Everything To Know About Food Network’s Kids Baking Championship

Food Network’s Kids Baking Championship allows the youngest bakers in the country to wow judges with their creations and walk home with $10,000, a profile in Food Network Magazine, and one of their cakes shown at Charm City Cakes. It is also the gift that keeps on giving for food television, and we’re not just talking about the pastries. The show wins your heart with the chefs’ earnestness to please. Plus, it’s a gentle reminder to Generation Y that we are getting older, but no less spirited.

Duff Goldman and Valerie Bertinelli serve as judges, deciding which kids get to stay and which have to go home. Duff and Buddy Valastro have gone toe-to-toe on a show named after them. We also know Duff from Spring Baking Championship, where he brought in his mom to help deliberate a Mother’s Day Challenge and allowed previous contestants to assist current ones that won an advantage.

Prior to the premiere, Mashed discussed some of the fun facts and truths you wouldn’t know from watching Kids Baking Championship. Duff admitted most of the kids behave better than he does when things go wrong in the kitchen, and he has learned a valuable lesson from them. The process for choosing eight bakers for a season has a lot of steps. Contestants need to do a video call, an audition tape, and a screen test to make sure they mesh with the camera. After a few seasons of this series, we have also learned some important truths that lead the bakers to success. Duff’s weakness is bacon, and Valerie loves lemons, but it’s not smart to combine the two. Valerie has consistently said that lemon is her favorite item to put in desserts. The only time she regretted it was when three kids delivered lemon cakes and stuffed her full of citrus. When a kid puts bacon on the grill or in the oven, Duff immediately comes over and starts sniffing around. He’ll note when it’s undercooked, or when a baker hasn’t treated it well.

The judges always prepare a twist mid-challenge that blends with the theme and adds more stress to the harried kids. They may ask for a specific ingredient to be incorporated into the final baked goods, or request an extra treat. For example, when they asked for petting zoo animals to inspire desserts, Duff and Valerie also asked for mini-desserts that would serve as additional pets. But there’s one mainstay in the competition—your item doesn’t taste good, you go home. Bakers should avoid making things purely out of fondant, and make sure they nail the texture. The judges are always apologetic, but they stick fast to this rule. Each season will also have an impostor dessert challenge. Impostor desserts look like savory items, but are completely sweet. A good standard is using brownies to make burgers, shaping modeling chocolate into lettuce and hitting the blast chiller.

In short, this show is full of deliciousness that goes beyond the plate. The new season should be fun and allow us to look ahead to see what’s next for a sweet twist. As other shows have shown how food is exciting, Kids Baking Championship reminds us what children can do with the right tools.

Source: Mashed