Bake Squad (2021) s02e03 Episode Script
Vow Renewal
1
[Christophe] Excited?
- [Ashley] Yes.
- [Christophe] Yes!
Hold on tight ♪
- Good morning!
- [Gonzo] Hello, hello.
Hi.
Hold on to me ♪
Bake Squad, this is Kirsten.
- [Ashley] Hey, Kirsten.
- I'm so happy to be here.
These are four
of the most brilliant minds in baking.
And they're in the business of creating
some of the most immaculate desserts
you've ever seen.
Squad,
Kirsten needs our help
for a very special celebration.
Okay.
I have been lucky enough to be married
to the love of my life for ten years.
He is incredible. His name is Steve.
- That's Steve.
- [Christina] Look at the two of you!
- Oh my gosh.
- Wow.
- You've just had a baby together, right?
- Yes, June, and she's seven months old.
- Look at her. Come on.
- Congrats.
We are throwing
a ten-year vow-renewal party!
- Awesome.
- We've rented out this huge garden.
- Who's going to be there? How many people?
- [Kirsten] At least 50 friends and family.
Just like at our wedding,
we had our 50 people.
And at my wedding,
I did make my bridesmaids wear hot pink.
[laughter]
That's amazing.
- What's Steve's aesthetic? Also hot pink?
- [laughter]
- He is all about nature, as am I.
- Nice.
We love the fresh air, the trees.
And every time we go to a new country,
we always seek out the nature.
What are some of your favorite places
you've been together?
Steve is Italian,
so on our honeymoon, we did go to Italy.
We have traveled through Europe,
and the Caribbean,
and traveling makes us feel whole.
In nature, I kind of represent a tornado.
[chuckling]
At any party,
I could be there, there, and there.
He's kind of more of a volcano.
Zero to 100 like that.
Uh, we decided to get matching tattoos.
- Great.
- [Kirsten] Tornado and volcano symbols.
That's awesome.
- I want more food details.
- Oh, yeah.
Okay. He loves peanut butter.
He loves coffee.
I got him on honey, 'cause I'm Southern
and we love putting honey on everything.
He loves plums, peaches, raspberries.
We put cinnamon
on a lot of things in our house.
And what about formats?
Cookies, cupcakes, pies, ice cream.
Where does he go?
[Kirsten] He does enjoy cookies.
Hasn't had a lot of experience
with cupcakes.
- Oh.
- What are no-fly zones for Steve?
Steve is not the kind of person
that would sit around
and eat chocolate on its own.
- All right, I'm out. I'll see you later.
- You might wanna take the day off.
If I could bring a jar of peanut butter,
we'd be fine.
- What if we combined it with chocolate?
- Yes.
I'm the chocolate-on-chocolate person.
That's me.
My friend.
Now, the guy that we're honoring
with this party, Steve,
why does he deserve this?
He is truly the most caring husband
I ever could have asked for.
Aww.
When I was pregnant, he made that
one of the best experiences of my life,
um, because he was always there for me.
And now that we have this baby,
even though he works so much,
he does everything he can
to be there for her.
- I am thrilled to surprise him with this.
- Got it.
- We're gonna show up for him.
- That's awesome.
I'm crying with you.
So we're gonna let Kirsten
go enjoy her day.
When you come back, there's gonna be
four stunning desserts to choose from.
Sounds iconic.
Squad, you have just seven hours
to make the dessert of the decade.
All right. Bake Squad, let's get
this sweet show on the road. Ovens on!
- We will see you back here soon. Let's go!
- [Kirsten] Okay.
- All right.
- Let's go!
[Christophe] Good luck, guys.
Good luck. Let's do it. Woo!
Roll up, are you ready tonight? ♪
Let's get down to it
Get down to it, come on ♪
Let's create some magic.
- [Ashley] Are you getting inspired?
- I am.
I am thinking
about the actual wedding venue.
- Okay.
- So maybe something garden-themed?
- Yeah.
- And, like, food with fillings in it.
- And she loves cake, right?
- [Ashley] Yeah.
So what if I made cupcakes
and then focus on fruit fillings.
So I'm giving her
something that she loves,
and then I inject it with a little bit
of something that he loves.
Are you marrying the two together?
I'm marrying them together, forever. Amen.
[both giggle]
[upbeat music plays]
All right, Gonzo, talk to me.
What are you thinking?
[Gonzo] It's a ten-year vow renewal.
It's all about love.
So I'm thinking about making
this giant box of bonbons.
These bonbons
are actually going to be mousse cakes.
I need help from you,
because I need to find
some sort of box to put these guys in,
'cause each one of them's
gonna be, like, this big.
How big is this total vision?
So I'm thinking about making
around 15 different ones.
I mean, it's not easy
to make 15 different
- Exactly.
- cakes, bonbons.
There are many techniques
and many different components.
I have different mousses,
different textures, different layers.
So your cakes
essentially have to be baked,
layered, and stacked,
and in the fridge-freezer
with three hours to go?
So you can get your glazes on,
your decor on, your chocolate nuances on.
That's not a lot of time.
- I'm so excited to see this come together.
- It's gonna be a fun one.
What are you thinking?
I'm really inspired
by Steve and Kirsten's love for travel.
I love traveling.
I've been to at least nine countries.
I really wanna represent that
in this cake.
And I'm thinking about going big here
and maybe just giving them a globe.
Mm. That's major.
How big are you thinking?
- [Ashley] Just a big one.
- Can you hug it? Can you?
- Ah.
- Maybe.
- Christophe, how are you feeling?
- Morning, Chef.
- Great.
- So talk to me. What are you thinking?
[Christophe] I'm getting inspired
by their tattoo and their nickname.
So I want to make
a volcano vanilla cake for him.
And then we have a tornado
sugar sculpture showpiece for her,
made up of pulled sugar,
maybe some cotton candy on the inside.
This big? It's this big?
I think I'm gonna do
between two to three feet tall.
- And minis for tasting parts.
- I see. And it's a his-and-hers.
- Yes.
- Which is super-duper smart, Christophe.
- What are you the most worried about?
- I'm concerned about the tornado.
We are starting with a really,
really small base over here,
and a really large base over here.
At any moment, if this is unbalanced,
the entire thing can collapse.
Here we go. It's go time, all right?
- Thank you.
- [Christina] You got this.
This is a crazy-ambitious stunt.
[upbeat music plays]
Oh, Mamma mia.
I'm inspired
by Steve and Kirsten's love of travel.
- Ash.
- Oh! Hi.
[Christina] What are you doing?
What's the vision?
[Ashley] I'm gonna make a three-foot globe
made of vanilla butter cake,
layered with a peanut butter filling
and crunchy peanut butter cookie crumble.
And two two-foot sculptures of Steve
and Kirsten sitting on top of the world.
Wow. I like the idea
of them sitting on top of the world.
That's what it feels like
when you're in love, right?
Yeah.
Now, listen, it's not lost on me,
making it three feet,
it means higher stakes
from a stability
and architecture standpoint.
Cake, in order for it
to be light and fluffy and airy and moist,
means it literally just cannot hold
that much weight without caving in.
Yeah, very good point.
What are you thinking
in terms of that base?
I'm thinking I need
like a half-sphere of Styrofoam.
Okay, so, I'm working on Styrofoam.
- I'll meet you back here.
- Awesome. Thank you.
I know, I know, I make this look easy ♪
I'm using buttermilk
to add moisture to the cupcakes.
I'm gonna roast my peanuts.
So for this challenge,
I'm making two big showpieces.
A volcano and a tornado.
The tornado will be 100% sugar,
served on a bed of cotton candy.
But it's just a showpiece.
It's not meant to be eaten.
Steve doesn't like chocolate,
but he loves peanuts.
So the volcano will be
a three-foot tall vanilla cake,
soaked with coffee
with caramelized peanuts,
peanut butter, and French buttercream.
Okay, the buttercream is almost ready.
And I'm also doing some mini versions
of that exact same volcano.
So each and every guest
can take and enjoy on their own.
- Are you doing peanuts too?
- [Ashley] Yeah. Peanut butter.
- Well, I make my own peanut butter.
- You're making your own?
- Yeah. I'm doing vanilla cake too.
- It's you and I, head-to-head.
Oh.
Bright pink color,
because that is what Kirsten loves.
Show me what you got
Come on, come on ♪
[Christophe] Vanilla cake it is.
Show me what you got, come on ♪
Maya-Camille.
- Hi, Chef.
- Ooh, what you got working on over here?
I've got four different kinds of cupcakes
that I'm going to make.
I am going to do a cinnamon cupcake
with a blood orange filling,
a cannoli-inspired flavor
for Steve's Italian heritage,
a honey-thyme cupcake
with a raspberry filling,
and lastly,
a guava cupcake with a guava filling.
And because they are doing
their vow renewals in a garden,
I think it would be cool to have
the cupcakes decorated like succulents,
and displayed as a garden
in the initials of Kirsten and Steve.
- I see the word "vertical."
- Yes.
Most cupcakes, freshly baked,
on their sides,
the frosting's gonna come right off.
I need to add shortening
to the buttercream
so that the exterior hardens,
but the interior is still soft and creamy.
How many cupcakes
do you think you need to make K and S?
- I'm thinking just under 300.
- Okay.
I suppose the other part is I imagine
you need help in the lettering department?
- I do!
- [Christina] Is that right?
- I've got work to do. Keep your eye on it.
- Thank you, Chef.
Need some music in here.
- [Maya-Camille] Cinnamon.
- All right. My cakes are baked.
[upbeat music plays]
So, you guys, I'm making
a bunch of different cakes today.
- Wait, he's making cake too?
- For sure.
- Cupcakes.
- [Gonzo] You're doing cake?
- Yeah.
- I'm doing cake too.
- [Ashley] Everyone is doing cake?
- Oh!
You coming for me? You guys
are crossing into my cake territory.
Everybody's doing cake today.
So for this challenge,
I wanted to do something special
and get out of my own comfort zone,
because I feel
very connected to this event.
In two years, my wife and I are planning
on celebrating our ten-year vow renewal.
We actually eloped,
so this is going to be our big, big
celebration, just like Kirsten and Steve.
So, Gonzo, you're stepping
into cake land today.
Full-on cake land.
So for this party,
I'm going to make a box of chocolates,
but they will be
15 different mousse cakes.
We have different layers
of chocolate mousse,
and then different cakes as the base.
I'm gonna create
the Gonzo version of a caramel chew,
a peanut butter cup,
a cherry cordial, and a Ferrero Rocher.
But in this case,
instead of using hazelnut,
we use peanut,
because, obviously, Steve loves peanuts.
I'm usually working
in my own chocolate world,
creating sculptures,
focusing on just one project.
But I'm going Christophe on this one.
It's quite complicated.
There's a lot of multitasking going on.
- [Maya-Camille] You got 13 bowls.
- Lots of bowls.
And a lot of time management.
I am proud of you, Gonzo.
When I grow up I want to be just like you.
How we do it, do it ♪
[Maya-Camille] That's nice.
The cake looks beautiful.
Gonna be a beautiful volcano.
These cakes are done. [chuckles]
To make this globe a reality,
I'm gonna need a lot of cake.
This is the big one. Talk about cake land.
I am drowning in cakes right now.
There's like
I've lost count. Forty-ish? I don't know.
Oh my gosh. I don't know
what I signed myself up for.
There's cake everywhere.
I've officially lost it.
Love it, yeah ♪
Ashley!
- Look what I got.
- Oh my gosh. You did it!
- You ready to start layering and going?
- Oh, I'm ready.
I have a lot on my plate today.
There is a ton to do. Oh, gosh.
It's all about time management.
I have to get this cake stacked
and crumb-coated as fast as possible.
I need a lot more buttercream.
There's a lot of cake, so carving it down
is one of the more tedious
parts of this process.
And I still need to give myself at least
three hours to put on all these details
and make two two-foot sculptures
of Steve and Kirsten.
Gotta get this covered in buttercream too.
They'll never be able
to tell it's Styrofoam.
[Christophe] Chocolate cake is ready.
Kirsten is a tornado.
But the tornado sugar sculpture
is just a showpiece.
Just for decoration.
It's not meant to be eaten.
So I'm making miniature tornados
that will be all about Kirsten.
She loves chocolate
on chocolate on chocolate.
We're going to have a chocolate sponge,
chocolate mousse, a chocolate streusel,
a chocolate crémeux, all in one bite.
It's gonna be rich, sweet, and delicious.
I'm putting a chocolate cake layer
on top of a mousse,
and it's ready to go in a blast freezer.
Bake Squad, five hours to go.
Keep your eye on that clock.
Don't stop, you got it
Keep on, 'cause ♪
[Ashley] Oh my gosh.
This thing is ready to go in the fridge.
A little faith ♪
- Look at that.
- Gonzo!
Special delivery!
[Gonzo] Oh my goodness.
I gotta start measuring,
uh, each one of the cavities.
Okay. I see you, Gonzo,
and your chocolate box.
The cupcakes I'm making
are not an everyday cupcake.
I am making four different fillings.
Mascarpone, guava,
and a raspberry balsamic jam.
But the most unique is the blood orange
filling with agar-agar,
which is a thickener that will allow me
to create a little blood orange caviar.
Once the warm blood orange liquid
hits the super cold oil,
the droplets immediately
create a ball shape.
[chuckles]
- That's cool.
- Would you like to taste?
[Christophe] Yeah.
Got a little pop.
I like that it's crunchy on the outside
and really liquid on the inside.
[Maya-Camille] Mm.
All the stuff I'm making right now
are different layers
that go on top of the actual cakes.
I have caramels, ganaches, and mousses.
We have a dark chocolate mousse,
cherry compote,
and an almond cake for the cherry cordial.
Once this gets frozen,
I'm gonna be able to unmold these
and then glaze them.
[Ashley] Holy moly,
these are gonna be big.
To start a chocolate sculpture,
I have to get my armature,
I need to put my first layer
of modeling chocolate on,
and then kind of just getting
the shapes and curves of the body
as close as possible.
These sculptures of Kirsten and Steve,
I easily could've spent
three days on them each.
Like, I get in the zone.
But I cannot obsess
over every single detail
or it'll never get done.
So I have to just stay focused,
stay the course, and just keep going.
Creepy.
[Christophe] I'm going to start
to assemble the volcano.
Vanilla cake, French vanilla buttercream.
Caramelized peanuts.
Ashley, now I need to carve it down.
Since your top is already pretty small,
don't take any off the top.
And you can also put
the tip of your knife up here on the top
and kind of just angle it
all the way around.
[Christophe] Such an inspiration.
I learn from you.
[Ashley] I've learned from you.
That's very kind.
- Christophe?
- Yeah?
Do you ever get inspired by me?
Every time I'm touching
a piece of chocolate, Gonzo.
[upbeat music plays]
Now I am going to fill
nearly 300 cupcakes.
[upbeat music plays]
I'm applying the dry meringue
on the volcano.
So it looks like a rock.
Rock texture that just erupted.
It looks great.
I have a pretty decent shape on all
these figures. The heads are attached.
One, two, three, four ♪
All right, Bake Squad,
just over three hours remain.
- Thank you.
- Yes, Chef.
- Yes, Chef.
- [Gonzo] Yeah.
Na, na, na, hey, hey, hey ♪
[Gonzo] I need to leave myself enough time
to create all the garnishes and details
that are gonna go around my cakes
and on my cakes.
I'm the chocolate guy.
So of course I'm going to use chocolate.
I have milk chocolate,
I have dark chocolate.
But there's a bunch of other flavors
that Steve is going to love.
[upbeat music plays]
Mm. Mmm!
[sighs] So my cake is out of the freezer,
and now I need to add all of the frosting.
And there's a lot.
A few shades of blue on here
to give it better dimension.
Looking good, sir.
Thank you. I think it's missing something.
- Something like lava going down over here.
- [Christina] You want, like, movement?
[Christophe] Something like,
"The volcano is alive."
Actually, I have an idea.
I'll be back. You keep going.
Thank you, Chef.
Every time we need something,
Christina is always here
to bring us those crazy things
that who knows
where she's getting them from.
- Whoa! Dude.
- [Christophe beatboxes]
- Here comes the lava.
- Are we going to a nightclub?
I'm the pastry illusionist,
but I swear,
Christina Tosi, she's a magician.
- What do you think?
- I love it already!
All right, let me map out
all of my cupcakes.
I want Kirsten to look at this dessert
and think she's looking
at a real vertical garden.
So in order for me
to make the succulents look realistic,
first, I need to make sure
I have the correct piping tips.
Second, I am putting in two or more colors
of buttercream into my piping bag.
So right now I am doing
a succulent design on my guava cupcakes.
It's given me a perfect blend of colors
that makes the succulent
look as realistic as possible.
[Christophe] Little bit of lighting
for my volcano.
[Gonzo] All right, now I'm gonna start
working on the glaze for my mousse cakes.
[upbeat music plays]
[Gonzo] I'm gonna glaze
every different cake a different color.
Ooh, that is so soft.
To make this globe
look as realistic as possible,
I'm gonna use
various shades of blue for the ocean,
and various shades of browns,
greens, and yellows for the continents
and do spackling to give it nice texture.
All around the world ♪
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪
All around the world ♪
[Christophe] All right, mini-volcano on
the way. Italian meringue all around it.
Peanut butter ooze.
[Gonzo] This guy right here,
it's going to be the Ferrero Rocher.
So we want a nice, thin, even glaze,
but also it's meant to be rocky
so we want that texture
to be evenly distributed.
- Exactly.
- Lord, that's satisfying to watch, Gonzo.
[Maya-Camille] Right now,
I am piping buttercream.
Piping this buttercream
is a very tedious process
because it takes a lot of time
to make sure that each piping that
I'm doing on each cupcake is beautiful.
But I have 200 to 300 cupcakes.
Oh, my hand is cramping.
If I go too fast,
I can make a mistake and mess up,
and have to start all over again.
But if I don't move quickly enough,
then I'm not gonna get it done in time.
So this requires a lot of patience.
I've got a lot done, but I still have
quite a bit more that I need to do.
I'm hoping that I can get them
all done in time.
It's time to build the tornado.
The tornado showpiece is 100% sugar,
surrounded by cotton candy.
So we have all the pieces for the tornado.
The tornado will consist
of different sizes of discs
that are glued on top of each other,
with some spheres as separation,
which is the spine of the tornado.
The risk today is the base is so small,
and the top of the showpiece is so large.
So if the gravity point
leans on the right or on the left,
we might have some risk of
collapsing the whole, entire thing.
Oh my gosh!
Now the tornado is leaning on the right
because the sugar is too hot.
So I'm trying to cool down the sugar.
And I'm going to try to bring this back
on the left side.
Ay-yi-yi.
Never give up, never give up
Never give up, no, not now, not never ♪
I added a little bit of shortening
to the buttercream.
Maya-Camille.
- Boom.
- Boom. No problem. Wow.
Bake Squad, last and final hour,
make the most of it.
Holy crap. Where does the time go?
Never give up
No, not now, not never ♪
[Christophe] Lava pieces. Look at that.
[Gonzo] This is a glaze
for my caramel chew,
peanut butter cup,
and then our cherry cordial.
[Christina] Maya-Camille!
- I got something for you.
- Yeah.
- [Christina] What do you think?
- Oh, this is perfect.
[upbeat music plays]
- Okay, keep going.
- [Maya-Camille] Thanks, Chef.
[Christophe] That's a beautiful tornado.
[upbeat music continues]
- [Ashley] Oh my gosh.
- Thirty minutes to go, Bake Squad.
[Christophe groans]
[tense music plays]
I'm putting the tornado on the table,
and the entire thing's collapsed.
And I'm just
devastated.
Christophe, I see
the tornado's spine structure is broken.
How can I help you?
At this point, we have 20 minutes.
I don't I don't think it's necessary
to make a tornado.
Oh. I'll get
the cotton candy machine going.
You're gonna build
the tornado's sugar vertebrae,
and then you'll wrap cotton candy
around this sugar vertebrae.
I don't believe it.
[Christina] You don't believe it?
Guess what? I believe in you.
We are Bake Squad.
You always need somebody to lift you up,
and I'm really grateful to have
Chef Christina doing this to me today.
She's not gonna let me give up.
I have some sugar parts over here
we can glue back together.
[Christina] Okay. I got you.
[Christophe] I need to do
everything in my power
to bring back this tornado to life.
[Maya-Camille] Not enough time.
I gotta keep moving.
[Christina] All right, Bake Squad,
you gotta push it.
Just 15 minutes remain.
It's time to wrap it up.
Tick, tick, boom! ♪
- [Ashley] Gosh.
- [Christina] Christophe, I believe in you.
Push, push.
[upbeat music plays]
[Christina] Gonzo, bringing it together.
Don't even know
What you are messing with ♪
We're coming at you
With a brand-new hit ♪
Final details, Bake Squad.
Two minutes remain.
Ash, keep at it. You are almost there.
One minute to go.
Na, na, na, na, na, na ♪
[groans]
Time's ticking, Bake Squad.
Na, na, na, na, na ♪
[Christina] You've got it, Maya-Camille.
Here comes Kirsten, guys.
Na, na, na, na, na, na
Na, na, na, na, na, na ♪
[gasps] Oh my God.
Thirty seconds. Every last detail counts.
Tick, tick, boom!
Are you ready for it? ♪
Wow.
Na, na, na, na, na ♪
[Christina] Three, two, one.
All right, Bake Squad. Time's up.
- Well done.
- [Christina chuckles]
I am overwhelmed in the best way.
This is unbelievable.
[Christina] Okay,
it's time for my favorite part.
The tasting.
- Let's do it.
- Let's do it. Come on.
[upbeat music plays]
- [Christina] Ash.
- Hello.
[Kirsten squeals]
- [laughs]
- [Ashley] Tell me what you really think.
I am looking at a globe and myself.
Even my hair, the way I wear it.
My husband. Pink shoes!
It's so amazing. What is it?
I wanted to give you
something that is representative
of yours and Steve's love for traveling
and exploring the world.
My creation today
is called Love Around the World.
It's layers of rich butter-vanilla cake
with a peanut butter filling,
and a peanut butter cookie crumble.
Ooh!
So all layers and levels
of peanut butter there.
And you and Steve
are made out of chocolate.
[gasps] You can see layers.
So many layers.
Ooh.
I've never seen anything like it.
[Christina] Mm.
Mm. I can taste the peanut butter.
I can taste the vanilla.
The cake is nice and fluffy.
It's just really nice to eat. Mm.
I cannot believe that you made
a cake three feet around,
with 48 sheet pans of cake,
and everything is baked to perfection.
- Thank you very much.
- It's so good.
Very kind to say.
- Kirsten, we gotta keep moving. Come on.
- Okay. Oh. Thank you.
Thank you so much.
- [Christina] All right, Kirsten.
- Hi.
It is so beautiful,
and stunning, and it is so us.
[Maya-Camille] So I call this
The Secret Garden.
I know you originally
had your wedding in Miami.
I thought of a tropical flavor.
So we have a guava cupcake
with a guava filling.
Then we have a honey-thyme cupcake.
Then we also have
a cannoli-inspired cupcake
because of Steve's Italian heritage.
Then we have a cinnamon cupcake
because I know you love cinnamon,
filled with blood orange caviar.
[Kirsten] Ooh!
Very cool. Fancy.
I try.
[Kirsten] So this is my honey-thyme.
Mm. Mmm!
Oh, the honey.
It is so subtle, but it is so there
in the most perfect way.
And just a little hint of thyme.
- Have you ever tasted a cupcake like that?
- I actually have not.
I'm gonna tell you
about mine as you go in.
The balance of guava cupcake
and then guava filling,
and then that beautiful,
succulent frosting on top is delightful.
- What do you think about Steve's cannoli?
- [Kirsten] It's amazing.
I've never had a cannoli cupcake before.
Uh, the lemon really comes through,
and it was creamy on the inside,
just like a cannoli.
- Uh, I think Steve would love it.
- Mm.
I really love what you did
with the cinnamon blood orange.
There's something about
the warm toastiness of the cinnamon
with the acidity
from that blood orange caviar.
- You knocked this one out of the park.
- Thank you, Chef.
- Thank you, Chef.
- And thank you.
- [Christina] Christophe.
- Hi, Chef.
[Kirsten] It's me!
It's beautiful and it's pink.
Wow, a real tornado.
And, um, the volcano is Steve.
Yes. I am amazed.
What is that volcano made out of?
[Christophe] It's 100% cake.
- It's cake?
- It's sculpted cake, actually.
- Our tornado, which is you.
- Yes!
- It's all about chocolate.
- That's a chocolate cake?
The one on the bottom.
This one is a sugar showpiece.
- [Kirsten] It's beautiful.
- It's one of my most challenging bakes.
I will put it as a top three
in my entire career.
Just to be clear, Christophe worked
in sponge sugar, poured sugar,
in chocolate, cake, and meringue.
- In electricity?
- And electricity.
[laughing] I see those lights.
That's amazing!
[Christina] And these gorgeous little
individualized volcanoes and tornadoes
are really the most delicious
snacking moments that we'll get to.
I call them the Symbols of Love,
because these are two variable renditions
of you and your husband.
Inside my volcano, I have a vanilla cake
soaked with espresso,
with peanut praline, caramelized peanuts.
Then around it,
French buttercream and French meringue.
[Kirsten] Mm!
Oh my gosh.
The peanut butter,
the creaminess, the vanilla.
- It is Steve in a bite. You did it.
- Wow.
- I'll trade you.
- [Kirsten chuckles]
[Christophe] Then we have mini-tornadoes,
which is all about chocolate.
Chocolate mousse, a chocolate streusel,
a chocolate crémeux, a chocolate sponge.
All deep inside the chocolate glaze
and surrounded by cotton candy.
Five different techniques in one.
- Inside I am doing a happy dance.
- I can see it in your eyes.
Yes. You're giving me
that chocolate sensation
that I crave in life.
- There you go.
- So thank you.
It's a study in chocolate as a flavor,
but also in chocolate as a texture.
You get chocolate in all
of its definitions in a brilliant way.
Christophe, you pulled it off.
It's incredibly delicious.
Thank you.
[upbeat music plays]
Gonzo.
I mean, does he know how to make
a romantic box of chocolates?
- [laughs]
- Or what?
[Gonzo] It looks like a chocolate box,
but it's actually a box of cakes.
I have truly never seen
anything like this before.
That is, like, museum-worthy.
[Gonzo] I call it The Love Box.
Each one of these are different
mousse cakes that you can cut open,
and you're gonna find
many different textures, different layers.
The Gonzo version of a peanut butter cup.
I have a peanut butter mousse
and milk chocolate ganache.
And then I have a vanilla cake.
There's also some bits
of crunchy peanuts in there.
For the caramel chew,
I have a dark chocolate mousse,
a caramel cream, and a coconut cake.
[Kirsten] Oh, my goodness.
Another cake is our cherry cordial.
Cherry compote, dark chocolate mousse,
and a vanilla cake.
Then I have the Gonzo version
of a Ferrero Rocher.
Instead of using hazelnut, we use peanut,
because obviously Steve loves peanuts.
- [Christina] Oh, hold on.
- [Kirsten laughs]
That's amazing!
- Dig in.
- There's the Steve. Oh my gosh.
[tense music plays]
So that's the Ferrero Rocher.
[Kirsten laughs]
You know, this is as Steve
as a dessert gets.
Peanut butter on peanut butter
on peanut butter.
It is. But also it's creamy.
And And so rich and flavorful.
Love it.
[Christina] What about
Gonzo's take on a caramel chew?
Mm.
I had never tasted
anything like that before.
Uh, I'm tasting some salty notes
as well as the chocolate.
- Which I think is the caramel?
- Yeah.
- Um, it's just amazing.
- Oh, Gonzo.
- Oh.
- [Gonzo] That's the cherry cordial there.
It's so much better
than any cherry cordial I've ever had.
It's so thoughtful and fresh
in its balance of cherry to chocolate.
- Nice.
- The textures are compelling.
And I just think you nailed it.
Fifteen different chocolates.
- Very well done. Congratulations.
- Thank you.
- Gotta keep eating, but I'm taking mine.
- Ditto.
- Come on. Thank you.
- Enjoy.
Thank you so much.
[upbeat music plays]
Now it's time to get serious,
because this is the hardest part.
Have you made your decision
between these four gorgeous desserts?
I think I have.
Please tell us
why you're choosing this dessert.
[Kirsten] Well, when I first saw it,
it stopped me in my tracks.
And the flavors.
Every single bite blew my mind.
I didn't really think
it was going to be a dessert
that would work for both Steve and I.
And with one bite,
I had the most Steve bite of the day.
It reminded me of him,
and that was kind of what did it.
Okay, Kirsten, take a deep breath,
and tell us
which baker took the cake.
Literally.
Okay. The baker that I have chosen
for my ten-year vow renewal is
[tense music plays]
Gonzo.
[cheering]
[Christina] Gonzo! You did it!
- All right, you two. I need a photo.
- [Kirsten] Yes!
- [Christina] One, two, three, Steve!
- [Kirsten] Steve!
Oh, that is so good.
[Christina] Kirsten,
this is the most fun picture,
but real talk,
you have a serious party to get to.
- Off you go to the party!
- Thank you!
My friend, bragging rights go out to you.
Get up there on the board. Go, go, go!
[cheering]
- [Ashley] That picture's awesome.
- [Gonzo] All right!
- Yes. So proud of you, buddy.
- [Maya-Camille laughs]
[Ashley] Heck yes.
[upbeat music plays]
This is beautiful. [gasps]
[Kirsten laughs]
There's something cooking
In the air tonight, whoa ♪
Today is our vow renewal.
Oh my gosh. There it is.
And I'm starting to get really nervous
about what Steve is going to think
about the dessert.
Oh, oh, oh, whoa ♪
Steve, I will never be able
to spend enough time with you.
Kirsten, as a husband,
soulmate, and now as a father,
I love you.
I love you so much.
Woo!
Steve, I've been working
with the Bake Squad.
[cheering]
And I have picked out something
that I think you're going to love.
- I'm so excited.
- Here we go! [squeals]
[cheering]
Microphone check ♪
- Is that all cake?
- Yes.
Grab your phone
Take your pictures, press record ♪
- Where's the peanut butter?
- There.
I've never had a dessert
tailor-made for me.
Mmm.
This couldn't have been more perfect.
Boom, microphone check ♪
That's really good.
It's the best dessert I've ever had.
- It's delicious.
- Yeah.
You made a perfect choice.
Boom, boom ♪
[Steve] Thank you so much
for surprising me with this dessert.
[laughs]
I love you.
[all] Thank you, Bake Squad!
[upbeat music plays]
[Christophe] Excited?
- [Ashley] Yes.
- [Christophe] Yes!
Hold on tight ♪
- Good morning!
- [Gonzo] Hello, hello.
Hi.
Hold on to me ♪
Bake Squad, this is Kirsten.
- [Ashley] Hey, Kirsten.
- I'm so happy to be here.
These are four
of the most brilliant minds in baking.
And they're in the business of creating
some of the most immaculate desserts
you've ever seen.
Squad,
Kirsten needs our help
for a very special celebration.
Okay.
I have been lucky enough to be married
to the love of my life for ten years.
He is incredible. His name is Steve.
- That's Steve.
- [Christina] Look at the two of you!
- Oh my gosh.
- Wow.
- You've just had a baby together, right?
- Yes, June, and she's seven months old.
- Look at her. Come on.
- Congrats.
We are throwing
a ten-year vow-renewal party!
- Awesome.
- We've rented out this huge garden.
- Who's going to be there? How many people?
- [Kirsten] At least 50 friends and family.
Just like at our wedding,
we had our 50 people.
And at my wedding,
I did make my bridesmaids wear hot pink.
[laughter]
That's amazing.
- What's Steve's aesthetic? Also hot pink?
- [laughter]
- He is all about nature, as am I.
- Nice.
We love the fresh air, the trees.
And every time we go to a new country,
we always seek out the nature.
What are some of your favorite places
you've been together?
Steve is Italian,
so on our honeymoon, we did go to Italy.
We have traveled through Europe,
and the Caribbean,
and traveling makes us feel whole.
In nature, I kind of represent a tornado.
[chuckling]
At any party,
I could be there, there, and there.
He's kind of more of a volcano.
Zero to 100 like that.
Uh, we decided to get matching tattoos.
- Great.
- [Kirsten] Tornado and volcano symbols.
That's awesome.
- I want more food details.
- Oh, yeah.
Okay. He loves peanut butter.
He loves coffee.
I got him on honey, 'cause I'm Southern
and we love putting honey on everything.
He loves plums, peaches, raspberries.
We put cinnamon
on a lot of things in our house.
And what about formats?
Cookies, cupcakes, pies, ice cream.
Where does he go?
[Kirsten] He does enjoy cookies.
Hasn't had a lot of experience
with cupcakes.
- Oh.
- What are no-fly zones for Steve?
Steve is not the kind of person
that would sit around
and eat chocolate on its own.
- All right, I'm out. I'll see you later.
- You might wanna take the day off.
If I could bring a jar of peanut butter,
we'd be fine.
- What if we combined it with chocolate?
- Yes.
I'm the chocolate-on-chocolate person.
That's me.
My friend.
Now, the guy that we're honoring
with this party, Steve,
why does he deserve this?
He is truly the most caring husband
I ever could have asked for.
Aww.
When I was pregnant, he made that
one of the best experiences of my life,
um, because he was always there for me.
And now that we have this baby,
even though he works so much,
he does everything he can
to be there for her.
- I am thrilled to surprise him with this.
- Got it.
- We're gonna show up for him.
- That's awesome.
I'm crying with you.
So we're gonna let Kirsten
go enjoy her day.
When you come back, there's gonna be
four stunning desserts to choose from.
Sounds iconic.
Squad, you have just seven hours
to make the dessert of the decade.
All right. Bake Squad, let's get
this sweet show on the road. Ovens on!
- We will see you back here soon. Let's go!
- [Kirsten] Okay.
- All right.
- Let's go!
[Christophe] Good luck, guys.
Good luck. Let's do it. Woo!
Roll up, are you ready tonight? ♪
Let's get down to it
Get down to it, come on ♪
Let's create some magic.
- [Ashley] Are you getting inspired?
- I am.
I am thinking
about the actual wedding venue.
- Okay.
- So maybe something garden-themed?
- Yeah.
- And, like, food with fillings in it.
- And she loves cake, right?
- [Ashley] Yeah.
So what if I made cupcakes
and then focus on fruit fillings.
So I'm giving her
something that she loves,
and then I inject it with a little bit
of something that he loves.
Are you marrying the two together?
I'm marrying them together, forever. Amen.
[both giggle]
[upbeat music plays]
All right, Gonzo, talk to me.
What are you thinking?
[Gonzo] It's a ten-year vow renewal.
It's all about love.
So I'm thinking about making
this giant box of bonbons.
These bonbons
are actually going to be mousse cakes.
I need help from you,
because I need to find
some sort of box to put these guys in,
'cause each one of them's
gonna be, like, this big.
How big is this total vision?
So I'm thinking about making
around 15 different ones.
I mean, it's not easy
to make 15 different
- Exactly.
- cakes, bonbons.
There are many techniques
and many different components.
I have different mousses,
different textures, different layers.
So your cakes
essentially have to be baked,
layered, and stacked,
and in the fridge-freezer
with three hours to go?
So you can get your glazes on,
your decor on, your chocolate nuances on.
That's not a lot of time.
- I'm so excited to see this come together.
- It's gonna be a fun one.
What are you thinking?
I'm really inspired
by Steve and Kirsten's love for travel.
I love traveling.
I've been to at least nine countries.
I really wanna represent that
in this cake.
And I'm thinking about going big here
and maybe just giving them a globe.
Mm. That's major.
How big are you thinking?
- [Ashley] Just a big one.
- Can you hug it? Can you?
- Ah.
- Maybe.
- Christophe, how are you feeling?
- Morning, Chef.
- Great.
- So talk to me. What are you thinking?
[Christophe] I'm getting inspired
by their tattoo and their nickname.
So I want to make
a volcano vanilla cake for him.
And then we have a tornado
sugar sculpture showpiece for her,
made up of pulled sugar,
maybe some cotton candy on the inside.
This big? It's this big?
I think I'm gonna do
between two to three feet tall.
- And minis for tasting parts.
- I see. And it's a his-and-hers.
- Yes.
- Which is super-duper smart, Christophe.
- What are you the most worried about?
- I'm concerned about the tornado.
We are starting with a really,
really small base over here,
and a really large base over here.
At any moment, if this is unbalanced,
the entire thing can collapse.
Here we go. It's go time, all right?
- Thank you.
- [Christina] You got this.
This is a crazy-ambitious stunt.
[upbeat music plays]
Oh, Mamma mia.
I'm inspired
by Steve and Kirsten's love of travel.
- Ash.
- Oh! Hi.
[Christina] What are you doing?
What's the vision?
[Ashley] I'm gonna make a three-foot globe
made of vanilla butter cake,
layered with a peanut butter filling
and crunchy peanut butter cookie crumble.
And two two-foot sculptures of Steve
and Kirsten sitting on top of the world.
Wow. I like the idea
of them sitting on top of the world.
That's what it feels like
when you're in love, right?
Yeah.
Now, listen, it's not lost on me,
making it three feet,
it means higher stakes
from a stability
and architecture standpoint.
Cake, in order for it
to be light and fluffy and airy and moist,
means it literally just cannot hold
that much weight without caving in.
Yeah, very good point.
What are you thinking
in terms of that base?
I'm thinking I need
like a half-sphere of Styrofoam.
Okay, so, I'm working on Styrofoam.
- I'll meet you back here.
- Awesome. Thank you.
I know, I know, I make this look easy ♪
I'm using buttermilk
to add moisture to the cupcakes.
I'm gonna roast my peanuts.
So for this challenge,
I'm making two big showpieces.
A volcano and a tornado.
The tornado will be 100% sugar,
served on a bed of cotton candy.
But it's just a showpiece.
It's not meant to be eaten.
Steve doesn't like chocolate,
but he loves peanuts.
So the volcano will be
a three-foot tall vanilla cake,
soaked with coffee
with caramelized peanuts,
peanut butter, and French buttercream.
Okay, the buttercream is almost ready.
And I'm also doing some mini versions
of that exact same volcano.
So each and every guest
can take and enjoy on their own.
- Are you doing peanuts too?
- [Ashley] Yeah. Peanut butter.
- Well, I make my own peanut butter.
- You're making your own?
- Yeah. I'm doing vanilla cake too.
- It's you and I, head-to-head.
Oh.
Bright pink color,
because that is what Kirsten loves.
Show me what you got
Come on, come on ♪
[Christophe] Vanilla cake it is.
Show me what you got, come on ♪
Maya-Camille.
- Hi, Chef.
- Ooh, what you got working on over here?
I've got four different kinds of cupcakes
that I'm going to make.
I am going to do a cinnamon cupcake
with a blood orange filling,
a cannoli-inspired flavor
for Steve's Italian heritage,
a honey-thyme cupcake
with a raspberry filling,
and lastly,
a guava cupcake with a guava filling.
And because they are doing
their vow renewals in a garden,
I think it would be cool to have
the cupcakes decorated like succulents,
and displayed as a garden
in the initials of Kirsten and Steve.
- I see the word "vertical."
- Yes.
Most cupcakes, freshly baked,
on their sides,
the frosting's gonna come right off.
I need to add shortening
to the buttercream
so that the exterior hardens,
but the interior is still soft and creamy.
How many cupcakes
do you think you need to make K and S?
- I'm thinking just under 300.
- Okay.
I suppose the other part is I imagine
you need help in the lettering department?
- I do!
- [Christina] Is that right?
- I've got work to do. Keep your eye on it.
- Thank you, Chef.
Need some music in here.
- [Maya-Camille] Cinnamon.
- All right. My cakes are baked.
[upbeat music plays]
So, you guys, I'm making
a bunch of different cakes today.
- Wait, he's making cake too?
- For sure.
- Cupcakes.
- [Gonzo] You're doing cake?
- Yeah.
- I'm doing cake too.
- [Ashley] Everyone is doing cake?
- Oh!
You coming for me? You guys
are crossing into my cake territory.
Everybody's doing cake today.
So for this challenge,
I wanted to do something special
and get out of my own comfort zone,
because I feel
very connected to this event.
In two years, my wife and I are planning
on celebrating our ten-year vow renewal.
We actually eloped,
so this is going to be our big, big
celebration, just like Kirsten and Steve.
So, Gonzo, you're stepping
into cake land today.
Full-on cake land.
So for this party,
I'm going to make a box of chocolates,
but they will be
15 different mousse cakes.
We have different layers
of chocolate mousse,
and then different cakes as the base.
I'm gonna create
the Gonzo version of a caramel chew,
a peanut butter cup,
a cherry cordial, and a Ferrero Rocher.
But in this case,
instead of using hazelnut,
we use peanut,
because, obviously, Steve loves peanuts.
I'm usually working
in my own chocolate world,
creating sculptures,
focusing on just one project.
But I'm going Christophe on this one.
It's quite complicated.
There's a lot of multitasking going on.
- [Maya-Camille] You got 13 bowls.
- Lots of bowls.
And a lot of time management.
I am proud of you, Gonzo.
When I grow up I want to be just like you.
How we do it, do it ♪
[Maya-Camille] That's nice.
The cake looks beautiful.
Gonna be a beautiful volcano.
These cakes are done. [chuckles]
To make this globe a reality,
I'm gonna need a lot of cake.
This is the big one. Talk about cake land.
I am drowning in cakes right now.
There's like
I've lost count. Forty-ish? I don't know.
Oh my gosh. I don't know
what I signed myself up for.
There's cake everywhere.
I've officially lost it.
Love it, yeah ♪
Ashley!
- Look what I got.
- Oh my gosh. You did it!
- You ready to start layering and going?
- Oh, I'm ready.
I have a lot on my plate today.
There is a ton to do. Oh, gosh.
It's all about time management.
I have to get this cake stacked
and crumb-coated as fast as possible.
I need a lot more buttercream.
There's a lot of cake, so carving it down
is one of the more tedious
parts of this process.
And I still need to give myself at least
three hours to put on all these details
and make two two-foot sculptures
of Steve and Kirsten.
Gotta get this covered in buttercream too.
They'll never be able
to tell it's Styrofoam.
[Christophe] Chocolate cake is ready.
Kirsten is a tornado.
But the tornado sugar sculpture
is just a showpiece.
Just for decoration.
It's not meant to be eaten.
So I'm making miniature tornados
that will be all about Kirsten.
She loves chocolate
on chocolate on chocolate.
We're going to have a chocolate sponge,
chocolate mousse, a chocolate streusel,
a chocolate crémeux, all in one bite.
It's gonna be rich, sweet, and delicious.
I'm putting a chocolate cake layer
on top of a mousse,
and it's ready to go in a blast freezer.
Bake Squad, five hours to go.
Keep your eye on that clock.
Don't stop, you got it
Keep on, 'cause ♪
[Ashley] Oh my gosh.
This thing is ready to go in the fridge.
A little faith ♪
- Look at that.
- Gonzo!
Special delivery!
[Gonzo] Oh my goodness.
I gotta start measuring,
uh, each one of the cavities.
Okay. I see you, Gonzo,
and your chocolate box.
The cupcakes I'm making
are not an everyday cupcake.
I am making four different fillings.
Mascarpone, guava,
and a raspberry balsamic jam.
But the most unique is the blood orange
filling with agar-agar,
which is a thickener that will allow me
to create a little blood orange caviar.
Once the warm blood orange liquid
hits the super cold oil,
the droplets immediately
create a ball shape.
[chuckles]
- That's cool.
- Would you like to taste?
[Christophe] Yeah.
Got a little pop.
I like that it's crunchy on the outside
and really liquid on the inside.
[Maya-Camille] Mm.
All the stuff I'm making right now
are different layers
that go on top of the actual cakes.
I have caramels, ganaches, and mousses.
We have a dark chocolate mousse,
cherry compote,
and an almond cake for the cherry cordial.
Once this gets frozen,
I'm gonna be able to unmold these
and then glaze them.
[Ashley] Holy moly,
these are gonna be big.
To start a chocolate sculpture,
I have to get my armature,
I need to put my first layer
of modeling chocolate on,
and then kind of just getting
the shapes and curves of the body
as close as possible.
These sculptures of Kirsten and Steve,
I easily could've spent
three days on them each.
Like, I get in the zone.
But I cannot obsess
over every single detail
or it'll never get done.
So I have to just stay focused,
stay the course, and just keep going.
Creepy.
[Christophe] I'm going to start
to assemble the volcano.
Vanilla cake, French vanilla buttercream.
Caramelized peanuts.
Ashley, now I need to carve it down.
Since your top is already pretty small,
don't take any off the top.
And you can also put
the tip of your knife up here on the top
and kind of just angle it
all the way around.
[Christophe] Such an inspiration.
I learn from you.
[Ashley] I've learned from you.
That's very kind.
- Christophe?
- Yeah?
Do you ever get inspired by me?
Every time I'm touching
a piece of chocolate, Gonzo.
[upbeat music plays]
Now I am going to fill
nearly 300 cupcakes.
[upbeat music plays]
I'm applying the dry meringue
on the volcano.
So it looks like a rock.
Rock texture that just erupted.
It looks great.
I have a pretty decent shape on all
these figures. The heads are attached.
One, two, three, four ♪
All right, Bake Squad,
just over three hours remain.
- Thank you.
- Yes, Chef.
- Yes, Chef.
- [Gonzo] Yeah.
Na, na, na, hey, hey, hey ♪
[Gonzo] I need to leave myself enough time
to create all the garnishes and details
that are gonna go around my cakes
and on my cakes.
I'm the chocolate guy.
So of course I'm going to use chocolate.
I have milk chocolate,
I have dark chocolate.
But there's a bunch of other flavors
that Steve is going to love.
[upbeat music plays]
Mm. Mmm!
[sighs] So my cake is out of the freezer,
and now I need to add all of the frosting.
And there's a lot.
A few shades of blue on here
to give it better dimension.
Looking good, sir.
Thank you. I think it's missing something.
- Something like lava going down over here.
- [Christina] You want, like, movement?
[Christophe] Something like,
"The volcano is alive."
Actually, I have an idea.
I'll be back. You keep going.
Thank you, Chef.
Every time we need something,
Christina is always here
to bring us those crazy things
that who knows
where she's getting them from.
- Whoa! Dude.
- [Christophe beatboxes]
- Here comes the lava.
- Are we going to a nightclub?
I'm the pastry illusionist,
but I swear,
Christina Tosi, she's a magician.
- What do you think?
- I love it already!
All right, let me map out
all of my cupcakes.
I want Kirsten to look at this dessert
and think she's looking
at a real vertical garden.
So in order for me
to make the succulents look realistic,
first, I need to make sure
I have the correct piping tips.
Second, I am putting in two or more colors
of buttercream into my piping bag.
So right now I am doing
a succulent design on my guava cupcakes.
It's given me a perfect blend of colors
that makes the succulent
look as realistic as possible.
[Christophe] Little bit of lighting
for my volcano.
[Gonzo] All right, now I'm gonna start
working on the glaze for my mousse cakes.
[upbeat music plays]
[Gonzo] I'm gonna glaze
every different cake a different color.
Ooh, that is so soft.
To make this globe
look as realistic as possible,
I'm gonna use
various shades of blue for the ocean,
and various shades of browns,
greens, and yellows for the continents
and do spackling to give it nice texture.
All around the world ♪
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪
All around the world ♪
[Christophe] All right, mini-volcano on
the way. Italian meringue all around it.
Peanut butter ooze.
[Gonzo] This guy right here,
it's going to be the Ferrero Rocher.
So we want a nice, thin, even glaze,
but also it's meant to be rocky
so we want that texture
to be evenly distributed.
- Exactly.
- Lord, that's satisfying to watch, Gonzo.
[Maya-Camille] Right now,
I am piping buttercream.
Piping this buttercream
is a very tedious process
because it takes a lot of time
to make sure that each piping that
I'm doing on each cupcake is beautiful.
But I have 200 to 300 cupcakes.
Oh, my hand is cramping.
If I go too fast,
I can make a mistake and mess up,
and have to start all over again.
But if I don't move quickly enough,
then I'm not gonna get it done in time.
So this requires a lot of patience.
I've got a lot done, but I still have
quite a bit more that I need to do.
I'm hoping that I can get them
all done in time.
It's time to build the tornado.
The tornado showpiece is 100% sugar,
surrounded by cotton candy.
So we have all the pieces for the tornado.
The tornado will consist
of different sizes of discs
that are glued on top of each other,
with some spheres as separation,
which is the spine of the tornado.
The risk today is the base is so small,
and the top of the showpiece is so large.
So if the gravity point
leans on the right or on the left,
we might have some risk of
collapsing the whole, entire thing.
Oh my gosh!
Now the tornado is leaning on the right
because the sugar is too hot.
So I'm trying to cool down the sugar.
And I'm going to try to bring this back
on the left side.
Ay-yi-yi.
Never give up, never give up
Never give up, no, not now, not never ♪
I added a little bit of shortening
to the buttercream.
Maya-Camille.
- Boom.
- Boom. No problem. Wow.
Bake Squad, last and final hour,
make the most of it.
Holy crap. Where does the time go?
Never give up
No, not now, not never ♪
[Christophe] Lava pieces. Look at that.
[Gonzo] This is a glaze
for my caramel chew,
peanut butter cup,
and then our cherry cordial.
[Christina] Maya-Camille!
- I got something for you.
- Yeah.
- [Christina] What do you think?
- Oh, this is perfect.
[upbeat music plays]
- Okay, keep going.
- [Maya-Camille] Thanks, Chef.
[Christophe] That's a beautiful tornado.
[upbeat music continues]
- [Ashley] Oh my gosh.
- Thirty minutes to go, Bake Squad.
[Christophe groans]
[tense music plays]
I'm putting the tornado on the table,
and the entire thing's collapsed.
And I'm just
devastated.
Christophe, I see
the tornado's spine structure is broken.
How can I help you?
At this point, we have 20 minutes.
I don't I don't think it's necessary
to make a tornado.
Oh. I'll get
the cotton candy machine going.
You're gonna build
the tornado's sugar vertebrae,
and then you'll wrap cotton candy
around this sugar vertebrae.
I don't believe it.
[Christina] You don't believe it?
Guess what? I believe in you.
We are Bake Squad.
You always need somebody to lift you up,
and I'm really grateful to have
Chef Christina doing this to me today.
She's not gonna let me give up.
I have some sugar parts over here
we can glue back together.
[Christina] Okay. I got you.
[Christophe] I need to do
everything in my power
to bring back this tornado to life.
[Maya-Camille] Not enough time.
I gotta keep moving.
[Christina] All right, Bake Squad,
you gotta push it.
Just 15 minutes remain.
It's time to wrap it up.
Tick, tick, boom! ♪
- [Ashley] Gosh.
- [Christina] Christophe, I believe in you.
Push, push.
[upbeat music plays]
[Christina] Gonzo, bringing it together.
Don't even know
What you are messing with ♪
We're coming at you
With a brand-new hit ♪
Final details, Bake Squad.
Two minutes remain.
Ash, keep at it. You are almost there.
One minute to go.
Na, na, na, na, na, na ♪
[groans]
Time's ticking, Bake Squad.
Na, na, na, na, na ♪
[Christina] You've got it, Maya-Camille.
Here comes Kirsten, guys.
Na, na, na, na, na, na
Na, na, na, na, na, na ♪
[gasps] Oh my God.
Thirty seconds. Every last detail counts.
Tick, tick, boom!
Are you ready for it? ♪
Wow.
Na, na, na, na, na ♪
[Christina] Three, two, one.
All right, Bake Squad. Time's up.
- Well done.
- [Christina chuckles]
I am overwhelmed in the best way.
This is unbelievable.
[Christina] Okay,
it's time for my favorite part.
The tasting.
- Let's do it.
- Let's do it. Come on.
[upbeat music plays]
- [Christina] Ash.
- Hello.
[Kirsten squeals]
- [laughs]
- [Ashley] Tell me what you really think.
I am looking at a globe and myself.
Even my hair, the way I wear it.
My husband. Pink shoes!
It's so amazing. What is it?
I wanted to give you
something that is representative
of yours and Steve's love for traveling
and exploring the world.
My creation today
is called Love Around the World.
It's layers of rich butter-vanilla cake
with a peanut butter filling,
and a peanut butter cookie crumble.
Ooh!
So all layers and levels
of peanut butter there.
And you and Steve
are made out of chocolate.
[gasps] You can see layers.
So many layers.
Ooh.
I've never seen anything like it.
[Christina] Mm.
Mm. I can taste the peanut butter.
I can taste the vanilla.
The cake is nice and fluffy.
It's just really nice to eat. Mm.
I cannot believe that you made
a cake three feet around,
with 48 sheet pans of cake,
and everything is baked to perfection.
- Thank you very much.
- It's so good.
Very kind to say.
- Kirsten, we gotta keep moving. Come on.
- Okay. Oh. Thank you.
Thank you so much.
- [Christina] All right, Kirsten.
- Hi.
It is so beautiful,
and stunning, and it is so us.
[Maya-Camille] So I call this
The Secret Garden.
I know you originally
had your wedding in Miami.
I thought of a tropical flavor.
So we have a guava cupcake
with a guava filling.
Then we have a honey-thyme cupcake.
Then we also have
a cannoli-inspired cupcake
because of Steve's Italian heritage.
Then we have a cinnamon cupcake
because I know you love cinnamon,
filled with blood orange caviar.
[Kirsten] Ooh!
Very cool. Fancy.
I try.
[Kirsten] So this is my honey-thyme.
Mm. Mmm!
Oh, the honey.
It is so subtle, but it is so there
in the most perfect way.
And just a little hint of thyme.
- Have you ever tasted a cupcake like that?
- I actually have not.
I'm gonna tell you
about mine as you go in.
The balance of guava cupcake
and then guava filling,
and then that beautiful,
succulent frosting on top is delightful.
- What do you think about Steve's cannoli?
- [Kirsten] It's amazing.
I've never had a cannoli cupcake before.
Uh, the lemon really comes through,
and it was creamy on the inside,
just like a cannoli.
- Uh, I think Steve would love it.
- Mm.
I really love what you did
with the cinnamon blood orange.
There's something about
the warm toastiness of the cinnamon
with the acidity
from that blood orange caviar.
- You knocked this one out of the park.
- Thank you, Chef.
- Thank you, Chef.
- And thank you.
- [Christina] Christophe.
- Hi, Chef.
[Kirsten] It's me!
It's beautiful and it's pink.
Wow, a real tornado.
And, um, the volcano is Steve.
Yes. I am amazed.
What is that volcano made out of?
[Christophe] It's 100% cake.
- It's cake?
- It's sculpted cake, actually.
- Our tornado, which is you.
- Yes!
- It's all about chocolate.
- That's a chocolate cake?
The one on the bottom.
This one is a sugar showpiece.
- [Kirsten] It's beautiful.
- It's one of my most challenging bakes.
I will put it as a top three
in my entire career.
Just to be clear, Christophe worked
in sponge sugar, poured sugar,
in chocolate, cake, and meringue.
- In electricity?
- And electricity.
[laughing] I see those lights.
That's amazing!
[Christina] And these gorgeous little
individualized volcanoes and tornadoes
are really the most delicious
snacking moments that we'll get to.
I call them the Symbols of Love,
because these are two variable renditions
of you and your husband.
Inside my volcano, I have a vanilla cake
soaked with espresso,
with peanut praline, caramelized peanuts.
Then around it,
French buttercream and French meringue.
[Kirsten] Mm!
Oh my gosh.
The peanut butter,
the creaminess, the vanilla.
- It is Steve in a bite. You did it.
- Wow.
- I'll trade you.
- [Kirsten chuckles]
[Christophe] Then we have mini-tornadoes,
which is all about chocolate.
Chocolate mousse, a chocolate streusel,
a chocolate crémeux, a chocolate sponge.
All deep inside the chocolate glaze
and surrounded by cotton candy.
Five different techniques in one.
- Inside I am doing a happy dance.
- I can see it in your eyes.
Yes. You're giving me
that chocolate sensation
that I crave in life.
- There you go.
- So thank you.
It's a study in chocolate as a flavor,
but also in chocolate as a texture.
You get chocolate in all
of its definitions in a brilliant way.
Christophe, you pulled it off.
It's incredibly delicious.
Thank you.
[upbeat music plays]
Gonzo.
I mean, does he know how to make
a romantic box of chocolates?
- [laughs]
- Or what?
[Gonzo] It looks like a chocolate box,
but it's actually a box of cakes.
I have truly never seen
anything like this before.
That is, like, museum-worthy.
[Gonzo] I call it The Love Box.
Each one of these are different
mousse cakes that you can cut open,
and you're gonna find
many different textures, different layers.
The Gonzo version of a peanut butter cup.
I have a peanut butter mousse
and milk chocolate ganache.
And then I have a vanilla cake.
There's also some bits
of crunchy peanuts in there.
For the caramel chew,
I have a dark chocolate mousse,
a caramel cream, and a coconut cake.
[Kirsten] Oh, my goodness.
Another cake is our cherry cordial.
Cherry compote, dark chocolate mousse,
and a vanilla cake.
Then I have the Gonzo version
of a Ferrero Rocher.
Instead of using hazelnut, we use peanut,
because obviously Steve loves peanuts.
- [Christina] Oh, hold on.
- [Kirsten laughs]
That's amazing!
- Dig in.
- There's the Steve. Oh my gosh.
[tense music plays]
So that's the Ferrero Rocher.
[Kirsten laughs]
You know, this is as Steve
as a dessert gets.
Peanut butter on peanut butter
on peanut butter.
It is. But also it's creamy.
And And so rich and flavorful.
Love it.
[Christina] What about
Gonzo's take on a caramel chew?
Mm.
I had never tasted
anything like that before.
Uh, I'm tasting some salty notes
as well as the chocolate.
- Which I think is the caramel?
- Yeah.
- Um, it's just amazing.
- Oh, Gonzo.
- Oh.
- [Gonzo] That's the cherry cordial there.
It's so much better
than any cherry cordial I've ever had.
It's so thoughtful and fresh
in its balance of cherry to chocolate.
- Nice.
- The textures are compelling.
And I just think you nailed it.
Fifteen different chocolates.
- Very well done. Congratulations.
- Thank you.
- Gotta keep eating, but I'm taking mine.
- Ditto.
- Come on. Thank you.
- Enjoy.
Thank you so much.
[upbeat music plays]
Now it's time to get serious,
because this is the hardest part.
Have you made your decision
between these four gorgeous desserts?
I think I have.
Please tell us
why you're choosing this dessert.
[Kirsten] Well, when I first saw it,
it stopped me in my tracks.
And the flavors.
Every single bite blew my mind.
I didn't really think
it was going to be a dessert
that would work for both Steve and I.
And with one bite,
I had the most Steve bite of the day.
It reminded me of him,
and that was kind of what did it.
Okay, Kirsten, take a deep breath,
and tell us
which baker took the cake.
Literally.
Okay. The baker that I have chosen
for my ten-year vow renewal is
[tense music plays]
Gonzo.
[cheering]
[Christina] Gonzo! You did it!
- All right, you two. I need a photo.
- [Kirsten] Yes!
- [Christina] One, two, three, Steve!
- [Kirsten] Steve!
Oh, that is so good.
[Christina] Kirsten,
this is the most fun picture,
but real talk,
you have a serious party to get to.
- Off you go to the party!
- Thank you!
My friend, bragging rights go out to you.
Get up there on the board. Go, go, go!
[cheering]
- [Ashley] That picture's awesome.
- [Gonzo] All right!
- Yes. So proud of you, buddy.
- [Maya-Camille laughs]
[Ashley] Heck yes.
[upbeat music plays]
This is beautiful. [gasps]
[Kirsten laughs]
There's something cooking
In the air tonight, whoa ♪
Today is our vow renewal.
Oh my gosh. There it is.
And I'm starting to get really nervous
about what Steve is going to think
about the dessert.
Oh, oh, oh, whoa ♪
Steve, I will never be able
to spend enough time with you.
Kirsten, as a husband,
soulmate, and now as a father,
I love you.
I love you so much.
Woo!
Steve, I've been working
with the Bake Squad.
[cheering]
And I have picked out something
that I think you're going to love.
- I'm so excited.
- Here we go! [squeals]
[cheering]
Microphone check ♪
- Is that all cake?
- Yes.
Grab your phone
Take your pictures, press record ♪
- Where's the peanut butter?
- There.
I've never had a dessert
tailor-made for me.
Mmm.
This couldn't have been more perfect.
Boom, microphone check ♪
That's really good.
It's the best dessert I've ever had.
- It's delicious.
- Yeah.
You made a perfect choice.
Boom, boom ♪
[Steve] Thank you so much
for surprising me with this dessert.
[laughs]
I love you.
[all] Thank you, Bake Squad!
[upbeat music plays]