Eleven bakers celebrate the natural beauty of spring by making perfectly patterned spring fruit geometric tarts. Then they show off their skills by making trendy fault line cakes that feature spring transformations such as caterpillar to butterfly, rain showers into sunshine and bare trees bursting into bloom.
Spring is a time for fun at the fair, so the nine bakers are tasked with creating blue ribbon-worthy rhubarb pies with decorative crusts. The competition gets wild and wacky in the main heat when the competitors have to make larger-than-life, wild and wacky versions of favorite fairground treats.
Big colorful hats, stunning racehorses, roses and bourbon! The seven remaining bakers celebrate the Kentucky Derby with their takes on mint julep desserts and cookie garlands.
Pink is the color of spring, and rose is the perfect party wine, so the four remaining bakers are charged with making mini desserts featuring rose and cheese. Then it's off to the races in the spirit of the Kentucky Derby as the bakers make all-pink party desserts using pink ingredients.
What makes desserts sweet? Usually it's sugar, but in the desert, it's agave. For this pre-heat, the five bakers must use only agave as the sweetener in an assigned dessert -- a tart, a flourless cake, an ice cream sandwich, a doughnut or a cupcake. For the main heat, the bakers make succulent cakes that rival the real thing.
In the epic finale, the three remaining bakers first take on a wedding dessert bar challenge and for their final main heat, it's all about creating a wedding cake that truly deserves to be the centerpiece of the big day. The baker who can impress the judges with the most spectacular wedding cake will become the Spring Baking Champion and take home $50,000!
The final four bakers must tap into their basic training to create memorable Memorial Day desserts to make it to the finale. First they're challenged to create a pie for a spring picnic, then they'll have the freedom to create the dessert of their choosing -- as long as it's red, white and blue.
In the pre-heat, the eight bakers work in teams to create springtime mini pies perfect for an outdoor gathering. In the main heat, the competitors make desserts using three items from a picnic basket -- but they can't make the same thing as their picnic partners.
Which fruit comes into season in the spring but is often overlooked in baking? The avocado! In the pre-heat, the four bakers must pair avocado with chocolate, lime, orange or ginger in a dessert. In the main heat, the bakers "springify" a winter dessert like pumpkin pie, pecan pie, bread pudding or peppermint bark.
The three finalists are finishing up with a bang! First, it's a sweet and savory patriotic picnic, followed by a salute to the red, white and blue with American flag cakes. When the flour dust settles, one lucky baker will be celebrating a $50,000 victory.