After six grueling weeks of cake challenges and kitchen soap opera drama, the original pool of 10 NEXT GREAT BAKER competitors has been reduced by exactly one half. For those doing the math, only five bakers have bitten the dust over the first six episodes – thanks to Joe’s repeat ride courtesy of the Box Truck chauffer. C’mon Joe, give someone else a chance to get sent home would-ya-please?
Last night’s episode provided the first opportunity in 7 weeks for the contestants to shine (or crash and burn) on their own merits. No longer could the excuse be used that a teammate botched a challenge with poor creative vision, questionable leadership, or incompetence in decorating execution. It was every baker for himself, mano-a-mano, as Chevrolet teamed up with the Cake Boss for a NEXT GREAT BAKER challenger to celebrate its stylish new 2011 Chevy Cruze model.
Image may be NSFW.
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The contestants were first encouraged to take the sporty Cruze for a spin around the neighborhood to get a feel for the ride they were to later represent in baked form. It was also revealed that the eventual winner would take home one of these slick cars as part of their grand prize; definitely an extra motivation for the bakers! After the test-drive, Brian said to Chef Dana, “Have I ever told you I’ve modeled over 500 cars?”
A point to which Dana responded, “more than the four I’ve done”.
Brian had a right to gloat, since cool cars are apparently his thing – err, just like special effects are his thing. But despite his 496-cake deficit in car model baking experience, Dana more than made up for it in creative vision and taking the time to understand the client’s needs and marketing message. Dana’s cake featured a showroom-clean all-American theme with the sleek Chevy Cruze perched atop a realistic tire base, and a towering shiny trophy highlighting the award-winning nature of the vehicle. Dana cut and covered his car portion of the cake in a mere 28 minutes, a fraction of the time spent by overconfident Brian who took nearly 7 hours to engineer an absolutely perfect breakfast-treat replica of the Cruze. The problem with Brian’s approach – there was only 1 hour left to complete everything else, and this was intended to be a CAKE challenge, not an edible CAR challenge. Uh oh, Brian. Time management 101 would prove to be a major downfall for him, but in the end, Brian was not the only gentleman baker who had trouble with this.
Jay’s Chevy cake was a true disaster, one of epic proportions considering that he was the consensus baker-to-beat after acing the previous weeks’ challenges. At one point after Buddy checked in on everyone’s progress with a mere hour remaining, Jay the sound bite machine lamented, “I feel like I’ve been cake-whipped… spanked by the cake”.
Wow Jay, sounds like a promising new cake series idea… Cake Boss: Spanked by the Cake, coming soon on TLC. Network development execs, were you listening?
As Buddy made the rounds, Corina wanted desperately to avoid scrutiny as he walked over to check her progress. Her defensive attitude projected shame and disappointment over her Cruze cake design, or more accurately stated – the HALF Cruze, as only the tail end of the car was actually produced. Corina’s cake portrayed the sleek vehicle disappearing into the sunset on a warm summer roadtrip; the problem – her vision didn’t translate well in 3D, and Corina knew it.
Visually speaking, Megan’s design also translated poorly on the cake pan, looking more like a boxy mid-70s Volvo than a 2011 Chevy Cruze. But once freed from the cake pan, Megan’s cake was poised to give viewers and judges a surprise ending….
With one hour left in the 8-hour challenge, Buddy shared his feelings after reviewing his contestants’ cakes-in-progress. It wasn’t pretty! The Cake Boss claimed to have found at least 10 problems with everyone’s cake, and scolded the bakers for their disappointing Kindgergarten quality work. His distaste for the group resulted in an impromptu Baker’s Challenge in which he would add 30 minutes to the clock, but require each chef to deliver a special dessert in addition to their challenge cake.
Jay’s self-described “worst cake he’s ever made” was still being fixed up in the waning moments of the challenge, but he hoped his “Lord Have Mercy” Baker’s Challenge cake bars would save him from the Box Truck.
Corina’s scrambled to bake up her secret family recipe, pumpkin bread. Meanwhile Dana produced a delicious-looking Southern Lemon cake with fresh strawberries, and Megan baked up a batch of all-American chocolate chip cookies to match the Chevy theme.
As time was running out, Brian realized his edible Chevy cake base was ruined, so he scrambled to come up with an alternative – styrofoam, covered with yellow fondant. As an afterthought, he hastily threw together a snickerdoodle cookie for Buddy’s last-minute Baker’s Challenge. Brian’s cake continued to cause him problems, taking up so much of his attention that it led to his snickerdoodles becoming slightly burned. Oh my… nothing was going right for Brian.
Eventually, the clock struck zero and it was now cake-judgement time…
Dana was the first to face the panel which included Cake Boss, Mauro, and Liz – the Chevy representative. The judges faces instantly lit up as they tasted his Southern Lemon cake, with cream cheese frosting that melted in their collective mouths. With Buddy’s exclaim – “That’s how you make cake!”, it appeared Delaware’s finest baker would be safe. More importantly, Buddy and the Chevy client also stated that Dana’s challenge cake design was knocked out of the park! After nailing the essence of the Chevy Cruze’s groundbreaking design and features in his beautiful cake, Dana was granted the first pass into the Next Great Baker finale. Said Buddy, “”Dana, you killed it today! ”
Way to go, Dana!!
Brian’s burned snickerdoodle disappointed Buddy and his right-hand man Mauro, but ironically it was the only baked item Brian would produce on this day. Detracting from his beautifully crafted Cruze model was the fact that there was no CAKE on his cake. How can that be? As Chevy’s rep looked on, bewildered by the cakeless cake, Brian appeared to be on thin ice.
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Jay’s Chevy Cruze cake
Jay’s “Lord Have Mercy” bars were oozing with sweetness – perhaps a little too sweet for everyone’s taste, but visually pleasing nonetheless. Jay’s car was a visual disaster, with drooping auto parts, sagging trimwork, and an appearance as if it had been totalled in a New Jersey Turnpike wreck. Like Brian, one had to wonder whether Jay would survive the night.
Megan’s cake MOVED everyone, literally. Despite having a boxy 70s look that did the modern, aerodynamic Cruze a disservice, Megan was the second baker to earn a ticket to the finale. The key to her win was the special effects which she nailed as the car-cake sped effortlessly across the display table. Not that it mattered but her cookie failed to wow anyone, and Toll House has nothing to worry about as Buddy explained the chocolate-chip treat was a bit overdone and headed for a brick-like quality within a few hours.
Corina’s family pumpkin cake made the judges happy with its authenticity and taste, while her car design was quite interesting to say the least. Her cake story was well-received by the judges, but the questionable design and execution had everyone scratching their heads.
But in the end, Jay’s swags were falling off of his rent-a-wreck cake, and according to Buddy – “the cake had so much negative, he couldn’t even think of a positive”. Perhaps a tad harsh in his criticism, but such a cake was not up to standards for the NEXT GREAT BAKER. Meanwhile, Brian’s lack of baked elements in his cake was the final straw for Buddy.
Jay and Brian were the two contestents banished to the box truck, baby… leaving Corina and Megan safe and sound to see another week and compete with Sugar Daddy Dana Herbert for the Next Great Baker title!
Congratulations to the three finalists, and we’re looking forward to the finale drama next Monday night (January 24) at 9/8 Central time.
What did you think of last night’s episode, and who do you believe should win the NEXT GREAT BAKER finale?
The post Who will Cruze to next week’s finale? appeared first on The Official Website of Chef Dana Herbert.