Spring means it's time to get fruity, so for the pre-heat challenge, eight of America's best bakers undertake a shortcake makeover using any fruit but berries. Then, the main heat is berry, berry challenging as the bakers create berry naked cakes to stay in the competition.
The ten competing bakers celebrate the spring equinox by first making colorful and delicious doughnuts themed to either sunrise or sunset. Then the theme is stargazing at night, and each baker is assigned a celestial event to bring to life in dessert form. There are shooting stars, the Milky Way, the Northern Lights, meteor showers and more.
The competition kicks off in the pre-heat, when the 10 bakers celebrate the bountiful fruits and bright colors of the season by making fruity, tie-dye mini cheesecakes. In the main heat, the theme -- and the competition -- intensifies when the bakers are asked to incorporate fresh herbs and produce color gradients in their naked ombre cakes.
Eggs represent spring and new beginnings better than anything else, and because eclairs use a lot of eggs, the seven bakers take on springtime eclairs in this pre-heat challenge. Then host Ali Khan asks the bakers to create edible spring goodie baskets filled with two types of baked treats -- one of which must use a hard-boiled egg.
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!