01x01 - Holidays Your Way

[bunniefuu]

- Thank you so much
for house-sitting, Maya.

- Oh, it's my pleasure, Amy.

What a wonderful place
to spend the holidays.

- And I'm here too.

I was just talking to Maya,

and then she disappeared
into a snow globe,

which was magical
but also a little rude.

So then I jumped in after her,
which was scary but also cool.

- Amy, why don't you just stay?

- I've just been spending
so many seasons here

hosting competition shows,
I needed a change of scenery.

- Oh, so do you want me
and Maya to do a show here?

- No, that's okay.
- Are you sure?

I mean,
you're all set up for a show.

- Yeah, and there's, like,
20 camera guys

just sitting out there.

- No,
you really shouldn't bother.

I mean, is this
the perfect place

to do a competition show?
Yes.

Are there talented people here

with heartwarming stories
ready to share?

Always.

But really,
don't feel any pressure.

Oh, that's my sled dogs.

Okay, happy holidays!

- Happy holidays!
- Yeah, bye.

So wait,
we're not doing a show?

- I mean,
she didn't say we couldn't.

- But it sounded
like we shouldn't.

- Oh, this is awesome.
- This is crazy!

- Wow!
- Yes! Wow!

- We made it, Mom!

- Look at this.
- Oh, wow.

- Look at our names
on the front here.

Oh, this is unreal.

I love the holidays.

I love being able
to come together,

family, all of us in one spot.

And that's what baking
is all about.

It brings people together.

- Oh, my gosh.
- Look.

- I know, they're so cute.
- Green, I love this color.

- Here goes nothin'.
- Okay.

- Oh, my God!

- What?
That's nice.

- Yo, what?
- That's nice.

Hello, bakers.

Hello!

- Happy holidays.

Happy holidays!

- And welcome to "Baking It."

I'm Maya Rudolph.

- And that's Maya Rudolph.

And when you're ready
to meet me, I'm Andy Samberg.

- Yes, sir!
- But I understand

if you need a minute

to still take in that
that's Maya Rudolph.

- Yeah.
- That's pretty exciting.

- Indeed.
- Yeah.

- We've gathered
some of the best

home bakers in the country--

- That's you.
- That's you guys--

to join us...
- That's us.

- Here in our festive
winter cabin

for a spectacular
holiday spectacular.

- That's all of this.

- Uh-huh.
- Mm-hmm.

- You'll be competing
in challenges

we designed
to showcase your baking skills.

Every day, we'll be giving you
a Short and Sweet challenge,

where we ask you
to think fast,

and a Pie in the Sky
challenge,

where we ask you to dream big.

But in the end, only one team

will be named Best in Dough.

- Ooh!
- Oh!

- Ah!

- I was gonna say
the Master-Bakers.

- Yeah, no, you can't say that.

- We'll put a pin in it.
We'll talk about it later.

- We will never talk
about it again.

And win the $50,000 prize.

- Ooh!

- Let's go!
- But, guys,

it's not about the money.

- It's about the holidays.

- But the holidays
can be challenging.

- Which brings us
to our first challenge.

- Ooh, Andy.

- This is a Christmas show,
and everyone knows

that every great Christmas
starts with Hanukkah.

- Your first
Short and Sweet challenge

is a festival of bites.

- Ooh.
- Introduce us

to the holiday traditions
you celebrate

with eight homemade treats.

- Eight treats for
the eight nights of Hanukkah.

They can be sweet or savory,
but the most important thing

is, they tell us
something about you.

- So get ready, bakers.

Andy,
want to do your catchphrase?

- Yes, I do,
and keep in mind,

this has been workshopped
and focus-grouped

and scientifically proven
to be the best way

to start a baking competition.

- I can't wait.
- All right, here it is.

Ready?
- Yep.

- Let's get bakin'!

- I don't know
what we're making,

but we probably need butter.

- Nice one.
- It worked.

- Do they have
a tortilla press?

We need a tortilla press.
- A tortilla press?

- Of course we need
a tortilla press.

- Do we have noodles?
- Yes, we do.

- So let's do those
pecan tassies.

- And I'll do--how about
some ice cream on the side?

- With candied bacon on top.
- That sounds good.

- Do it, do it, do it.
- Let's do it.

- It's really fun
to work together.

- It's the best.

Just getting to hang out
with Maya all day again

has really been a reunion

of that one half of one season
of "SNL" where we overlapped.

-
- I mean, I like baking fine,

but I'm here for Maya.

And the money.
Make no mistake.

- But the baking also
will be an added bonus.

- The drama of it all!
-

- How are we gonna get
the paper off the butter?

- Hi, guys.

- Hi.
- Tell us about your team.

- Okay, so we're sisters.
- We're sisters.

- She's my baby sister.

Yeah.
- So we're eight years apart.

- Yeah.
- Uh-huh.

Cute.
- Yeah.

And she's one
of my best friends.

- Yeah, so I live in Portland,
and she lives in Kansas City.

- We haven't lived
by each other in, what...

- Like, 20 years, I think.
- 20 years?

- So this must be
so nice for you.

- Right.
- It's amazing.

- Yeah.
- It's like a chill getaway.

- Right?
Actually, I mean,

I have six kids, so
a little bit, it is a vacation.

- That's great.

- It is wonderful and crazy
and loud and emotional.

- Before I met you, Maya had
the most kids of anyone I knew.

- Yeah.
- Really?

- So you beat me.
- You win.

- And I have two babies.
- You have two babies?

I have four, and he's got one.

- Mm-hmm.
- So together, that's...

Five.
- Carry the three.

- Thank you.
-

- Tell us
what you guys are making today.

- We are making black-bottomed
pecan pie bites.

- Ooh.
- Do you guys like pecan pie?

- Yes!
- Okay, good.

- Who doesn't, right?

- What traditions
did you celebrate?

What holidays did you
celebrate growing up?

What are we supposed to say?
- Sure, that's good.

You guys, this is the first one
we've ever done.

You're our first.
- Oh, my gosh!

Us too.
We're so nervous.

- This is the maiden voyage
for all of us.

- So we celebrate Christmas.

And pecan pie is a deal breaker

for us at Christmas
and Thanksgiving.

- I love pie.
- Yeah.

- Pie is just special.
- Pie is love, I think.

- Yeah.
- You like pie a lot.

- I love pie!
- Yeah.

- Well, we're so glad
to be able to fill that need.

- Were you nervous
to do the show?

- Yes, because meeting people
and being the host...

- Mm-hmm.
- And keeping the ball rolling

and also being fun...
- Uh-huh.

- Is a lot of pressure.
- Sure.

- What about you?
Were you nervous?

- At first, I was nervous.

But I think we're gonna do
a really good job.

- Yeah.
- I'm not gonna go so far

as to say
we were born for this.

- I mean, some of us were.

- We're here, Steve!
We're bakin'!

- Let's make
the raspberry shortbread bars.

- Sounds good.

- So tell us about yourselves.
Tell us about your team.

- This is my youngest son,
Steve.

- I was gonna say brother.
- Oh, thank you!

I love this guy.
Always loved you.

- Do you guys normally
cook together?

- We do, yeah.
- We do, yeah.

- That's nice.
- Yeah.

- This has been a really fun
time with my dad.

We both live busy lives.

I've got two kids,
a third on the way.

My dad has ten grandkids,
so I can't remember

the last time that it's just
been the two of us.

- Yeah, and I'm just happy
to be here

'cause I get to hang out
with my son 24-7.

It's a little bit much
sometimes, but for right now,

I'm pretty happy.

- Tell us what you guys
are making today.

- Yes.
- Well, we are actually making

a tribute to Hanukkah.

- Ah.
- We're making eight bites.

We have little shortbreads

with fresh
raspberry preserves,

which I'm making right here.
- Ah, yes!

- Mascarpone
with a little bit of lemon.

It's gonna be beautiful.
- I love it.

Did you know
that I celebrate Hanukkah?

- You know, I feel like
I heard that.

- It's true, I've got
a menorah and everything.

- We're gonna do a tribute
to a menorah today, so...

- How wonderful.

Well, unfortunately
I'm not a judge,

but I'll be cheering it on.

- You tell those judges
how good we've done.

- Andy, do you know
the story of Hanukkah?

- I do, yeah.

But I don't want
to tell it right now.

You know, I don't want
to spoil the ending for anyone

who's still reading the Torah.

- Ah, good--
that's a good point.

- Yeah.
I mean, you can pretty much

just, like--like,
bad stuff happens to the Jews.

- Right.
- Then God does a miracle

thing, and then, you know,
we all get together,

like, seven times a year,
complain, and drink wine.

- Sounds fun.
- Yeah.

Yeah. It's not.

- The holidays is all about
people coming together,

so today we're gonna find out
how our bakers celebrate

their holidays,
some of their traditions,

and how they make
the holidays special.

- We celebrate Christmas
as our main holiday.

And our very close
family friends are Italian,

and they celebrate
the Feast of the Seven Fishes

on Christmas Eve.

But we are not Italian,

so we're bringing a little bit
of soul food

to their Italian Seven Fishes.

- Yes.
- Nice.

- We're making
shrimp and grit cream puffs.

- Ooh.
- And then we're actually

bringing in some
of our Latin heritage.

We are half Puerto Rican,

so a little sazon seasoning
on the shrimp.

- So you have
a lot of opportunities

to cook
a lot of different things.

- Oh, my gosh.
- Yes.

- Andy,
why do we celebrate holidays?

Why are holidays special?

- Well, they bring us all
together, you know,

friends and family, which
I think is really important.

You know, it's not some
throwaway Tuesday, you know?

- Do you guys celebrate
the holidays together?

- We do, yeah.
- We get the families together.

- We do
get the families together.

- The day after Christmas,
we celebrate Kwanzaa.

- So this is really a part
of our holiday traditions.

- What are you baking today?
- We are baking blondies.

We put white chocolate.
We put macadamia nuts.

- Okay.
- And to safeguard it

from the children, we top it
with whipped cream with--

- Booze.
- There you go.

- Got it.
- Hey!

- I was gonna say mousetrap.
- There you go.

- I like traditions.
Traditions are fun.

- My family has traditions,
and we tradish them every year.

- I tradish the hell
out of my traditions.

- Yeah.

- Tell us about
your holiday traditions.

- Christmas is huge for us.
- Yeah.

- I'm a little nutso
with Christmas decorations.

I have eight trees.
- Say what, now?

- Yeah, eight.
- Yeah.

Yeah, you heard right, eight.

- Good girl.
- I feel like you are

just wanting
to celebrate Hanukkah.

- That's right.
We might as well convert.

- Look at me, pushing
my Hanukkah agenda again.

- You know what?
- I got to chill out.

- That's what the show is for.

- Absolutely.

- Wow.
- Look at that.

- Yes!
- What do we got here?

- So these are
little pecan tassies.

And we bumped them up
by adding bourbon and bacon.

- Yeah, yeah.
- Did you say bacon?

- The show is called
"Bakin' It."

- We're trying to stay true,
you know?

- Nutmeg, nutmeg,
nutmeg, nutmeg.

Oh, God!
Do you know where nutmeg is?

I'm putting it in.

Hello!
- Hey, how are you?

- Oh, my God, I can't believe.
- Great, how are you?

It's so lovely to meet you.
- Same here.

- Yeah, you too.
- Tell us about yourselves.

- Sure, so we've been married
for about eight years now.

Known each other
for about 11 years.

- 12.
- Originally from--

12.
Originally from India

but moved to the States
here in 2009.

- And we are from Denver.
- Oh, nice.

- Tell us about what you guys
are baking here today.

So we are making

baklava cheesecake
bites.

- So in a baklava,
you're doing a mix

of pistachios,
almonds, and walnuts.

- And the phyllo sheets would
be layered with lots of butter.

- Lot of butter.
Yeah.

- It's kind of a fusion recipe.
- It's a fusion.

- Uh, you know--
- For our traditional

Mediterranean and American dessert.

And it's sort of a tradition--
- And gave it a twist

of cheesecake into it,
and now it's our tradition.

- It's our tradition.

- What did you celebrate
growing up?

What were
your holidays traditions?

- Since we grew up in India,
we celebrate Diwali,

festival of lights.
- That's our main--

that's kind of like
our Christmas,

where we exchange gifts,
we meet our families,

we make a lot of sweets.

- And we also, you know,
celebrate Christmas

with the same zeal
and enthusiasm.

- Yes.
- So multi-diverse

celebration at our home.

- So nice.
So many ways to celebrate.

- Yeah, yeah.
- This is very exciting.

I'm very excited
to try what you make.

- Okay.
- Yeah.

- All right,
let's drown these

in some fat, shall we?

- Don't be stingy.
- Oh, this is looking good.

- Hi.
- Hello, Jonah and Patrick.

- Hi, oh, my God!
- How are you?

- Hi!
- Hi, funny meeting you here.

- Tell us about yourselves.

- So my name is Jonah, and this
is my husband, Patrick.

- We are making a dish today
actually that is a recipe

based off of my mom's mom's
noodle kugel.

- My goodness.
- Do you know--

- I love noodle kugel.
- You do?

- I do.
- Okay, half my family's

Jewish, half is Christian.

I was raised going
to Messianic Jewish

and evangelical Christian
churches.

And I will say, growing up,

I wanted to be
like everybody else.

You know, I didn't like having
this very strange background.

You know, I wanted to be white.
I wanted to be Lutheran.

I wanted to be straight.

I'm Korean and Japanese,
but I was adopted.

So actually, I feel like
I have a lot of party tricks

when it comes to the kitchen

because all of these things
are me.

When people think of,
like, American family

and American food tradition,
they don't think

of families like ours.

- Yes.
- And so we're getting

to, like, show what that
could look like.

- Not anymore.

That ends today!
- Not tonight!

- That's right.
Yeah.

- That's beautiful.
- Yeah.

- And I can really
relate to you.

- I know.
- Aw.

- I know!
- Are we best friends already?

- Beyoncé,
I have loved you for so long.

- Thank you.
- And we are also here.

- Yes, we are, you know.
- Yes.

- Yeah.

- Oh, look at the vanilla bean.
That's nice.

That looks beautiful.
- There's a big old clump,

though, I don't love that,
but it's gonna be cool.

- Whisk it.
Whisk it, girl.

Whisk it.
- I did.

- What are you guys making?
- Pecan tassies.

- Ooh.
- It's really a tradition

that my family has done.

We've done pecan pie every year
since I was little,

and so it's kind of
become my thing now.

- Nice.

- Like we do sometimes.

- Yes.

- That looks good.
- That's beautiful.

- It's coming along.

- You ever had sopes?
- I love them.

- You've had sopes, Tom?
- Yeah, I've had them.

- That makes me
really happy, actually.

- Oh, yeah.
- What are you guys making?

- We're making these
shortbread squares

with fresh raspberries
and lemon mascarpone.

- I'll try the first one.

- This is gonna be
a fun challenge.

We're gonna do our best.

We're competing against
these other bakers,

and so I think
I'm most excited

to see what
they're gonna put out too.

- I want to say, like,
we have the competitive edge,

but I'm honestly leaning
towards, like, having fun.

We don't know
if we're here to win,

but we're here to make friends.

- That's a given. Yeah.

- I have to make sure
all of them are 29 grams

and they'll be the same size.

- Let's cook one first
and see if that works.

- Okay.

- Hello.
- Hi.

- Oh, wow.
How's it going?

- Tell us what you're baking.

- We're making sopes.
- That's right.

- So Cesar and I are Mexican,

and our grandma
always made sopes.

We actually haven't
cooked together.

This is our first time
cooking together.

- Really?
- What, what, what?

- We haven't seen each other
in, like, three years.

- We haven't seen each other
in three years.

- This is a total trial run.

It could work.
It could be a disaster.

- So are you guys, like,
catching up on your lives

while you're doing this?

- Yeah.

We're brother and sister.
I'm older.

We're, like,
seven years between us.

- As kids, Cesar and I
didn't get along that well.

And then we became,
like, a lot closer.

We have, like, a book club.

During the pandemic,
we had, like, virtual dinners.

- Because of COVID,
it was, like, three years

since we had seen each other.

That's why,
regardless of what happens,

we're just happy to be here.

We're happy to be
doing this together.

This is for the books.
This is for the scrapbooks.

We're gonna treasure this.

- Light a menorah
under your butts!

Ten minutes left!

- Oh, shucks, do we want
to just forgo the holly?

Let's forgo the holly.

- Two minutes.

- Can I sneak in here
real quick?

- Sorry, actually, sorry.
This is--

- I want to get in there
so bad.

- This is a private event.

Sorry, you're on the clock.
I'm sorry.

- You're genuinely
on the clock.

- Oh, my God, yes.

- Okay, phew.
- Oh, my God.

That's a good one.
- Add a little bit more

onto this one.

- Five minutes left, bakers.

Or as they say
in the old country,

"What, you wanted longer?"

- This is gonna be
precarious, Tom.

- Hey, you're doing great.

- So are you.
What comes after that, salsa?

Did you season this?
- Yes.

- One more.

Nothing like a little drama
down to the wire.

- Get those ramekins on the--
- Let's get them on.

- Yep.

Five, four, three,
two, one!

- That's it.

- Happy Hannukah!

- Nick of time, baby.
- Absolutely.

- Wow.

- It's time
to meet your judges.

Please welcome the panel
of opinionated grannies!

- Yes!

- I'm Nana Harriet,
and I am 80 years old.

I can't believe it, but I have
six wonderful grandchildren.

The oldest is Ben at 19.

Edward will be 19.

Daniel--scratch it.

I'm getting the date--
and I forgot Michael

on the first go-around.

- My name is Grandma Anne.

I'm 37--37?

Who am I kidding?
I'm 78 1/2.

Harriet, I would say,
is my best friend.

We've been knowing each other
since we were little.

When Harriet and I disagree,
Harriet goes like this.

My whole family says
I'm opinionated.

And they're right.

The grandchildren tell me
all the times,

"Oh, Grandma,
you shouldn't say that."

And I just say,
"Tough [bleep]."

- My oldest is Benjamin.

Benjamin will be 20
in four weeks.

Edward, 19.

- I'm Gigi Sherri.

If something tastes good
and it looks good,

I mean, it just blows me away,

that's when you gonna get
that Gigi Diggity.

Gigi Diggity's
like the b*mb diggity.

It's the b*mb.
It's, like, over the top.

It's hittin' every note.

- Michael, 18, and Daniel, 18.

Katie Scarlett is 14.

- I'm Bubbe Norma.

I'm Jewish and part Italian.

So I am tough

but fair.

When it comes to baking,
I have certain standards.

I am particular about the way
I like things baked or tasting.

- Eli, the baby, is 12.

I love my grandchildren
to pieces.

- Now, bakers, it's time
to introduce yourselves

go our grannies.

- Now, our judges are here to
do what grandmothers do best,

judge you because they love you
and think you can do better.

- Exactly.

- They are genuine bakers.

- I mean, how do you judge

between something savory
and something sweet?

- Grannies have to base it
on how it tastes, how it looks,

and how creative it is.

- Niyati and Abhi,

would you please bring up
your bake for us all to taste?

- Ah!
- Oh, my.

- Look at that phyllo.

- Today we have
a baklava cheesecake.

This is a traditional
Mediterranean and American...

- Fusion.
- Fusion.

- It's a trio of almonds,
walnuts, and pistachios.

- And pistachios.
- Oh, my God.

- I just have one comment.

If this was a man,
I would marry it.

The flavor of the butter
comes out in the phyllo dough

so beautifully.

And the cheesecake really
gives it a beautiful balance

because there's the creaminess
and then the nuts

and then the crunchy.

- This is like a taste
of heaven, honestly.

- This is Gigi Diggity.
- Yeah!

- That means this is, like,
fantastic.

- The highest compliment
she can pay.

- It's so golden brown.

- And I see
you're holding hands,

which is so beautiful.

- Aw!
- Is that adorable? Seriously.

- I mean, they really
love each other, you guys.

- I know.

- Sharon and Mike.

Oh, wow!

That's beautiful.

- We made a bourbon bacon
pecan tassie.

- Okay.
I'm loving the bacon on top.

Nice Jewish touch on there.
Yeah.

- I'm used to pecan pies
with more filling.

But this does not bother me,
okay?

- No, this is--
- It's delicious.

I'm not--no,
I'm not knocking it, Harriet.

I'm just saying--

- Here we go.
- But it's--it's good.

- It reminds me
of the pecan pie

that my mom and
my grandmother used to make.

That just reminded me
of home...

- Mm-hmm.
- So much.

I'm even getting sentimental.

I don't need
to do this right now.

- That's what
we were looking for.

- I mean,
it just brings back home to me.

- We're gonna get
everybody here to cry.

- But in a nice way.
- Yeah, in a ni--yes.

- Jonah and Patrick.

- Oh, wow!

- Oh, look at the plates
with the blue glitter.

- Sitting before you
is noodle kugel.

- I'm enjoying it very much.

Truly.
It's really unique.

- Thank you.
- It's really delicious.

I mean, I've never
even heard of this before.

- Isn't it strange
and wonderful?

- It is, it is.
- Like us.

- Yes.

- We love strange
and wonderful.

- I can't believe
you have cornflakes in here.

- I know.

- And you don't have to chew
and chew and chew and chew.

- Sometimes when you make this,
the cornflakes can get tough

and hard to chew.

Tell me, how did you do it

so that yours are so tender
and easy?

- Halfway through the bake,
I put tinfoil on top

so that they wouldn't
get too hard.

- That's a great trick
to tell us.

- I enjoyed it.
I might have gone

with Frosted Flakes,
but, you know.

- Good note. Good note.

- Well, how cute are they?
- They're adorable.

- We brought a little bit
of soul food to the party.

And today we've made for you
shrimp and grits cream puffs.

- Ooh!
- Wow.

- Shrimp grits, yes.
- Mm-hmm.

- Very good presentation.
- Thank you.

- And I love the flavors.
- Thank you so much.

- Thank you.
- Being a Cajun,

I need a little more kick
to it, but that's just me.

- Okay.
- Yes, yes.

- Ah!
- Oh!

- We have for you sopes.

- Abuelita's sopes.
- Abuelita's recipe.

- Well,
my mouth is just on fire.

- In a good way?
- And I love it.

-
- Oh, man.

- So we made blondies.

- Ooh!

- This could be brunette,
redhead, any color.

- You know what they say.

Blondies do have more fun.

- They do say that.

- Steve and Tom.
- Very festive.

- We made for you today
a shortbread raspberry menorah.

We're Irish Catholics
from Boston,

but my neighbors
across the street

would light their menorah,

and my wife would say,
"You got to come.

They're--they're gonna
light the menorah."

It was really a wonderful
tradition for our family.

And so that's why we've
given this to you.

- And do we eat the glass?
-

- Wait till you taste
the cream.

- The construction
is beautiful.

Your crust is nicely baked.
- Thank you.

- The creativity
is really impressive.

I mean, to come up
with a menorah that's edible?

I don't know why my people
didn't think of this years ago.

We needed the Irish Catholics
to tell us

how to get more food
into a Jewish person.

I'm shocked!

- Jessica and Stephanie.

- Oh!
- Look at them.

- We've made for you
black-bottom pecan pie bites.

- This is the second pecan pie
that I had today.

And I'll tell you,
it's really good.

I like that crust too.
- Thank you.

- You can even look and see
how flaky and buttery it is.

And that's really good.

- I could use a little
more pecans on this one.

But, then, that's me.
- Mm-hmm.

- I'm a pecan person.

This tastes delicious.

- Thank you.
- Thank you.

- Andy, how did you celebrate
growing up?

- Oh, I don't know, you know,
stunts, you know,

roundhouse kicks, front flips,
that kind of stuff.

- Like, the holidays.

How did you celebrate
the holidays?

- Oh, I see.
Yeah, I don't know.

- Bubbe Norma,
which team made you proud

like a grandchild
going to med school?

- And who disappointed you

like a grandson going
into show business?

- One of the teams
ex*cuted a vision

that was really extraordinary.

Congratulations, Steve and Tom.

- Whoa!

- Steve and Tom,

your expression
of a menorah was amazing.

We just really were
overwhelmed by your creativity

and how well
you ex*cuted your vision.

- Steve and Tom,
come get your brooch!

- Gentlemen.

With much pride, you guys.
- Thank you, Bubbe.

- Whoo!
- We're super excited.

- We're happy about that.
- We're really excited.

- Never thought that
would happen.

- Good job, guys.
- Congratulations.

- I'm an old man.
I didn't think I could

win anything anymore.

- Bakers, we got a taste
of your holiday traditions.

But now we want to learn
something surprising about you.

- In today's
Pie in the Sky challenge,

we're asking you
to perform a miracle.

- We want the outside
to represent one teammate

and the inside of your bake

to reveal something
about the other.

- Yeah, I want a cake
that makes me go,

"H-what?"
- Mm.

- And then, "Mmm!"

- So...

Let's get bakin'!

- Again, great catchphrase.

- Right?
- Unbelievable.

- Money well spent.

- One, two, three,
four, five, six.

- We have to do
the carrot cake, right?

- The carrot cake?
- Yes.

- Don't forget
to drain those cherries.

- Nope.
I'm on it right now.

- Cool.

- I'll start
with the syrup first.

- Hello, you guys.
- Hello.

- Hi.
- Is this a good time?

- Oh, yes, this is
absolutely a great time.

- Everything is
totally organized.

- What are you making?

- We are making
a seven-spiced reveal cake.

- Uh-huh.
- Ooh.

- Half my family goes
to the movies on Christmas.

And so I'm packing the cake
with all the candies

that I would bring
to the movies on Christmas.

- So what does the outside
of the cake represent?

- So the sponge

is incorporating
seven spices,

so it's reflecting my family.

I'm the youngest
of seven kids.

- Wow.
- So we have a collection

of allspice.

We have cinnamon.
We have cloves. We have ginger.

Lot of redheads
in the family, so...

- Sorry, they're doing
some demo over there.

- You know, the scene stealers.
- Yeah.

- Keep it down over there!
- The hell is going on?

- I'm working here!

- Attention hog right here.
- Let the grandmas back in!

- Trying to get
some heartwarming quips!

Sorry about that.

Every time we walk out
on that floor,

it's, like, chaos.

- Chaos City, USA.

- What state is that in?
- Uh...

it's in the state of--

- Emergency.
-

- What are y'all making
over there?

- We are making
a strawberry cake.

- Strawberry cake?
- Wow.

- With white chocolate
buttercream.

- I love it.
- What are you guys making?

- We're making a traditional
Black Forest cake.

- Ooh.
- Ooh.

- Yeah.
- Black Forest cake?

- You almost done
with your batter?

- Gettin' close.

- Hi, guys.
- Hi.

- Hi, how are you?
- How you doing?

- Good.
- Good, how are y'all doing?

- What are you making?
- So I grew up in Germany

up until about ten

in a region just outside
the Black Forest,

so we're doing
a Black Forest cake.

- Okay.
- We're also gonna incorporate

some of
my grandmother's cookies.

So when
I was growing up,

my mom
and grandmother made

sometimes thousands
of cookies for Christmas.

- Oh, my goodness.
- For me, Christmas is about

family and getting together
and just having a good time.

- What are you guys making?
- So the outside of the cake

is Joelle.
- Yes.

- The outside of the cake

is a winter wonderland
Christmas theme.

- I love a white Christmas.
- A white Christmas.

- Okay.
- The inside is me.

The inside is a beach theme.
So we have a strawberry cake.

- Mmm.
- We have some graham cr*cker

that's gonna be sand.

We have some candied fish...
- Mm-hmm.

- And blue sprinkles
for the ocean.

- Wow.
- Beautiful.

- Baking during the holidays

definitely brings folks together.

- Mm-hmm.
- I think people just

look forward to that time
and the joy

that they see
on each other's faces

when they open that tin
or that box...

- Oh, yeah, for sure.
- Of goodies.

- These are gonna be
little peppermint bark

snowmen macarons
to live inside

a little
gingerbread chocolate house.

- Yeah.
- S'mores bark house.

- Okay.
- I think that the phrase

"If you bake it,
they will come"

is such a true,
authentic statement.

- So that's what I need to do

when my kids
want to make s'mores...

- Yeah!
- Just roast 'em like that?

- Oh, my gosh.
Or you can put 'em

in the oven under the broiler.

- But that looks way more fun.

- Oh, yeah, it's so fun.

- I always say the last
ingredient is always love.

- Absolutely.
- 'Cause I think

that it's just special
when it's baked with love.

- Let me look at my cakes.
- They're getting close.

- How did it feel
to win the first challenge?

- Oh, you know,
it was pretty fun.

- It was really fun.
- Unexpected.

- There was a lot
of good stuff.

- There was.
- Oh, my God.

What are you guys making today?
- This is called

the Blackout Cake.
- Ooh.

- So it's basically
all chocolate.

- Oh, my.
- This cake has buttercream,

ganache, chocolate cake,
and peppermint.

So you cut into it...
- Okay.

- And the tube will be filled
with candy canes.

- Oh, come on.
- And then the meringue goes

around the candy cane tube
and it oozes all out.

- Big T's favorite candy
is a Peppermint Patty.

- Mm-hmm.
- Did you say Big T?

- I also like them.
- Big T, yeah.

- Papa Tom.
- He doesn't call me Dad.

He calls me everything but.

- Big T.
- Calls me Tommy, Timmy.

- Zapato.
Zapato's a good one.

- Zapato!
- Zapato!

- Just a little something.
- Well, we're definitely

calling you Zapato
moving forward.

- Oh, Za-papa.
- If that's all right with you.

- It is written.
- Yeah.

- So who's the outside
and who's the inside?

- The outside is my dad

because he holds
the whole thing together.

- Okay.
- He's like--

he's the big bear hug.
- Uh-huh.

- And then the--
- Good ole Big T.

- And then the inside
of this specific cake is me

because I'm a surprise.

- He is.
- Are you a surprise?

- Yeah, I'm a little spicy,
right?

- Zany.
- A little zany.

- I thought you meant,
like, an unexpected baby.

- That's what I meant.
- He was...

- I was a--
- Kind of a surprise.

- Sometimes the stork
just flies on over

and drops it down the chimney,
am I right?

- Unreal.

- These are the dough ba*ls
that we are going to fry.

- What are you guys making?

- We're making
my favorite dessert.

- Oh.
- It's gulab jamun.

- It's a gulab jamun.
- Ooh.

- And those are
traditional Indian desserts

which are served normally

in Indian weddings,
gatherings, restaurants.

Those are, like, dough ba*ls
dipped in sugar syrup

with rose, cardamom.

- Yep, and then
we are having a mold outside

which is rose-shaped.

- And made of white chocolate.

- That sounds beautiful.

- Since it's
her favorite dessert

when she was growing up,

you know,
her idea of a piñata cake,

instead of candies,
she wanted, like, gulab jamun

spilling out of it.
- Yeah.

- When you--

- When you hammer it.
- Aw.

- So that's the whole idea.
- That's awesome.

- It's actually
my mom's recipe.

So my mom taught me
how to make gulab jamuns.

Growing up,
we had so many things

that my mom used to make.

She loves to bake.

She has a lot of innovative
ideas always in her mind.

When I came here ten years ago,

I really missed her
and her baking.

And that's why I thought
that we should bake this

as our reveal bake.

If I fail in this--
I hope not.

- You won't.
- There's no failing here.

- Okay.
- Yeah.

- Only winning
and sort of winning less.

- Okay.

- When do we get
to play air drums on the show?

- Right now.

Did we get that?
Is it in the can?

- I can't imagine
what we're gonna see.

- This is heaven right here.
I died and went to heaven...

on this blanket.

- I love to rock.
- I do too.

- What they talking about?
- I have no idea

what they're talking about.

- Girls, the challenge today
is the Pie in the Sky,

a holiday miracle
with a sweet reveal.

The inside's got
to represent one partner.

- We have graham crackers
that are gonna look like sand.

And we have some fishy gummies.

So it's gonna be
a beach party inside.

- And the outside
represents the other.

- On the outside,
we're gonna decorate it

with my passion,
which is music.

- I mean, the time constraints
on something this large--

- I'm looking, some--
some are cool as a cucumber.

- This is where
the magic begins, baby.

- But they're not all
like that.

- Please work.

What in the world
is going on with these?

Why are some of them
getting so dark?

I'm having a hard time.

- What could go wrong, Norma,
you think?

- A lot of things
could go wrong.

First of all,
when you're making something

this intricate,
it's the execution here

that's gonna
make a difference.

- Yeah.
- But sometimes

just because it's pretty
on the outside,

it's not all good
on the inside.

- Yeah, can't judge a book
by its cover.

- Oh, Norma, you know you
real picky about your cakes.

- I admit it, guys.
I am picky about cakes.

- And Anne hasn't met a pie
or a cake

that she doesn't like.

- Cesar, these look
like candy canes, right?

- Best ones yet, yeah.
- Okay, good.

- What are you guys making?

- So we're gonna do a bucket

of popcorn on the outside,

but it's carrot cake.

And then we're gonna decorate
it with some candy canes.

- Ah, I love that.
- If it goes according to plan.

- Who's the popcorn?
Who's the carrot cake?

- Who's the carrot?
- Carrot cake's me.

I love carrot cake.
Popcorn is her.

- Why popcorn, Reggie?

- I can crush a Costco-size bag
of popcorn in two days.

- Yeah.
- Love it.

- I think
that went really well.

- I do too.
- Should we talk--

should we talk about how
that went while we're still

standing here,
or should we walk away?

- No, I think we should
stay right here.

- Okay.
- How do you think that went?

- It was great.
They're so nice.

- They are so nice.
And I think they like us.

- I love you guys.
- I also don't find

that we were distracting
to them at all.

Like, they were able
to keep baking.

- Absolutely.

- I'm not distracted
at all right now.

- We're gonna get
real cute here.

- This is the fun part.
This is the fun part.

- Hi, guys.
- Hey.

- What are you making?

- We are making
a four-layer cake.

The outside's gonna be me.
I love music.

I play a lot of instruments
and stuff like that.

So that's one of my passions.

The inside is gonna
represent Shawn.

- So the inside represents me.
And I'm a big sports buff.

And recently,
I took up the sport of golf.

You take out a golf club,
it's all you.

You're in the zone.

You're really playing
against yourself.

It's awesome.
It's a great game.

- Which means it's not a sport.

-
- Oh.

- We're best friends.

We've known each other
since sixth grade.

So we pretty much like
all the same stuff.

But Shawn, in his later years,
he's become,

you know, obsessed
with this game called golf

that I absolutely can't stand.

- So when we bust open this...

- Yes.
- Cake...

- Mm-hmm.
- What's gonna be inside?

- We can't tell you
what's in the middle,

but a four-layer cake.

- You can tell us.
- You can tell us.

- Uh-uh.
- Lies, it's all lies.

- You can't tell them.
- Right.

- So, Norma, what would your
advice be to an 18-year-old?

- To my 18-year-old self?
- Self, yeah.

- Probably get a boob job.

-
- I would give that same advice

to my 50-year-old self, okay?

- 30 minutes, bakers.

- Ugh!
This part takes forever.

- Look how ugly this looks.
-

- I pray this cake works.

- Are they overcooked?

- I overcooked it.
It's okay.

Nothing a little frosting
can't fix.

- Am I gonna be the only one
that's gonna have a drink?

- Ten minutes!
- Ah!

- What's going on?

- I don't know
if this is helpful,

but the energy in here
is really stressing me out.

Does that help?

- Chocolate's just too cold.

All of a sudden, this doesn't
want to go together.

- I'm really stressed.

This is definitely not the cake
that I envisioned in my head.

The chocolate collar
is looking a little bit messy.

- Still came out too short?

- It didn't fully reach
the whole length of the cake.

The red stripes
melted together.

It is a hot mess.
- Take this collar off.

- Are you sure?
I'm scared.

- We're trying
to recover right now.

- But the timer is going down.
I am panicking.

- Any frosting.

- I don't know if that's
gonna fix it.

- It is what it is.

We're gonna do our best
to make sure that this cake

looks the best it can.

- Do that,
maybe I can put M&M'S.

- Give me extra olives.
I like it really dirty.

- It's almost time!

- I feel like we're in surgery.

- That's beautiful.

- Ooh, they got 20 seconds.

- We got to go.
We got to go.

Five, four, three, two, one.

- Time's up!

- Everybody!

- Whoo-hoo!

- It's real good.

- Oh, gosh, that looks good.

- Oh, my God.
- Look at that.

- Oh, wow, look at that.

- Tom and Steve, come on up.

- Here we go.
- Oh, wow.

- We call this
the Blackout Cake.

So it's a lot of chocolate.

- Isn't this exciting, knowing
there's some surprise in there?

- It is.
- Yes!

- Now, that's the size of slice
I would take.

- Mamma mia!
- Ay-yi-yi-yi.

- Wow.

- The presentation
is beautiful.

- The peppermint flavor

balances beautifully
with the chocolate.

The only thing I have to say

is, your layers
are not uniform.

They're a little bit askew.

- I don't care
if those layers aren't--

I mean, it just tastes awesome.

- I'm with you, Anne.
I don't care.

It's a winner.

- Wow.
- Look at that.

- Beautiful.
- We made a piñata cake.

- So the outside here
represents

this wonderful lady by my side.

It's a white chocolate rose,
and she represents

a rose in my life,
fresh, dainty,

fragrant,
full of ideas, creative.

- Brownie points.

- So instead of cutting,
we'll smash this pinata.

- Oh, you gonna smash it.

Okay.
- What a shame.

- I have to say,
the cake is beautiful.

- Oh, thank you.
- I can't believe

you're gonna destroy it.
- Break it.

- I know.

- Smash it, smash it.

- Smash the rose!

- Okay.

- Yeah!
- Yeah!

- Inside is a gulab jamun cake,
my favorite dessert.

- Infused in a syrup
of cardamom, saffron, and rose.

- Oh, God.
- Mmm.

Isn't that--

- The creativity
is impressive.

You thought out of the box.
It's great.

- Thank you.

- It's festive.
That's important.

- It is very festive.
- The cake, it's moist.

Sometimes it can be
overpowering using rosewater,

but you did it just right.

- Thank you.
- Thank you.

- Reggie and Cesar.

- Oh, my.
- Uh-oh.

- Tell us how you feel
about your creation.

- Well--
- It was tough.

- It was tough,
but we have

a beautiful bucket of popcorn.

- It looks like you didn't have
time to smooth out the outside

and get the stripes
quite straight.

- I'm really hoping the cake
inside will kind of redeem it.

- Yeah.

- We're holding our breath
for y'all.

You realize that, right?
- I know.

- Ooh!
- Oh, oh!

- Whoa.

- The first time
I celebrated my birthday,

it was a carrot cake.

It's my personal favorite.

- So we have a brown butter
cream cheese frosting

and then a filling
of liquid cheesecake.

- Oh, my goodness.
- Liquid cheesecake.

- It's delicious.
- The salty popcorn

with the sweet, I love that.

- The cake is so moist.
- The cake's very tasty.

- Really, really moist.
- The flavor is there.

- Yeah.

- Oh, wow, look at that.

- Today we've made for you
a strawberry cake

with white chocolate frosting.

- The cake
is absolutely beautiful.

I love the intricate detail,
and it screams holiday.

Can't wait to see
what comes out.

- Whoa!

- Oh, my goodness.
That color.

That is just beautiful.

- Cake is very flavorful.
- Thank you.

- Look. How cute is that?
- Wow.

- That's Christmas right there.

- We have made
milk chocolate houses

with a homemade graham cr*cker
and marshmallow.

- The structure of the house
is done just beautifully.

- What you did with chocolate,
that's remarkable.

- So here goes.

- Another hammer.

- Wow.
- Yes!

-
- Oh, wow!

How darling is that?

- Wow.
- And so then the inside,

we have these little

peppermint bark
snowman macarons.

- Too cute, too cute.
- It's adorable. Really cute.

- Oh, he's a sweetheart.

- Macarons are
the hardest cookie to make,

and for some reason,
my brain goes,

"Oh, yeah, you should do that."

- Oh, I must tell you,
this is delicious.

- Oh, thank you.

- The peppermint
really comes out.

- The execution,
the presentation,

and the taste,
they're all a hit.

- Oh, wow.
- Wow.

- My goodness.

- Wow, a real showstopper.

- We made a cake that
represents me on the outside.

I love pink and glitter
and Christmas and sprinkles.

- It screams holiday.

- Oh, good.
- Yes.

- The Christmas tree,
the detail, the piping...

- Absolutely beautiful.
- It's beautiful.

- Aw, what a shame
to even cut into it.

- Wow.
- Whoa!

- It is a Black Forest cake.
- Mm.

- The cake is very moist.
- Thank you.

- And flavorful.
- You nailed it.

- You perfected that.
That's really good.

- Can you eat these things?

- Yeah, they're just candies,
but yeah.

- Don't break a tooth.
- I don't wanna break a tooth.

My God.
- Don't break a tooth,

whatever you do.

- I'll take your word for it.

- Anne, how many
did you have in your mouth?

- A big--

I don't do things half-a*s,
okay?

- Gerard and Shawn.

- Look at that.

- Music means a lot to me.
It's kind of like cooking.

It brings people together.

- So the inside is my surprise.

- Here we go.

- Oh!
- Oh, there it is.

- It represents my love of golf

with white chocolate
golf ba*ls.

- Oh, is that adorable?

Thought that the surprise
came out beautifully.

- The cake itself is a vanilla
cake with a lemony flavor.

I made a few pralines for you
with some strawberries.

- That touch
of lemon is so good.

- This is absolutely delicious.
- Yes.

- Thank you.
- I love the roasted pecans.

- Thank you.
- So thank you.

- Adorable.
- It's a beautiful cake.

It's holiday all the way.

- So what we have for you
is a seven-spiced sponge.

- Okay.
- Wha!

That's a good reveal.

- Yes, I like the way
the candy dripped down.

- It just kind of fell out,
yeah.

- This represents the candy
that my family

sneaks into the movies
every Christmas.

And I don't know about you,
but I'm not paying $6

for a box of candy that I can
get down the street for $2.

- Yeah!

- The cake is a little bit dry.

It could have probably
baked a bit less.

- Okay.
- The layers of the cake,

you didn't put any icing
in between?

- No, I didn't want
to add more sugar.

- But I'm a sweet tooth,
so you see,

I would have liked icing.

- Yeah.
- I wish I could say

I loved it, but I didn't.

Guess I'm just not crazy
about a lot of the spices.

- As much as this show
is warm and fuzzy

and about the holidays,

we do have
to send someone home.

- When I think
about the holidays,

I don't think about competition

and sending people home.

- When I think
about some holidays,

I do think
about sending people home.

- That's a good point.
- Back to their homes.

- Correct, yeah.
- From my home.

- I am really glad
we're not judges.

- Truly.

Because we hate conflict.
- Yeah.

- And also, all the bakers
are so nice,

having to send any of them
home would be horrible.

- Yeah.
- But our grannies,

they've got their work
cut out for them.

So, grannies, have you decided
who you love the most?

- Yes, we have.

- I can't tell you
how much we enjoyed

being with all of y'all
and watching you.

And we learned about y'all.

That was the incredible
thing about it.

And each presentation
just was mind-boggling.

But one stood out.

And that was...

- Niyati and Abhi.

- Oh!

- All right!

- Your presentation,
the flavor was unbelievable.

- It makes us want
to go to India.

- It does.
- Oh.

- Come on down.

We have the brooch.
We have the brooch.

But it's in our purse,
so walk slow.

- Good job, guys!
- Thank you.

- Look at this.

Oh, I didn't expect--
that's my daughter, yeah.

- Do you need me
to hold that for you?

- Yeah.
Oh, look,

and this was the candy
I was nibbling.

I'll give it to you--
take that.

- I know it's in here
someplace.

- Look what I got.
-

- Harriet, here it is.
We've been looking--

We caught this in Mardi Gras.

- That's mine.

I don't care how small
they make these purses.

You can never get anything out.

- Take your time.
We've got all day.

- Okay, Anne.
- I got mine.

- Oh, you got--
oh, finally.

- Oh, wow.
- Look at the beauty.

- Well, come get it.
- Thank you.

- Thank you so much.
- Congratulations.

- We just won this brooch.
- I cannot believe this.

- This is really,
really amazing.

We never thought
in our wildest of imaginations

that we'll win this challenge.

- This one is really
special for me

'cause I made my mom's most
world-famous gulab jamun cake.

- She'll be over--
- Over the moon.

- Now, sadly one of our teams
will be leaving the cabin.

- Yes, and I just want to say

we are going to make
the grannies do the hard part

because I feel like they've
had it pretty easy so far.

- Yeah.

Grannies, which team has
to go home with some leftovers?

- This is never pleasant.

But the team
to go home today...

Is Reggie and Cesar.

The cake on the inside
was outstanding.

- Divine.

- But the presentation
just didn't hold true

to what you wanted.

And don't take this as a,
"Oh, we're giving up."

Every negative is a lesson,

and you make it
into a positive.

But you're not going
to get out of here

without a hug from Nana.

Oh, I hate the pur--the purse
never stays on my shoulders.

- Aw, you're so sweet.

- The presentation failed us,
but the bake was good.

It's a learning experience.

- Yeah,
and it was the first time

that we cooked in a kitchen
together ever.

So I think we did
pretty good considering.

- Yeah.
It's a great experience

on its own,
and I got to see her.

It--like, the longest time.
- Yeah.

- It's been, like, three years.

So this is something
we get to keep forever.

- Y'all keep enjoying
each other,

'cause the love y'all have
is amazing.

- Oh, thank you.
- Truly amazing.

- Thank you.