Nailed It! (2018) s01e04 Episode Script

1
I'm Nicole Byer,
and welcome to Nailed It.
The show that sees this
and raises you this.
Today, three home baker's will attempt
to recreate epic, magical desserts
over two rounds of competition.
One of them will walk away
with ten thousand dollars.
Let's meet our bakers.
My name's Michael Lake.
But people also call me G.T.M.,
which stands for Good Time Mike.
Good Time Mike is about good times
with friends, family,
but when it comes to cooking,
I do have some bad times.
I do want to learn more
than just doing chocolate chip cookies.
My main goal is to learn
how to do cool cakes.
Hi, I'm Alexis Keppler
and I am from Tustin, California.
I am a very big Disney fan.
Very, very big Disney fan.
But when it comes to cooking dessert,
I am definitely more of a villain
than a princess.
I'm here to show that I can bake desserts.
They may not look the greatest,
but I always deserve A for effort.
My name is Megan Swanson,
and I am from Valencia, California.
I was born deaf,
and I'm the tenth child
in the United States
to receive the cochlear implant.
So my whole life I've been told
I can't do that, I can't do that.
But pretty much everything
that people told me I couldn't do,
I diddid it anyway.
I think it's done.
I really do love baking.
But I definitely wish
I was a little bit better.
Welcome, Alexis, Michael, and Megan.
I see you brought an interpreter.
I did bring my interpreter, Joann.
Um, she makes me feel more comfortable,
because I can hear
but I can't hear 100%.
Is Megan a good baker?
She's wonderful.
Good answer.
You guys ready
to get weird with food science?
Absolutely.
Today on Nailed It, we're putting on
a delicious science fair.
With me, as always, our head judge.
He has a Ph.D. in chocolate.
They call him Doc Choc.
Pastry chef, Jacques Torres.
Doc Choc? I love that.
Good luck today, bakers.
Our special guest judge today
is the founder and president
of the Museum of Food and Drink.
Real life mad scientist, Dave Arnold.
Nobody's ever called me a mad scientist
before, but that is kind of what I do.
I focus on trying to combine
science, technology, and food.
I love it.
There's a special prize
for the winner of this round.
Baker's Choice.
Behind door number one are three delicious
combos to light up any party.
You guys get to choose
which one you wanna nail.
You're gonna love these
Whoa.
Cupcakes and cocktails!
Whoa!
The science of baking
meets the science of mixology
with a special, fruity twist.
We've got a classic tequila sunrise
with a matching, cherry-infused
super cool sunrise cupcake.
Then there's the swanky up-town cupcake
flavored with orange zest.
And his drink of choice
is the perfect Manhattan.
And what would a pairing be without
a pineapple Mardi Gras hurricane cupcake?
Perfectly paired
with a slurricane adult beverage.
You guys, it's Baker's Choice.
Go grab your cocktails.
Alexis has that uptown Manhattan.
And Michael, of course,
he's the party man.
Well, absolutely,
and I was the last one to the door.
All right, students.
You only have 45 minutes to ace this bake.
The recipe's on your tablets.
Get your bake on, please. Go.
I can't wait to drink.
Oh, my goodness.
Make the cupcake first.
Cake mix.
Oil, eggs.
Fresh pineapples. Let me go to the
I'm gonna go to the pantry,
start getting stuff.
Hey, Dave, how would you start?
Like all of baking and cocktail chemistry
is measurement, and math, and ratios.
Everything's about getting it perfect.
Would you do the drink or cupcake first?
You're gonna wanna do the drink
at the last minute.
The cupcake is gonna last
for as long as you want.
The drink, you need to make it
and drink it.
So, what I would do
First, you create the cupcake batter.
The batter is flavored to match
the drinks it's paired with.
Add in the fruits,
then get the cupcake in the oven.
Then make the buttercream frosting
and add the cupcake decorations.
You know, it's a lot of little details.
Finally, once the cupcakes are decorated,
start making those cocktails.
I probably would've started
with the drink,
and drank that,
and then gotten to the cupcakes.
Make the cupcake first,
and then I can focus
on getting the decorations together.
Cherry juice.
Cupcake mix.
I've never made a cocktail.
I have no idea where to start,
but I feel like I can make the cupcake.
Megan, her batter
is actually very reddish.
I see that when she poured it,
it looked really good.
Two eggs. One and a half cups
of crushed pineapples with the juice.
What should I use to crush them with?
Uh, kind of a muddler.
Ah, this will work.
We'll give it its day in court.
I normally don't make cupcakes,
but I got some bartending skill.
Pour that in there.
Mix on medium for two more minutes
and then pour into desired pan.
Let's give this its day in court here.
One cup of orange juice.
And one tablespoon of orange zest.
I haven't made
any fruit-flavored cupcakes.
This is the first time
I'm actually putting in fruit.
So, I definitely am nervous
about that one, but you know what?
I'll do it and see how it comes out.
Put these in the oven.
All right.
Make buttercream frosting.
This.
Three to four cups of powdered sugar.
Okay.
Two sticks softened butter.
Two and a half teaspoons of vanilla.
We'll give that it's day in court.
I see I have a hand mixer.
- Alexis is using a hand mixer.
- Yes, why?
That's never before been seen
on this show.
Now I know why
no one's ever used that before.
Yep, that's good.
Baking is definitely an outlet for me,
creatively.
I am a very creative person.
It's how I am in my film career too.
I love making something
that I can be proud of.
This cupcake is going to be amazing.
I wanna eat it.
So I'm trying to get
all the decorations prepared
so then I can move on to the next step
and hopefully do the cocktail
while the cupcake is cooling down.
Just over ten minutes left, everybody.
I'm trying to get a jump start
on those glasses.
I think that's gonna be
kind of a difficult part.
Using the fondant,
I'm just gonna try to
carve them out on my own.
Never worked with fondant before.
We'll give it it's day in court.
Trying to make the top hat
with a marshmallow.
Gonna dye it. Spray it black.
See if it works.
I can take these off.
Looks like everyone's cupcakes
are coming out of the oven now.
I think I'm just gonna
give that it's day in court.
I'm nervous that I'm not gonna finish it.
Uh-oh. None of them are chilling
their cupcakes in the blast chiller
before adding buttercream.
So, things become a little bit flat.
I don't know how to do this.
I don't know how to do that.
I think the average person
doesn't understand
how powerful a blast chiller is.
Yeah.
All right, I'm just doing
the finishing decoration.
The glasses.
And it's just flattening out on me
big time.
It's too hot. I gotta at least
make my drink.
I'm gonna
stop the cupcake and work on the cocktail.
Under two minutes, people.
The cupcakes not working out, so I just
got to make some drinks right now.
There's the rum.
Good Time Mike doesn't stress
about these things.
I know these girls may know how to bake,
but I know how to make a good drink.
Adding the midori,
I'm trying to float it on the top
so it all doesn't fall through
to the bottom.
I'm stressing. I've never made
a drink before in my life.
But we'll figure it out.
How do you shake a drink?
I have no idea what I'm doing
with this cocktail.
Which one are you most excited to drink?
I think the Megan drink, over there.
I like the orange.
I think I'm going to like that drink.
Fill it to the top.
There.
If I had enough time I'd make my own,
but we'll give it it's day in court.
No, that's not the right glass. Damn it!
Oh, no. Alexis' cupcake is falling.
- Oh, no.
- Oh, my.
Oh, no.
He fell.
Thirty seconds left. You should have
your cupcakes and drink plated.
Treats.
Some purple ones in there.
Six, five
four, three, two, one.
- You're done!
We'll give that it's day in court. Woo!
Alexis
you were trying to recreate
a swanky Manhattan cocktail combo.
Let's see what you did.
Nailed it.
- Um
- Aw.
So, I think Mr. Fancy
had some of the Manhattan
and kind of just
face-planted down the subway.
- He drank too much.
- He drank too much.
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
Your drink to me is not very full.
That is not a drink. That is a sip.
Jacques, what do you think?
I think you're just excited
about the drinks.
Yes. Some say it's a problem.
I say, I'm fine.
Okay. So, the cupcake.
Everything is about planning
when you bake.
Yeah.
When you put your buttercream
into your cupcake,
wait. Wait until that cupcake is cool.
Because obviously the cupcake was warm,
and you put that buttercream,
and everything started to collapse.
It's better to wait a little bit
to finish it
and have something that stands
than, you know, rushing
and then have that type of problem.
Well, give me.
Yes!
That's not bad. I thought
That's not bad.
The cupcake is actually better
than it looks.
I also liked your cupcake.
I thought it was like light,
a good texture.
- Alexis, thank you so much.
- Yes. Thank you.
We have more booze to drink
and cupcakes to taste.
- Goodbye.
- Bye.
- Thank you, Alexis.
- Thank you.
All right, Michael, just a reminder,
you are attempting to recreate
this Mardi Gras
hurricane slurricane cocktail combo.
Let's see what you did.
Nailed it.
- Kind of.
I'll take kind of a little bit.
Yeah, you got the beads going on.
You do have the glasses.
- I love the beads.
- Thank you.
You didn't forget the beads.
I think you've obviously had
some bar training before.
Look, your garnish, you got it
to stick on the rim properly.
There is some separation, so
And especially in a drink
like this, that's half the battle.
Should we taste this bad boy?
Have at it.
Yes, the buttercream is a little bit flat,
but you have all the decoration you're
supposed to have. The beads, the mask.
- Nicole.
- Yeah?
You're going to love that one!
Ooh!
Ooh.
Nicole, I love your move.
That's a GTM drink right there.
Yeah, it's nice.
I mean, it's a good drink.
I thought your cupcake was also very good.
It was a good texture.
I think overall this makes me happy.
I love the cupcakes. The cupcake was good.
- Thank you.
- What a good time we had.
- Thank you.
- Good time Mike.
Good time drinks. Good time cupcake.
- GTM.
- Okay, Megan.
Just a reminder of the tequila sunrise
cupcake cocktail combo
that you were trying to make.
Let's see what you did.
Nailed it?
- Looks like it got too close to the sun.
- Oh, no.
It's hot on the beach.
Yes, it was warm when I put the frosting
and chocolate on top of it.
Which one is the palm tree?
Point to the palm tree.
I have one palm tree.
I guess it kind of fell off.
- That leaf fell off.
- He's drunk.
- He can't recognize a palm tree.
- It's more like a lawn.
So you all had issues
with your buttercream
melting on the hot cupcake.
What you're supposed to do
is take those cupcakes
and put them in the freezer.
So this way, they will cool down faster.
And then,
when you put you buttercream on top,
the buttercream will not melt.
Look, it could taste really good.
Let's do it. Let's taste it.
Wow, the cake is very red.
So, overall, a little bit sweet,
but a good cupcake. Nice and moist.
I like the color, actually.
Thought the color was good.
I thought your cupcake tasted good.
I did find it to be like a little crumbly.
And then your drink.
I liked it. It wasn't super strong.
- So I didn't love it.
- This is my first cocktails, so
- This is your absolute first cocktail?
- First cocktail ever made.
The mistake that you made
is so much grenadine.
And what you want
is you want a little bit of grenadine
to give that sunrise effect.
- That's what you're shooting for.
- Okay.
We have made a decision.
Bakers, please scooch down.
So you all came
with an interesting pairing.
But one of you nailed it harder
than the other.
Michael, congratulations.
Yes!
Way to go, Good Time Mike.
Dave, tell him what he's won.
A brand new decorating tote.
- Who doesn't want a decorating tote?
- Nice.
- It's on the other side.
- Oh.
We've all just been drinking
a little too much.
Congratulations.
And since you're in the lead
Thank you, Wes.
you are the one to watch,
and you will wear
this beautiful, beautiful
million dollar Nailed It baker's cap.
- Michael, you look so good with that.
- I can't. You deal with it.
And you guys, don't worry,
because we're gonna give you
a little extra help in round two,
which is right over here
behind door number two.
All three of you, come on.
We're going on an adventure to door two.
Everybody starts from scratch
here in round two.
The ten thousand dollar grand prize
goes to the winner of this challenge,
which we call nail it or fail it.
Dave, please, tell them
what they're gonna be attempting to nail.
So, it's a staple of school science fairs
around the world
and delivers provides a powerful
taste explosion with every bite.
Boys and girls, in your final challenge,
you'll be taking on
a dangerous and unpredictable dessert.
I present to you
my food science fair project.
Run for cover. It's the
volcano cake.
- Oh, my God.
- Oh.
A little mountain of chocolate and cake
stacked and carved.
Covered with cascading waterfalls, trees,
dinosaurs, and subterranean molten magma.
And it wouldn't be a true volcano cake
without the eruption.
Woah, snap.
Volcano!
I know this cake could turn
into a natural disaster,
but don't worry, because we're gonna
give you some help in this round.
Each of you now has a panic button
on your counters,
and if you get
into a little bit of trouble,
just hit the button
and one of our expert judges
will come to the rescue for three minutes.
And Alexis, since you struggled so hard
in that last round,
we're gonna give you an extra helping hand
to even the playing field.
At any point during this final round
just press the freezer burn button,
and your opponents will have to freeze
in their tracks no matter what
for three whole minutes.
Okay, here we go
Two hours on the clock.
Ten thousand dollars on the line.
It is time to nail it or fail it.
Do it.
Okay.
Wow, what is that?
How many cakes
do they actually have to make?
To do that big of a cake,
six layers, seven layers.
They need to start the cakes
with the largest size on the bottom
and smaller cake as you build it up,
and then carve it.
It's very important to take the time
to carve the cake
into a proper volcano shape.
They need to cover the cake
with buttercream,
then start the decoration.
The trees and also the dinosaur
is made out of modeling chocolates.
A lot of little leaves, a lot of grass
growing on the side.
For the volcano,
you're going to have some dry ice.
Add a little bit of water and all of that
is going to come together.
Ooh, we're getting a chocolate cake.
Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate.
Just trying to get the cake base going.
Gonna use the mixer.
I'm gonna do it by hand.
Got my milk.
Winning the first round
gave me confidence,
but I'm gonna go into the second round
playing it safe.
I'm gonna try to keep it simple
and hit the panic button
when I really need it.
I don't know
how to use the mixers just yet.
The big mixing stands.
So, start low.
Go up high.
I don't understand why Alexis
used the hand mixer.
When you have a stand mixer,
turn it on and do something else.
Here you have to hold the mixer.
I feel like it gives it a little more love
when you're using the hand mixer.
You're never gonna whip as much air
as with a stand mixer.
No, no. You're right.
Aah.
I'm a little messier
than I thought I would be.
I'm kind of loving this tool here.
I want one in my kitchen.
So now I gotta get my pans.
I know this is gonna take many cakes
of different sizes to stack up.
So, something like that.
All right, the next layer here.
Gonna get as much cake in there
as possible.
Doo, doo, doo, doo.
Spray it so you don't burn the cake.
Not enough spray.
Those cakes don't come out.
Michael is spraying enough in everywhere,
but Alex is simply not spraying enough.
And all of her cake pans
are the same size.
Oh, my God.
All the cakes in the oven.
So I can move on to the next step.
Aah.
I've never molded chocolate before.
There's just so many details in this cake.
There's a lot to do.
Time to start making the dinosaurs.
So I'm gonna be creative
and focus on the decorating.
Now we got that baking.
Let's start making the dinosaurs.
Dave, I'm thirsty
and two hours is a long time.
Can we make some drinks? I would love it.
- I have stuff under the table, Nicole.
- Of course you do.
- Okay.
- You have a whole bar.
We have an expert with us.
- What about sliding everything to him?
- All right.
I'm sure he can show us
how to make a good drink.
- You like daiquiris?
- Yes.
All right, so, two of rum.
Three quarter of simple,
three quarter of lime.
Modeling chocolate.
I've never used this before.
I wanna make sure I do it right.
Oh, no!
- Panic.
- Oh!
- Mike, what's going on? Mike.
- He hit it.
Okay, coming.
- I wanna get some advice on decorating.
- Okay, tell me.
- On how to make these structures.
- Okay, look.
If you remove his legs,
it's a big lizard with a long neck.
You know I love Jacques, right?
Let me as you a question.
How is make it like a big lizard
more helpful than make it a dinosaur?
So you can do that
with modeling chocolates.
- Here's the other secret.
- Yes.
This is salt. So in anything with citrus,
add a little bit of salt.
One, two, three, four, five.
When you're behind the bar,
you can't add regular salt.
Typically add too much,
your hands are always wet.
You can't pick salt up,
we use the salt water.
- You put it in your hands.
- Yeah.
And then, in a few seconds
- Oh, yeah.
- Right away it becomes so easy.
Look.
- You see?
- Oh, okay.
You wanna like
You have an awesome angry shake face.
You have like an angry shake face.
Ooh, yeah, baby!
- Look at that. Ooh.
- You might be able to use two glasses.
Put it all together,
a little bit of cornstarch, and roll it.
Five, four, three
- Two, one.
- And you have some color spray also.
Stop talking, Jacques.
I need a drink.
Yeah, I need to try it.
- Do you want to taste mine or Dave's?
- Whatever.
Okay, two dinosaurs. Knock him out.
Under an hour, bakers. Under an hour.
Your cakes should be cooling now.
Put it in the blast, put it in the blast.
I just wanna get all these out
and get them all cooled down.
Ooh, hey, look,
they're using the blast chiller.
They've learned from the first round.
See, Jacques?
You have lots of teachable moments
and you taught.
- I'm a teacher.
- Yes.
- I am a teacher. I am.
- Yes.
I think the dinosaurs
are the most difficult part.
Get the body of this guy going.
Looking pretty cool.
Now I just got to figure out
how to get the color I want.
I think it's pretty cool.
Oh. Yes, you look so pretty!
That fridge cools down cakes
in no time.
A layer of warm air forms around the cake
inside of a stationary fridge or chiller.
This thing, it's just like
This one has high-velocity air inside.
It blows all the hot air away.
There it goes. See?
Come on.
Damn it!
The biggest cake of Alexis'
kind of fell apart.
And she's kind of struggling now.
If you do it properly,
spend another 30 seconds greasing it,
you flip it and it comes out.
Not enough taper on that cake. Am I right?
She didn't make smaller and smaller
and make it bigger. She just made one
She should've done multiple sizes.
This is not gonna work.
Damn.
Aah!
It's falling apart.
I gotta make the volcano.
I'm gonna try to build the cake up
and then just ice the whole thing
to make it in the shape of a volcano.
Just slathering this on,
making sure I got enough on there.
I need to make more green frosting.
Not enough.
You see, she didn't carve the cake.
Instead of carving the cake,
now she has to fill all those steps
with a lot of buttercream,
which is a lot of frosting.
So you taste this one.
It's the guest judge who tastes the cake.
That's too much buttercream for me.
Once I get the green down,
once I get the land down,
then I do the water.
It's like I'm landscaping my yard at home.
Why they don't carve the stupid cake?
That's the challenge. Carve the cake.
And is Alexis using fondant?
This is just a big mound
covered in fondant.
Oh, my God,
what are they doing?
I can't. I cannot look anymore.
You have to look.
You have to look.
Look at it.
What's happening?
I'm doing my best to nail the design.
Under nine minutes, guys.
Trying to make sure I can get these trees
to hold up in there.
I'm trying to make this look like lava
by sprinkling onto the trees.
Looks like the trees are on fire.
At this point,
I'm just improvising.
Freeze time!
- Oh, it's a freeze.
- It's a freeze!
- You can't move.
- Don't move.
Hopefully I can catch up a little bit.
Oh, Megan is not happy.
I think this is gonna be the waterfall.
Now, I'm watching you.
Don't you dare move your mouth, Mike.
Don't blink.
Trees aren't really coming out.
Five, four, three, two, one.
You're back in.
- Three and a half minutes left.
- Oh, my God, it's almost over.
I have an idea.
I am making sand out of castles.
Old volcano.
Getting a little crazy here. But yeah,
that's what it's all about, right?
Forty seconds?
Let's put another little fishy.
We'll give it it's day in court.
Cake's falling apart.
Five, four, three, two, one. You're done!
Booyah!
Wheel me your volcano cakes.
Okay, Alexis, you were trying to recreate
this amazing volcano cake.
Let's see what you did.
Nailed it.
Jazz hands.
Okay.
Doesn't look exactly like the volcano,
but it's my volcano.
- It's me.
- Let's see this volcano blow!
Pour that water over that dry ice.
- Wow.
- Woo-hoo-hoo.
Nice, nice, nice. Bubble, bubble.
Now that is a volcano.
The cake itself, it has a lot of pastels.
Your colors kind of blend together
a little bit too much.
Tell me, what happened
with the rest of the cakes?
A lot of them started to crumble.
It's unfortunate because your volcano
doesn't have the volume it should.
To be able to pull out of that
and actually get something done
I think is a huge accomplishment.
In soft focus it looks really cool
with all the different colors.
- But you've got to go a little soft focus.
- Thank you.
Okay, Michael.
Let's see what you did.
I totally nailed it.
- Activate your cake.
- Alrighty.
- Eruption time. My favorite time.
- Eruption time.
I like your dinosaurs.
I think they look good.
You want to cuddle with them.
They look so nice and so gentle.
And big teeth.
You love lizards and big teeth.
Yes.
Jacques, you do know the difference
between a lizard and dinosaur, don't you?
You put your cake together,
but you didn't carve anything.
So we see those steps here.
And it's unfortunate,
because when you carve a cake,
it's a lot easier to put the buttercream.
You don't have those steps to fill
and put a ton of buttercream.
Anytime you're working with slabs,
you wanna see more sculptural work.
- But I think good job.
- Thank you.
Okay, Megan. Let's see what you did.
Nailed it.
There's a lot of things going on
on the cake. Like, it's a very busy cake.
Okay, let's see this baby blow.
Activate your cake.
Ooh.
Wow, this is an eruption.
The dinosaur looks a little bit
like a poodle.
But I do like that you did the pretzels
as the dirt.
And there's things that look like rocks.
I like that.
I'm more of a taste guy.
Some textural relief from cake and icing
that the pretzels are gonna bring
I think is a good call.
It's unfortunate
that you don't have any trees.
- I have on tree.
- No, there's a burnt tree.
Oh, the lava.
The lava fall on it and burn it.
- Okay.
- Follow the story, Jacques.
- I get it.
- This is a narrative cake.
Okay, I get it now.
Overall, I really like these cakes.
Please slice us the perfect slice
of your volcano cake for us to taste.
I'm gonna go sit. My feet hurt.
We're starting with Alexis.
I like that you put buttercream
in between your layer. The cake is moist.
- Uh, it's a good cake.
- I also liked your cake.
I thought the cake also was nice,
delicate, had a good texture.
Okay, thank you.
Moving on to Michael. Good Time Mike.
This cake is a little bit dryer.
Maybe a little bit too long into the oven.
Um, overall, I liked it.
It was just a little dry for me.
But on the positive side,
I think for a presentation cake,
you're always striking a balance between
being dryer and safe on construction
so it doesn't fall apart,
so I understand that.
Moving on to Megan.
The crunch-'ems were fun for me.
I put your dinosaur in my mouth.
That was a mistake.
Um, maybemaybe next time
I won't do that.
Dave?
Yeah? Um
The, uh
- Thethe crunch-'ems?
- I call them crunch-'ems!
Crunch-'ems? Yes, I enjoyed
the crunch-'ems. It was a good move.
This hyper food coloring
is something to behold.
So it's a little bit dry.
A little bit dry, but there was a lot
of buttercream from the decorations,
which helped bring the moisture
back into the cake.
Only one of you can win
the ten thousand dollars
and the indescribable Nailed It trophy,
which is never on this table
when I want it.
Wes?
Wes?
Wes, I really want my trophy.
All right. Thank you, Wes.
The ten thousand dollars goes to the baker
who's cake looked the most like a volcano.
- Good Time Mike.
- Yes!
Good Time Mike,
you are the winner of Nailed It.
- Congratulations!
- Thank you. Thank you.
Yes, I win!
Oh, it's Great Time Mike now,
not Good Time Mike anymore
'cause I nailed it.
Let's take a picture all together.
We don't see everyone? We do. We do.
Thank you for joining us on Nailed It.
Keep on nailing it.