JOEL: For six weeks,
two separate groups of bakers have torched a path
through the Crime Scene Kitchen.
BOTH: Yes!
No dull moment in the Crime Scene Kitchen.
JOEL: First, family members.
Relatives who soufflé together, stay together.
DANIEL: There's nobody else that I would rather be here with.
Sorry, other siblings.
The other, dessert-obsessed friends,
or if you will, baking buddies.
It looks really good. Every single time
I could spend with Keiron, it's like a luxury.
Aww.
They've been solving mysteries
and churning out amazing sweets.
It's like the offspring of an unholy union
between Sherlock Holmes and Julia Child.
- (Clicking tongue) - Sounds weird.
But hey, it's the Crime Scene Kitchen.
- They've deduced... - What's this? What's this?
Could be something like an Italian cream cake.
...debated...
We want them to be wrong.
...and decorated.
Oh my God, give it to me.
All in a mad dash to win $100,000.
I'm just worried we're way off.
I can't watch.
Tonight, hit your turn signal.
It's the merge.
The two sides collide. Parents and progeny...
I did not come here to make friends.
Bring it.
...versus partners and pals.
Channeling toaster strudel energy here.
Yeah, buddy.
The battle for the $100,000 prize heats up.
- Is that meant to be smoking? - Oh, no.
And the gloves are coming off.
Actually, no, those are oven mitts; you need those.
- Oh, boy. - I can't watch.
Oh, dang it.
- Get ready. - BOTH: Show us what we want.
I really don't want to look.
It's time for Crime Scene Kitchen.
♪
DIRECTOR: Ready for the merge.
Send in the family members.
DANIEL: Coming into this merge, we feel great.
Three teams of family down, three teams of friends to go.
Let's shake these friends up.
Cue the friends.
LENORE: We've made it to the merge.
The best of the best are now competing.
I actually don't want to show
the family teams that we're the team to beat.
- Sneak attack. You know? - "What's butter?"
"Can somebody show me how to turn this oven on?"
(Laughing)
Welcome to Crime Scene Kitchen.
Finally, the merge is here.
Teams of families, teams of friends,
you are now seeing each other for the first time.
Take a look at one another. Go ahead.
JANUSZ: The stake is so high.
There's only five teams between us and $100,000.
Winning safety now is really important.
Bakers, one team is walking out of here with $100,000.
(Cheering)
And for the rest of you, you remember Squid Game?
(Contestants laughing)
Oh.
We are here for this $100,000.
We're not going home, okay?
I did not come here to make friends. Bring it.
All right, behind me is the Crime Scene Kitchen.
An elaborate bake was created in there, but it's gone missing.
Your job is to search through the remnants
and, just from the clues left behind,
try to recreate the mystery dessert.
And now, the two people who set tonight's challenges -
our judges.
She's been described as the Beyoncé of the cake world.
It's Yolanda Gampp.
(Cheering)
He's been described as the Jay-Z of modern puppet theater.
(Contestants laughing)
Here is Curtis Stone.
(Cheering)
There will be two bakes tonight.
The first is referred to as the safety bake.
The team that gets closest to the mystery in that round
will skip the elimination bake
and immediately advance to the quarterfinals.
Bakers, you will now have two minutes to investigate
the Crime Scene Kitchen.
Janusz and Keiron, start your search.
LENORE: Keiry.
(Beeping)
- JANUSZ: Let's do it. - Come on, let's go, babes.
LENORE: Let's go.
KAI: All right, you're search.
KEIRON: There's flour remnants, all-purpose flour is used.
Rolling pin.
JANUSZ: There is a food processor being cleaned.
KEIRON: Sugar, sugar and powdered sugar is open.
There's two sticks of butter gone.
Butter was used, flour was used.
There is a rolling pin,
which confirms that dough was made.
Something was cooked, or something.
- Look. Fried? - KEIRON: Fried.
So, something was fried.
KEIRON: There is a tool
to fish something out of a deep-fat fryer.
Therefore, we're thinking something has been fried.
Okay, something's been drained on a tray.
Uh...
I think something was deep-fried
'cause we have a thermometer here.
Oh, um, meats.
JESSICA: Interesting.
I open the fridge and I see various types of ground meat.
I am confused.
Okay, there's also flour and a five-inch ring.
JESSICA: As soon as I see that five-inch round cutter,
I'm immediately thinking
we are making some half-moon, stuffed, delicious stuff
that we're gonna deep fry.
Uh, there's-- okay, there's soup in the fridge.
There is beef, chicken,
uh, pork, probably.
Ground chicken, ground pork,
all of that stuff. Is that what's in there?
- JANUSZ: That's in the soup. - Okay.
Chicken, pork...
- And beef. - Yes.
Seeing three different proteins in the fridge
just makes me think that has to be the filling
for whatever was fried in this bake.
What's this? I don't know what that is.
That's red wine reduction with beef stock.
Okay. Cayenne pepper, paprika were used.
JESSE: Cayenne.
Justin, cayenne, cumin, paprika.
Oh, we got ground meat in the fridge.
I'm thinking a classic meat pie,
but I'm not sure which one's yet.
Yo, look at this: cutting board.
On the cutting board itself,
there's actually a picture of a cow.
Beef is not a bad guess here.
Oh, gosh, a sauté, a cutting board.
BECKY: Paprika, cayenne, cumin.
Not sure if that's a red herring.
Looks like ground meat.
- Sauté pans. - BECKY: Smell that.
(Sniffing) Ooh, oops.
Is that raspberry? Cherry?
This puzzle is not fitting together.
Right now, we are stumped.
I got the trash.
There's, like, brownish crumbs, like meat.
There's a red and white drip on this,
almost like it was drizzled.
On the island, I see a cookie sheet
and there are squiggles of white and red icing.
This.
Now, I see a spoon
used for some type of jam or jelly.
Could it be something sweet and savory?
JESSICA: Oh, my God. Ten seconds left.
LENORE: Ten seconds.
Paprika.
I don't see anything in the freezer.
- Hey yo, check this out. - Ten seconds.
There's like a bar thing here, shaped like a greasy bar.
- (Beeping) - JOEL: And that is time.
Oh, my goodness.
KEIRON: Let's go, babes.
Ahh!
JOEL: Teams, you'll now have two and a half hours
to recreate the mystery dessert.
The team that comes closest will win safety
and immediately advance to the quarterfinals.
Ready, guess...
bake!
That was a good one.
(Beeping)
Alrighty, so, there was definitely some type of dough
made with a rolling pin.
Do you think that it's savory?
It has to be sweet because we found icing.
The little particles
that looked like ground beef came out of the napkin.
Okay, what if-- this is gonna sound crazy,
but what if we need to make two separate items -
one savory and one sweet?
Because I saw cherry jam on the spoon,
a spider in the dishwasher, as well as ground beef
out of the paper towel, we're gonna be making
two types of baked goods today - one sweet and one savory option.
So, we are making
cherry turnovers
and beef hand pies.
Okay!
This is a very scary bake.
Why do they get scarier and scarier?
Oh, my goodness.
That's the point of this whole thing, Becky.
I think they're hand pies.
They made a savory and they made a sweet.
LENORE: There were three types of meat.
Pork, chicken, beef maybe?
With paprika, cayenne, and cumin, I'd go pork.
We think it might be a pork hand pie.
And because of the cooling rack with a drizzle
of white and red flat icing, we think it's also
a cherry hand pie.
So, we are making deep-fried
cherry and pork hand pie.
Flying by the seat of our pants.
What's happenin', Katelyn and Ronan?
We're just cooking. How you doin'?
RONAN: Not too much. We're just baking away.
JOEL: Guys, what are you making?
We are gonna make two different types of empanadas.
We're pretty confident we found mixed berry jelly on a spoon.
And the chicken was way lower
than each of the other red meats I saw.
That's right.
So, we're making chicken
and mixed berry empanadas.
I've never made an empanada before, though.
But hopefully, it'll taste good.
Did you notice that we dressed the same?
Yes!
- We gotta go like this. - We have a sitcom.
(Cheesy sitcom music playing)
Joel, we'd love to do a sitcom with you.
We'll do a sitcom. It's gonna be a My Two Husbands.
(Both laughing)
We're gonna make beef, chicken and pork empanadas.
KAI: Yes, and they all look like they had been used.
Because of the three different proteins in the fridge
and the spoon with the red wine smell,
we are going to make
beef empanadas,
chicken empanadas,
and pork empanadas.
STARLETT: And a red wine reduction.
They're definitely trying to trick us into doing, like,
a weird savory-sweet combination and we're not moved.
I just really think it's a meat pie.
I just cannot think that it was anything else.
Why do you think it was cherries?
On the spoon of the jam,
it had like, a big lump of fruit in it.
So, the only thing I could think of was cherry.
Okay.
I've never heard of a cherry empanada.
I don't really know what to think about this.
It's a rogue idea.
What if it is like real empanadas?
But why would you ice real empanadas?
I don't know. I don't like this game anymore.
We saw a lot of savory ingredients
in the Crime Scene Kitchen,
but we kind of rule all of that out because a soup was made.
So, we just assume all the savory ingredients
are used in the soup.
So, in this round,
we're making cherry empanadas
with icing glazed over it.
(Snapping)
Keiron, Janusz.
JANUSZ: Hello.
Welcome to the merge, guys.
- KEIRON: I know. - You did it.
Thank you for having us.
We are so much closer to $100,000.
My gosh.
(Straining excitedly)
Uh, Keiron, what is your greatest achievement as a baker?
When I was at pastry school, I was part of a small team who
recreated Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip's wedding cake.
It was to celebrate their 70th wedding anniversary.
It took three months to make
and we had to have a crane lift it in.
Keiron, that's freaking impressive.
KEIRON: It was pretty cool, yeah.
The gays for the win.
(Both laughing)
Okay, I'm adding spices to the dough, Just.
- JUSTIN: Okay. - I'm adding, uh, cayenne -
ooh, that might've been too much -
paprika and cumin.
Because we saw a variety of meats and spices,
I'm 100% sure this is a savory application.
But at the same time, there was a piece of parchment
that had rectangular cookie bar shape.
I feel very strongly that a sweet element needs to be baked.
Empanadas and a butter cookie
with a raspberry jelly with, uh, icing.
Ooh, wow, okay.
JUSTIN: So, for this safety bake,
we're making beef empanadas
and raspberry
shortbread cookie bars
with icing drizzle.
We gotta think outside the box here.
- I like it. - Yeah.
We're pushin'. Let's go. Let's go.
God, I hope I seasoned this okay.
DANIEL: I mean, hey, you're-- you're a pretty salty person,
in general, so I trust you.
Mmm.
JESSICA: Get that yummy flavor off the bottom.
Yum, smells good.
I can smell meat.
I can smell meat now.
Yeah, I feel like I can smell meat.
That doesn't-- that is not comforting.
KEIRON: Uh-uh!
All I can smell is pork and onions and garlic,
and I'm just like, what are we doing here?
We're obviously making the wrong thing.
- Did you see meat in the soup? - I've opened the soup
and I smelled the meat in the soup.
- But then, why cumin? - I really don't know.
- Have a think. - Babe, I'm thinking.
I'm not coming up with anything.
Whatever we need to do, we need to do it absolutely right now.
I can smell other people making...
- JANUSZ: I know. - ...savory things
and it's throwing me.
Where the meat was used? Where was the...?
You said you smelled it in the soup.
Yeah, but that wasn't like a meatballs or something.
So, then, maybe it was in the empanada.
You are completely right.
What?
They were savory ones made, as well.
- (Beeping) - Should we do it?
- Should we just do it? - Yeah, decision made.
We were just gonna make cherry empanadas.
But let's pivot and stick to it.
There were three types of meat in the fridge.
There was one that was a little lower than the other ones,
and it looked like ground pork to me.
Yes.
We can smell pork in the kitchen.
KEIRON: There were three meats in the fridge.
And we just remembered the pork was lower.
So, we're gonna adapt and make
two different types of empanadas -
a pork empanada
and a cherry empanada.
Oh, now, I can smell "common".
Cumin.
I hope you brought your appetite, Joel,
because we are in for a feast today.
Guys, what are you seeing so far?
It seems like all our teams have picked up on the clues
of hand pies or empanadas.
Look, they're basically the same thing.
Five of our teams are doing a sweet and a savory bake.
All right.
And one of our teams is going all savory.
Kai and Starlett are making
chicken, pork, and beef empanadas -
all separate, not the meat mixed together.
They are the only ones not making a sweet hand pie.
I just hope it's good enough to win the safety bake.
Yeah.
Little chubby boys. (Laughing)
YOLANDA: Just like Lenore and Jessica,
Janusz and Keiron are making
cherry hand pies and pork hand pies.
So far, they've been
some of the best teams at guessing and baking,
so we could be looking at a bake-off,
if they're right again.
One is looking great.
The other one needs, like, one more minute.
Jesse and Justin have prepared two completely different bakes.
One is a savory empanada, and then we have
shortbread cookies with jam and icing.
Channeling toaster strudel energy here.
Yeah, buddy.
They're the only ones doing a bar,
that can be a big advantage in the safety bake,
if you guessed right.
I hope the fryer heats up in time
'cause right now, we're at the mercy of the clock.
(Beeping)
Ronan and Katelyn, I don't think that their oil's hot enough.
You need it frying at the right temperature, otherwise,
you won't get it nice and golden.
These are not getting golden brown.
Okay, we're leaving these in.
When they start counting down, we'll pull them.
I don't want them to be raw.
One minute!
This one looks good.
I don't know if I can fit six on this thing.
- Okay, we're going for it. - No. At ten seconds.
- Ten seconds? - Yep.
- Hurry up, hurry up, hurry up. - Okay, okay.
♪ Panic, panic, panic
HOSTS: Ten, nine, eight, seven, six...
RONAN: It broke, it broke, it broke.
...five, four, three, two, one.
JOEL: And that is time!
They just got it on the plate.
CURTIS: Oh, my goodness.
Oh, dang it.
That looks raw.
Jesse and Justin, please bring us
what you thought was made in the Crime Scene Kitchen.
CONTESTANTS: Ooh.
Yes, two things.
Oh, so, sweet and savory?
JUSTIN: This is beef empanadas
with a raspberry shortbread cookie bar.
Cookie?
But how would they have gotten a clue for that?
I don't know.
JUSTIN: On the floor, we saw a parchment
that was super greasy, in rectangular shapes,
suggesting a high-fat something was baked on it.
I didn't see anything on the floor.
What made you choose beef for the empanadas?
There was a picture of a cow on the cutting board,
I thought, "Hey, beef makes sense."
There's a picture of a cow on the cutting board?
It's really well-filled. Good ratio right there.
The beef is spiced really nicely.
- It's a really good empanada. - Thank you, Chef.
This is a really nice cookie. It's not too sandy or flaky.
The jam is also really bright in the cookie.
It's the best thing you guys have baked for us so far.
- JUSTIN: Wow. - Thank you, Chef.
- That's a good praise. Thanks. - Thank you.
JOEL: Keiron and Janusz.
CONTESTANTS: Ooh.
ALL: Hello.
So, we've decided, after investigating the kitchen,
to make cherry empanadas and pork empanadas.
So, maybe that was the ground beef, then.
We've started with cherry empanadas.
KEIRON: We saw cherry jam on a spoon in the kitchen island.
But when we were making jam,
all I could smell was somebody frying onions and making meat.
You're welcome.
For me, the pork could have been seasoned a little more.
For the cherry empanada, did you use sour cherries?
- Yeah. - Since you iced the top,
it provides a nice balance.
- Phew! - Thank you for these empanadas,
and thank you for dressing like you host a children's show.
- JANUSZ: Thank you. - Thank you. You're welcome.
Lenore and Jessica.
- CONTESTANTS: Ooh... - DANIEL: Yeah.
Oh!
JOEL: What have you guys brought us?
We have made cherry and pork hand pies.
Oh, where have we seen this before?
(Contestants laughing)
I just kept thinking about how well cumin goes with pork, so...
we're hoping it's right.
Cumin is normally put with beef, though, isn't it?
I don't know cumin.
Your pork is really juicy and delicious.
- Yes! - Yay!
It's the perfect texture inside, the right amount of filling.
And with your cherry hand pie, you've got that tartness,
the sweetness.
Maybe your pastry could have gone just a tiny bit thinner.
This is the second team of bakers that have served us
a pork and a cherry pie,
and if that is what comes out of the Crime Scene Kitchen,
we're gonna have a real-time trying to figure out
whose is the best.
JOEL: Daniel and Becky.
CONTESTANTS: Oh!
JESSICA: Oh, turnovers.
Triangles.
- Hi, guys. - Hi.
Hello.
We have prepared
cherry turnovers and beef hand pies.
Beef hand pies.
What made you choose beef?
We did find what we thought was a piece of it in the trash.
Interesting.
The pastry is really nice,
but the beef leaves a little something to be desired -
more flavor and more of it inside the pie.
The jam, it probably needs just a little bit more tartness,
maybe a squeeze of lemon or something,
just to sort of bring up a little bit of acidity.
- But I'd come back for more. - Thank you.
JOEL: Ronan and Kaitlyn.
STARLETT: Okay.
They're kind of tiny.
RONAN: We made a mixed berry empanada and a chicken empanada.
That looks under-baked.
It really got down to the wire for you two in the kitchen.
RONAN: It really did.
We do not have much experience with deep frying.
The savory empanada is definitely raw.
RONAN: Mm-hmm.
I'm just tasting grease.
Yeah.
Oh...
I hate to call it inedible, but I don't really know that it is.
That is completely raw, that dough.
I feel bad they had to eat it 'cause it was not good.
RONAN: We were definitely out of our wheelhouse.
We don't deep-fry things ever, so...
I know.
I'm all good. I'm just emotional.
Oh...
But this is how crazy our competition is.
If a chicken empanada and a mixed berry empanada
was made in Crime Scene Kitchen,
you could still win safety
because you are the only team to serve us this.
- Right. Yes. - Thank you.
Thank you.
JOEL: Kai and Starlett.
CONTESTANTS: Ooh.
Okay.
So, we have pork, chicken, and beef empanadas.
- Three meats. - Three meats.
When I picked up the spoon, I didn't smell any fruit.
I actually smelled a beef and red wine reduction.
Oh.
She smelled wine.
LENORE: They didn't smell cherry.
Did we miss a clue?
I hope not.
This is the pork.
You can see how nice and moist it still is. And the beef,
the red wine's really prominent.
YOLANDA: And you did a good job on the chicken, too.
- This is a good day. - (Starlett chuckling)
KEIRON: Kai and Starlett,
they only have savory empanadas.
I have the strongest suspicion we made the wrong thing.
We both have a really bad feeling about this.
Welcome back to Crime Scene Kitchen.
It's the first time our friends and families
are competing head-to-head.
Whichever team wins this safety bake
gets to skip tonight's elimination bake and gets a free
pass to the Crime Scene Kitchen quarterfinals.
Though, you still have to pay for parking.
(Contestants laughing)
Confectionator 3000,
show us what was baked in the Crime Scene Kitchen.
I'm hoping that there is three different types of meat in here.
Come on, please.
♪ Show us what we want, show us what we want ♪
- Where's the beef? - Give us the beef.
Where's the beef?! Show us the beef!
JOEL: The mystery dish is...
six cherry hand pies topped with white and red icing
and six deep-fried spicy beef hand pies...
Yes!
...both made with a flaky pie crust.
- Sweet and savory. - Yeah.
We're the only team that didn't do a sweet component.
Curtis, can you explain how our contestants
were supposed to figure out this mystery?
The food processor in the dishwasher
and use of all-purpose flour, butter, rolling pin, and fork
suggested a pie dough was made.
The cherry jam on the spoon
and the red and white icing on the drying rack
indicated a sweet, cherry-filled hand pie,
with the rectangular stains
on the parchment paper on the floor indicating their shape.
♪ How many floor clues will we miss? ♪
All of them.
There were many vegetables in the compost,
but they were used for the soup.
The remnants of the beef on the paper towel
and the red beef cutting board in the dishwasher,
along with evidence of use of cumin, paprika,
and cayenne pepper also suggested
the flavor of the savory beef hand pie.
These clues
all should have led you to the savory and sweet combo platter -
cherry and fried beef hand pies.
See? It's that easy.
(Contestants laughing)
And now, Curtis, who wins tonight's safety bake?
They got nearly every detail correct,
and in terms of detective work,
passed this with flying colors.
Tonight's safety bake winners are...
...Becky and Daniel.
Yes! Come on!
(Laughing) Oh, my God.
We're going to the quarterfinals.
Whoo!
What up, friends teams? Mic drop.
Becky and Daniel, you may now head back
to your sparsely stocked trailer and split a granola bar.
- Enjoy. - Oh, your arm muscles.
Come on. (Laughing)
- JOEL: Good job. - Thank you, thank you.
- Awesome. - DANIEL: Thank you.
And now, it's time for our elimination bake.
(Exhaling sharply)
The Crime Scene Kitchen is now open.
Ronan and Kaitlyn, start your search.
Let's go.
(Beeping)
- JUSTIN: Let's do it. - JESSE: Let's do this.
- KEIRON: Go, go, go. - JANUSZ: Go!
Let's have a look.
Cutting board used, maybe some type of breadcrumbs
or cake crumbs.
Okay, almond extract.
Three bowls, mixer. Could be a cake.
Almond extract makes me super excited,
so I'm starting to think this could be
some type of almond sponge cake.
There's some kind of maybe marzipan.
I look into the food processor, there's a clump
of what looks just like marzipan.
I think a marzipan was made.
JANUSZ: Marzipan.
Marzipan is a sweet almond paste.
Food coloring and almond extracts were used.
- Okay. - Princess torte.
Princess torte, a Battenberg, or an Italian ricotta cake.
These are all cakes en-coated in marzipan.
- Something was cut. - Cake crumbs.
Oh, look. Look at these crumbs here.
Got some pink crumbs.
I'm thinking cake because I see
the pink and white cake crumbs.
The question is, what's the flavor?
There's some raspberries, eggs.
LENORE: Raspberry, oh, my goodness.
Uh, St. Patrick's Day is on the calendar.
Day after St. Patrick's Day?
Okay, March 18th. What's around March 18th?
- March 18th, I don't know. - KAI: St. Patrick's Day?
That's the day after St. Patrick's Day.
This is the first time that the calendar has been changed,
so it's definitely tied into St. Patrick's Day some type of way.
Popcorn over here, chocolate.
Look at this bowl. Look at this bowl.
There's beer in the fridge.
JUSTIN: Green food coloring.
I think for the beer, St. Patrick's Day on the calendar.
So, on St. Patrick's Day,
you can go to a lot of places, put a few drops
of green food coloring in a beer.
I think we should forget this green food coloring.
- Rolling pin. - Rolling pin.
Cutting board.
Ruler here.
JESSE: We see a rolling pin, a ruler.
Something was rolled out and then precisely cut
to a specific size.
Check out this crumb here also.
(Buzzing, beeping)
- Ten seconds, ten seconds. - Ten seconds.
Could it be like one of those
chocolate cakes that they make for Irish?
Chocolate stout cake?
So, we know it's a cake.
We know the chocolate was used.
JOEL: And that is time.
That is time.
That didn't go well.
I really don't know what I'm makin'.
(Posh English accent:) "What I'm making?"
What are you makin'?
Let's go.
This Crime Scene Kitchen is really hard.
I'm wondering if we missed something.
We always miss something.
RONAN: That was quick.
I feel like I'm lights on, nobody's home.
I love you, but you're driving me nuts right now.
JOEL: Bakers, you will now have two and a half hours to recreate
the mystery dessert.
Ready, guess, bake!
(Beeping)
- There was chocolate. - And the corn syrup.
Corn syrup.
But was chocolate or corn syrup used?
I don't know.
I'm thinking that it was a domed cake,
that was covered with marzipan,
and I think it might be a three queens cake.
Okay.
Because we saw the pink cake crumbs, the green food coloring,
and a domed cake tin,
we are making a three queens cake,
which is traditionally
a pink almond sponge,
green marzipan, and whipped cream
and strawberry filling.
I don't even know what that is.
Oh, my gosh, people.
I feel better about this bake.
RONAN: We do not want to present another raw bake to the judges.
Exactly.
KAI: There's green food coloring.
- Chocolate chips. - Semi-sweet chocolate.
You can make a ganache with the popcorn.
Calendar was the day after St. Patrick's Day.
Okay.
We're thinking that this cake has to have some type of
St. Patrick's Day theme.
Definitely have to cover a domed cake in fondant.
Yeah.
So, we are going to make
an almond sponge cake
with a chocolate popcorn ganache
covered in green fondant,
and I'm gonna do clovers
on top of the cake.
Fondant is like this edible, sugary clay
that you can roll out and cover cakes in.
Does it have to cool? Like...
Yeah, it firms more as it cools.
- JOEL: Kai and Starlett. - KAI: Hi, Joel.
- Hey, Joel. - Are you guys getting along?
It's elimination,
so our emotions are just high right now.
- JOEL: Okay. - Yeah.
- Starlett, you're married. - Yes.
Are you married? Dating?
- I'm dating. - Have you met the guy?
I have met him.
- JOEL: And? - He's nice.
I mean, you know, I'm not getting attached.
Is anybody good enough for Kai?
No, but I mean, he's okay for now. We'll see.
That should be in your wedding vows:
"You're okay... for now."
Like, do you know, Joel,
how much trouble you're gonna get me in when I get back home?
- You have to go now. - Am I being kicked out?
Wait. Any more questions? See you later.
STARLETT: Bye, Joel.
I'm out of the Crime Scene Kitchen. Bye, Kai.
- Bye, Joel. - JOEL: Bye, Starlett.
(Starlett chuckling)
LENORE: Made two sheets of sponge.
Right.
Layer one with jam.
And roll it in marzipan.
JOEL: Lenore and Jessica.
- LENORE: Hello. - Joel McHale.
All right, what are you making?
LENORE: We are making a Battenberg cake.
Because we saw two different colors of cake crumb,
the raspberries in the fridge,
and the marzipan ingredients, we are making
a raspberry Battenberg cake,
comprised of a sponge,
in a checkerboard pattern,
wrapped in marzipan.
Well, named after Lord Battenberg from 18--
no, I have no friggin' idea.
It probably is named after Lord Battenberg.
Can somebody fact-check us real quick?
Cameraman, you're already on your phone. Do it.
Umm...
Screaming!
(Laughing)
Now, you both own your own bake shops,
so if this were at one of your bakeries,
someone requested this cake...
- Fun. - Okay, if someone said,
"I need it as soon as possible."
That's a constant thing, that, like,
"I completely forgot it's my wife's-- it's my anniversary."
- My wife's birthday. - And I'm like,
""Ooh, that sounds like a problem you're about to have."
Yeah. How often do the wives
forget their husbands' birthdays?
- BOTH: Never. - Never?
BOTH: Never.
Is that meant to be smoking?
- Oh! - Oh, no.
Can I get some more raspberries?
(All laughing)
Based on the clues,
I think what we're making can make sense,
but it's still a gamble.
JESSE: I mean, that's fair.
JUSTIN: Power through like the underdogs do.
You wanna try this buttercream?
JUSTIN: Yeah.
Good, man. Tastes like birthday cake.
Icing sugar and the large amount of butter that was used
indicated American buttercream,
and because we saw an open container of almond flour,
we're making a joconde
sponge torte
with vanilla buttercream
and raspberry coulis.
We know we need to use the clue
that there was a ruler and a knife.
We know, at least, we have to cut our sponge.
Make it fully rectangle, and then do the fillings, or...?
Maybe pre-cut it and then individually build them.
So, let's list our options. Battenberg.
The other option is princess torte.
What is the chocolate used for?
- (Beeping) - JOEL: 90 minutes remaining!
Come on, what we doin'?
We're making a Battenberg.
Let's do it. End of story.
So, we're scrambling around,
trying to figure out where the chocolate is used.
A Battenberg never has chocolate,
so it maybe is a red herring,
and we just go with the clues that we're confident with.
Otherwise, we're not gonna make anything.
So, we're making a Battenberg cake
with raspberry jam
and buttercream,
rolled in a marzipan.
I really don't have a good feeling about this,
but we are committed.
- RONAN: Cake ring? - Thank you, sweetheart.
Okay, I'm gonna remove this patch
'cause it's not as done as I'd like it to be.
All right, you wanna figure out how to roll out this fondant?
Yep, it's still a little bit sticky on my glove.
I'm gonna add some powdered sugar to this,
knead it in, and then try rolling again.
Guys, it's the stressful elimination bake
after our big merge, so how's everybody doing?
Everyone's making some form of cake.
We've got two Battenberg cakes, one three queens cake,
one joconde torte,
and one almond layer cake with a chocolate and popcorn ganache.
Wildly different choices.
- As straight as you can. - Straight as I can.
Lenore and Jessica are making a Battenberg cake
with a raspberry jam, which is exactly the same
as Janusz and Keiron.
These guys are super indecisive, and it's a hard one to do.
(Sighing)
You doing okay there, boss, with the layering?
I think so.
Justin and Jessie are making a joconde sponge torte
with American buttercream and a raspberry coulis.
Maybe a little bit slapdash here.
It looks like he's making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
KATELYN: I'm gonna use this cake to fill that in.
Katelyn and Ronan are making a three queens cake.
I've actually never heard of a three queens cake.
Neither have I.
All right.
I feel as if she's butchered the cake a little.
STARLETT: It looks a mess to me.
You want to put the fondant on it? That's fine.
Kai and Starlett have quite a lot of elements going on
for their cake.
I need a little bit of help.
Can you get on some gloves, or...?
With fondant, they should use
a French rolling pin and reverse roll it on.
She's picking it up with her bare hands.
Fondant is actually very heavy.
You can rip a hole right through it.
Just put it-- just put it on.
I can't watch. I can't watch it.
It's tearing.
We're putting the fondant over the cake.
- STARLETT: It's tearing. - KAI: Um...
And it rips.
This is a hot mess.
Just whatever. Just wing it.
One minute!
Hey, you can just throw that on, can't you?
Thank you, sweetheart.
KAI: That's too much water.
I'm getting it. Just scoot over a little bit.
(Alarm buzzing)
LENORE: Gosh, down to the wire.
HOSTS: Three, two, one.
And that is time! That's time!
Would our safety bake winners,
Becky and Daniel, please join us?
Kai and Starlett,
would you please bring us what you thought was made
in the Crime Scene Kitchen?
CONTESTANTS: Ooh!
Is that fondant?
We have an almond sponge cake
with popcorn and chocolate ganache.
- Wow. - Hold the phone.
That sounds incredible.
I like the four-leaf clovers.
It's obviously St. Patrick's Day-themed.
Yes.
(Sighing)
The calendar.
I saw a bowl of popcorn and semi-sweet chocolate chips.
Those two clues led me to a ganache infused with popcorn.
Popcorn chocolate ganache.
The almond cake is lovely,
but it is overpowered by the ganache.
When you taste the ganache,
you do get a little mild taste of the popcorn.
You could have steeped it a bit more.
But if it is a St. Patrick's Day cake,
then you'll be safe.
Here's hoping. (Chuckling)
JOEL: Janusz and Keiron!
CONTESTANTS: Ooh!
RONAN: Pretty.
It's a long Battenberg.
- Hey, guys. - CURTIS: Hello.
So, we have a Battenberg cake with a raspberry jam.
JOEL: How confident are you?
Oh, we completely know it's the wrong bake.
We were back and forth with the chocolate.
After 40 minutes, I've decided it is Battenberg on nothing.
(Exhaling sharply)
I think the marzipan is really good,
and the raspberry jam has a perfect punch.
The symmetry of your Battenberg was quite impressive.
Considering the time, what a triumph.
BOTH: Thank you.
JOEL: Jesse and Justin!
YOLANDA: What have you brought us?
JUSTIN: We've made a joconde sponge torte
with buttercream and raspberries.
It was no indication that raspberry was used.
Did you consider assembling one cake?
The ruler suggested something was cut to size.
This is more buttercream than it is cake.
There's no way you could eat an entire slice of this.
JOEL: Jessica and Lenore!
(Both gasping)
- Oh, my God. - Battenberg!
KATELYN: Ooh!
Wow!
- Hi. - Hi, guys.
We have a raspberry Battenberg cake.
I can't believe they made the same thing in both rounds as us.
The powdered rolling pin...
immediately knew they made a marzipan.
We saw two different colors of cake crumb,
and we did find raspberries in the fridge.
Ah.
Lenore and Jessica, their thought process,
it was exactly the same.
Could be a Battenberg.
It's a good Battenberg.
The jam is nice, and the cake delicious.
But the marzipan is a little tough,
and you can see evidence of that with all the cracking.
Well, that's the second Battenberg we've got.
If a Battenberg was made in Crime Scene Kitchen,
then you guys are gonna be looking pretty good.
JOEL: Katelyn and Ronan!
- JUSTIN: Hey! - DANIEL: Good job.
Pretty.
Here we have a three queen cake.
This looks much more like a princess torte to me.
- We're not so sure. - Yeah.
Now, a princess torte normally has cake on the bottom,
and then, it has the jam,
and then the stabilized whipped cream that makes up the dome.
Yours is a layered cake?
Yes because of the serrated knife with the crumbs on it,
we chose to do that.
I mean, clearly, you don't have those beautiful
level layers that you're looking for in a layered cake.
The jam is literally oozing out.
The cake itself is very dense,
and it's a bit gummy,
and the strawberry jam is not quite the right consistency.
(Inhaling sharply)
But if a domed princess torte was made,
I think you guys are gonna be in a good place.
Ronan and Katelyn's dome cake does look like ours,
with the shape, but Yolanda said the cake was gummy.
KAI: That might actually save our butts right now.
I'm sorry. I gotta be candid.
Welcome back to Crime Scene Kitchen.
One team will be heading home,
while everyone else advances to the quarterfinals.
All right, you guys ready?
Confectionator, reveal the mystery dessert!
- What do we think it is? - It's a Battenberg.
- Come on, Battenberg, please. - Battenberg.
Please, Battenberg, please!
Come on.
Okay.
(Slapping legs)
A dome cake, a dome cake. I want a dome cake!
Let's go, let's go, let's go.
JESSE: Here we go.
CONTESTANTS: Oh!
JOEL: The mystery dessert is...
a Battenberg cake.
It's a large Battenberg!
(Sighing)
JOEL: Buttery almond sponge cake arranged
in a checkerboard pattern and covered in marzipan.
Yolanda, walk us through the clues here.
The almond flour and almond extract
hinted at the flavor profile of the cake.
That flour, with the sugar and egg whites in the food processor
indicated marzipan was made.
The calendar told you it was the day
after St. Patrick's Day.
That hinted that the green food coloring was used
to dye the beer green and not used in the bake.
Yeah, I don't even want to talk about this calendar. No.
(Sighing)
While there was evidence of use of chocolate in the kitchen,
close inspection of the popcorn would show you
that the chocolate was used in that and not in the bake.
- RONAN: Totally makes sense. - I've definitely eaten
some chocolate while I enjoy my popcorn.
It's like our Thursday night.
YOLANDA: The pink crumbs in the dustpan,
along with the golden crumbs on the island,
and the serrated knife told you the cake was cut
into the classic checkerboard
pattern of the British favorite -
the Battenberg cake.
Yeah.
Two teams here were right with the Battenberg cakes.
Congratulations to Jessica and Lenore and Keiron and Janusz.
(Contestants applauding)
- Come on! - Wait. Me, too.
As for the other teams,
you all got this challenge wrong in many different ways.
Jesse and Justin, what you served us
was the hardest to eat of all the desserts,
as the American buttercream overwhelmed everything else.
Kai and Starlett, your confusion in the Crime Scene Kitchen
showed itself in your cake.
Katelyn and Ronan, you made the wrong cake with the wrong name,
and unfortunately, it wasn't your best effort.
All right, Yolanda, which team is going home?
The team going home tonight is...
...Kai and Starlett.
We're so sorry to see you leave,
but your cake just had too many elements of design and flavor
that were not present in the Battenberg cake.
Tonight, we didn't have the luck of the Irish.
Our time is up.
We had an amazing experience.
Uh, I'm glad that we got to present
some delicious treats to you all, so I'm proud of that.
All right, Kai and Starlett,
thank you for coming on the show. You will be missed.
- Thank you. - Thank you.
(Contestants applauding)
I really have a new respect for Kai.
I don't just look at her as my daughter anymore.
I really do look at her as an accomplished pastry chef.
(Sighing)
KAI: I can't see myself competing
in this competition with anybody else.
Even throughout strain,
we still found a way to be there for each other.
We never gave up.
I'm gonna get emotional now.
The moment's gone now.
Guys, congratulations.
You five teams are advancing to the hotly competitive
quarterfinals.
KATELYN: Oh my God.
You're all one step closer to reaching
the $100,000 finale.
All right, we'll see you next time on Crime Scene Kitchen,
except for Curtis.
We're replacing him with a cartoon kangaroo.
Good night, everybody.
CURTIS: Kangaroo?
You didn't hear?