The Kitchen is making the best versions of classic dishes! Jeff Mauro starts it off with The Sandwich King's Ultimate Breakfast Sandwich, and Alex Guarnaschelli makes Chicken Parmesan with Vodka Sauce. Katie Lee Biegel prepares her best Shrimp Scampi, and guest Zac Young stops by to give the scoop on the new season of Halloween Baking Championship and makes The Ultimate Carrot Cake.
As an expert pastry chef, Anne Thornton shares indulgent recipes for tantalizing treats on Dessert First With Anne Thornton. Anne demystifies and simplifies the world of pastry and dessert by showing viewers the ins and outs to no-fear baking. From flaky pastries to ice cream cake, Anne’s approachable techniques prove that any home cook can create impressive desserts.
Born in San Antonio and raised in Cleveland, Anne fell in love with food at a very young age while traveling throughout Europe with her family. She spent many childhood days in the kitchen alongside her grandmother, Nonnie, who she credits as her true culinary inspiration and where she gets her passion for baking. At age eight, Anne successfully made her first pie crust, and by college, she served up Sunday supper every week to her friends on the football team.
Anne graduated from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, with degrees in finance and philosophy. Shortly after college, she lived in California, and then Chicago while working for Apple Computer, Inc. Anne left Chicago and moved to New York City to pursue her dream of becoming a chef. Soon after enrolling in the Institute of Culinary Education, Anne landed a job in culinary production where she gained behind-the-scenes media skills — a glimpse into her future at Food Network. Anne also worked as a personal chef before joining New York’s highly acclaimed restaurant, The Waverly Inn in 2006, where she honed her skills as a pastry chef and assistant general manager working under notable chef John DeLucie. In 2009, Anne made the move to the exclusive New York restaurant, Hotel Griffou, where she worked as executive pastry chef and event coordinator until June 2010.
In her spare time, Anne volunteers for City Harvest’s Operation Frontline, a nutrition education and financial planning program, and also writes for LunchNYC, a project that brings nutritional information to families about their kid’s school lunches and how they can improve their diets. Besides cooking and baking, Anne enjoys sailing, writing, football, fashion, interior design and visiting organic farms. Anne currently lives in New York City.
For the final challenge, hosts and judges Duff Goldman and Kardea Brown save the biggest and most difficult task for last: the sibling teams must create a delicious and visually stunning animated cake. The siblings must draw on every ounce of teamwork to pull off an impressive animated illusion as their cake spins around. The winning team walks away with $25,000 and the title of Next Gen Baking Champions.
For our sibling teams, family is everything, so hosts and judges Duff Goldman and Kardea Brown task the bakers with creating family favorite desserts. They want to learn more about the bakers through these sweet treats, and they want to discover if the bakers can execute under pressure. But that's not all! There's a five-minute baking time extension at stake that puts the bakers into a spin -- literally! In the end, the least successful team is eliminated.
Hosts and judges Duff Goldman and Kardea Brown ask the bakers to make "The Cat in the Hat" helper desserts. In order to earn a spot in the finale, the sibling teams must create an animal character who, like "The Cat in the Hat," brings joy to children and is represented in a large-scale, impressive dessert that isn't a cake. Once all the desserts have been tasted, the least successful team is eliminated.
Hosts and judges Duff Goldman and Kardea Brown challenge the sibling teams to create two separate cakes that fit together just like a puzzle. Then, the bakers must decorate each puzzle cake piece to represent their sibling. Assigned cake flavors include chocolate, lemon, spiced, carrot, red velvet, strawberry, cookies and cream, and raspberry. When the last piece locks into place, the least successful team is eliminated.
Friendship bracelets are all the rage these days, so the sibling teams must create cream puff friendship bracelets arranged in two circles, like a pair of bracelets, decorated with messages to each other. And there's a twist! Mid-bake, hosts and judges Duff Goldman and Kardea Brown bring out "choux your own adventure" unexpected ingredients like ube, dates, tahini, yuzu, fresh corn and ricotta that the teams must incorporate into their cream puffs. In the end, the team who falls short is eliminated.
Twelve young sibling teams step into the pastry school style kitchen and learn that they must try out for their spot in the competition. Hosts and judges Duff Goldman and Kardea Brown put the teams through two rounds of skills challenges to assess which 10 teams will move on and which two teams will be eliminated before the competition even starts! In the first skills test, the nervous teams put up their best cupcake. For the second skills test, the teams must create a pie from scratch that's good enough to prove they have what it takes to compete. First impressions are everything, and in the end, two teams do not make it through the tryouts.
It's everyone's favorite challenge! Inspired by the outrageously good breakfasts after the sleepovers of their youth, hosts and judges Duff Goldman and Kardea Brown ask the bakers to create ultimate breakfast imposters. Each sibling team must make an over-the-top dessert imposter breakfast with three different dishes -- and don't forget the coffee twist! When the slumber party is over, the least successful team is eliminated.