CAUTION: CONTAINS SPOILERS for Ultimate Baking Championship!!

It’s like nothing surprises me anymore, in this show, after we lost Robert a couple weeks ago.

Casey, who was the only one with two wins, and has been consistently really strong, serving a “disaster” of a collapsed cake in the first challenge, and then getting sent home? Not a surprise.

Clement, who’s one of the absolute best, only scoring 11 points out of 20 in the skills challenge, even though his blueberry looked fantastic? Not really a surprise.

Adalberto, who’s been in the bottom consistently, having a great week and actually tieing with Juan and Molly in the Master Challenge? – Actually, this was a pleasant surprise! I was so glad to see Adalberto make a comeback. That black forest cake looked phenomenal! Keep it up, Adalberto, we’re cheering for you!

(I still miss Robert, though. This just isn’t right without him. He’s supposed to still be here.)

But, look at Christopher stepping into the spotlight! The first contestant on this show to get a PERFECT score on anything – okay, Chris! We see you. I was so pleased for him; that panna cotta dessert that he made was really a masterpiece. Watching Duff and Zac lavish praises upon it, was the most satisfying moment of the night. Wow. I was beginning to think maybe the judges just didn’t award perfect scores on principle. Even though Chris only placed fifth in the Master Challenge, this victory carried him through to win the whole night.

Florencia seems to have just scraped by again. I’m a bit worried about her. Both of her desserts were good (and her second one was jaw-droppingly beautiful, with that immaculate mirror glaze and chocolate ball on top, encircled in a rustic tart shell – “a study in dichotomy,” as Duff said), but, regarding the actual flavors and textures, she failed to really “innovate” either the gas station coffee cake or the Sachertorte. She’s clearly very good. I hope she has a great week next week.

And, Molly and Juan: they were amazing as usual, nothing new to report there.

Finally, just for lols: at the beginning of the show, when they were doing the recap of last week, my husband paused the TV to talk to me about something, and froze the screen on an image of poor Rochelle looking distressed; here’s a very silly, very unflattering little doodle that I did of her face while listening to my husband talk (sorry, Rochelle):

Anyway, HERE’S THE RECAP:

Skills Challenge: Innovating Gas Station Treats: contestants got to choose their item to innovate in order of last week’s leaderbord, so Molly went first. Points awarded out of 20.

• Molly: peanut butter pretzels → Peanut Butter Pretzel Petit Gateau w/ peanut butter mousse & cookie made w/ pretzel flour
• Florencia: coffee cake → Coffee Cake w/ Tiramisu Bombe
• Juan: oatmeal cream pie → Deconstructed Oatmeal Cream Pie w/ cookie crunch & cream cheese mousse
• Casey: chocolate cupcake → Seven-Layer Chocolate Cake w/ ganache & marshmallow cream
• Chris: toasted corn kernels → Toasted Corn Panna Cotta w/ candied corn, pickled corn, popped sorghum, & fried corn silk
• Clement: blueberry muffin → Blueberry Trompe L’oeil w/ muffin in the middle
• Adalberto: Snoball → Double Cappuccino Namelaka w/ chocolate butter cookies

SKILLS CHALLENGE STATS: Chris 20; Juan 16; Molly 13; Adalberto 12; Florencia 11; Clement 11; Casey 8.

Master Challenge: Innovataing International Favorites to uniquely reflect “you”: randomly assigned, points awarded out of 30. Blind judging.

• Chris: Tarte Tatin → Creme Fraiche Cake in Caramelized Puff Pastry w/ caramel mousse, caramelized apples, apples poached in cider and red wine, & apple gelee
• Casey: Opera Cake → Macaron Wreath w/ Hazelnut Joconde Sponge, coffee buttercream, mini macarons, & chocolate ganache
• Clement: Princess Cake → Princess Cake Layered Entremet w/ vanilla sponge, marzipan pastry cream, raspberry compote, whipped creame rose, & sugar dome
• Juan: Baklava → Phyllo Pudding w/ Pistachio Sponge, kataifi crumble, pistachio praline, & honey-yogurt mousse
• Molly: Banana Cream Pie → Banana Entremet w/ vanilla pastry cream, banana jam insert, feulletine base, blond chocolate mousse, & banana tuille
• Florencia: Sachertorte → Sachertorte in chocolate tart shell w/ peach & apricot jams, chocolate mousse, salty chocolate crumble, mirror glaze, & chocolate sphere décor
• Adalberto: Black Forest Cake → Pate a Choux Crown w/ cherry compote, chooclate buttercream, cherry liqueur ganache, & cherry chantilly

MASTER CHALLENGE STATS: Clement 27; Adalberto 26; Juan 26; Molly 26; Chris 24; Florencia 22; Casey 20.

Winner: Christopher

Sent Home: Casey

A dessert is called “sexy”: 0 times (running total: 3)

Superlatives from the judges: 0 (running total 1)

Dead family members mentioned: 1, Casey’s grandma (running total 2)

Duff’s gaping maw spotted: 2 times (running total 12)

The dessert that I would most have liked to eat: Molly’s peanut butter pretzel petit gateau

Wins so far: Christopher (1), Juan (1), Molly (1), Casey (2)