Spring Baking Championship was off to the races on episode 8 this week! It was all about the Kentucky Derby, and the bakers had to make derby-inspired desserts for both challenges. But who won the horse race, and which baker was sent out to pasture?
First up (as always) was the Preheat! The bakers had to create eclairs that were flavored like a specific julep cocktail. The options they had to choose from included the classic mint julep, peach basil julep, rhubarb mint julep, elderflower julep, and passionfruit.
This challenge went pretty well. Most of the bakers had good flavors, although there were a few who had underbaked dough. Kate was probably the one with the biggest issues because her whipped cream ended up splitting, and she had to make a ganache instead. This led to very little time for decorations.
But who won the challenge? That was Nickey! This is the first challenge she's won the whole season and that was despite Duff's ridiculous and unnecessary comments about her eclairs looking like a strawberry shortcake.
Main Heat: Derby Day comes to Spring Baking Championship this week
Time for the Main Heat! For this challenge, the bakers needed to create carrot desserts, but they couldn't make carrot cake. Since Nickey won the advantage, she was able to choose a dessert no one else was allowed to make, and she chose a carrot tart.
The other bakers picked things like carrot cheesecake, carrot Nanaimo bars, carrot Charlottes, carrot mousse, and dacquoise. Again, Kate had issues with her chocolate splitting, but she quickly figured out the problem and fixed it. Unfortunately, the judges also thought she used way too much buttercream in her carrot Nanaimo bars.
As for the other bakers, there were a few hits and misses with textures and how long things were baked, but, for the most part, most of the bakers did very well.
So who won this challenge? It was Steven! He really blew the judges out of the water with his flower-shaped mousse and dacquoise.
Who went home? You can probably guess. Because she struggled in both the first and second challenges, Kate was the one to go home in this episode.
Next week is the semi-finals! The bakers will be tasked with creating succulent cupcake crowns and making entremets that are inspired by New Orleans snowball flavors. It should be interesting to see who makes it to the finale. Until then, we raise a mint julep in tribute to the fallen Kate.