CAUTION: CONTAINS SPOILERS for Ultimate Baking Championship!!

I know I said a couple weeks ago that nothing on this show surprises me anymore…

but I take it back!

What did I just witness!?!

Damn! Florencia is good and all, but, as she herself pointed out, she’s the only one here who’s never been at the top of the leaderboard… how did she take out Juan?! Juan, the most feared competitor of them all! Juan was supposed to win the whole thing!

I’m not saying it was unfair… just shocking! Juan didn’t do badly at all – he just made a couple of decisions that were not bad decisions, but simply set him back in the context of this show. Kind of frustrating to see. Honestly, when he and Duff were arguing over what a glacier actually looks like, that was so cringey I had to look away. I feel like he chose some really hard flavors to work with – charcoal?! – and while his final dessert was a stunning work of art, it was also pretty simple, structurally, and lacked the “interactive” quality that Florencia’s had.

What a bummer!

Don’t get me wrong, I’m super stoked for Florencia. She’s very likeable. (She actually reminds me a lot of this one really cool supervisor that I had back when I worked in the dog grooming salon, which endears her to me automatically.) And so humble. You could tell, at the end, that she really couldn’t believe that she had beaten Juan.

What a night. Molly Yeh was there as a guest judge, and I know we all probably had some thoughts about that, after that one infamous season of Spring Baking. Was it just me, or were the contestants rather nonplussed when Jesse announced tonight’s guest judge? Everyone was mad at Molly Yeh after that season. But, really, it wasn’t her fault. It was Food Network’s. I did kind of wonder if Molly was the best fit for Ultimate Baking, though. I know she’s famous for her kind of down-home midwestern recipes (I mean, sprinkles and cookie salad, right?), and this show is all about bougie, luxurious, European-style pastry. But, whatever, she was lovely and did a great job as a judge. I don’t care what anyone says, I’m still a fan of hers.

And I felt so vindicated when Juan shared that he loathes touching cornstarch. SAME HERE!! It’s like the microfiber of cooking ingredients! It’s chalky and glassy at the same time! And it sticks to everything! Ugh, it makes my teeth hurt just to think about! Anyone else?! I lol’d when Clement said that his plan was to just cover the whole kitchen in cornstarch.

It’s just devastating to see Juan go home. This show has not gone according to plan, has it? I’m rooting for Clement next week, and I feel like he’s bound to win, but anything could happen. This time I mean it when I say nothing can surprise me anymore!

HERE’S THE RECAP:

Master Challenge: “Frozen World” desserts. Themes randomly assigned, points awarded out of 30; top two will get to skip the skills challenge and sail through to the final

• Juan: “Glacier” black sesame mochi cake w/ charcoal & buttermilk ice cream, black sesame crumble
• Clement: “Cave Ice” mango sorbet & coconut cake w/ coconut dacquoise, passionfruit gelee, & chocolate cave
• Molly: “Iceberg” blueberry pie ice cream cake wrapped in chocolate band w/ white chocolate iceberg
• Florencia: “Sea Ice” coconut yogurt sorbet w/ chocolate-tonka bean ice cream cake, marzipan

Master Final Stats: Clement 26; Molly 25; Juan 23; Florencia 18

Skills Challenge Bake-Off: Plated Desserts w/ Frozen Center in a meltaway edible shell with warm pour-over. Points awarded out of 20, judged blind.

• Florencia: Passionfruit & hazelnut chocolate sphere w/ white chocolate-passionfruit sauce & passionfruit-hazelnut-black sesame bonbons
• Juan: Chocolate, raspberry, & pink peppercorn flower w/ raspberry-peppercorn sauce, mascarpone cream cheese semifreddo & raspberry compote

Bake-Off Final Stats: Florencia 18; Juan 16

Winner: Clement

Sent Home: Juan

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

Superlatives from the judges: 3 (Sweet Molly was generous with the superlatives! Clement had the “creamiest sorbet” she’d ever eaten, Florencia had “one of the best chocolate ice creams” she’d ever eaten, and she described Juan’s final dessert with “I can’t imagine a more perfect combination of flavors”) (running total 4)

Dead family members mentioned: 2: Molly’s grandfather and Juan’s mom (running total 4)

Duff’s gaping maw spotted: 1 time (running total 15)

The dessert that I would most have liked to eat: There were some really good ones tonight, but I think I’d have to go with Florencia’s coconut yogurt sorbet w/ chocolate-tonka bean ice cream cake, even though it kinda fell apart. The almond coconut cake + marzipan, and those white chocolate truffle “snowballs”!

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

What are your thoughts?! Leave me a comment!