Blue Ribbon Baking Championship

- -

Good work last night, girl.

Aw, thank you.

-Awesome job, Felicia. - Yeah.

See that big, old blue ribbon?

Look at that ribbon.

- Yes! - Yeah.

I started baking 20 years ago after the birth of my daughter.

I just wanted to be that mom that made, like, the best cakes.

So, that blue ribbon, it's totally validating.

- Surprise! Surprise! -

-Oh, surprise! -

Hey!

Oh my goodness, look at that.

-Oh wow! - Good morning.

- Good morning. - Oh, hi!

Well, surprise, surprise, it's a whole new day.

And surprise, surprise,

that is the theme of today's challenges.

Now, I see you all enjoying a nice, warm cup of coffee,

but, uh, personally, when I'm at the fair,

I enjoy a nice, cold lemonade.

-Oh my God! - Oh!

- -

Wow!

- Okay. - I didn't see that.

So moist and refreshing!

Because it's obviously cake, and that is a clue.

For today's Fast-Fair, we want you to capture

the most vibrant and appealing state fair food

by recreating it as cake.

- Oh. - Okay.

So, food that looks like other food. Who would ever fall for that?

- - Ah-ha.

- -You did.

I... forgot.

Oh!

That really is delicious.

As you can see, fair food is quite playful,

so we want you to have some fun.

And it can't only be about looks, it has to be amazingly delicious.

You have two hours for this Fast-Fair Challenge.

Now, you better get going, because your time starts...

-...now. - Go, go, go, go, go!

-Hey. -Want a sip?

I want a bite.

I was so thirsty.

So...

What do I want to do?

The best thing I like to eat, other than my candy apples, is cotton candy.

I'm thinking about my kids right now, they're really picky eaters.

When my kids do eat something at the fair, it's usually a hot dog.

The hot dog is going to be a strawberry cake,

the bun is an almond cake,

topping with buttercream and cherry coulis for the condiments.

So, the Twinkie molds are going to be used for the hot dogs,

and then the Wilton tins are going to be used like the bun pans.

I feel like I'm making something fun, so I'm excited.

That smells good.

How you doing over there, Nathan?

I'm doing okay, girl. What you making today?

I am baking cherry chip snow cone cupcakes.

-That sounds delicious. -Doesn't it sound yummy?

I would expect nothing less from our blue ribbon baker.

Oh, stop it.

Today, I feel stressed out, probably because it's mostly decorating,

and I'm a baker more than a decorator, so we'll see how I do.

I'm making a snow cone that's dropped on the sidewalk.

The inside's going to be cherry cake

with cherry filling, and then I'm going to roll it in three kinds of sugar.

I'm going to do a little isomalt paddle of melted sugar

so it looks like the snow cone is melting on the sidewalk.

My inspiration behind this was for every one of us who's dropped a snow cone.

I still have to get them cool, get them filled, get them frosted,

and get them coated, so we're going to see

if I'm gonna get to the finish line of this one.

I think that zest should be enough set in there

to get that flavor that I'm looking for.

I'm making a lemon cake with a lemon buttercream

covered in a red mirror glaze,

so that way it can give it that nice, shiny candy apple vibe.

The hardest part might be just trying to achieve that shiny glaze,

but hey, go big or go home, right?

I've only worked with mirror glaze just twice at home, practicing.

I want to show the judges that I have some technique, challenge myself.

Let that sit.

Kimmy!

-Hi! -How are you?

-I'm doing great. - What you making?

I'm making a lemon cake with a lemon buttercream,

but I'm giving you a red mirror glaze. Go for that candy apple, fair feel.

-You finally got a ribbon. -Yes.

Now you're going to make a mirror glaze.

And you know it has to be perfect, smooth, shiny.

That is a thing.

Trying to put my best foot forward, to show you what I can do.

-I'm a risk-taker. -It's a big chance.

Yes, it is.

-Hope it pays off. -I hope so too.

-Good luck, Kim. -Thank you. Have a good one.

- That is an intense decision. - Mirror glaze?

Ooh, the hardest part of this challenge is gonna be

making the mirror glaze shiny and thick.

I'm taking my gelatin mixture, melt the chocolate chips

and then add corn syrup.

I have to make sure that it's smooth, so that when I drip it on my cupcake,

it has a nice, smooth finish and there's no lumps.

It should get done as long as I... stay calm.

And keep my head in the game, as my son say.

These things scare me to death.

I am so out far of my comfort zone, I'm in the middle of the sea.

I'm a pie guy, and I think the concept of the whole thing

makes me nervous. But I'm willing to give it a try.

All right. I got blue. I got pink.

For today's Fast-Fair, I am making a cotton candy cupcake

with cotton candy-flavored buttercream and cotton candy Pop Rocks on top.

This batter is just a basic vanilla flavor,

and then I'm adding cotton candy extract

to give it that cotton candy flavor.

Adding cotton candy extract, I'm being very careful about its use.

Too little, you don't taste cotton candy. Too much, it tastes more like a chemical.

You can always add, but you can't take away.

So I'm kind of adding it and tasting the batter as I'm going.

Now I'm trying to add two-color batter to these things.

It should look like a little kaleidoscope of color, a little swirl.

I am challenging myself, but that's what the judges are looking for.

I'm learning on the fly. Going in the oven.

Let's get you little donuts in the oven.

Good luck.

I'm making a donut burger with a chocolate Rice Krispie treat for the burger,

then I'm going to make a raspberry puree to make the barbecue sauce.

Right now I'm working on the burger patty.

Putting the rice cereal in here gives it the texture of ground beef.

There are six components going into this bake, which is more than plenty.

I'm working on my bacon here.

When you candy bacon like this,

most of the brown sugar does kind of cook off of the bacon,

but it leaves you behind with a nice caramelized piece of bacon,

which is what I'm looking for.

I definitely know that this is an ambitious go,

but different is something I really try to go for.

Going in the oven.

I own and operate a bakery in Pocatello, Idaho.

Being in a small town, we don't have a lot of bakeries,

and so, like, I want the quality of our work to be elevated.

I would say I'm the most known for a French macaroon,

or we sell a lot of éclairs.

I am so supported in the community of Pocatello, and so thankful to be there.

I think these are done. Done, they're done, they're done.

- Hey, Lois. -Hello.

- How you going? - I'm a-going.

We're going to have some french fries out of sugar cookie dough

on top of a blood orange chocolate cupcake and ketchup frosting.

Why is your dough so soft? Is it supposed to be that soft?

It's supposed to be a little thicker.

Can you flash freeze it and make it a little bit...

Flash freezing it is a fabulous idea,

because I need it to be perfect.

-I can do this. - Yeah.

-Wanna help me do a time call, Lois? -Sure.

-Bakers! You now have... -

-One hour left! -One hour left!

-Perfect. -Yeah.

-Oh. You're right behind me. -

Okay. My peanut butter chips are looking a little thick.

I'm going to add a little bit of shortening to it.

I am making Korean corn dogs,

but they're actually going to be cakesicles

with a peanut butter and jelly flavor profile.

I remember as a kid, I would make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches

and then cut them into strips and roll them up,

serve them to my parents as if it was some kind of fine dining.

So this is a little nod to those origins.

To make the actual cake component that will go into my molds,

I have to really get in there with my hands, crumble up my cake,

mix it with my strawberry buttercream.

Squeezing everything together.

The thing that I'm most nervous about is actually creating the cakesicle,

making sure the peanut butter chips are melting and are smooth.

There's always so much anxiety popping the cakesicle out of the mold

and just praying that it'll hold together.

Freezer.

Right now, I'm just pouring the batter into the molds for the hot dogs.

And then after that, I'll get both of the buns and the hot dogs in the oven.

This smells so good.

It's a blood orange batter.

This part's where you try not to burn your knuckle, but you do anyway. How's that?

Isomalt is basically a sugar alcohol.

You simply warm it slowly in the microwave like chocolate.

And when it melts, it'll pour into shapes and molds.

But when it starts hardening, it hardens fast.

It does not have to be perfect, because it needs to look like the cone is melting.

All right, 30 minutes left, bakers.

Thirty minutes remaining.

Why do I smell barbecue?

I smell barbecue.

Ah! Bacon.

Oh, damn it.

Oh boy, Nathan. What's going on, Nathan?

Uh, we just lost track of bacon, but that's okay. We'll go again.