Duff Goldman and Valerie Bertinelli bring the galaxy into the kitchen by asking the five kid bakers to make colorful and imaginative intergalactic desserts. And because astronauts in space eat freeze-dried foods, the bakers must also use freeze-dried ingredients in their out-of-this-world creations.
For this challenge, Valerie Bertinelli and Duff Goldman are honoring the school library by asking the young bakers to create book desserts. They can make any dessert, as long as it's decorated to look like a book! Sadly, on the last page, one baker's story comes to an end.
Valerie Bertinelli and Duff Goldman know that sometimes you can make something extraordinary out of ingredients you have at home. They challenge the six young bakers to turn packaged biscuit dough into dramatic and delicious monkey bread volcanoes.
Valerie Bertinelli and Duff Goldman bring the fun and stakes of a spelling bee into the kitchen by asking the kid bakers to make spelling bee word tarts with assigned words on top. When the spelling bee ends, the baker that didn't use spell-check will take a bow and leave the competition.
Valerie Bertinelli and Duff Goldman put the eight young bakers in teams and challenge them to each make half a cake that combines with their teammate's half-cake to make a whole cake representing an opposites theme like fire and ice, night and day, land and sea or big and small.
As a bakery owner, Duff Goldman receives some VERY unusual requests from customers, and he's using them as the inspiration for a "Make It Work" desserts challenge. In this test, Duff and Valerie will ask the bakers to make a delicious dessert using an unexpected flavor combination, like strawberry and balsamic or banana and grapefruit. The kid bakers who can go with the flow move on, while the least successful dessert maker goes home.
This isn't your grandma's cookie! Valerie Bertinelli and Duff Goldman challenge the kid bakers to put their own stamp on one of today's biggest trends: the loaded cookie. They want the bakers to really go crazy while making batches of two different types of over-the-top cookies. The more toppings, filling and frosting the better for this semi-final challenge!
It's time for lunch, and cafeteria lunch dessert imposters are on the menu! Valerie Bertinelli and Duff Goldman assign each kid baker a different lunch menu with items they must "imposterize" and serve up on a classic cafeteria tray. When lunchtime is over, who will head back to class and who will head home?
First impressions are everything in the business world, so Valerie Bertinelli and Duff Goldman kick off the competition by giving the kid bakers free rein to show off their bestselling dessert using the psychology of color. Smart owners choose brand colors that highlight the most important aspects of their business, and one young baker is left feeling blue at elimination time.
Part of running a successful business is being a good leader, so Valerie Bertinelli and Duff Goldman hold interviews to hire two team leaders who will assign flavors in the cream puff cake challenge to give their team the best chance at winning. Bakers with the same flavors are put head-to-head during judgement, and the side with the most wins earns immunity for their whole team. One baker from the losing side heads for the exit.