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.
Easter is a time for colorful desserts and marshmallow treats, so the six remaining bakers have to create an ooey-gooey marshmallow dessert in a bright Easter color. For the main heat, it's off to the Easter parade for some fun with fashion as the competitors must bake and decorate a tropical fruit-flavored dessert that looks just like an Easter bonnet.
It's team challenge week, and the eight bakers grab a buddy to spring into the outdoors. First, they bake tasty hand-held treats for a hike. Then it's time for a bike ride as each baker must make a Paris-Brest wheel and work with their teammate to create a complete two-wheeled dessert, decorated for a ride through a vineyard, canyon, city park or country lane.
For Earth Day, the five bakers are celebrating the bounty of Mother Nature, starting with wondrous walnut desserts featuring an assortment of flower honeys. Then the competitors find themselves in a forest grove filled with wild berries, which they must use to flavor an enchanted forest cake with edible moss.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.