Summer Baking Championship season 1 episode 7: It’s Barbie time!

Summer Baking Championship was back on Food Network and as it was the penultimate episode, the bakers had to put everything on the line with their final bakes before the finale. And what theme did they have to work with? BARBIE!! That sound you hear is my seven-year-old self screaming from the past.

First up was the Pre-Heat challenge. The bakers had to make a Barbie-inspired pink dessert using a pink ingredient they had to choose at random. Alyssa got hibiscus, Zoe chose pink pineapple (which I didn’t know was a thing), Yohann picked guava (which he hates!), and Anrika got pink grapefruit.

These desserts were absolutely gorgeous. Barbie would love any of them. Anrika made pink grapefruit eclairs (I would happily take five of these), Yohann made pink guava mini Charlottes, Alyssa made a pink hibiscus lemonade tart that she made look like a surfboard, and Zoe created a ruby chocolate bouquet with pink pineapple chutney.

They all looked amazing but the judges were being very picky this week. They found some issues with the finishing and flavor of both Yohann and Zoe’s desserts.

Summer Baking Championship was all about Barbie this week

But who came out on top? That was Anrika! This was the first Pre-Heat challenge she won.

On to the Main Heat! For this elimination challenge, the bakers had to make a cake that Barbie would love and make it look like a toy. If you’ve been on Instagram or Tik Tok in the past few months, you’ve definitely seen these cakes with the black outlines. They look unreal.

The bakers also had to make the insides of their cake a specific neon color. Yohann got purple, Alyssa chose turquoise, Anrika picked yellow, and Zoe chose green.’

Oh, and there was a twist. About halfway through the challenge, Jesse announced that Anrika had to pick a pink ingredient that everyone had to add to their desserts. She could either pick pink peppercorns or strawberry milk. Much to the relief of all the bakers, she picked strawberry milk!

But what did the bakers make? Yohann created a lemon blueberry cake with lemon blueberry jam and strawberry milk pastry cream. Zoe made a pistachio cake with Swiss meringue buttercream and strawberry milk sauce filling. Alyssa created a vanilla cake with cookies and cream filling and a strawberry milk soak and Anrika made a lemon-lime cake with a coconut and strawberry milk buttercream.

The cakes…could have looked better. If they had given them more time, there is no doubt they would have but…that’s the challenge. They were a bit sloppy and the judges definitely pointed that out.

The one place where the judges were wrong was with Alyssa’s cake. Damaris Phillips and Carla Hall both weren’t happy that her cookies and cream filling was grey. It’s cookies and cream. What color is it supposed to be?!?! Sure, she could have chosen a different filling altogether, but the focus of the critique was primarily the color and it was a bit too much.

But who did the judges like? Yohann and Zoe both came out on top with Yohann getting the top spot.

So who went home? That was, unfortunately, Anrika. I really think the judges made all the wrong decisions in this final challenge. For me, Zoe should have won the challenge and Alyssa should have gone home. It’s what made sense based on what was said, but here we are.

Alyssa, Yohann, and Zoe will be the final three bakers in next week’s Summer Baking Championship finale. And speaking of next week, the bakers will have to make three different amusement park treats and a July 4th parade float cake with sparklers.

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