Bakers vs. Fakers

I'm Anna from Long Island, New York,

and I'm a professional baker.

I'm Bob from Freehold, New Jersey,

and I am a professional baker.

I'm Marcia from Virginia Beach,

and I am a professional baker.

I'm Heather from Scottsdale, Arizona,

and I am a professional baker.

I'm not sure.

Two of them are not telling the truth.

Can you spot the fakers?

Come on. Please bake. Please bake.

Four bakers are here to do battle.

Oh, beautiful, baby! Beautiful!

Two are amazing amateurs...

Praise the Lord!

We're saying the same prayer. We're saying the same prayer.

...two are professionals.

Oh, that looks beautiful.

Genius... Pro move!

...or lunatic?

But only they know their true identities.

Their mission...

Just winning a bunch of money!

...outbake the competition.

It's hot in the kitchen. Oh, is it?

If a professional wins...

God, what a mess. Whew, girl.

...they'll take home $10,000.

Whoo! You know your stuff.

If the amateur is able to fake out the judges...

I didn't see that coming!

...and take down the pros...

Don't talk to him. He's a faker!

...they'll take home...

Yeah? ...$15,000.

Pa-pow! Wha-What?!

Are you a baker, or are you a faker?

- I... - Am...

A...

No! No! I told you!

Whoo!

Hello, everybody.

- Hello! - Hello!

Welcome to "Bakers vs. Fakers".

Now, in my professional opinion,

you all look like fakers to me.

- Please. - What?

Two of you are amateur bakers,

and two of you are professional bakers.

Now, we're hiding your identities from the judges

so they're completely unbiased, okay?

There are two rounds to this competition,

and the first round is my choice.

So, to start you off today, your challenge is to bake...

...a pie.

Okay.

I don't bake pies very often, but I do around Thanksgiving.

Let's face it - any competent baker can make a pie.

But it takes a real professional to make a first-class pie

using...

...bacon! Ha ha!

Bacon has a strong flavor, so the challenge in using bacon

for this is maintaining balance throughout the dish.

So we have duck bacon, veggie bacon, turkey bacon,

speck, and smoked bacon.

Fakers, you've got 45 minutes

to create the best pie you possibly can

using at least one type of bacon.

Are you ready? - I'm ready.

- Yes. - Get baking.

Come on.

All right. Good luck, guys.

How do you think the pro will utilize the bacon?

I'm looking for them to maybe candy it

or to render out the fat

and use the lard from the bacon in it somehow.

Maybe try to incorporate it into the crust,

fry it down, chop it up real finely.

You know, put a little maple syrup on it.

Quick, crispy, sweet.

It's gonna bring out the saltiness in there.

Let's look at it from the faker's point of view.

How would they use the bacon?

I think that the faker is going to not incorporate it.

And so I think that you're gonna see bacon

on the top, nothing done to it.

Just like, "Uh, last minute, here's a little crunch.

I'm garnishing with some bacon."

Exactly.

I'm doing something that you have never seen before, baby.

I think other people would describe me

as completely insane, very clumsy.

I broke an apple. That's why I have extras. Okay.

Quirky and really creative.

Only the most beautiful ladies will make it onto the plate.

My baking style is all-American.

But I do things that you're not going to expect,

'cause I'm probably not what you would expect.

Got some nice, crispy bacon coming out already.

I'm gonna incorporate the bacon into the apple pie filling

and give it the exact salty crunch that I'm looking for.

That, my friends, is the smell of Sunday morning.

Hello. Hello, dear.

So, what are you making?

I am doing a mini bacon apple pie.

But it's gonna be served in the actual apple.

And then, instead of a traditional pie crust,

I'm doing some pie crust leaves.

So, you're using the apple as the base.

The apple is the base. Yep.

The pie filling is gonna be inside.

And then the crust is actually gonna be in - on the top.

Wow.

Heather is very creative in her approach.

I think being creative shows

that you're used to making desserts.

Everything's better with butter, honey.

Here we go.

I consider myself a traditionalist.

Growing up in a traditional Italian family,

there was always bacon in cooking.

But if I asked my grandma to make

an Italian pastry with bacon in it,

she'd probably hit me with a wooden spoon.

Got some nice apples.

My baking style is classic-American meets Italian.

Blueberries.

So, I'm gonna make a unique twist

on two American classics - blueberry and apple pie,

with a bacon crumb topping, all in one delicious bite.

Let's get the crust going.

I really want to win this competition to prove to myself

that I can rise to any situation and persevere.

I am a cancer survivor.

I was diagnosed with cancer 7 years ago.

That's how I actually got into baking.

While I was going through 9 weeks of chemo,

baking really kept my mind off of what I was going through,

gave me the - the strength to get through it.

All right. Crust is coming together.

See, Bob is parbaking his dough.

That's a pro move...

All right. Here we go.

...because you want to get the inside cooked,

the bottom cooked

because he knows he's only got 45 minutes.

Got everything you need down there, Bob?

Doing all right. Doing all right.

Any amateur can make an apple pie.

Wow.

Not like this, honey. Not like this.

Today, I am making a sweet potato pie

with a candied-bacon shortbread crust.

I'm doing it.

The shortbread's gonna give it that extra texture

so you'll have that creaminess of your pie filling.

And then you'll have that crispy pie crust on the bottom.

Anything worth having is never done easy.

My culinary style is, I would say, mostly Southern.

My dad has roots in South Carolina.

So, the sweet potato pie I'm making today

is a tribute to my dad.

Now, Marcia's making a sweet potato.

The sweet potato takes time,

and it's got to cool, then you got to get it ready.

In the time that we've got, it's gonna be tricky.

But Marcia is making a shortbread crust

which should bake faster than a traditional.

Whoo!

I'm gonna incorporate the bacon by candying it

with a little bit of maple syrup and a little bit of brown sugar.

Smells good. Thank you.

I'm gonna cook the bacon into the crust.

The bacon's gonna add a little bit of saltiness

and a little bit of texture

so you don't always just get that custard feeling

from when you're biting into the pie.

Love what I see Marcia doing right now.

She candied her bacon.

And now she's putting it in with her pie crust.

Absolute pro move.

Marcia is a pro.

Marcia's shortbread crust does look good.

Look at that.

I get some room-temperature butter.

Yes. I'm standing on my tippy-toes right now.

So, I might be really small and petite.

But when it comes to baking,

my desserts are whimsical and artistic.

They're very me.

I'm gonna make my caramel.

So the pie that I'm making

is a bacon caramel pecan pie with a meringue topping.

So exciting.

Caramel is going to give this really nice, nutty sweetness.

Bacon is looking good.

And I think with a traditional bacon,

that salty, meaty flavor with some pecans,

it's a really great combination.