Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
WILLMAN: In just a few moments,
four bakers will face off in a fight for cupcake superiority.
Something doesn't look right.
What?
I forgot the liners.
And one by one,
they'll be eliminated as they're judged on taste...
Technically, it was a bit soggy and mushy in the middle.
WILLMAN: ...presentation...
I couldn't find much of the beauty unfortunately.
...and in the final round, the last two bakers standing
will each have to bring it all together
into one incredible, fantasy cupcake display.
The winner of tonight's battle
gets to have their creation as the centerpiece
at one of the most exclusive chef events in the world,
the Food & Wine Festival in Hawaii,
and walks away with $10,000.
We can't use that.
He'll totally tear it apart.
Something doesn't look right.
Pour the bananas.
I need a vacation.
Get ready. This is "Cupcake Wars."
-- Captions by VITAC --
Closed Captions provided by Scripps Networks, LLC.
Hello. I'm Justin Willman,
and tonight, the battle for cupcake dominance
gets a little more exotic.
Overseeing this war are our judges, Candace Nelson,
founder of the world's first cupcake bakery,
Sprinkles Cupcakes,
and Florian Bellanger, owner of Mad Mac Macarons
and former executive pastry chef at the world-renowned Fauchon.
Kitchens are stocked. Our judges are ready.
Let's meet the bakers facing off tonight.
BUBBA: You know what Bubba Sweets brings to this competition?
MAN: What's that?
Entertainment, color, and flavor, baby.
My name's Erieka,
but I was nicknamed "Bubba" since I was a kid.
And Bubba Sweets is what I decided to name the bakery.
We have a storefront in Huntington Beach.
Hi. Welcome to Bubba's Sweets. What's your favorite flavor?
We make 14 different flavors of cupcakes every day.
Everything's made from scratch.
That's why we just have the best cupcakes in town.
"Cupcake Wars" would really be awesome for our business.
My assistant today is James, my husband.
He and I own the bakery together,
and he really knows what he's doing in the kitchen.
With $10,000, we can add an extra oven.
We can expand like we were looking into.
My competition better look out
'cause there's many pretenders but only one contender,
and that's me.
Whoo! See you at the finish line.
If we can bake in Phoenix, we can bake anywhere.
Oh, we're gonna smash the competition.
My name is Dale Cartwright.
We own Kreative Kupcakes Bakery, and I'm in Avondale, Arizona.
We've been open for about two years.
We specialize in wedding cakes, custom cakes, cupcakes.
I mean, we've got like 30 different flavors.
We carry like 20, 25 of them every single day.
We do some crazy cupcakes.
We do some beer cupcakes, some beer-and-bacon cupcakes.
We cook with different kinds of wine
and liquors and things like that.
You make a really good chocolate cake.
We make an amazing chocolate cake.
My assistant today is my wife, Leah,
and she's here to play, too.
I'm excited. Let's get out of here.
California or bust. We can do it.
I think we're gonna win "Cupcake Wars" today
'cause we're very creative.
We do some crazy cupcakes.
Let's go!
Get mixing! Work those arms.
I'm Jenni Brewster.
I'm the executive pasty chef for TreyBcakes Bakery
in Sacramento, California.
I love to use fresh, natural ingredients.
I consider my style to be
down-home, southern cooking meets urban edginess.
I think we're gonna win, Jenni, don't you?
Somebody's got to lose, but hopefully, it's not gonna be me.
Stacy's the perfect partner for me
because she keeps me calm, she keeps me focused,
and she makes a great cupcake.
Are you nervous about the other competitors?
Oh, no.
I came to "Cupcake Wars" to win
so that I could open my own shop someday.
The competition better watch out for me
because I'm not going home empty-handed.
There we go.
Wah-Wah's Cakes. How may I help you?
My name is Khadijah Frederick.
The name of my bakery is Wah-Wah's Cakes,
and we're located in Harlem, New York.
My bakery is an online bakery,
and our speciality is custom cupcakes, custom cakes.
We want our cupcakes to not only look good but taste fantastic.
I would say I'm a little funky.
I like to mix it up a little bit.
But most of my recipes are my mom's.
It's really close to home why I do what I do.
My assistant today is Lacia.
She's a master baker and decorator, and she gets the job done.
I need to win
because this is gonna help me get my cupcake trucks.
I came to "Cupcake Wars" today to win.
I'm a New York girl,
and New York doesn't do second place.
L.A., here I come.
[ Horn honks ]
Cupcake bakers, come on up.
What's up, guys?
So, here's the deal.
Tonight, you'll all be battling for something very special,
a chance to showcase your cupcakes
at the premier epicurean destination
on the beautiful island of Oahu.
It is the Hawaiian Food & Wine Festival.
Of course, if jetting off
to one of the most beautiful places on the planet
and rubbing shoulders
with the elites of the food world isn't enough,
the winner also gets $10,000.
Sounds pretty awesome, right?
Today, there will be three rounds of competition.
After each round, one of you will be eliminated.
First up, we're going to a luau.
[ Hawaiian music plays ]
I love that.
This traditional dance and music
represents the rich history of the Hawaiian Islands.
So, as you might imagine,
our taste challenge is also rich in tradition.
On the inspiration table,
you will find famous luau delights,
such as roasted pig, mahimahi, and pineapple.
My mouth is watering already.
The plan is this --
Each of you must choose three ingredients
and blend them into a delicious cupcake
that'll have our judges here tasting paradise.
You have 45 minutes.
Good luck. Clock starts now.
KHADIJAH: I'm looking at the inspiration table,
and I see pineapple and coconut.
But kimchi, roast pork, and mahimahi?
What am I gonna do with that?
Oh, my God, Stacy,
okay, so it's the Hawaii Food & Wine Festival.
Oh, my God, Hawaii!
So, the ingredients are, like, pineapple,
a coconut, roasted pig.
Not easy.
I want to use the pork.
Okay.
And I want to use the kimchi.
Ohh.
I want to try to use that kimchi,
but kimchi is like a pickled food.
It has a salty, vinegar flavor.
I really don't think anybody else is gonna try to use it.
We can do, like, a pineapple-pork cupcake
with, like, a mango chutney with the kimchi.
I'm gonna make a pineapple-pork cupcake
filled with a mango-kimchi chutney
and topped with a pineapple cream-cheese frosting.
I know. I've got it.
There is a danger with working with the kimchi,
but if I can pull this kimchi filling off,
I think the judges are really going to appreciate it.
I know it's gonna work, okay? Just trust me.
Okay.
You work on the mousse,
and I'll work on the yummy vanilla cupcakes.
I'm making a yummy vanilla cake
with a pineapple-ginger mousse, ginger buttercream,
roast-pork-and-pineapple topper with a teriyaki drizzle.
These cupcakes are gonna be so good.
Teriyaki, although savory, has a little sweetness to it.
The pineapple, the pig, and the teriyaki sauce
will make an awesome combination.
Let's rock this out. I need a vacation.
I'm gonna get the pineapple out.
I've got a lot of chopping to do.
I'm gonna make a banana-pineapple cake
that's gonna be filled with a mango compote,
and it's gonna have a buttercream
that's made of Madagascar Bourbon vanilla
and a flower on top with macadamia nuts
and toasted coconut out of pineapple.
This is the taste challenge, so it's really important
that every single flavor that you use from that table,
they can taste it.
Okay, here comes the pig, people.
I'm gonna make a brown-sugar-caramel cake,
pineapple filling,
teriyaki-brown-sugar buttercream,
and then take that caramelized pig,
put it on top with a little kabob of pineapple and cherry.
I like pork, but this is certainly not bacon.
[ Slow Hawaiian music plays ]
Oh. Uh...
30 minutes.
Oh, my gosh, 30 minutes.
This is hot. I'm gonna leave it here.
Oh, 30 minutes, Stacy.
That smells good. I'm hungry.
All right, I'm gonna get these in now.
I really have a feeling that that pineapple's
not gonna have enough time to cook.
It's got a lot of moisture in it.
The one thing about this cupcake is it's very finicky.
If it's not cooked to perfection,
it's gonna crumble just a little bit.
We'll see what happens.
What do you think? You think it's fine?
Well, that looks a lot runnier than normal.
I might have added a little bit more water than usual.
So, we have some problems here.
The pineapple cake batter, it's too watery.
I don't have time to make another batter.
If I can't fix this, we're gonna go home.
What do you think?
Well, that looks a lot runnier than normal.
I might have added a little bit more water than usual.
BUBBA: The cake batter, it's too watery.
I don't have time to make another batter.
So, if I can't fix this, the judges are going to kill me.
What do you think?
It tastes right.
You know, it's just a little thinner than normal.
I'm just gonna put a little salt into it
and hope that it holds it together.
I hope it works.
'Cause we don't have any more time.
Cupcakes going in.
15 minutes.
15 minutes. Okay.
All right. Cupcakes are good.
Hot plate.
As I pulled my cupcakes out of the oven,
it's actually looking pretty good right now.
I'm gonna have to keep my eye on them when they start to cool.
All right.
I want you to try this chutney.
JENNI: I want to do something outside of the box,
and if I can pull this kimchi filling off,
I think the judges are really going to appreciate it.
It's the kimchi. It's too strong.
Oh, my gosh. We can't use that.
Kimchi and the juice combined is just too much.
I can't serve this to the judges.
These cupcakes have to be perfect.
How do we fix it?
I'm gonna leave the juice out of the chutney this time
and just use the kimchi.
Already, it smells better.
This is good, Stace.
I can taste the kimchi, but it's not overpowering.
Taste it. It's so good.
Yeah.
Right?
I don't eat pork,
but I want to eat this whole thing.
Hot coming out. Hot cupcake.
Behind.
KHADIJAH: Oh, nice.
I'll add more teriyaki 'cause you know what?
When I tasted that, I didn't really taste any teriyaki.
STACY: And your frosting's ready to go.
DALE: I think putting them in the egg cartons is really gonna give it
that flower shape that we're looking for, so that'll be pretty cool.
Five minutes.
Go check on the cupcakes.
What do you think?
They're good. They're soft, but they're nice.
BUBBA: It looks good.
My only concern is, "Is the cake gonna be right?"
We don't have any more time,
so I'm gonna have to fill them, frost them,
and get them on the plate.
LACIA: Two minutes, Khadijah.
DALE: When I pulled the cupcakes out of the freezer,
I see the middles have sunken in just a little bit.
We have no time to remake these things,
so we just picked the best ones we could.
They're so fluffy.
Nice and pretty.
BUBBA: It's a little gooey, and I don't know
if that's just 'cause it's hot
or because the batter didn't come out right.
I don't want too much. It can't overpower.
One minute.
Got those umbrellas. Perfect.
DALE: We got this. We got this.
WILLMAN: 10...9...8...
7...6...5...
4...3...2...1.
Time's up.
Hardest thing ever!
Okay.
Bakers, we asked you each to create a luau-inspired cupcake
in honor of the Hawaii Food & Wine Festival.
So, let's see what our judges have to say.
You guys obviously already know Candace and Florian.
So, let me introduce you to our guest judge,
celebrity chef, author, and co-founder
of the Hawaii Food & Wine Festival,
Roy Yamaguchi.
Aloha, Roy.
I'm really looking forward to a modern cupcake
that really embodies Hawaii.
Let's see if they can deliver just that.
We'll start with Erieka.
What we have for you is a brown-sugar cake,
a pineapple custard filling,
and then, on top,
you have a brown-sugar-teriyaki buttercream.
And then, it's caramelized roasted pig
and the pineapple that's a little bit roasted
with a cherry. Enjoy.
Well, with this cupcake,
I really felt like I was beachside
with a piƱa colada in hand.
You really nailed those sweet flavors.
I loved your filling.
But the problem I had with this cupcake is
I felt like that teriyaki flavor was just lost in the sand.
I couldn't taste it.
The roasted pig was delicious,
but I'm on the same page with Candace here.
I was incredibly missing the teriyaki sauce.
I enjoyed the pig on top,
and that first crunch I had on the outside of the cupcake
was really nice.
But for myself, I thought it was a little bit too sweet.
Hi.
Tell us what you baked.
It is a pineapple-pork cupcake
with a mango-kimchi chutney inside
and a pineapple-cream-cheese buttercream.
I hope you enjoy it.
As soon as I dig in it,
I really had a hard time to find the pork.
I barely get like one or two pieces,
so that ingredient, on my book, was kind of missing.
And I thought the kimchi had nothing to do in this cupcake.
I mean, I think it was kind of ruining the taste a little bit.
It was, you know, a bit sour, so, I didn't like it.
I do like how you incorporated the flavors
of tart and sweet and savory all into one package.
I didn't love how you incorporated the pork.
It was just sort of a lump at the bottom of my cupcake.
I didn't love the kimchi in it,
although I do appreciate you bringing that in.
It was okay.
Aloha, Khadijah. How are you?
Aloha. I'm well, thank you.
What did you bake?
KHADIJAH: So, what I have there is a yummy vanilla cupcake
with a pineapple-ginger mousse filling,
ginger buttercream,
roast pork, pineapple caramelized on the top
with a teriyaki drizzle.
I hope you enjoy.
When you were describing your cupcake,
I mean, it really just sounded like a luau in a cupcake cup.
But unfortunately, when I bit into it,
I bit down on a sharp piece of ginger,
and it just sort of spoiled the whole experience for me.
And that party really never got started.
Khadijah, you chose those three ingredients, you know?
They have to be the star of your cupcake.
They have to shine.
But what was shining most on your cupcake was sugar.
It was very sweet.
The cupcake is not the star anymore.
It's those ingredients.
I felt that the pork was a nice touch in the middle,
but I thought that if you would have had
more flavor of those ingredients,
it would have been better.
What's up, Dale? What did you bake them?
What I started out with is a banana-and-pineapple cake.
Inside that is a mango compote,
and it has macadamia nuts and toasted coconut.
And then, on top,
we have a Madagascar Bourbon vanilla-bean buttercream
and then a pineapple flower.
Enjoy.
Well, Dale, all the tastes got very confused in my mouth.
I think the biggest issue was it was too sweet.
I think the main issue was the vanilla frosting.
There were so many great, fruity flavors going on.
It would have been lovely to have
sort of an unsweetened whipped cream on top of that.
I wasn't totally in love with this cupcake,
but we're almost there.
WILLMAN: All right, bakers.
We'll give our judges a moment to discuss.
We'll meet back here in a few. Thank you.
KHADIJAH: It seems like it's between me and Jenni
of who's staying and who's going.
I am not ready to go home.
I am trying to get to Hawaii.
JENNI: I'm heartbroken right now.
I can't believe that the judges didn't like my cupcake,
and I'm thinking, "I'm going home."
Bakers, in this first round,
you were asked to give the judges
the experience of a traditional luau
in one delectable cupcake.
It seems like all of you had a rocky transition
to island life.
One of you is being sent back to the mainland.
While all of you had trouble with the flavors,
one of you had a cupcake that unfortunately just failed.
Khadijah, I'm sorry. You're done in the cupcake war.
I'm truly disappointed that I got eliminated,
but what was said about other people's cupcakes,
I really didn't think I was going home.
I just should have put more pork in my cupcake.
Bakers, allow me to be the first
to welcome you to the second round.
Two of you are moving on to make your 1,000-cupcake display
that'll be featured at the Hawaii Food & Wine Festival,
standing among master chefs and food critics
from around the globe.
If that's not enough,
the winner will also walk away with $10,000.
But first, you got to prove yourself in this round.
We want each of you to create three cupcakes
that give the judges an elegant, modern take
on the rugged, natural beauty of Hawaii.
Remember though, in this challenge,
50% of the judges' decision is based on taste,
and 50% is all about presentation.
You got 75 minutes. Good luck.
Starting now.
Oh, my God. Did you see that?
Ooh, we just scraped by. You saw the judges, right?
Oh, yeah.
Round 1, you know,
the texture of the cake was a little bit off.
But we're gonna do something completely different
in round 2, so I think we'll be spot on.
I'm gonna start with a Hawaiian coffee cupcake --
chocolate, Hawaiian.
My first cupcake is going to be
a Kona coffee and chocolate cupcake.
It's filled with a Kona ganache,
and it's gonna have a Kona buttercream top
and different colors of chocolate to put on top of it
to complement the colors of Hawaii.
It is a wine fest, so we'll play with some wine,
maybe strawberry white zinfandel,
something like that.
My second cupcake,
we have strawberries and zinfandel in the batter.
Then on top of that,
we're gonna do a strawberry buttercream.
We're gonna garnish it with pearl beads
and an actual plumeria flower that's made out of fondant.
Last cupcake, we should probably start with lemon.
My third cupcake is a lemon lychee cupcake.
It's gonna have a lemon lychee bottom.
I'm gonna have a lemon glaze,
and it's gonna have a clamshell open up
into a lemon buttercream.
And then, on top, it's gonna have a little bit of glaze,
a dollop of lemon buttercream, and a raspberry.
I want to stick with the Hawaiian theme, obviously.
The judges said they couldn't taste
all my signature ingredients,
so in round 2, I really have to bring those flavors out.
I feel like I've been given a second chance.
Okay, I want to do our German chocolate cupcake.
It's got -- We're gonna Hawaiianize it.
My first cupcake is going to be
a Hawaiian German chocolate cupcake.
Gonna put Kona coffee into my dark-chocolate cake batter
and add coconut and roasted macadamia nuts
instead of pecan in the frosting.
And then, I'm gonna garnish it
with a white chocolate palm tree decoration.
And then, I was thinking
our toasted coconut, banana cream pie cupcake, okay?
My second cupcake is
a toasted coconut and banana cream pie cupcake
topped with toasted coconut and a little fondant banana.
What do we do when we go to Hawaii?
Okay.
Okay.
My third cupcake is a mai tai cupcake.
It's an orange and almond cake
with a lime rum buttercream
garnished with a chocolate tiki head
and one of those little umbrellas
with a maraschino cherry and a pineapple on it.
Start with the Hawaiian German chocolate.
I'm gonna start with the mai tai. Okay?
And then you pack this down, put the brown sugar in.
In round 1, the judges really couldn't taste the teriyaki.
For round 2, we got to step up the flavors.
I really want the cupcakes to scream Hawaii.
I got the corn syrup in.
We got to get those cakes in earlier
because last time we didn't get them in early enough.
So, our first cupcake,
it's gonna be a mango cake with a graham-cracker crust,
a mango-cheesecake filling
topped with a white chocolate oyster shell.
I'm gonna get the caramel sauce for the frosting.
My second cupcake is a chocolate cake
filled with caramel, macadamia nut,
and coconut filling
topped with a caramel buttercream
and then a caramel flower on top.
Soon as you have that batter done,
get the pineapple in it and get it in the oven.
So, my third cupcake is a Pineapple Express.
It's a pineapple cake with an orange pastry cream filling
and a lemon coconut cream cheese frosting
topped with a fondant pineapple.
Try this out.
No, do one more. It's not very strong.
Go for broke.
[ Singing in Hawaiian ]
One hour.
Whew, one hour. We got to hurry.
One hour. Okay, look, we got --
Hey, one hour.
Do you think we were too ambitious, Dale,
adding the lychee to this lemon?
You go safe, you can go home.
I know the lemon has a pretty powerful flavor to it,
but the glaze and everything together,
it's just a really, really good cupcake.
It's gonna look really good, and the colors will really pop.
Hey, honey, I'm taking the cupcakes in.
Okay.
Pineapple going in.
Okay, cupcakes going in.
DALE: Okay.
You take over on the frostings,
and I'm gonna get started on the decorations.
I want to really show that this is Hawaii but elegant.
Bakers, don't make the judges say this.
A hui hou.
'Cause that means "goodbye."
45 minutes.
45 minutes. We got to hurry up.
Get them in. Get them in.
I didn't set the timer. I got to go check them.
Something doesn't look right.
What?
I forgot the liners.
Oh, my gosh. You -- Oh, my gosh.
DALE: I went to check the cupcakes in the oven,
and they looked kind of weird to me.
I realized I didn't even put liners in.
Do we have any more batter left?
Yeah. There's a little bit.
Luckily, we have enough batter left over
that we can scoop them into the liners
and get them back in the oven.
Well, let me dump these,
and I'll just go ahead and put liners in and rescoop.
Okay.
I can't believe this. Unbelievable.
I hope we have enough time for these new cupcakes to bake.
All right. Pineapple coming out.
Perfect.
All right, I think the mai tai cupcakes are done.
30 minutes.
30 minutes, Dale!
They're done. They're done.
I'm not feeling good about these flowers.
Huh?
What's wrong with the flowers?
They're not hard.
Touch them. They're not setting up.
I think it's fine. Nothing you can do about it now.
We're gonna do mango cream cheese. Okay?
So, you take that cream cheese and throw in the mango.
Watch. Look how silky it's getting.
All right!
Perfect lemon and lychee cupcakes.
15 minutes.
James, we only have 15 minutes. Hurry.
Ooh, we got to hurry.
JENNI: Oh, my God.
Stacy, get these into the refrigerator so they'll dry.
This is totally set up like freaking hard candy.
I can't use that.
BUBBA: I go to use the caramel,
and it's rock hard like a brittle.
There's no way I have time to remake it.
This frosting is still runny for the strawberry.
Just keep adding some more sugar.
This strawberry buttercream, it's just not setting up right.
We kept adding more sugar and more sugar and more sugar,
but we got to be really careful
because we don't want this thing to be too sweet.
Five minutes.
Oh, my God. Five minutes, Stacy.
This is mango? [ Sighs ]
I just put it on the freaking wrong cupcakes.
What?
Just keep doing your thing. I just messed it up.
It's fine. It's fine.
Okay.
BUBBA: Great. I just totally dropped all the extra cupcakes.
So, these three on the plate,
they better work 'cause I have no backup.
WILLMAN: One minute.
DALE: Last thing I'm gonna do is crack the chocolate.
Yes.
DALE: Strawberry done.
BUBBA: It's not as beautiful as I'd like it.
But it will taste really nice.
DALE: I got to make these a little bit smaller.
Pour the bananas.
WILLMAN: 10...9...8...
7...6...5...
4...3...2...1.
Whew!
BUBBA: Well, they're there,
but they don't look like I want them to.
Round 2 is an absolute disaster,
and I just feel brought to my knees
that this is just a subpar cupcake.
They're not gonna be happy.
We didn't get our decorations finished.
This plate is a disgrace. It looks sloppy.
Bakers, we asked you to capture the modern elegance of Hawaii
in three delicious cupcakes.
Let's see what our judges think.
Bubba, present your cupcakes.
BUBBA: First we have for you is a mango cheesecake.
So, you have a graham-cracker crust,
mango cake
with a mango-cheesecake filling that's baked into it.
Mango cream cheese frosting.
And some of it have kind of hibiscus flowers
since it is the state flower.
And then you have the Hawaiian PMS Cure,
which is your chocolate cake,
caramel, macadamia nut, coconut filling,
caramel buttercream
and coconut-caramel mixture on top.
So, my third cupcake is the Pineapple Express
in a pineapple cake,
orange-zest filling,
cream-cheese frosting, and with a pineapple.
NELSON: Well, Hawaii is definitely known
for its raw and unrefined natural beauty.
On your decorations,
I could certainly find the raw and unrefined,
but I couldn't find much of the beauty, unfortunately.
In terms of your flavors, however,
I definitely felt like I just stepped off the plane
and was being welcomed to the islands.
This mango cupcake was a modern spin on sort of old Hawaii,
and I think you did it very successfully.
First, I thought I was missing a hibiscus flower.
Regarding your cupcakes, they are quite good.
The mango cupcake --
It's not easy to translate mango flavor in a cupcake,
and you did it quite well.
I was just turned off a bit
by having two cream-cheese frostings.
But, you know, you did a quite good plate of cupcakes here.
WILLMAN: Thank you, Bubba.
Hi.
Tell us about your Hawaiian trio here.
JENNI: The first cupcake
is a toasted coconut banana cream pie cupcake
filled with a toasted coconut and banana pastry cream.
It has a banana Swiss buttercream on top
and a fondant banana with toasted coconut as garnish.
The second cupcake is a Hawaiian German chocolate cupcake
that's been spiked with Kona coffee,
custard filling, toasted macadamia nuts,
and I planned to have a chocolate palm tree
as a decoration on that one.
The third cupcake is a mai tai cupcake.
It's an orange and almond-flavored cake,
lime-flavored Swiss buttercream with some rum in there.
And that has a chocolate tiki head on there.
It seems that a lot of garnish missed the plate today.
That tiki head by itself was kind of lonely.
And that banana was too small.
But I think my favorite cupcake
was definitely the chocolate coconut.
It was a great balance with the chocolate cake and everything.
I mean, give me more. Now I'm going on the opposite.
The most boring cupcake of that plate
was definitely this one.
I mean, quite dry.
And I love mai tai cocktail. We are far away from it.
This one -- forget it.
I loved your chocolate tiki head.
I thought that was fantastic.
This chocolate cake was so delicious.
It was amazing.
I thought the banana was very outstanding.
WILLMAN: Thanks, Jenni.
Hi.
DALE: All right, on your left, you have a lemon-lychee cupcake.
There is a lemon glaze on top,
and it has a dollop of lemon buttercream
and a fresh raspberry.
In the middle, you have a Kona chocolate cupcake
with a Kona and chocolate ganache filling,
chocolate and Kona buttercream
with espresso beans crushed on top,
and chocolate that we made into a peppermint.
And then the last cupcake would be
your strawberry zinfandel cupcake.
It has white zinfandel in it,
strawberry buttercream with sugar pearls and plumeria.
I think, compared to the other contestants,
you had more color.
But I'm not sure that the decorations
were right on target.
Besides that plumeria,
I had to scratch my head on the other ones.
That ocean, chocolate-looking, minty thing was way too thick.
The strawberry zinfandel --
You can do a lot of things with strawberry,
but fresh strawberries just don't bake in a batter.
It's a mistake.
Now, that chocolate Kona coffee was great,
but that's all I like in that plate.
Well, I'm thrilled to see some color on this plate.
I do think the raspberry
was definitely a missed opportunity here.
Lychee's such a subtle flavor,
hard to translate into a cake to begin with.
And then, to pair it with lemon,
which is such a sort of aggressive flavor,
obviously that lychee's gonna be lost.
You know, I just kind of thought that there could have been
a lot more done to your flavoring.
WILLMAN: Thank you, Dale.
Bakers, we'll give them a moment to chat.
We'll meet here in a few. Thanks.
JENNI: At this point,
I'm kind of thinking it could be between Dale or myself.
I really dodged that bullet in round 1,
and I don't want to go home now.
DALE: I'm very concerned.
The judges only liked one cupcake, so I'm kind of worried.
Bakers, this round was all about creating
three cupcakes packed with flavors and decorations
that make us feel like we've been transported to Hawaii.
Jenni, the judges got a thrill
from your Kona-charged chocolate cake,
but unfortunately,
you blew it with the simplest Polynesian flavor,
a mai tai.
And, Dale, between an impenetrable, hard-candy topping
and a lemon flavor that canceled out your lychee,
it was impossible to taste your tropical treats.
I'm sorry, Dale. You're done in the cupcake war.
DALE: I'm upset about being eliminated.
I feel like I let a lot of people down,
and I just don't like to do that.
WILLMAN: Two bakers down.
Two bakers remain to face off in this final round of battle.
So, now each of you are gonna create a 1,000-cupcake display
daring and remarkable enough to stand
among some of the greatest culinary minds in the world.
And if that's not enough,
the winner also walks away with $10,000.
Now, we know this is a lot to take in.
You can't do this alone, so we're giving each of you
a master carpenter to help you build.
Aloha, dudes.
You also get four baking assistants each
to help in any way you may need.
Hello, ladies.
Now, this time all the cupcake flavors and designs you made
must be incorporated into an outstanding display
because when your time is up,
you'll be judged on how your cupcakes taste
but more importantly how you put it all together
into one amazing presentation.
You have two hours.
Clock starts now.
[ Gasps ]
Holy cow, we made it. We did it.
Now we're here for round 3.
If I can just focus on all the details, we're gonna win.
Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God.
I'm Justin.
I've got an idea.
Hawaii, The Rainbow State -- I want to do a giant rainbow.
I want my display to represent Hawaii
and the Food & Wine Festival.
I want to have two wine barrels.
I'd like to see the rainbow floating on top of a table
made out of wine barrels
and has grapevines all around it.
Two-sided. In between, it's like shelves.
And I also want to incorporate the logo,
maybe have it hanging underneath the rainbow arches.
Let's put a couple clouds on the edge.
The rainbow's floating on the clouds.
I know you can do it.
Thank you. Bye.
So, I know this sounds nuts.
You've probably never built a volcano,
but that's what I want you to do.
I want this thing
to look like a true representation of Hawaii.
I want it to be an elegant form of volcano.
Some shelves coming around it,
different layers.
Then we can just stack up the cupcakes.
Add it so that it looks like it has some lava come down in.
The lava, color, bright, flowing down,
green plants of Hawaii
and see the blue ocean on the floor.
Maybe put their logo at the top.
This seems enormous.
Jake, I have faith in your plaid power.
I know you can do it.
Thank you.
Good luck, guys. See you in a bit.
I'm gonna make sure
that they all get some pork this time.
In round 3, I've got to make some changes to the cupcakes.
I've got to add some pork and lose the kimchi.
And in my mai tai cupcake, instead of the almond extract,
this time I'm gonna chop up some of that fresh pineapple
and add it in,
and that's gonna give me my mai tai flavor,
as well as some moisture in that cake.
Florian said it didn't taste anything like a mai tai.
And I've got to get all the decorations on this time.
I've got to fix these cupcakes
and show the judges that I know what I'm doing.
All right. Here is your pork and pineapple.
Okay, I need you to make 250 of those flowers.
So, you got to bust those out really fast, okay?
I have a lot of changes to make in round 3.
Instead of having two cream cheeses, I'm gonna make sure
this time we have the mango Swiss buttercream.
No. It needs more. All I taste is pig.
More teriyaki.
My round-1 cupcake --
I'm gonna amp up the teriyaki flavor.
Last time, we didn't get the oysters on the mango cheesecake,
so I'm gonna make sure they make it on this time.
This is so much to re-create in round 3.
I'm not really sure how we're gonna get it all done.
I'm just kind of freaking out here.
It's Hawaii. I mean, and this is a big event.
[ Ukulele playing off-key ]
It's me, isn't it? 90 minutes.
Oh, okay. 90 minutes?
What?
Okay, let's start scooping, then.
Pork cupcakes are going in the oven.
JAMES: All right, we did it.
I wonder how he's doing with that volcano.
I bet he's never made a volcano.
So, Erieka wanted this thing as real as could be.
Nothing more real than real.
JAKE: It's a nice rainbow.
It's a rain-bro.
Oh, another good one.
Hey, bakers, you -- Oh, thank you.
Y-- Oh, okay.
Oh, all right, then.
This is great. One hour left.
One hour, guys.
One hour?
Okay.
Yeah, those are done.
Okay, they wanted teriyaki.
I'm gonna definitely add the teriyaki.
In round 1, they judges said
they couldn't taste the teriyaki,
so I'm gonna make sure
there's plenty of teriyaki in this frosting.
Ohh!
Oh, great! The plastic went in there?
The cap fell off the bottle,
and now the whole bottle of teriyaki is in the frosting.
[ Gags ]
This is completely disgusting.
Okay, just do the best we can.
Got to get this on. Okay.
Okay, I got it. Let's go.
Ohh!
Oh, great! The plastic went in there?
Crap.
BUBBA: The cap fell off the bottle,
and now the whole bottle of teriyaki is in the frosting.
This is gonna be completely disgusting.
[ Gags ]
Time is running out.
We got to get rid of it and make a new one
because if I don't get it right, we're going home.
We have to make this really quick.
WILLMAN: 45 minutes.
45 minutes!
All we have to do is fill and frost 1,000 cupcakes.
I want everyone on frosting.
We have to get the 1,000 cupcakes frosted.
Last time, I put a little bit too much.
So, let me test.
I want it strong but not too strong.
That tastes like teriyaki to me but without being too much.
So, I don't want to mess up like last time
with a whole dang bottle.
It's just the aftertaste.
That's the only thing I'm tasting.
So you want it a little bit stronger, you think?
Kick it up a little notch? Okay, I'm gonna kick it up.
But I just don't want it to be like last time
where it was too much.
The teriyaki is there but not too strong.
I'm feeling good about the frosting.
I'm really excited to give the judges great frosting.
I think they're really gonna love it.
Yeah, that's plenty.
That look awesome!
Got a volcano.
My display is incredible. It's huge.
There's no other word for it than it's perfect.
Awesome! Great job.
Bubba's display looks great, but I don't really see
any elements of food and wine in there.
I see a rainbow.
Oh, my God.
I love it.
Thank you.
This display looks amazing. Justin did everything I wanted.
It's perfect.
Jenni's display looks very small.
I thought my display was going to eat it.
WILLMAN: 10 minutes.
Okay, 10 minutes!
JENNI: Try to line them up, you know, so we can fit as many.
BUBBA: Only the top level. Everywhere else is good.
Load it. Load it.
Come on, girls. You can do it.
Keep pushing. Keep going.
JENNI: Get them on. Get them on.
Looking good, guys.
$10,000. We can do it.
We can get them on. Let's go.
Come on. We're running out of time.
All these cupcakes still need to be on.
One minute.
One minute. This is it.
BUBBA: Okay, girls, we're one minute away from $10,000.
You can do it!
Get them on. Get them on.
Load it, load it.
WILLMAN: 10...9...8...
7...6...5...
4...3...2...1.
Time is up.
[ Applause ]
Good job. Good job.
Bakers, we asked for stunning, 1,000-cupcake displays
that belong front and center
among the world's culinary masters
at the Hawaii Food & Wine Festival.
Let's see what you came up with. Jenni, present your display.
So, in my display, I wanted to include
all of the bright, vibrant colors of Hawaii,
as well as the natural beauty.
I also really wanted to accentuate the fact
that this was a food and wine festival
by using wine barrels as my base
and grape leaves and grapes all around the border.
I took your advice on the cupcake revisions.
On the German chocolate cupcake, you now have the palm tree,
and we put multiple bananas on so it doesn't look so naked.
And then, for the mai tai cupcake,
I got rid of the almond
and I replaced it with pineapple,
so we now have a pineapple-orange cupcake
and hopefully give you that kick that you're looking for
in a mai tai.
Thank you, Jenni. Hey, Bubba.
BUBBA: Hey, Justin.
Okay.
So, when you think of Hawaii, you think of volcanoes,
and so we made for you a volcano.
And we brought the natural beauty of the lush plants,
and you have the lava going.
And this time, I listened to you about the decorations.
Obviously, I like a lot of color,
so we brought the color this time, the decorations.
We added bright yellow and orange hibiscus flowers,
the state flower.
You wanted more teriyaki sauce.
We put more teriyaki in there. We ditched the umbrella.
For the mango cheesecake, we did a Swiss buttercream
instead of just doing a cream cheese.
I hope you enjoy.
Thank you, Bubba.
Ladies, our judges have a big decision to make.
We will let them chat and bring you back in a few. Thanks.
BUBBA: The display looks great. The cupcakes look amazing.
I feel like we're in Hawaii already.
If I don't win "Cupcake Wars," I'll be devastated
because I really need this validation,
and I would be really disappointed without it.
JENNI: I know there's nothing else that I can do.
There's no redemption. There's no more rounds.
I just got to sit and wait and see what my future holds.
I put my heart and soul into this.
Let's talk about these very different Hawaiian displays.
Jenni gave us a really cute display.
That rainbow is really happy,
and I really like how Jenni incorporated the cupcakes
into the arch of the rainbow itself.
I think it's really clever.
It allows for people of all different heights
to be able to easily reach those cupcakes.
Did Jenni fix her cupcakes enough in the final round?
She did some good fixing which I liked very much.
The mai tai is way much better now
that she decided to skip the almond cake
and have it replaced by a pineapple cake,
which really tastes delicious.
And we advised her to bump up the decoration.
Now there is two or three bananas per cupcake,
which makes it more colorful.
So, she did good changes on that.
The colors are very vibrant.
And, you know, we talk about the beauty of Hawaii.
She has the rainbow, of course, and she has the wine aspect,
which she brought in with the grape leaves.
So, I really appreciate that.
WILLMAN: Let's discuss Bubba's display.
I think I'm finally seeing a symbol
of the raw natural beauty of Hawaii represented in a display.
Florian, how did Bubba do?
She did a pretty good improvement
on the mango cupcake.
The change on her cupcake was very well done.
She's successful. But not only that.
She really came up with all those decorations
that we haven't seen before.
And those hibiscus flowers are very bright,
and it's a beautiful, natural-looking display.
Well, judges, do we have a winner?
BELLANGER: Mm-hmm.
Okay. Let's bring them back.
Bakers, the Hawaii Food & Wine Festival
is all about the astounding bounty that Hawaii has to offer
and the expert ways in which
internationally renowned chefs present it to the public.
Now, neither of you sailed smoothly into this final round,
but "Cupcake Wars" is about thinking fast on your feet,
and you both made the necessary changes to your cupcakes.
Bubba, your roasted pork now has the perfect amount of teriyaki,
and while creating a volcano display
might be a little predictable,
yours is elegant and charming,
showing how everything flows from the mountain to the sea.
Jenni, the judges thought your new and improved mai tai cupcake
was simply 'ono,
which means "delicious," right, Roy?
Yes.
And your colorful rainbow display is sunny and fun,
which is what people think of
when they imagine The Aloha State.
But in the end, the judges were unanimous.
For this prestigious event,
they felt one display
brought decorations, flavors, and presentation all together
with the perfect sophisticated touch.
Congratulations...
...Bubba.
You're the winner of "Cupcake Wars."
JENNI: The most disappointing thing about not winning
is just not leaving here with the validation
that what I do I'm good at.
I worked really hard to get to where I am,
and I know everybody at home is proud of me.
[ Hawaiian music plays ]
[ Man singing in Hawaiian ]
BUBBA: Aloha. I'm gonna pack my bags.
Here we come, Hawaii.
Bubba, you're on your way to the Hawaii Food & Wine Festival.
Let's go.
Yeah!
BUBBA: My cupcakes are at the Hawaii Food & Wine Festival.
This is so amazing.
It's really gonna put us on the map.
So good.
Awesome.
It looks beautiful. This is how I wanted it.
BUBBA: Everything that I worked so hard for
for so long, it's here.
We won.
It's world-class. Just like our festival.
Yay.
Good job.
Yay.