Top Designs Seen on Haunted Gingerbread Showdown
Spooky, sweet and spectacular, these impressive designs will leave you speechless.
Photo By: Jean-Marc Giboux
Photo By: Jean-Marc Giboux
Photo By: Jean-Marc Giboux
Photo By: Jean-Marc Giboux
Photo By: Jean-Marc Giboux
Photo By: Jean-Marc Giboux
Week 4: A Stellar Start
Though Sharon gets dinged because the judges find her execution to be a little simple, they can’t deny the flavor of her pumpkin truffle-stuffed chocolate mice. She earns the win in the tasting challenge, which means she enjoys a coveted 30-minute prep advantage while her competitors are forced to sit on the sidelines and watch.
Seashore Snapshot
Steve crafted a Maine-inspired lighthouse that is anything but tranquil. Those rock-like formations at the bottom? They’re actually supposed to be bones. And in the back is a real gingerbread boat floating in the water. From the teeny-tiny furniture and the floating blanket to the blown-sugar globe, Steve’s details are intricate and well-executed, and the judges notice.
Mice in a Pumpkin Patch
Giant gingerbread pumpkins are one of the hallmark features of Sharon’s finale display. She outfits them with curly sugar stems and gelatin leaves, and there are plenty of little witch-mice who’ve been cast under a spell. Jamika is especially impressed with the way Sharon has incorporated her chocolate mice — her winning tasting element — into her display.
The Big Scare in the Big Apple
With New York City as his inspiration, Jorge brought to life a hauntingly devilish Statue of Liberty, ominously perched behind a seemingly deserted New York City Public Library. His characters represent book characters that have all but jumped out of the pages. “It’s a teachable piece. It’s got history to it,” Jamika said, praising Jorge’s work.
A Scary-Good Victory
Fresh off his impressive victory, Steve stands with his haunted lighthouse, which earned him a whopping $25,000. No tricks here – that prize is all treat!
Week 3: Cue the Panic
When Brenda frosted her stacked gingerbread cakes with a white chocolate, they looked more like snowmen than ghosts, and she was adamant about not serving them to the judges as-is and began panicking. A last-minute change of execution proved to be a winning decision, though, because the judges were wowed with her finished tasty treat and granted her the challenge win.
Ghosts 2.0
Feast your eyes on the finished ghosts that Brenda presented. She blanketed each stacked cake with edible fabric, creating a more instantly recognizable ghost figure that was enough to secure her win.
A Salty Showing
The goal of this week’s challenge was to put a haunted spin on a theme park, and for Brenda, that meant recreating a spot near Salt Lake City. Her Ferris wheel was outfitted with a mosaic pattern that judge Jamika applauded, though for judge Jason, the hole in the roof wasn’t ideal.
Welcome Home
After several key elements of his haunted mansion were damaged in transit, Michael was forced to present something that wasn’t quite up to his standards. For the panel, though, his intricate work was impressive.
Bouncing Back
A Day 1 disaster that saw the majority of her display on the floor could have dampened Sharon’s spirit, but she quickly rebounded, piecing the items back together with determination. It’s a good thing she did, because ultimately the judges were so pleased with her carnival presentation, which boasted gelatin tent toppers, that she earned a spot in next week’s finale.
Week 2: Ready for Seconds
Feast your eyes on Mallory’s Haunted Gingerbread Truffles laced with the flavors of orange and horchata rum. "You should have given us a whole plate 'cause they’re really good," judge Jason said to Mallory of her sweet-tooth-satisfying bites. These beauties ultimately ended up winning Mallory an advantage, much to her delight.
Strong Showing
"It just brings me so much joy," Jason proclaimed to Candace of her cometary scene. Though she didn’t go on to win first place in this round, the judges appreciated her detailed execution and the expertise with which she formed the figures.
Meet the Cookie People
Fresh off a win with her tasting element, Mallory presented the judges with a haunted party, complete with cookies decorated a la Jason and Jamika. "I’ve been a lot of things in my life, but I have never been a gingerbread cookie!" Jamika told her. She, Jason and Raffaele were wowed by her presentation, but ultimately her design wasn’t enough to earn a tick to the finale.
Monstrous Victory
"It almost to me looks like a cartoon that’s fixing to come to life," Jason remarked of Jorge’s hyper-realistic creation, featuring a forest of lively characters. "It’s just so fun," Jamika told Jorge, who won this round and will be returning for the finale.
Week 1: An Insect Victory
Andy put the creepy in creepy-crawly when he served the judges a sweet treat of Passion a la Roach, a sweet treat featuring roachlike chocolate bites filled with passion fruit ganache. Judge Jamika joked, "This is the best-tasting roach I’ve ever had." Andy went on to win the test challenge and earned a 20-minute advantage.
On the Move
There was no denying that the electronic figures of Andy’s design were impressive; the judges gasped when they watched the worm squirm to life. Despite this showstopping moment and his early advantage, though, Andy didn’t claim the win this week.
Still In Progress
Though the unfinished work on her snake element left much to be desired, Jennifer’s creation, which featured several key Beetlejuice characters, proved her technical expertise with a mix of textures and applications.
Details Do It
Complete with both exterior and interior components, Steve’s light-up design wowed the judges. His attention to detail was spot-on, they noted, so much so that Steve earned first place this week and advanced to the finale.
