[upbeat music playing]
-[all greeting happily] -Hi, everyone.
Oh, I like this white.
-Thank you. -[all chuckling]
[chuckling fades]
-[Ignoisco] Oh, you too, Jacques. -Oh, there you go.
[all cheering, chuckling]
Oh boy, my growing bakers.
Oh, it feels like only yesterday I saw you attempt to bake your first cake.
Probably because it was.
[all laughing]
[Jacques] Yesterday was a pretty difficult cake.
But I think today's going to be even harder.
[bakers groaning]
Yes, make sure that you remember everything that we've taught you so far
-because you'll need that moving forward. -[chuckles fearfully]
Ready to see the cake that you'll be making today?
[bakers] Yes.
Get ready to go bananas because...
[suspenseful music building]
[woman laughs]
[bakers groaning, exclaiming]
Whoa!
[Nicole] It is our Nailed It!fruitcake.
-[bakers groaning] -[Cura] Oh my God!
You're gonna recreate our not-so-classic, fruit-filled version of a fruitcake.
[Jacques] You already learned the basics of cake construction.
So today, you'll be building on your skills
and, most importantly, you have to make delicious filling.
Which is exactly what you are about to learn today in Baking 101.
Okay.
Orange you glad you have coaches?
[bakers chuckling] Yes.
-[splats] -[enchanting music plays]
In order to make this fruit-filled fruitcake successfully,
you need to learn classic filling.
But our staple for every professional baker,
lemon curd and chocolate ganache.
I've never really made fillings.
Like, to me, buttercream is as far as I go.
Like, ganaches, curds... I'm not the Queen of England.
I would never really make those things. Um, I guess I gotta learn.
[Nicole] Here's how it's going to work.
At each of your stations is a tacky grocery store sheet cake.
Following along with Erin and Robert, you'll be giving it a "cakeover."
A process that's taken social media by storm.
You'll use the sheet cake and the buttercream we provide
to make a brand-new, two-tiered cake with your own filling.
Once your coaches are done, you will only have five minutes left
to finish your "cakeover."
The baker with the best tasting fruit filling and best executed "cakeover"
will be named the winner
and earn an advantage in the Big Cake Bake.
Ooh!
[suspenseful music playing]
[Nicole] Okay, bakers.
We're gonna start by making our ganache.
Ganache is just a combination
of cream and chocolate.
That's really good to use as a filling for all types of cakes and pastries.
And you can add fruit to give it more of an interesting flavor.
Today, we're going to add raspberries.
We're gonna start by bringing our cream to just under a simmer.
[beeping]
When you see it moving and bubbling,
you can go ahead and pour it over your chocolate.
But we're not gonna start mixing it right away.
Just set it aside to let it melt this chocolate.
I probably need to microwave this. [giggles]
Okay, I'm gonna move on to the lemon curd.
I'm gonna mix my eggs, sugar, and salt.
I'm also gonna add some lemon juice.
[Richard] Why doesn't my egg yolk look like hers?
So I'm happy that everyone are all doing it at the same time.
Jean... Jean, I cannot see her very well.
Oh, am I supposed to be doing this?
[amusing music playing]
[Jean] I have never made these fillings before.
So I am thrilled to be able to attempt to learn these things.
Again, I'm feeling really behind.
[Ignoisco] You good, Jean? You good?
-[Jean] Yeah. -All right.
So I'm gonna go ahead and put this on my double boiler.
Whisking it as it slowly starts to thicken up.
But we need to be whisking it constantly once we start adding it
because we're looking for everything to be all one texture.
And if you heat it too much,
you'll actually end up cooking the eggs in your mixture.
We want it to be silky, silky smooth.
We could go from lemon curd to scrambled eggs very quickly.
Very good. Ah, very lemony.
[chuckling] Nice job, Emily.
-Thanks. -I'm inspired by you.
I don't know if this is right, but we're gonna double-fist the stirrers.
I am an engineer, so by nature I'm pretty precise.
But I never cooked, never baked growing up.
It wasn't until I had my son that I was like,
"Okay, Emily, it's time to learn a few skills in the kitchen."
And that's why I'm here.
I'm just gonna leave it on the heat and let it thicken.
I don't know. I'm trying to get this right here.
Oh man, I got it all in the center.
Oh my God.
This seems hard.
But that's part of the challenge.
[Erin] All right, this is looking pretty good, guys.
Into my strainer it goes.
-[dramatic music plays] -Beautiful.
I don't know how to do this.
[amusing music playing]
[Emily] It looks like scrambled eggs.
This is not breakfast.
It's not gonna strain.
I majorly messed up.
It's way too thick.
And this is not good.
[chuckling fearfully]
This is a mess. This is a... [laughing]
You see? Angie didn't whisk her curd enough, so it's lumpy.
We have to look at the next thing. Let's go to the next one.
[Nicole] I hope I don't have to eat that.
[chuckles]
[Erin] Beautiful.
-You guys go too fast. -[Erin] You can now set your curd aside.
Which, from the looks of a lot of yours, is a good thing
because we'll only be using the ganache in the next stage.
Now I'm gonna start mixing it from the very center.
Your chocolate should be totally melted by the time we get this combined.
[upbeat music playing]
I'm gonna go ahead and pour this onto a baking sheet.
Frank, how are you feeling?
[Frank] Uh, I didn't heat my chocolate enough.
It's like Rocky Road, as you can see from the bumps.
[both laugh]
[Robert] Now that that's ready,
let's move on to putting together the cake with the filling.
So I'm just going to scrape off all the frosting.
[Angie] I'm gonna do this. I got this.
[Richard chuckles] Ever think you were supposed to take frosting off a cake?
[Georgina] Never. This goes against all my instincts.
Now I'm going to use these parchments circles
and I'm going to place these on the cake,
making sure that I'm actually hitting every spot of it.
So you should get two small cakes and two large cakes
out of your one sheet cake.
[buzzer sounds]
[amusing music playing]
[buzzer sounds]
[Jean] Cut out what you don't need.
You do wanna make sure that when you're cutting these,
that you're keeping your knife straight up and down.
You don't want to have any angles
because that could make your cake lean or fall over.
[buzzer sounds]
[Angie] This is really hard.
[Robert] Now I'm just going to take one of the large cakes onto my pedestal.
I'm going to add buttercream to the top of this cake
so the cake doesn't absorb all the filling,
and pipe a dam around the cake to make sure that my filling I'm adding
does not fall out of the cake.
Next, I'm going to add the ganache filling.
So all I'm going to do is scoop it in.
-[Jean laughs] -[giggling] Salt Bae it up.
I don't know where the salt came from. Not gonna lie.
[Robert] We're going to add raspberries because we're doing a fruit filling.
[Erin] That's right.
[Travis] All right, all right, I got my raspberries out here.
I'm going to push the envelope.
I'm gonna strain the raspberry seeds out and put the juice in my ganache.
I gotta make sure I stand out.
Yes, yes, yes, these raspberries are gonna get it.
Y'all seen a masterpiece? I'm gonna turn it into a "Travispiece."
[pleasant music playing]
I love baking because I put my heart and soul on the plate.
Right out of high school, I went to a school for culinary arts,
but I had to drop out because my mom got sick.
I want to win this competition so that I can go back and get the degree.
Put the second layer on here real quick.
[upbeat music playing]
[Robert] Put your second large round cake on top.
I'm making sure that I'm pressing down.
And remembering our lesson the other day, it's time to do that crumb coat.
[Angie] Oh my goodness.
[laughing] Oh!
Going around, doing our crumb coat.
[Ignoisco] Come on. Yeah.
So now that we have that, I'll start working on this next small one.
[unnerving sting]
[Emily] We need two cakes?
-You been paying attention to the demo? -[laughs]
-Oh no. -[ominous music playing]
Oh my God.
[Jean] We're supposed to make a little one?
[Ignoisco] Yeah, two little ones. We're supposed to make two.
I threw my cake away.
You're supposed to have a smaller top.
Two pieces for the smaller top.
My cake is in the garbage. I can't reach back in the garbage.
So I figured, "Okay, I'm gonna go with a shorter fat cake."
What am I gonna do?
I threw mine away.
[tense music playing]
It was, like, in my way.
Oh dang.
[Cura] I'm hoping that this bottom layer is so good,
my filling is so good that they just forget,
because I'm hoping for another advantage today.
[laughs dryly]
So now I'm going to add this to the cake, making sure it's as centered as possible.
Just going to drop that down.
[Cura] This is just... Oh my God, I'm not happy.
So now, I'm just going to add some gold leaf to this.
Now we gotta add gold leaf. Oh my God.
[Robert] I'm going to use a brush because it makes it so much easier to add it.
[sighs] Oh my God.
This is one of the things Robert is the best at.
[Robert] We'll add fresh flowers,
and this is an easy way you can elevate your cake.
Okay, here's our upgraded, renovated grocery store cake.
Oh my God.
Bakers, you have five minutes left to finish your cake.
No!
Ah...
-Gold. -[suspenseful music playing]
I'm still leaning. I'm still trying to get it.
I cannot believe my cake is leaning again.
[Robert] You don't want to have any angles.
[buzzer sounds]
[Angie] This is really hard.
Maybe I see the world, like, to the side or something, I don't know.
[music intensifies]
Forty seconds left.
-I'm trying to get my... -Angie!
...my top layer in here.
[music building]
Five, four, three, two...
Ah! One!
You're done!
Whoo!
Uh...
Angie!
-[Nicole] I... Oh Angie. -[Jacques] Angie!
-[music ends] -[laughing] Are you kidding me?
-[Nicole] All right. -[baker laughs] Ooh!
Oh my God. Yeah, yeah, just get me over with.
-Angie! -[all laughing]
[Jacques] What did we learn yesterday?
-You know, I think because it wasn't even... -[Nicole] Mm-hmm.
It is a shame to see Angie having structural issues again.
-I say A for Effort. -That's right.
But F for Fall.
-[Angie laughing] Definitely. -[Nicole] Yes, Angie.
-[Jacques] We love you. -I love you guys, too.
[laughs]
-Hello, Travis. -Hey, Nicole.
-Travis! -Okay, so it's a two-tiered cake.
It is standing. Let's taste it.
-Ooh! -[Jacques] Okay.
The layer is very even, which is good.
[suspenseful music playing]
[Nicole] It's very raspberry.
[Jacques] The ganache seems to be well together.
-This was lovely. Thank you. -[Jacques] This was good.
[Travis] I took a risk today.
They loved it.
So, in this next Big Cake Bake,
I'm gonna bring even more better and bolder flavors.
Georgina!
Ooh!
-It's really pretty. -[Jacques] You're right.
Georgina's cake is two tiers. It's... The structure's there.
-[Jacques] We have it. -[Nicole] Okay.
[Jacques] We have the raspberry, we have the ganache.
Ooh!
I think I like it because it's chunks.
Yeah, the whole raspberry, and it's well assembled.
I think this is a really great improvement.
Thank you.
-[Nicole] Richard. -Hello, hello.
-Wow! -[Richard chuckles]
Look at this.
-Hello. -Look at this leafing.
I got the two tiers, I got the crumb coat, and I got the ganache inside.
I... I'm feeling pretty good.
[Jacques] So you didn't do any of the dam around here.
You just put a little ganache in the middle.
I taught about making sure that you build a dam on the cake
to make sure that the filling does not come off.
-I like that you put enough raspberry. -[Nicole] I'd say more ganache.
-More ganache. Okay. -[Jacques] You did good.
[in sing-song] Off to Frank.
All right, Frank.
-It is leaning a little bit. -Yeah, yeah.
[laughing]
[both laughing]
[Nicole] Let's taste this before it falls down.
[chuckles]
[chuckles] Is it chocolate chips?
It didn't melt my ganache enough.
-[Jacques] Oh, there is a lot of pieces. -But it's textural. Yes.
[Nicole] It's good, though. I like it.
[in sing-song] Emily!
[in sing-song] Nicole.
She does have two tiers.
-Fairly straight. -[Jacques] Where is the ganache?
-[Nicole] Oh, it's very little. -It's in there. Buttercream as well.
-[Emily chuckles] -See, I want more ganache.
-Okay. -But you know what?
-You did pretty good with construction. -Yes.
[Emily] Thank you. I'll take that.
All right, Cura.
-This is smooth. -[Cura] Thank you.
-But you only got one tier. -[gasps]
-It's all in there. -[Nicole] Cura!
And I wasn't gonna fish it out.
If I was served garbage cake from a literal garbage, I might quit.
[giggling]
[Nicole] I like the ganache.
[Jacques] And you did a nice dam around, but no second layer.
Okay.
[tense music playing]
It did not go well at all.
I have to pay closer attention to my structure and be more organized.
-Thank you, Cura. -Thank you.
-Ignoisco! Hello. -Below and belie.
-[Nicole] This is great. -[Jacques] Yes, this is very well done.
I do like the little, uh, palm tree flower sticking out the top.
That was a choice.
-[both laughing] -"That was a choice."
Mm! Okay. The ganache is not fully melted.
[Jacques] You see the pieces of chocolate.
I think the presentation overrides the taste a little bit for me.
-Jean! -Hello.
[Nicole] You got one tier.
-And I threw my cake away. See, I... -Why would you do that?
[Jean] I didn't know.
It's okay, Jean. Don't worry. Is there ganache on the inside?
[Jean] Yes, yes.
That cake is at least straighter than her last one,
so she is making progress.
You did pretty well. You listened to the lesson.
No, I missed. I... I don't...
I put the vanilla bean, and then I made this lemon thing.
Okay, you listened too hard from the lesson.
-[laughs] -[Nicole] Jean, you're doing great.
You make some wild-looking stuff that tastes good.
[laughing]
I'm really proud of myself.
-[Nicole] Come on, Jacques. -Okay, let's go.
But I'd like to make it look better
so that I could be proud of not only the taste, but also of the appearance.
[chuckles]
Some of you really impressed us today.
Georgina, we liked your frosting, and your ganache was very well made.
-Richard... -Huh?
...you added fun visual elements to your cake
with pleasant amount of raspberry.
Yeah.
Travis, I loved the gold accents.
Your filling was also perfectly distributed.
Thank you.
And the winner is...
[suspenseful music playing]
Dramatic pause.
Georgina!
[all cheering]
-[Erin] Good job, Georgina. -[Nicole] Congratulations!
Thank you.
Georgina, you have won yourself an advantage in the Big Cake Bake.
You, my fruit-tastic friend, get to choose any fruit you'd like
for your filling in this challenge, and no one else will be able to use it.
-[gasps] -[cackles] Suckers!
[chuckles]
Jacques, now I would like you to name every fruit that we have in this pantry.
We have mango, kiwi, blackberry, strawberry, raspberry,
pineapple, banana, orange, lime, lemon, grapefruit, blueberry,
passion fruit, coconut, black cherry, guava, cantaloupe, honeydew,
gooseberry and watermelon.
Mm! I love gooseberries.
[both laughing]
All right, Georgina, what's it gonna be?
[crickets chirping]
-Oh, now? -[hesitantly] Yeah.
-Um... -[all laughing]
[amusing music playing]
A fruit... A fruit filling?
-Yeah, what's your favorite fruit? -My favorite fruit?
Yes.
[uncertain music playing]
[laughing]
[light, suspenseful music playing]
[laughing quietly]
-Raspberry. Yes. -[Nicole] Raspberry? Okay.
Honestly, I think that's the record for the longest time
someone has ever taken to pick a thing here.
[bakers laughing]
But that's not it.
Georgina, you have also earned access to a panic button.
You get to press it, and your opponents will have to balance
a full fruit basket on their heads for a whole five minutes.
-What? -That's what you gotta do. Sorry about it.
-Oh no. -[chuckling]
[all laughing]
-Oh no, Jean! -Jean!
-[Jean] As if I don't have enough trouble. -[both laughing]
All right, you'll want to do "berry" well today
because joining us will be dynamic comedian, actress,
and native of Orange, Ohio.
[both laugh]
The one and only Vanessa Bayer!
-[gasps] -[Nicole] Right?
Whoa!
[Nicole] Yabba-dabba-doo.
And remember, whoever wins this challenge will snag $1,000.
-Yay! -Yee!
-But the least successful baker... -Oh.
...sad to say,
will have to leave.
Oh.
[suspenseful music playing]
I want to win this thing so badly because I'm looking to get a bigger house.
I'm renting a small two-bedroom.
Anyone that has one bathroom in a family of six knows that it's a nightmare.
So if I win, I want to be able to give my kids something I've never had.
Something to call their own.
That feeling of being secure. That's my motivation here.
Bakers, you have three and a half hours on the clock
to create your fruit-filled fruitcake.
[Jacques] We hope to see you use one of the filling you learned today.
But you can also use your imagination.
Come up with something you want to make, as long as it has fruit.
All right, who's ready for a fruit fight?
[both] Whoo!
[enchanting notes play]
Your time starts as soon as I finish this sentence.
[Ignoisco] Oh! Go!
[exciting music plays, stops]
-[clanging] -[Richard] Ooh!
-[Frank] Sorry. -[music continues]
I'm gonna try to do seven cakes.
Trying to get some of these dry ingredients together.
I'm making my cake batters.
I'm gonna make a couple so I have some backup.
Because I got such good feedback on my Baking 101 challenge,
I'm using the same filling that I did before.
And then I really wanna focus on making sure
to get my cakes in the oven as fast as possible,
so that whatever happens, I'm not using Rice Krispie treats.
-Oh, it's a struggle. -Oh.
[Jacques] Where is the cake?
-[laughing] -Oh my God!
[chuckles]
All right.
I got the wet.
I gotta do the dry.
-How are you feeling, Miss Jean? -[Jean] Oh my God.
[both laugh]
-[Jean] I'm overwhelmed. -You got it.
All right, Jean, you got this.
I know this challenge is going to be way more difficult than the last.
I have a master's degree in communications,
and this is almost as hard as defending my master's thesis.
Come on. Come on, Jean. Focus. Five cups. Five cups of flour.
Jean has just got so many confidence issues.
If she can have the faith that she's measured things appropriately,
then we're gonna get to the next point and build on that.
Four. Is it four?
Is it four?
[upbeat funk music playing]
Here I come.
-I'll go to the right... -And I'll go to the left.
[Jean] That'll work.
[Frank] Just add some chocolate chips in here.
[Georgina] Another bowl. Ooh.
Ooh!
-How are you? -Loving the color I see in your mixers.
-Thank you. -What kind of cake are we making?
Strawberry vanilla cake with a strawberry filling.
Then I might do a chocolate buttercream. It might be too much flavor.
-Keep tasting as you go. -Yep.
When you're leveling those cakes, you can taste it and you can see.
That's a really good idea.
Beat the sour cream into the wet ingredients.
Boom, that's the wet ingredient.
[amusing music playing]
[Robert] Uh...
[laughs]
So, you remember?
-Leveling. [laughs] -[Angie] Oh! Right.
-Hey! How you doing, cutie? -How are you doing?
I'm doing good.
In the Baking 101, I had quite a few "a-ha" moments.
It's that moment when you actually apply something that you've learned
and you're just like,
-"Oh!" -[bell dings]
And so now, the most important thing to me...
[laughing] ...is making a smooth ganache.
The goal is to do a chocolate cake
with a dark chocolate ganache and a strawberry puree.
[Erin] And I like seeing that you're mixing up the cake flavor.
-I never done no cake like this. -[laughs]
The thing that I'm doing to stand out in this Big Cake Bake
is the chocolate cake.
Everybody else is just doing vanilla cake. So let's do something different.
I'm excited to see how it turns out.
[Ignoisco] Might give me a little leg up on the competition.
Hi. I'm seeing your pantry. You already got the line.
-Yes. -You got the... the spray in it.
You did a very good job with cutting your parchment paper to fit your bottom.
X-Acto knife.
-Good job with that. -[both laugh]
How do you feel about the Baking 101? Which filling do you have in mind?
[sighs] Oh. You know, I have no clue what I'm gonna do for a filling.
-Okay. -I... I really don't.
I'm thinking, um, maybe doing like a strawberry buttercream
with fresh strawberries in the middle.
That puts the fruit, that puts the filling.
So you won't really worry about making any type of actual, like, ganache.
I'm gonna focus on the cakes, buttercream, fresh fruit...
-Stacking. -Okay.
The judges'll love it. You can't go wrong with a strawberry buttercream.
I mean, I have a vanilla cake. Who doesn't like strawberries and vanilla?
[chuckling] Good luck.
[upbeat music playing]
Oh, shish kadoo.
That one right there like that.
[Emily] Mine are going in now.
[in sing-song] Powdered sugar everywhere.
[in sing-song] All right, all right.
This challenge is going to be more difficult than the last one
because it's the highest stacking I've ever done.
So I need to pay more attention and focus on good structure.
So for the filling...
I'm doing the easy way.
[laughs]
Improvise!
[laughs]
I take some puree,
I put it in a bowl, and I cut some peaches up.
Boom, boom, boom. I'm moving on.
Just gonna make sure it's filled with that peach strawberry.
I'm gonna get this baby on.
I can't remember if it was milk or cream in the ganache.
I'll use the cream. I can't remember.
I just can't remember.
After Baking 101, I didn't even learn.
I didn't... I have no idea what lemon curd is, still.
So I'm gonna focus on ganache,
because that's, I think, the one that I learned a little bit about.
Make sure it's all the way mixed.
I want to wow the judges, so I... I've decided I'm going to put
my secret flavoring hazelnut in it.
And then I'm gonna chop up the strawberries and put it in all that.
These knives are very sharp.
I love chocolate-covered strawberries.
And, you know, they always say
that a way to a man's heart is through his stomach.
I am single, and I've been single...
[laughing] ...for decades.
-But if I had a gentleman caller... -[romantic music plays]
...I would make him chocolate-covered strawberries all day long.
Who doesn't like chocolate-covered strawberries?
[exciting music playing]
-[Ignoisco] Cura. -Yes?
[Ignoisco] How you making your filling?
[Cura] Like a puree with the strawberries,
um, a little, uh, lemon action.
Okay!
Put in some passion fruit juice, again.
Get thick, baby. Get thick.
For my cake, I'm going to use lemon curd and white chocolate ganache.
Make sure this curd is set up nice and get thick for me.
If it don't get thick enough, I'm gonna put some cornstarch
and I'm gonna make sure it gets thick.
My cake filling is inspired by this white chocolate lemon candy
that I tasted at Easter time.
I'm so excited, trying to get these flavors together.
All right, I'm straining this out. Make sure I don't have no pulp left in it.
And then it's gonna chill.
So the bakers are all really tackling this assignment very differently,
and I hope that all of them have got a beautiful filling inside
because that's what this is about.
[Robert] Richard, I'm hoping can come up with something more adventurous
than just using strawberries, which isn't that exciting.
He was nervous about time.
[suspenseful music playing]
[Cura] They're coming out.
-[Angie] They done. -[Ignoisco] They're rocking.
[exhales] Ha-ha!
Good.
[Ignoisco] Chocolate cake.
[Angie laughs]
I'm gonna fill it in and wrap it up.
[Jean] Working.
It's not working.
-[Ignoisco] What's up with your cakes? -It's not cooking.
I... I don't know what it is. My cakes are not cooking that fast.
Start.
So I'm going to crank this up to 375. They just gotta get baking.
I got this. I got this. I got this.
[ominous music plays]
We have two hours left, everybody!
[exciting music playing]
[Richard] Hopefully, my icing is good, child.
Mm.
[mouth full] I need milk.
Looks a little crazy.
[Richard] Strawberries in the middle.
[beatboxing softly]
I don't know if I want to cut this off.
[tense music playing]
My watermelon, which is the main cake,
it doesn't look like the big watermelon that's there.
It looks more like a personal-sized watermelon.
This is not... I don't think I baked enough cake.
-[Erin] Cake batter on her station. -[Robert] Could've popped it in the oven.
I'd rather them bake too much cake and not even have to use it.
Because my watermelon is so short,
I actually can't make a third layer in it
to make sure that I have enough filling, that my cake is moist.
Don't do this to me, cakes.
[Robert] Good thing Jacques and Nicole aren't here to see these cakes.
[enchanting music playing]
I hope they're going to do a good fruit filling
-with a little bit of lemon in it. -[cooing]
Someone going to press me! No! No!
-[screams] -Oh no.
A-ha! Ha-ha!
Oh! [laughs]
-Oh my God. It touched the lips. No! -Okay, that was really close.
Oh yes!
[music ends]
[exciting music playing]
Now what do I do with this? Do I put this in the freezer?
Gravity is not working with me on this orange.
We're seeing all different levels and heights of cakes from these bakers.
I'm gonna be smart and make a small pineapple.
[Jean] Walking through. Walking through. I burnt 'em, I think.
Jean, what's going on with your cakes?
-Oh, I know, I know. -[Ignoisco] They overcooked.
Yep. I shouldn't have turned it up to 375.
They weren't cooking, so I did.
It's so burnt.
I'm way behind, I try to catch up, and I'm even worse off.
[Ignoisco] Do you know what you're gonna do to remedy that?
[Jean] I have no time to make new batter,
so I'm just gonna have to do with what I have.
This isn't gonna work.
-Hey, Jean. -This is going... Yes?
[Robert] What's happening? You look nervous.
That's my watermelon.
-This is your watermelon? -Yeah.
[Robert] This is it? You don't have any more cake layers?
It's okay if the fruits are smaller, as long as it's cohesive.
That all the fruits are small instead of a big one, a small one,
-it might look a little... -Well, they'll be all small.
With the pineapple, I'll just do a smaller pineapple.
-Okay. -So they're in proportion, so maybe...
-That sounds good, sounds proportioned. -Yeah, thank you.
Okay, now we're on to fondant.
[upbeat music playing]
[grunts]
-I'll take some of your open fondant. -Go for it.
[grunting]
The only thing that I'm worried about using in the kitchen is fondant.
It's like dried-up Play-Doh.
You know, it sticks to your fingers and sticks to the counter.
You know, you gotta work it out.
You have to put your body weight into it. You're sweating, like, "Why am I so weak?"
It sucks. [chuckles]
Oh my God.
Baking is probably my biggest hobby,
but not something I do in my day-to-day life.
I'm a grad student, so a lot of it is, kind of, class,
projects, going home and doing homework.
So this competition allows me to explore my artistic side.
Winning $100,000 might allow me to start something new.
Maybe I might open a bakery. Who knows?
[gasps]
Lovely. Okay, I don't know how stable it is, though.
Okay, everyone, at this time,
all of you should be having fondant going on your cakes.
I got this. I got this.
[suspenseful music playing]
[Emily] Thirty minutes, everybody. Thirty minutes left.
-[Richard] Thirty minutes! -Thank you.
-[Emily] We got this! -Lovely leaves.
[Richard grunts] Trying.
Just gotta curl them a little bit.
[Jean] Looking good.
[laughs]
[Cura] This is not...
working.
Putting this cake together definitely has put my stacking skills to the test.
And it looks like my weak spot is fondant.
Laying that fondant on, like, I have issue with that.
So I am not feeling confident, like, in the last challenge.
Come on. Come on.
[Georgina] Where's everyone else at? Ooh! I see. I see.
The clock is ticking down.
I see everyone working on their little details, their faces,
and I'm just thinking, "They need some fruit hats."
All right.
-Get your fruit hats on! -[Ignoisco] You've got to be kidding.
Everyone get the fruit baskets on your heads for five minutes.
[Cura] Oh my God.
Alright, everyone's got them on?
I hope it doesn't fall on my cake.
-You had to do this at the end? -Yeah, right?
-[Richard] I'm afraid. Ah! -[laughs]
[strains, grunts] All right.
My pineapple looks like a ghost.
[laughs] This is so stupid.
Keep your head up.
Travis, you're, like, dancing.
[humming]
Hey, this is pretty fashionable.
[camera shutter clicks]
Has it been five minutes yet?
[laughs]
-[buzzer sounds] -Whoa!
-Bless you. -You guys did it.
-Okay. -We got 15 minutes!
Oh, whoa!
I don't like it.
[Jean] This is so hard.
[groans]
My cake is looking okay, but the details really aren't there.
I am running out of time, so I think,
"Why create a paper top for this pineapple
when I could pull the top part of a real pineapple off
and stick it on top of my cake?" Come on!
That's cute.
-Bakers, a minute and a half left. -Oh!
-[Georgina] Oh my God. [whimpers] -[Ignoisco] My orange got some buckteeth.
[dramatic music playing]
[Cura] My girl needs to go get some thread goin' on on these eyebrows.
[music continues]
Ah!
I am so, so excited for Vanessa Bayer.
I cannot believe she's gonna eat something I made.
Okay, the orange got a little bit of red pigment in it.
My only hope and prayer is that my chocolate strawberry ganache
might pull me through.
[Angie] Come on.
[dramatic music continues]
[all] Five, four, three, two, one.
-You're done. -[bakers] Whoo!
Whoo.
Thank God it's over!
[laughs]
[pleasant music playing]
[Nicole] Bakers, allow me to introduce
world-renowned fruit expert, Vanessa Bayer.
[bakers cheering]
Vanessa, we really a-peach-iate you joining us today.
Well, I'm "cherry" excited to be here, and I "cantaloupe" wait to try the cakes.
[all laughing]
[Nicole] Angie, Travis, Richard, come up.
[amusing music playing]
Hi, Angie. How are you?
Hi, how are you guys doing?
Let's remember the not-so-classic fruitcake cake you were trying to make,
-and let's see what you made, Angie. -Okay.
-[drumroll] -Nailed it!
-Oh boy, I like it. -[laughs]
[Nicole] That pineapple has such buckteeth.
Their unique teeth give them different, unique expressions.
-I think that's really something. -Thank you.
In the last Cake Bake, your cake was collapsing.
[Angie] You can do this, Angie.
And here, everything is holding well.
You learned.
I am so proud.
Okay, well, I can't wait to taste this.
[Angie] It goes right through with no problem.
-A good sign. -It is.
-[Vanessa] Oh, I see the fruit. -[Nicole] Ooh!
This is lovely.
Mm!
What filling you make?
-[Angie] I did the puree... -[Jacques] Yes.
...and then I sliced some strawberries and put in it.
It's not really a filling that we teach you.
-You came up with your own filling? -Yes.
How'd you make the puree?
[Angie] So I took the puree and I just...
-[Nicole] It's pre-made puree? -Yes.
-I did not do it from scratch. -I thought you made puree from scratch.
Oh. No, but... but this is good.
-Angie! -[laughs]
-Tastes like jam. You added sugar to it? -Yes.
I love this filling. I don't care if it's jam or not.
-Bye, Angie. -Bye.
[Nicole] Hello, Travis, how are you?
-All right. -Let's see what you did.
[drumroll]
Nailed it.
You know what? I like 'em.
The watermelon is really serving me, like, a jack-o'-lantern feel.
The orange on top of the watermelon
is really serving me a jack-o'-lantern type of feel.
[all chuckling]
And this pineapple? Pretty much a jack-o'-lantern.
[all laughing]
It has sort of a... like a punk feel, like it's got a real style to it.
Hee-hee! Why are they so dusty? No lotion?
[Jacques laughs]
It looks to me that you used too much cornstarch
when rolling out your fondant,
but that's something we will teach you very soon.
Travis, in the last Big Cake Bake, uh, your cake was leaning a lot.
[Travis] Nailed it.
Your structure is a lot better.
Yes, thank you.
Okay, Travis, let's taste your cake!
[suspenseful music playing]
[Jacques] What filling did you do, the curd?
[Travis] I did a lemon curd, and a white chocolate lemon ganache on the top.
A-ha.
The cake I find to be very moist, and just a true delight for the senses.
I think good choice of filling here.
The curd and the ganache kind of moist the cake.
-The cake is good and flavorful. -[Vanessa] Yeah.
-I'm happy, Travis. Toodle-loo! -[Travis] Thank you.
This shows that I'm growing and I'm succeeding in this competition.
I might win this one. They love my flavors.
[ominous music playing]
[Richard] I didn't do one of the fillings I was taught,
but I think the judges are going to say it tastes great.
Well, well, well, Richard, let's check out the fruitcake you made.
Okay.
[drumroll]
Nailed it!
[chuckles]
I gotta start with this pineapple.
-It looks like corn. -[Richard chuckles]
[all laughing]
I feel like this top pineapple has a very, um, Tim Burton-esque style to it.
-[Richard] Ooh! Yeah. -[Vanessa] It's very, like, spooky,
but also looks fun to eat.
So, uh, how many things can you say that about?
[Richard and Nicole laugh]
[Nicole] Ooh!
The buttercream is colored. Thank you.
Ooh.
[Richard] I didn't use any of the fillings that I was taught.
Oh my.
I went with a strawberry buttercream with strawberries inside.
I love the cake, and what I especially like
is that you have four layers of buttercream
that give a little bit of moisture to the cake.
I'm really enjoying the strawberry in this.
When I was a kid, I loved strawberry milk. The buttercream tastes exactly like it.
So I'm, like, obsessed with it. I love this cake.
-Yay. -But, Richard, we have other cakes to see.
[chuckles] Thank you, guys.
I want to eat a bite of that cake.
[amusing music playing]
-[Nicole] Let's see what you made. -[drumroll]
[bakers] Nailed it!
[all laughing]
Emily!
You used a real part of a pineapple for the top.
-Work smarter, not harder. -[Nicole laughs]
Hey, this is sweet.
Beautiful "U" eyes.
[Nicole] The watermelon's pretty wet-looking.
[laughs] Moisturized.
-Moi... -[all laughing]
-It's almost got an emoji feel to it. -[Nicole] Yeah.
That watermelon with those angry eyebrows, I like that.
This was just how I felt at the end.
[all laughing]
Like a chocolate-covered strawberry was my inspiration for this cake.
I think your pastry cream is very successful.
-[Jacques] Georgina, I have a question. -Yes.
-Last Big Cake Bake... -Yes.
...the bottom cake was all Rice Krispie Treat.
I am very proud to say this is 100% cake.
-Wow. -Hundred percent cake?
-[Georgina] Hundred percent. -Amazing. Okay.
[Vanessa] What is the filling?
[Frank] Chocolate ganache,
and then there's passion fruit buttercream.
Frank, what do you do for a living?
Data scientist.
Frank, my data's going, "Bleep, bloop, bloop." I like it.
[all laughing]
So this is a, uh, dark chocolate ganache with raspberries.
Yes, you picked raspberries. I'll never forget that moment.
[all laughing]
It's a little bit dry, but I love the flavors in here.
Yeah.
I'm, kind of, more of a dryer cake lover because I have a very wet mouth.
-What? -[Vanessa laughs]
[laughing] Yeah.
[all laughing]
-[both] Bye, Georgina. -[Georgina] Bye.
We have three left to see.
Ignoisco, Jean, and Cura.
[tense music playing]
I'm very nervous.
I'm now replaying in my head everything that I did wrong.
I'm hoping that the judges' feedback will be that my cake is moist enough,
and that it is a tasty cake.
Cura, let's see what you made.
[drumroll]
Nailed it!
[bakers chuckling]
[Nicole] This is fun, Cura.
This pineapple's my favorite thing, I think, I've seen today.
-Clearly, she's not about hair. -[Nicole] No.
It's like in Pac-Man, when Pac-Man's chasing the little...
-Yeah! -[Jacques] That's what it is! Yes!
[Nicole] Yes.
[Jacques] The last cake bake, you did so well with the structure.
-What happened? -[Cura] Trying to get the shape.
I think that... that's kinda what I struggle with.
[Jacques] Carving a cake, it's not something easy.
And when you get it wrong,
it also makes it harder to get the fondant properly.
Which I see happened here, too.
And, uh, you're going to learn... hopefully.
[Jacques and Nicole chuckle]
[Cura] I made a pastry cream, and then I have, uh, strawberries.
[Nicole] I do think the cake is a little dry.
And certainly it's because it has only one layer...
-Right. -...of, uh, filling.
-Bye, Cura. -Bye.
Oh, hello, Ignoisco. Let's see what you made.
-[Ignoisco] All right. -[drumroll]
[in sing-song] Nailed it!
-[all laughing] -[Nicole] Do you remember...
-That watermelon has a personality. -[Vanessa] Wow.
All the fruit, their eyes are all focused on something
-in front of them. -[Ignoisco laughs]
-So let me first say, I ventured. -[Nicole] Uh-oh.
[Ignoisco] So, hopefully, we'll get some points there.
-[laughs] -Is this a threat? What did you do?
-[Ignoisco] I made a chocolate cake. -[Vanessa and Nicole] Oh!
[Ignoisco] With some strawberries. Some chocolate ganache up in there.
[Nicole] Oh!
[Ignoisco] Yes.
I do love chocolate. This is a lot of chocolate.
I'm mixed, because sometimes I think I can't get enough chocolate,
but sometimes I think, maybe, I did.
[chuckles]
I'm like, "Who doesn't love chocolate?" Give me all the chocolate.
Chocolate cake and chocolate buttercream and chocolate ganache?
[chuckling] That's a little overboard.
Especially for the fruit filling challenge.
The flavor of the strawberry goes well with the chocolate,
and I really loved the gooeyness of it.
-It's very gooey, fudgy. -It's fudgy.
Ooh!
Okay, Ignoisco, I've...
-Whatever, I don't have a goodbye. -[all laughing]
[Ignoisco] Bye-bye.
-[Nicole] My friend Jean. -Hi.
-Let's see what you made. -[Jean] Okay.
[drumroll]
-Nailed it! -[Nicole] Jean!
[Jacques and Jean laughing]
[Nicole] Jean, I love it.
[Jean laughing] Wait till you taste it.
I love that you wrapped the pineapple in the leaves!
-[all laughing] -I... I got a little confused!
The expressions on all of your fruits are, like, just... They're realist.
They're like, "This is life. Here we are, and what... what are you gonna do?"
[Nicole laughs]
The last, uh, Big Cake Bake, the taste of your cake was the best.
-Let's see what's happened to this cake. -I want to taste every piece of this cake.
You want a slice like this?
I don't know how you're gonna do it, Jean.
-[Vanessa] Oh wait. Is that what you want? -[all laughing]
[Nicole] Go, Jean! Go, Jean!
-[Vanessa] I'm scared. I feel scared. -Jean!
-She's stabbing it. -[dramatic, tense music playing]
Wait, Jean, what have you done?
It's a chocolate ganache with strawberries in it.
[amusing music playing]
-Mm. [chuckles] -Oh, yeah. [chuckles]
This is, maybe, one of the most interesting cakes I've ever had.
-That's a very nice way to put it. -[Nicole] No, no.
There was things I liked about it.
-I like the flavor of your ganache. -[Jean] Oh, good.
-[Nicole] The underbaked part is... -I know. I thought overbaked it.
No, it's like a strange congealed texture.
[laughs] I know!
The cake itself feels like, maybe, a cake that is baked,
that was then compressed.
It can be, uh, not enough baking powder into the cake, and the cake didn't rise.
Well, it would explain why Jean's cakes are so short.
I think the problem is not the filling, the problem is the cake.
-Yeah. -Yeah.
-[Nicole] Thank you, Jean, Ignoisco, Cura. -Thank you.
We have a very difficult decision ahead of us,
and we're gonna try to make that right now.
[Nicole sighs]
Everyone's cake stood up. And that's the important part.
-At least we all had 100% cake too, right? -Yeah.
[both laughing]
[Cura] You can't cut a cake like an axe murderer, Jean.
I'm so nervous, but I'm praying that my taste or something or my hazelnut
is going to get me through one more time.
Cura, I know you had so many nerves. How do you feel now?
Still the same.
-[Emily] No. -Yes.
[Emily] I feel like you got lots of compliments.
-I love Pac-Man. I was good at it. -[all laughing]
I want to stay in this competition because I have so much to learn.
I want to learn more,
so I'm hoping my flavors let me get by, by the skin of my teeth.
Every one of you made a pretty good filling,
and you are showing progress in your baking journey.
-[bakers] Whoo! -[Jean laughing]
[Ignoisco] Thank you. Thank you.
[Nicole] That said, we had to make some tough decisions.
Travis, Cura, Richard, Jean, Ignoisco.
Please come forward.
[suspenseful music playing]
The bakers we would like to recognize for their work today are...
Travis.
Your lemon curd and white chocolate ganache
was one of our favorite combination of the day.
-Thank you. -Richard.
You took a risk and it paid off.
And we adore your strawberry buttercream.
And, Ignoisco, while your cake was almost too chocolatey,
it turned out very moist and delicious.
There was one baker who took the cake today. Vanessa?
Well, the baker who won this week not only created a well-constructed cake,
but their filling was fantastic.
That baker is...
[dramatic music building]
-Richard. -Whoo!
-[laughs] -[bakers cheering]
-Richard, you have won yourself $1,000! -[Richard] Whoo-hoo!
[Nicole] You're one step closer to the big $100,000 prize.
Ha-ha! Yes!
[laughs] I'm the winner.
I took a major risk, and it paid off.
Boom. A thousand dollars.
1-0-0-0.
What'll you spend your money on?
I don't know. I'll probably spend it on one of my daughters.
No! Actually, no, all of my daughters.
[all laughing]
[Nicole] Cura and Jean.
The two of you had a little bit of trouble with your fruitcakes,
and today only one of you will be continuing on.
Cura, the face on your fruitcake were entertaining,
but your cake turned out a little too dry.
Jean, your fruit were adorable and your filling was good,
but the texture of your cake makes it difficult to enjoy.
In the end, this came down to a cake that lacked solid construction,
and the flavor came up short.
So the baker that filled us with joy but didn't nail their filling is...
[suspenseful music building]
Jean, I'm so sorry, but you just didn't nail it.
It's all good. It's all good.
I'm going home and really kind of bummed, but for an old broad like me,
this has been the most fantastic adventure of my lifetime.
I learned I can do it. I'm really proud of myself.
[Nicole] Ready for another pantry raid?
[all cheering]
Okay, Jean, you have one minute to raid the pantry.
Absolutely nothing is off-limits.
It starts now. Go, Jean, go!
-Go, Jean! -[all cheering]
-Good, thank you so much. Thank you. -[Richard] Go, Jean! Go, go, go!
Go, Jean, go!
I'll have different sizes so I can make a three-tiered cake.
Jean! Let's move faster!
Go, Jean!
[Nicole] Don't take perishables!
[Robert] Not the fondant!
[Jean] Even though I didn't win,
I am taking away from this a lot of knowledge.
[Ignoisco] Grab it all!
[Jean] Oh yeah. Okay.
[Erin] You're killing me! Faster! You're killing me.
[all] Five, four, three, two, one!
[all cheering]
And I definitely think I'm getting closer to bake for my gentleman caller.
-[laughing] -[romantic music playing]
-[Angie] Bye, Jean! -[Jean] Bye!
And then there were eight.
-Bakers, well done. -Phew.
But we are about to live your worst fears in the kitchen.
Why?
-Okay, bye! -[Vanessa] Bye.
[closing theme music playing]