, go, go.

-[bells jingle]
-Sam and Todd.

Their confection is done, our third and
final confection. Judges...

let's go try this.

-Sam, Todd.
-Hi.

Pass out your confection,
tell us what you made.

[Sam] So we made mini croquembouches.

They are green pâte à choux
with brandy-spiked eggnog pastry cream,

and white chocolate topping.

I wanted to do the spun sugar
to enrobe it like a garland,

but I didn't have enough time,
and it wasn't working, so I just...

I'd rather have the 21 minutes

-towards, uh, the cake.
-Yeah.

I think you presented
a beautiful petit croquembouche.

The pâte à choux is beautiful.

You done that in under an hour.

-Yes.
-[Adriano] Yeah.

I love how you've punched the filling
in it, which, for me is... is heaven, right?

I'm glad that you didn't
put that spun sugar on it.

-It'd be too sweet.
-[Todd] It's more the look...

You did really well.
It was so fun to look at,

so whimsical and fun,
and it was airy, it was light,

it was fluffy, I loved the brandy.

And the sprinkles,
that little crunch, excellent.

-[laughs]
-I love that this is kind of like

a different take
on the first challenge, actually, right?

-You've got a pull-away confection.
-[Sam] Yeah.

-It looks like a Christmas tree.
-Right.

The star on top was not as elegant

-as the rest of your confection.
-[both] Right.

-Everything else was quite elegant.
-Right. Thank you.

Amazing. How do you feel
about the time saved, 21 minutes?

-Glad we have extra.
-Better than zero.

-[laughter]
-Yeah!

Judges, we have a decision to make.

-[sighs] Okay.
-See you in a bit. Thank you.

-[all] Thank you.
-[Adriano] Excellent.

-[Hunter] Let's head back to the table.
-All right.

[Hunter] Okay. [sighs]

Judges, three confections tried,

only two teams can move on
to the final cake round.

-Yes.
-So, who had your favorite confection?

Hector and Julian's confection
was like a work of art.

Every detail was just flawless.
The design was just beautiful.

It was an absolute masterpiece.
The flavors, the cocoa nibs,

the chocolate glaze,
even just the dark chocolate decorations.

They added a bit of crunch to it.
It was a great combination.

Hector and Julian's confection
was just so beautiful to look at

and delicious to taste.

I really loved it. Definitely my favorite.

Unfortunately, with them winning,
one other team must go.

So between Sam and Todd,
Veronica and Kimberly,

why were those
your two least favorite confections?

Sam and Todd
I thought showed a lot of skill.

Their flavors were delicious, but their
presentation could've been better.

That big, clumsy, yellow fondant star just
took away from the rest of the confection.

-If they had taken golf leaf...
-[Candace] Mm-hm.

...and just stuck that on the top,

-that would've been really pretty as well.
-Yeah.

Kimberly and Veronica had
a beautiful presentation.

Great idea, but I think it needed
more dimension in the flavors.

They gave us two different desserts
that unfortunately were a bit disjointed.

That cookie was delicious, but the coconut
panna cotta was just lacking in flavor.

Kimberly and Veronica's panna cotta

could have used some of Sam and Todd's
cranberry orange compote

-from the first round.
-Yeah.

-I think that would have been perfect.
-Oh, yeah.

Okay. Judges, I will let our bakers know.

-Cool.
-Thank you.

Bakers, can I have your attention, please?

Our judges have made
their second decision.

And the team
with their favorite confection is...

Hector and Julian.

-Very well done.
-Yeah!

[Kimberly] Nice!

-[Hector] Yeah.
-[Julian] There.

Your international confection
inspired all of us,

and to keep that international vibe going,

we're gonna give you
something from Belgium,

a smart waffle maker...

-Nice!
-...that can make waffles

in, apparently,
a bunch of different ways.

So enjoy that.
You guys are each getting one.

-You're moving on to the cake round.
-Thank you. Awesome, thank you.

[Kimberly] Yeah!

With that being said, unfortunately,

one of our two remaining teams will not
be moving forward to the final cake round.

And the team with our judges'
least favorite confection this round is...

Kimberly and Veronica.

-Aww.
-We're so sorry,

but your time
in the Sugar Rushkitchen has run out.

[Veronica] Baking with my sister
on Sugar Rush has been a dream come true.

There is no one else that I would have
rather done this competition with.

I'm so glad
we got to experience this together.

Good luck, guys. Kill it.

[Kimberly] We're self-taught,
and we were put up

against people that do this
for a living every day.

This really did prove to us
that we're... we're good bakers.

Congratulations,
Hector and Julian, Sam and Todd,

you are moving on to the final cake round.

We want to see a scene
inspired by the classic Christmas carol

"Up On the Housetop" for this cake round.

Okay.

Click, click, click, show us
some reindeer for good Saint Nick.

Down through the chimney
with lots of toys,

your cake should bring these judges
Christmas joys.

That's like a slow version,
not sung, of the original song.

Sam and Todd,
you banked 21 minutes and 54 seconds.

We're gonna add three hours to that,

giving you a total of three hours,
21 minutes, and 54 seconds.

Julian and Hector,
you saved a little more time,

45 minutes and seven seconds.

We're gonna add three hours to that,
giving you a total for your cake round

of three hours,
45 minutes, and seven seconds.

-Awesome.
-So that means Hector and Julian,

you guys are starting first.

-Your time starts in three, two, one...
-[bleeping]

Go! Good luck, bakers.

-Sam and Todd, get started in a bit.
-All right.

I think we should go a different route.

-Definitely.
-Not do the roof.

Let's recreate a scene of inside,
like if it's part of your dream,

-you're dreaming a scene up.
-Wham, bam, thank you, ma'am.

The song for the cake round
is "Up On the Housetop."

[Julian] We'll take
a different approach.

We're gonna bring it inside the house.

We're deciding to make our cake one level
and have all the little details,

from the chimney, some
chocolate walls shooting straight up...

[Hector] The two kids' stockings
on the fireplace

with Santa coming down
with a huge bag of gifts on the floor.

You have a table with the cookies,

a giant tree made all out of chocolate to
give you the illusion that you're there.

You're actually in this house.

[Julian] How we looking?
All the dry weighed out?

-Yep.
-Sweet.

For our cake, we're making
a moist devil's food cake,

filled with a gianduja truffle cream
with a basic American buttercream,

and we're topping it
with some salted caramel pearls.

We gotta use this lead to our advantage.

[Hector] Definitely. I agree 100%.

-They'll be baked and out when we start.
-Mmm.

-So we gotta go very fast.
-Mm-hm.

[Hector] All right.

[Julian] Do one in each,
then I'll put one...

Oh, you got it right there.

Sam and Todd,
your time starts in

-three, two, one...
-[bleeping]

-[Todd] Let's go.
-Good luck, bakers.

-[Sam] Yeah, a house.
-[Todd] Let's do a house.

-[Sam] And then maybe a roof?
-[Todd] It has to have a roof.

"Up on the Housetop" is a song
I definitely listen to at Christmas time.

Hearing the lyrics, I think about the
little kids, Will and Nell, in their beds,

and the reindeer,
especially up on the rooftop.

Ooh, how about the inside?

We can see... maybe on the back side

-we can have it cut out.
-When it comes around...

[Sam] So we're making a three-tiered cake.

From the front, it looks like
just a normal house

with the reindeer waiting on the roof
and Santa going down the chimney.

When you turn the cake around,
it's going to be the inside of the house

where the little kids,
Nell and Will, will be sleeping.

And the tree will be set up for Santa.

-[Todd] Trouble with the candy canes?
-[Sam] That was a good idea.

For our cake flavors,
we're gonna do a dark chocolate cake,

a vanilla Swiss meringue buttercream,

with a chocolate ganache

and a white chocolate candy cane mousse.

I'm gonna start with the fillings.

I choose to use peppermint extract
in the candy cane mousse

because it's definitely
Christmas flavors,

and I am hoping that the judges will see
how much work we've put into it.

All right, it's good.

[Sam] They'll bake very fast.

-Don't forget them.
-[Todd] Okay.

-Oh, look who it is.
-Yeah!

♪ Down to the last two
Cake round three ♪

♪ Till Santa Claus climbs
Down the old chimney ♪

♪ Placing the cake
Where the dough will rise ♪

♪ Biding the clock for the 10K prize ♪

-♪ Oh, oh, oh ♪
-♪ Oh ♪

♪ Last round to go, oh, oh, oh ♪

-♪ Oh ♪
-♪ Last round to go ♪

♪ Time's runnin' out now
Tick, tick, tick ♪

♪ Hurry up, bakers, quick, quick, quick ♪

[Jordin] Whoo!

[whistling]

-That was good.
-Can I be honest with you guys?

Before today, I don't think
I had ever heard that song before.

-[Candace] You're kidding.
-I didn't know that was a song.

-[Julian] I'm coming out.
-[Hector] Okay.

So, what happened here?
You stuck your fingers in the cake?

-It came like that.
-The manufacturer?

-Just so happens I'm the manufacturer.
-I know!

There's no sheet pan that could fit the
size of cake we need to make the floor,

so I am trying to put
the puzzle pieces together.

-I'm gonna cover the cake, yeah?
-[Hector] Yep.

I am about to spray the cake
to give it the wood effect.

You got a napkin there?

[Hector] Don't worry,
happens to the best of us.

All right, bakers, you have two hours
and 15 minutes remaining.

No pressure.

[Todd] We can do it, Sam.

[Sam] You got it, Dad.

-Sam, they're a different shape.
-Oh.

[Todd] It's a different size.

It's a ten-inch and an eight-inch,

when they were both supposed to be
ten-inch cakes.

What do you want me to do?

I was the one who grabbed the wrong pans.

I'm a little embarrassed,
because the cake could collapse.

I'm gonna put the structure in this one.

[Todd] There's no time
to make another batch.

I have to think fast and apply
all the different types of structure I can

to make this cake stay upright.

[sighs] So stressed.

Two hours remaining, bakers. Two hours.

Two hours.

Time is flyin', bro.
How's that fondant workin'?

[Hector] Workin'.

I have a few decorations
I need to accomplish.

I'm making a Santa bag,

a chimney with the fireplace
with Santa coming down,

you see his little feet
hanging in the fireplace.

I'm makin' toys, wreaths,
candles, stockings.

The little boy wants a hammer and nails.

Who gives a kid a hammer and nails
for Christmas? I don't know.

[Julian] What does the "R"
on the back stand for?

-[Hector] Oh, Sugar Rush.
-Oh, Sugar Rush. Nice!

I feel very behind.

[Sam] I'll start doing the decorations.

[Todd groans]
A lot of pressure, a lot of pressure.

I made the stockings for Will and Nell.

-[Todd] Thanks.
-[Sam] They're hung up on the fireplace.

Everything looks fantastic.

I start making little pieces of furniture,

and the windows and shutters
out of fondant,

so you could see what it will be like
for Nell and Will

when they wake up with all their presents.

This is a lot harder than I thought.

-It looks so much easier on TV.
-Yes.

I was like, "I could do this
from my living room chair." But no.

It'll be right down to the wire, Samantha.

-[Sam] Seems like that's what we do best.
-Yep.

[Hector] We got less than an hour.

-I'll work on the tree, then.
-Okay.

[Julian] Grab the cold spray
so we can put up the tree.

[Julian] I'm molding my tree
into a squiggly line.

We're trying to go with
a bit of a whimsical look to it.

More, more, more.

Make it all white like that.

I'm making the same chocolate leaves
that I did in the first round.

What I'm doing in this round is
that I'm making the leaves a bit thinner.

That way, they cool faster.

-Look, your tree looks so pretty.
-We're getting there.

[Julian] You have to be
very gentle and very precise,

but at the same time,
you have to work quick.

The chocolate tends to melt, and breaks,
so it can't be in my hand for too long.

All right. This is done.

[Todd] We're in the home stretch.
I'm gonna work on the roof.

[Sam] Okay.

[Todd] Whew! It's so heavy.

[groans]
I don't know how it'll stay up there.

Yeah, it's already having issues.

I am worried the roof will completely
collapse the cake.

Should I cut more angles?

-What if you cut...
-This way?

...this off?

So it's almost like you're looking in,
but it's still the roof?

Okay.

[Todd] I take some of the weight
out of the front,

and I hope that our roof is not
up on the housetop, tip, tip, tip.

[laughs]

Add a little bit more structure
so the roof doesn't collapse.

I just want it to go on last.

Right.

And this way, it's less of an issue.

[Sam] Right. It's only gotta stay on
through judging.

Jordin, would you mind maybe giving
a more appealing time call?

♪ You've got 30 minutes
Click, click, click ♪

♪ Finish up that chimney
For old Saint Nick ♪

[laughs]

[Hector] Nice!

Let's put the wall up
so we could do the chimney.

To give our cake some height,

we're deciding to go
with a chocolate wall structure,

'cause we have the chimney
shooting straight to the roof.

I'm ready when you are, yeah?

Let's glue the chimney.

-Okay, let's go.
-Good?

Make sure you put a good amount.

Get this side as well. Just not my finger.

[Todd] Okay, Santa's on.

Okay, this is ready.

Keep it going, Dad.

-I'm doing Christmas lights.
-Yes.

Then we gotta move it and put the roof on.

-I think it'll fall. It's not gonna stay.
-I know.

Look how big the cake is.

Maybe the roof will hold it all together.
Maybe the weight of the roof...

-Hopefully.
-...will balance out this cake.

Or... the obvious is gonna happen.

-Dad, I think we should move it.
-Not yet. Not yet.

There's no going back.
We're workin' with what we got.

[Hunter] Five minutes, bakers.

All right. Let's go.

Five minutes left and we still have to put
the tree on, we have to add the skirt.

There's still a lot of finishing touches.

We got one minute, yeah?

[Hunter] One minute!

-We gonna put it on?
-At, like... 30 seconds.

He's waiting till the very last moment
to put that on.

There's no way
that thing can hold that weight.

Where's that glitter at?

Thirty seconds, bakers!

Go. Go.

-No, I don't want to.
-I have to put a border.

No, no, no, no.

He's offset it by the weight.

[all] Seven, six, five, four...

three, two, one!

[Hunter] Don't touch your cakes, bakers.

-It's all done.
-Whoo-hoo!

Okay, judges, let's join Santa
on the roof of these cakes.

-Hello, hi.
-Sam,

-Todd, how you doing?
-Hi.

-[Candace] Whoa!
-Oh, my goodness.

-We pulled it off.
-[Candace] You sure did!

-We're over there like... "Aaah!"
-Yep!

Walk us through this
"Up On the Rooftop" cake, cake, cake.

[Sam] We have Santa going down the roof,
and the reindeer with his sleigh.

We have little stockings for Nell and Will
from the song.

Oh, it's like the verses. That's so cute.

And those are the beds upstairs?

-Yep, for Nell and Will.
-How cute.

Oh, no, it's sinking.

-Is it?
-Oh, no. Look.

[Candace] It is moving.

-Should we take the tasting piece off?
-[Adriano] Take the roof off.

Yeah. You just... you just take a breather.

We saw it.

-[sighs]
-No worries.

-Breathe, take a breath.
-All good.

I love how homey it is.

I can look at this and I can imagine

the little girl and the little boy
waiting for their Christmas presents.

-I think that's really, really sweet.
-Thank you.

I love that from the front it just
looks like any normal tiered cake,

but then there's
that fun cutout in the back,

and it's this great reveal of a family
waiting for Santa Claus to come.

I love the roof. It tells a story,
with the reindeer and Santa.

I mean, it's very modern,
it's detachable...

-So, uh... you know.
-[laughing]

We're excited to try it,
so cut us four slices.

-We'll see you at the judges' table.
-Absolutely.

-Thank you.
-Thank you.

-Thank you.
-Thank you.

Judges, let's head over
to Julian and Hector's station.

Whoo!

-Julian, Hector, let's look at this.
-[Jordin] Holy...

-[Candace] Hi, guys.
-[both] Hello.

-Whoa!
-Wow!

[Hector] So the concept behind it was
we wanted to take you into the song,

bring you in where we have
the gifts for the kids,

the whole setup with Santa Claus
coming down the chimney.

Can you tell me where the actual cake is?

[Hector] The whole base.

[Candace] The base of it. Okay.

Well, I think it's incredible.

You guys have once again
shown your skill in chocolate work,

in fondant work, in sculpting.

You've really sort of created
this world that is so magical.

I love the design,
I think it's so much fun.

The tree is so Seussical,
I love it so much.

The doll,
that was the lyric that I caught,

and you actually put the creepy doll
in there.

-Yeah.
-And it's just really cool.

It looks fun. You know,
I think it's a different interpretation.

-I would say I'd love to see more cake.
-Okay.

There's probably nearly more decoration
than cake.

-Just try to balance that out more.
-Okay.

Thank you, bakers.
Cut us four slices of your floorboard,

and we will see you at the judges' table.

-Awesome. Thank you.
-All right.

-Thanks a lot.
-Thank you so much.

[Hector] There you go.

-Thank you.
-[Julian] Enjoy.

We're gonna start
with Julian and Hector's cake.

What we have is
a chocolate devil's food cake

with a gianduja truffle cream,
which is hazelnut truffle cream,

and we put a little bit of salted
caramel pearls for a little bit of crunch.

Julian and Hector,
this is a very moist devil's food cake.

The caramel pearls added
just the right amount of texture.

I would have loved a layer to lighten up
the overall richness of the cake,

but, listen, I can't complain.

It was decadent and delicious.

Every single detail is so perfect,
you've created a world.

Your cake is so much
all about the details,

where I'm expecting it
to be about the cake.

And the cake part of your cake
is really just the floorboard.

For the flavor-wise, it was delicious.

Beautiful hazelnut cream
there in the middle, it's very decadent.

Design-wise, you know,
you put up an amazing cake.

There was a lot of detail in it,
all the colors, how you told a story.

The cake part of it, I just wanted
more cake as well, you know?

I think... like, it is the cake round.

I'd like to see a little bit more
sculpting and cake to balance it out.

Hazelnut is one of those flavors
I don't have very often,

but when I do, it's my favorite.

I don't know why I don't eat more of it,

but I think you guys
have inspired me to do so.

I love that you took all the lyrics and
you dove inside the dreamscape of the song

as opposed to the literal part of it,
which I loved.

-Cool.
-Thank you.

Now we're switching over to Sam and Todd's
cake. Walk us through your flavors.

It's a chocolate cake with dark chocolate
ganache and candy cane mousse

with a vanilla Swiss meringue buttercream.

Sam and Todd,
I think you did an amazing job.

Obviously a different aspect to the cake,
you had that sort of reveal,

the beautiful interior
that told your story

about "Up on the Housetop,"
and I enjoyed that.

There were some nice details.

Unfortunately, the structure of it,
on the wobbly side today.

Taste-wise, I enjoyed your cake.
Nice chocolate cake,

good balance of peppermint, but I wanted
more ganache to give it more richness.

Other than that, delicious. Well done.

Thank you.

Your chocolate cake
had strong chocolate flavor,

the peppermint was well-balanced inside.

I had a little trouble finding
the ganache,

it was a very, very thin layer.

I don't like to be cheated
out of my chocolate ganache.

-[laughing]
-I just don't.

-Well done.
-[both] Thank you.

I love the homey details
that you put on your cake.

I could almost hear the kids' laughter

knowing that they were gonna
get toys in the morning.

That's special,
to be able to invoke those memories.

In terms of the flavor,
I loved the peppermint.

When I took a bite of it,
it brought me into the Christmas spirit.

-I appreciate you giving me Rudolph.
-Thank you.

It's time to find out who is
going to be going home with $10,000.

Judges. Who had your favorite cake?

Julian and Hector, I loved
the design of your cake, all the details.

The way that
you used your time so efficiently

was really incredible
and really inspiring to watch.

Sam and Todd, I loved your cake
because I really loved the peppermint.

It was so comforting. It was delicious,
and it definitely said Christmas to me.

-Thank you.
-Thank you.

Based on that,
the cake I am voting for is...

...Sam and Todd's cake.

Thank you.

Sam and Todd, that's one vote for you,
meaning if you get one more today,

you'll be going home with $10,000.

Adriano, who had your favorite cake?

Sam and Todd,
I thought your cake had great detail,

it was delicious to eat,

and that roof was a pleasant sight to see
with the reindeer and the Santa Claus.

Hector and Julian,
your cake had a lot of finesse.

You had a lot of beautiful colors
and movement going on.

Your cake was delicious also,
with that hazelnut cream

and soft devil's chocolate cake.

Today, my vote's gonna go with...

...Julian and Hector.

Thank you.

Julian and Hector,
that's one vote for you.

Which means that the tie-breaking vote
comes down to Candace Nelson.

Julian and Hector,
you put up a flawlessly finished cake

with so many whimsical details,

albeit a little light on the cake part.

But the cake itself was delicious,
it was like

biting into a really decadent
gianduja chocolate truffle.

Sam and Todd, your cake was so charming.

That roof was a showstopper, and it
really spoke to the theme of the day,

the Christmas carol "Up On the Housetop."

Your cake was delicious,
it really was a taste of the holidays.

Ultimately, my vote tonight goes to...

...Julian and Hector.

-Yeah!
-Julian and Hector, congratulations.

You have just won $10,000
in the Sugar Rush Christmaskitchen.

Incredible job, Sam and Todd.

This was definitely
one of the most difficult things

I have ever done in my life.

It looks so easy on Sugar Rush,
on Netflix.

Here in the kitchen it was so, so hard.

This experience was truly
one of the best experiences

that I've shared with my daughter,

and I'll treasure it forever.

-Congrats, guys.
-Thank you.

[both] We just won!

And it feels great.

I can't believe it, you know,
it's just a great feeling.

I think as far as Christmas gifts,

this is definitely the best gift
we've ever received.

-Teamwork makes the dream work.
-Yeah. [chuckles]

That's it for this episode
of Sugar Rush Christmas.

Happy holidays to you and yours.