Crime Scene Kitchen season 1 finale recap

Crime Scene Kitchen turns bakers into detectives. They must search around a used kitchen for clues of what was made. After they look for clues, they have to make what they think was made in the kitchen to the best of their ability. It’s a unique premise and it totally works!

Wednesday, July 21 was the season 1 finale and it packed a big punch. The first challenge had all the contestants making some version of a Napoleon. Two groups made chocolate Napoleons and two groups made traditional Napoleons.

More from Food TV

• Kitchen Nightmares ended their return season on a whimper
• Holiday Baking Championship season 10 episodes 5 and 6: Double the holidays
• The Big Bake: Holiday season 4 episode 5: North Pole preschoolers
• Great British Baking Show season 14 finale: And the winner is…
• Next Level Chef Season 3 arrives on Fox on Jan. 28

But this first dessert round was different than all the episodes before. This time, someone was going to be eliminated. So if they messed up, they were not making it to the final challenge.

Crime Scene Kitchen shook things up for the finale and it was delicious

The secret dessert turned out to be a traditional Napoleon and mother and daughter team Emma and Leslie were sent home. While their Napoleon tasted good, it looked more like a stack of s’mores than an elegant Napoleon.

That led to the final challenge. It just so happened to be judge Yolanda Gampp’s birthday, so what better challenge could they give the remaining contestants than making an extravagant birthday cake for her?

Once again, this challenge had different rules than previous episodes. While the contestants had to look for ingredient clues in the Crime Scene Kitchen, they could do whatever they wanted with those ingredients. It only needed to be a cake.

Husband and wife team Laurie and Jason made a three-tiered cake with gorgeous sugar work and multiple different flavors in the cake. But Yolanda didn’t think it looked very birthday-like and she was right. It was elegant and cool-looking but it didn’t scream birthday.

Mother and son team Thomas and Kathy also made a three-tiered cake that was all white on the outside and had a cursive Y on the front. They finished it off with three truffles on top. While it was pretty, it was WAY too simple for a birthday cake. Especially one for Yolanda who was wearing a dress covered in glitter. A simple cake was not going to cut it!

That leads us to friends Luis and Natalie. They pulled out all the stops. They created a three-tier cake but when you cut into the top layer, multi-colored sprinkles came flowing out of the cake. If that doesn’t scream birthday, nothing does. The cake was also pink and had a slice of cake and a candle made of fondant on top. It was fun and according to the judges, absolutely delicious.

Yolanda practically passed out when she tried the chocolate and bananas fosters layer. And really, who could blame her??

To no one’s surprise, Luis and Natalie took home the prize of $100,000. They definitely deserved it with how they performed throughout the whole competition. And I am feeling more than a little pleased with myself because I predicted they’d win.

Now, we just have to wait for the show to hopefully be renewed for a season 2. Come on, Fox. We need more Joel McHale on our TVs.

What did you think of the Crime Scene Kitchen finale? Did the right team win? Let us know in the comments below!