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WILLMAN: Today, "Cupcake Wars" is a real turf war...
Oh, my God.
...as we bring back past competitors
to represent four corners of America.
We really got to hurry.
Holy Toledo! We are so behind.
And one by one,
they'll be eliminated as they're judged on taste...
You pulled out all the stops.
WILLMAN: ...presentation...
That dry hibiscus is definitely ugly.
...and in the final round, the last two bakers standing
will have to bring it all together
into one incredible fantasy cupcake display.
Tonight's winner will get to have
their cupcakes as the centerpiece
at the prestigious South Beach Wine & Food Festival.
And they'll walk away with $10,000.
Ugh.
There is something terribly wrong.
Oh, my gosh, they're awful.
They were burnt beyond crisp.
WENDY: What are we gonna do?!
Oh, my God!
It's a mess.
Get ready to bring the heat
'cause this is "Cupcake Wars."
-- Captions by VITAC --
Closed Captions provided by Scripps Networks, LLC.
[ Ding! ]
Hey, guys. I'm Justin Willman.
And the never-ending battle for cupcake dominance
is about to begin.
Overseeing today's 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 our returning bakers.
I've been baking since I was 11.
My name is Jessica Ward.
I am the owner of Sweet Mess Cakery.
It is an online bakery in Los Angeles, California.
We put our love into it,
and I think that makes everything taste better.
Each cupcake has to have a personal touch.
BROOKE: No one makes a cupcake like you, J.
Aww.
My assistant today is Brooke Burney.
She is right there to say,
"Yes, Jessica, this is a great idea," or "No, abort, abort."
We're doing it.
I was on "Cupcake Wars" for the "Mary Poppins" musical episode.
I made it to the final round.
I was so close, I could taste it, but I just didn't cut it.
Get going. Let's pack it up.
I am here to redeem myself
not only for me, but for the west side.
BOTH: "Cupcake Wars," here we come!
Welcome to Sugar Mommy.
My name is Lori Levenson.
I'm the owner of Sugar Mommy Cupcakes
in Denville, New Jersey.
Oh, my favorite.
We've been in business a long time,
so we have a definite, solid following.
My assistant today is Lindsay Clark.
She's a great assistant to bring because she takes no prisoners.
I just want to be able to have those bragging rights
to say that we've won "Cupcake Wars."
We were on season three, Comic-Con episode.
We lost by the skin of our teeth last time.
I need to win "Cupcake Wars" for redemption.
Come on, Linds, let's go.
I love the competition
'cause it just makes us strive to be even better.
Let's do this!
Bye!
Cupcakes up!
I'm Chef Casey Shiller
from Jilly's Cupcake Bar & Café in St. Louis, Missouri.
We specialize in gigantic cupcakes
that are about 1/2 pound apiece.
Perfect, perfect.
We're the A-team, babe.
My assistant today is the amazing food dude Dana Holland,
our executive chef at the café.
With you being the savory chef and me being the pastry chef...
Think that's what makes us the dynamic duo.
It's almost like we can communicate
without having to talk.
This is our third time on "Cupcake Wars."
Right now, our record is 1-1.
We came out on top,
winning the 50th anniversary of the first man in space.
Unfortunately, went home after round 2
on the American Music Awards episode.
This time, we're here to win again.
All right, Case, this is it. We're going.
The $10,000 would be great,
but a win for the midwest --
that's what we're really in it for.
Let's do this.
This third time, we have got to get it right,
and we've got to take home the prize.
My name is Carla Hesseltine.
I own Just Cupcakes in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
We now have two shops and just introduced our first mobile van.
We bake fresh every day.
We bake with the best ingredients.
And we can do anything for anybody.
My assistant is Wendy Jacobs.
Carla, these cupcakes have really been selling lately.
She's little Polly Perfect.
She's always so upbeat.
Yeah.
We will.
I've been here twice.
I was on "The Closer" episode
and the Kentucky Derby episode.
Representing the south,
I feel double pressure to bring home the win today.
Let's do this!
Welcome back, bakers!
Come on up.
You guys just couldn't get enough, could you?
You have all, of course, returned
for another shot at the title,
but you're also here to represent
your corner of the U.S.,
which means you need to impress us today because if you win,
you get to brag about how your region of the country
is number one,
especially while you're front and center with your cupcakes
at the exclusive South Beach Wine & Food Festival.
As you guys know,
this festival is one of the most prestigious in the world.
The winner also walks away with 10,000 bucks.
So, let's begin.
Today, there are three rounds of competition.
After each round, as you're well aware,
one of you will be eliminated.
First up is the taste challenge.
Today, we have bakers from the west, the east,
the south, and the midwest.
But for this taste challenge, we are turning
to the state that hosts the festival
for inspiration -- Florida.
On the inspiration table,
you'll find Florida favorites like coconut shrimp...
empanadas...
key lime pie...
and pressed Cuban sandwiches.
You must each choose one of these Florida staples
to create a one-of-a-kind and, of course, delicious cupcake
that'll impress even the most refined taste buds.
You get 45 minutes. Good luck.
Starting now.
There is no way I'm even attempting
to use a pressed Cuban sandwich in a cupcake.
It would just be insane.
Okay, okay, so, there's, like, empanadas, pulled pork.
We can't play it safe. We've got to go hard.
This is our second time. We came here to win.
There's coconut shrimp, though, and that's kind of sweet.
Let's do it. Let's put seafood in a cupcake.
I'm going to make a rum cake brushed with a rum glaze,
fill that with a coconut shrimp curd with lime,
top it off with a piña colada buttercream,
garnish with toasted coconut and a deep-fried coconut shrimp.
We need to go to South Beach. Who needs a tan?
Okay, let's do it!
Boom!
There's a pressed Cuban sandwich.
There's key lime pie. There's coconut shrimp.
I'm definitely thinking we don't go the safe route.
LORI: We lost last time because we played it safe.
This time, we're gonna pick
the two trickier ingredients on the table.
Today, I'm going to be making
a key lime mojito and coconut shrimp cupcake
filled with a coconut cream
with a key lime cream cheese sprinkled with toasted coconut.
Okay, Linds, I'm gonna get the shrimp going.
You start on the batter.
Okay, sounds good.
Will you make me, like, a coffee paste?
We'll use that other Miami coffee.
I'm gonna make a Cuban coffee-inspired cupcake --
a coffee chip cake filled
with a Cuban caramel toffee and coffee filling
in espresso-swirled buttercream
and some freeze-dried coffee and milk crunchies.
Yeah.
All right.
I'm gonna make a key lime cupcake.
I'm gonna make a graham-cracker cupcake,
fill it with key-lime filling,
top it with a lime-scented cream-cheese buttercream,
and finish it off with a little key-lime zest.
We're representing the south -- no pressure.
No, we got this, Carla.
Bakers, 30 minutes!
Oh, my God, 30 minutes!
I definitely want these judges to have some pieces of shrimp.
I know that the judges are going to want to taste
the shrimp in my cupcake.
I'm gonna make sure that there's pieces of shrimp
that they can bite into in the cupcake.
I don't want them to be like,
"There's no shrimp in this cupcake."
Using 1/8 cup of rum. You think that's too much?
No, let's get those judges feeling good.
I'm gonna sift these, so they make them more like cake flour.
I just hope it works!
Come on, can you cook already?
Rum cupcakes going in!
Going in the oven.
Coming down, ladies, coming down.
I check on the batter.
Yeah.
It's like liquid.
It's like water.
Something is very wrong.
This batter just looks so thin, Linds.
I'm so nervous.
Okay.
Ugh!
I taste this batter, and I can't even swallow it.
There's no sugar in there.
There is no sugar in this batter.
Now I'm panicked.
There's only 27 minutes on that clock,
and these cupcakes have to bake for 20 minutes.
Can't serve a cupcake without sugar.
I have no time to remake another batter.
Oh, my God.
If I cannot fix this,
the judges are going to kill me.
Okay.
Ugh!
I taste this batter, and I can't even swallow it.
There's no sugar in there.
Now I'm panicked.
I can't believe you forgot the sugar.
I have no time to remake another batter.
Oh, my God.
So all I'm gonna do is
just add the sugar that's missing
and cross my fingers that we're gonna get a cupcake
at the end of these 20 minutes.
Much better.
But if these cupcakes are gonna have any chance,
they need to get into the oven now.
Lindsay, you cannot make a mistake like that.
That can cost us round 1.
I'm so sorry, Lori.
Bakers, 15 minutes left!
Oh, my gosh!
Coming through -- hot cakes!
They're done, and they turned out!
Those cakes look great.
Come on, little shrimpies, fry!
The last thing that I want to hear
is that they can't taste the coffee.
CASEY: Dana's mixing the Cuban caramel filling.
I definitely want to stay true to Cuban coffee,
but are the judges gonna send me home
because it's too sweet or not sweet enough?
Case, check this out.
They're little pipettes.
Oh, like chemistry pipettes?
So, in the pantry, we find
these small plastic chemistry pipettes.
This is gonna be great.
We can suck up a sweet coffee syrup
so the judges can squeeze extra sweetening
right onto their cupcake.
That's gonna be cool.
This is it! Five minutes!
Five minutes, B.!
LINDSAY: How are they doing?
Thank God they cooked.
I know that we have to get something on the plate.
They're burning hot.
So I throw those cupcakes into the freezer to chill them down
so the frosting will stay on the cupcake.
They'll be ready to fill soon.
We got filling going in.
Come on, Carla!
One minute!
Oh, my God, Carla!
LORI: I think it might be a little warm for the cream,
but let's just keep our fingers crossed.
CASEY: God, that looks great.
JESSICA: I'm gonna buttercream these babies!
Just hope they work, Linds.
Oh, my gosh.
WILLMAN: 10, 9, 8,
7, 6, 5, 4,
3, 2, 1...
Time's up!
Bakers, in honor of the South Beach Wine & Food Festival,
you were asked to make a cupcake
that celebrated our great state of Florida.
Say hey to the judges.
You know Candace and Florian, of course.
Our guest judge today is winner of the seventh season
of "Food Network Star"
and host of the Food Network's "Sandwich King" and "$24 in 24."
Say hello to Jeff Mauro.
I'm looking for a cupcake as swanky as South Beach.
Let's begin.
Hello.
Yes.
What'd you bake?
In front of you, you have a rum cake
brushed with a rum glaze,
and that's filled with a coconut lime shrimp curd.
That's topped off with a piña colada buttercream,
garnished with toasted coconut
and a deep-fried coconut shrimp.
Enjoy.
I love the texture of your cake, and the frosting is delicious,
but I'm having an issue finding the shrimp taste
besides the garnish on top, which doesn't really go for me.
So it didn't work.
This cupcake was like drinking a cocktail poolside in Miami,
just all those tropical flavors
and then in addition, the buttery texture of your cake.
But I will agree with Florian
that the shrimp was very much a background note
to everything else that was going on.
The curd was a little eggy for me.
And I didn't taste any shrimp in there, as well.
CARLA: Hi.
Good.
That's right.
What you have in front of you
is a graham-cracker cupcake with a cooked key lime filling
topped with a lime-scented cream-cheese buttercream
with a little pink flamingo on top.
This is, like, absolutely key lime pie
in a miniature, sweet, little-size cupcake.
Thank you.
Well, I felt like being in South Beach right now.
I mean, your key lime pie cupcake was so realistic.
Having the crunch on the bottom and that filling,
the delicious mousse frosting, it was very good.
WILLMAN: Jeff, how is it?
My only gripe with this cupcake is it was too small.
Obviously, I've controlled myself
and left 16 crumbs on my plate.
Thank you.
Casey, welcome back, buddy.
Thanks -- It's truly an honor to be back
and representing the midwest.
And today, we have a phenomenal Cuban coffee cupcake.
Starts with a coffee chip cake
filled with a Cuban caramel toffee and coffee filling.
On top is an espresso swirl buttercream
garnished with a little freeze-dried coffee and milk.
I didn't want to prepare
an uber-sweet cupcake for you today,
so what I have is a pipette that is filled
with extremely sweet Cuban coffee
that you can dose into your cupcake
so that you can have the sweetness level
be where you'd like it.
Two things really struck me in your cupcake.
Number one is the texture of the cake, which is just perfect.
And number two is the delicious buttercream that you had on it.
It's a serious buttercream recipe.
Thank you.
There was so much going on in this cupcake.
You know, I was worried there would be too much commotion,
but this cupcake is causing a commotion.
I mean, it is so delicious. It's a party.
I can just see all the revelers at South Beach,
you know, partying late into the night
with this kick of caffeine.
Well done.
Hi, Justin.
Good.
What do we have?
I made you a key lime mojito
with coconut shrimp cake
filled with a coconut cream pudding
with a key lime cream cheese.
Enjoy.
Well, this cupcake was definitely packed with coconut flavor,
and I could certainly find that shrimp in there.
It was mixed right into the batter.
The issue I'm having with this cupcake, however,
is the consistency of your cake.
It's very almost wet.
It's kind of spongy and custard-y,
Okay.
The whole cake was quite good,
but something was bothering me, and I agree with Candace.
The texture of the cake was way too moist,
but not only that, even though I found that shrimp,
I found too much of the shrimp.
And I think that you should've just shoved in finely chopped
and added to the batter.
It would've worked way better.
I love moist cake. Don't get me wrong.
But I guess there can be too moist of a cake.
Thank you, judges. Thank you, Lori.
Bakers, we're gonna give them a moment to chat.
See you in a few. Thanks.
I'm thinking that it's between Lori and I.
We both had issues with our cupcakes,
and we both used shrimp.
It's anyone's game at this point.
Bakers, for this round,
we wanted to celebrate
the delicious flavors of Florida.
Carla and Casey,
your cupcakes put the judges in a sunshine state of mind.
Nice work.
Jessica, the judges loved the texture of your cake,
but they had trouble finding the shrimp.
And, Lori, they had no problem finding the shrimp
because the chunks were so big.
And that, coupled with an overly moist cake,
made the judges think more of a swamp than South Beach.
So, I'm sorry, Lori.
You're done in the cupcake war.
LORI: It's terrible to be knocked out in round 1.
[ Voice breaking ] It's absolutely heartbreaking to come this far.
All right, congrats, guys.
You're all one step closer to getting your cupcakes
front and center at the South Beach Wine & Food Fest,
but remember, only two of you
will move on to complete that 1,000-cupcake display.
First, though, you got to prove yourself in this round.
We want you each to bake three cupcakes that can hold their own
amongst some of the most exciting creations
in the food world.
As you guys know, you'll be judged 50% on taste
and 50% on presentation.
You have 75 minutes.
Starting now.
Oh, my God!
I am so relieved.
I really thought that I was about to be eliminated.
In this round, we have to step up our game.
I'm thinking something tropical
[ Gasps ]
My first cupcake is going to be a champagne cake
filled with a star fruit key lime filling,
topped off with a key lime whipped cream,
garnished with a star fruit slice
and dried hibiscus flower.
I think that if we did a chocolate,
like rich, like dark chocolate cake.
My second cupcake is going to be a chocolate brown ale cake
filled with a chocolate ganache,
topped off with a Cuban coffee buttercream,
garnished with a pearl-dusted pineapple chunk
and dried hibiscus.
Maybe that with something in the middle
that's Cuban like --
Flan -- perfect.
My third cupcake is going to be a tres leches cake
soaked in the tres leches milk, filled with flan filling,
topped off with the cinnamon whipped cream
and garnished with a chocolate shell and pearl.
I am being very ambitious,
but I don't think it's anything we can't handle.
Okay, so, I'm gonna start on the batters.
Okay, I'll do the flan, the ganache, all of that.
Let's go.
Let's keep it Miami-themed.
We did well with it first round.
The judges loved our round-1 cupcake.
Now we have to keep on that same level
and keep the momentum going.
Let's keep it kind of citrus,
Florida oranges?
Yeah, maybe let's do tangelos. That sounds good.
My first cupcake is the Cruising Down Collins.
It's a coconut cupcake filled with rum-roasted pineapple,
topped with a tangelo cream-cheese icing,
toasted coconut, an orange segment,
and an edible Collins Avenue street sign.
All the parties in South Beach happen on Collins Avenue.
I think we should go tropical, as well,
so let's do, like, a passion fruit and mango cupcake.
My second cupcake is all about the tropical flavors --
passion fruit cake soaked with a *** syrup,
filled with raspberry jam,
topped with mango whipped cream
and a passion fruit popper.
It's the Wine & Food Festival. We got to do a wine cupcake,
so let's do that -- be our chocolate cupcake.
My third cupcake is a chocolate wine cupcake
filled with Amarena cherries,
topped with a Cabernet Zinfandel ganache
and Cabernet buttercream grapes.
Let's go.
I'm gonna chop up this coconut a little bit.
Our first cupcake is the coconut cupcake filled with lemon curd,
topped with lemon cream-cheese frosting,
rolled in sweetened coconut,
and topped with a triangle South Beach logo.
Okay, let's start pouring in this chocolate.
My second cupcake is a chocolate orange cupcake
frosted with an orange-scented Italian merengue
and topped with a piece of orange bubble sugar.
And I have the hardest cupcake for me yet,
is the guava one.
My third cupcake is the strawberry guava cupcake
filled with a sliver of guava paste,
topped with cream-cheese frosting
and garnished with a white plate with a star on it and a fork.
Yeah.
It's beautiful!
One hour!
Oh, man, one hour!
This goes by so quickly!
One hour?
We have so much to do in an hour.
Okay.
I'm scooping out the coconuts.
The coconut milk in the cake is just gonna sing.
Champagne cakes are going in the oven!
Get that baby in the oven.
Passion fruit's going in, Case.
JESSICA: This is a brown ale that was brewed in Florida,
and it has hints of Cuban coffee and chocolate.
I'm making the chocolate brown ale batter,
and I'm adding the beer,
and it'll really complement the cake
and make it that bubbly, springy texture that I love.
I'm getting that into the tins, and off to the oven they go.
Oh, my God!
My clumsiness gets in the way of me,
and I spill it everywhere.
It's a mess. Like, I don't even know what to do.
We got to make another one quick!
Quick, quick, quick!
This is a disaster.
I got to make some more.
Oh, my gosh.
Those poor g-- oh, my gosh.
All right, this is our second attempt.
I'm remaking the chocolate batter.
This one has to make it to the oven.
We already are behind on time,
so I'm putting it in the tins, and it's going in.
Candace, am I red?
No, you're fine.
30 minutes!
30 minutes? Holy Toledo, B.!
We are so far behind, it's not even funny.
Look at this.
These are the logos that we wanted.
They are.
We'll let it set up.
I'll cut some triangles.
It'll be nice.
We've got to impress the judges with our decorations
and keep it swanky and sexy.
I'm not here to play it safe, Dana.
I'm adding a pearl to our shell, B.,
Beautiful.
Tres leches is out!
Okay, it's done.
Here we go, guys -- 10 minutes!
We got to go.
Oh, my gosh, 10 minutes. This is it.
Perfect!
The chocolate cupcakes are finally done.
Right behind you -- Hot pan!
This is beyond stressful,
and we have no time and so much left to do.
I'm gonna tear up this.
I saw in the pantry some cool, like, light-up canisters.
I found these awesome light-up L.E.D. platforms.
On "Cupcake Wars," everyone puts cupcakes directly on the plate.
We want to be the difference-makers.
We're gonna do it.
This is it -- one minute!
JESSICA: One minute, B. Oh, my gosh.
Oh, my God! All right, let's get these on.
You gonna do it facing us and then turn it around?
Okay.
10, 9, 8, 7,
6, 5, 4,
3, 2, 1...
Time's up!
Boom!
We got them on.
Time's up, and I'm so disappointed in myself.
I've had issues with our cupcakes.
I could be going home.
Bakers, for this round, we wanted you each to make
three cupcakes that would stand out
in both taste and decoration
amongst some of the world's most distinguished palates.
No pressure.
Jessica, what'd you do?
JESSICA: Your first cupcake is a champagne cake
filled with a star fruit key lime filling,
topped with a key lime buttercream,
decorated with dried hibiscus and a star fruit.
Your next cupcake is a rich, dark chocolate, brown ale cake,
and that's filled with a chocolate ganache,
a Cuban coffee buttercream,
pink powder-dusted pineapple chunk,
and dried hibiscus.
The third cupcake, you have a tres leches cake
filled with flan,
topped off with cinnamon whipped cream
and garnished with a chocolate seashell and pearl.
When I look at your plate of cupcakes,
I'm feeling sort of a tropical, beach-side vibe,
but what I'm not sure your decorations captured
was sort of the sexiness and the glamour
of the South Beach Wine & Food Festival.
I think it just needed a little bit more "wow" factor.
I love this tres leches cupcake,
how you brought in sort of the Latin flavor here,
and I like how you kept it light on the champagne and key lime,
but it was very spongy and stuck to the baking cup.
Your chocolate and coffee cupcake --
perhaps going with that instant coffee
wasn't necessarily the best idea
because it had sort of a harshness to the flavor
that wasn't in keeping with your nice chocolate ganache.
I know you keep it natural, but as a baker,
we want to see your talents working with fondant
and chocolate and sugar,
and especially those natural pieces that you chose
were not the most appealing in the world.
I like very much the tres leches cake.
It was surprising with the flan inside,
and this, I think, was a good idea.
And the other one was quite flat.
It didn't rise. It was a bit like a hockey puck.
Everything was good, you know,
but I think it could've been a little swankier.
WILLMAN: Thanks, Jessica.
Hi.
Tell us about this trio.
The first cupcake in front of you,
you have a coconut cupcake filled with a lemon curd,
topped with a lemon-scented cream-cheese buttercream,
rolled in sweet coconut with the SoBe Fest logo on it.
The second cupcake is a dark chocolate cupcake
with orange liqueur,
orange-scented Italian merengue
with a piece of bubble sugar.
And the third cupcake is a strawberry guava cupcake --
guava paste in the center,
cream-cheese frosting with a fork and a plate
with a star on it to celebrate
all the celebrity chefs that will be there.
Coming up with such delicate and cute decoration
on those tiny cupcakes is really a joy.
You had the brand name, which we love.
Regarding your cupcakes, I'm not so much happy about it.
First, the chocolate.
The structure of your cake was perfect,
but definitely this cupcake wasn't well-baked.
The coconut lime, it was filled and everything,
but the cake was dry.
And the guava -- not saying I had a hard time to find guava.
I could find it in the, you know, in the aftertaste,
but I think it should be already present
when it's the star of your dish.
These decorations are simply perfect.
In terms of your cupcakes,
this was definitely sort of bursting with fruit flavors.
My favorite was the guava strawberry,
but I'm not sure that your other two flavors
were quite as inspired and didn't have that same impact.
I love the look of each one of these cakes.
On its own, they could stand up at South Beach.
You know, I'll take a dozen.
Thank you.
WILLMAN: Thank you, Carla.
Casey, tell us what you did.
CASEY: We have on the far left our Cruising Down Collins.
This is a coconut cake
filled with a brown sugar, rum-roasted pineapple,
tangelo cream-cheese icing,
toasted coconut, and an edible Collins Avenue street sign.
In the center is our Miami spice.
Passion fruit cake soaked with a *** syrup.
Inside of that, we have a raspberry jam
topped with a fresh mango whipped cream,
a passion fruit popper,
and ghost chili pepper salt lightly sprinkled on top.
Finally, our SoBe Wine Fest is a chocolate Cabernet cake
filled with Amarena cherries,
topped with a Cabernet Zinfandel ganache
and a Cabernet buttercream.
This is something that we've never seen before,
literally lighting the cupcake from the base,
and I thought it was a great idea.
Regarding your cupcakes,
your chocolate ganache was definitely too dense.
You are losing the butterfat content by using wine,
and that's the reason your ganache needs to be adjusted.
Now, this cupcake,
the passion fruit, raspberry, and mango, it was just...
...amazing -- seriously amazing.
Good job.
Presenting them reminiscent of those iconic neon lights
on those art-deco buildings,
I mean, it just felt like we were there.
I have been looking for ambitious flavors
in cupcakes today, and finally, I have them.
I mean, you really just sort of pushed yourself
in terms of these combinations of flavors,
and you did such a wonderful job.
Thank you, Casey.
Bakers, we're gonna give them a moment to compare notes.
See you in a few. Thanks.
JESSICA: To have my cupcakes at the South Beach Wine & Food Festival,
this is a huge opportunity.
I'm praying that they don't call my name to go home.
CARLA: I'm a baker.
To be amongst the most amazing chefs in the world,
it'd just be magic.
I came here to win.
Bakers, for this round,
we wanted you each to give us three cupcakes
that could not only wow the crowd with your flavors
but also look like they belong at this five-star event.
Jessica, your cupcakes conjured up
more of a quiet beach vacation
than the sexiness of a South Beach party.
And, Carla, while the judges thought
your decorations were right on target,
they were left disappointed
by the dry textures of your other two creations.
Carla, luckily, you have a chance to fix this in round 3.
Jessica, I'm sorry.
You're done in the cupcake war.
I'm disappointed that I didn't make it to the third round
because I came here to redeem myself
and to take home the prize.
I just -- I'm disappointed.
WILLMAN: [ Sighs ]
Carla, Casey, congratulations, guys.
You've made it to the final round,
but, as you know, only one of you
will get to have your cupcakes featured
at the exclusive South Beach Wine & Food Festival,
as well as walk away with $10,000.
But first, you must now each complete
an astonishing 1,000-cupcake display
that'll have even the most famous chefs in awe.
Now, since this is an elite event,
we're giving you an elite team.
You each get a master carpenter to help you build.
Justin and Jake to the rescue.
You also get four baking assistants each
to help in the kitchen.
What's up, ladies?
When the big clock hits zero, here's what happens.
Our judges will evaluate your cupcakes' taste,
rate your presentation,
and then, based on how you bring it all together,
name one of you the winner of "Cupcake Wars."
Are we ready?
You've got two hours.
Good luck. Starting now!
[ Laughs ]
Linds, we did it, we did it!
How's it going, guys?
I'm Justin.
What do you got in mind here?
Well, we need to be iconic South Beach.
We can do kind of the skyline,
Right.
We wanted our display to have a Miami feel.
I want to have the Miami skyline of South Beach art-deco hotels.
Kind of work in a fork, maybe a spoon over here.
It's the Wine & Food Fest, so we got to have a wine glass.
I also need to make sure there's some light-up component
to send this display over the top.
We put every single cupcake on these L.E.D. light-up things.
We wouldn't be able to do it for 1,000.
You know what would be awesome?
If we can put the "SoBe Wine & Food Fest"
and then have that light come out from it
so that just really anchors everything.
I know I'm asking for a lot,
and I just hope that Jake gets my vision
and that the neon and the lighting comes together.
Awesome.
Thank you so much. I appreciate it.
Have fun.
This is what I want to do.
Okay, I want to build almost like a monument.
Okay.
And then inside, I want a pink gel spotlight.
Miami is home to more art deco than anyplace else in the world,
so I want this to be an art-deco monument.
Gotcha.
Also want so that you can walk around it completely, okay?
And then on top, a mermaid or a bathing beauty.
I want her holding my sign --
blue waves, neon lights behind there.
And I want them to flicker
so that it gives the illusion of this water coming up.
My goal is to create a phenomenal display
that will balance out the great cupcakes that we have.
Cool, sounds good.
Good luck.
I really want to show him that I can fix that ganache,
make it smooth, make it perfect.
CASEY: So, in round 2, Florian mentioned
that I needed more milk fat in my ganache.
Adding butter to that ganache
will solve the problem flawlessly.
That extra butter really made this perfect.
I'm gonna start with the coconut cupcakes.
I want to figure out what went wrong with that.
The problems that we had in round 2
were the coconut and the guava cupcakes.
Trying to think what I would've done differently.
One of the problems with the coconut cupcake
could've been that I added a dried coconut in the batter.
So I'm gonna take that out and rely on the coconut extract
to push enough coconut flavor.
And Florian had asked for more guava flavor,
so I'm going to slice the guava paste thicker.
This will definitely give the judges
more guava taste, which is what they wanted.
I have got to focus on these and execute it perfectly.
This is "Cupcake Wars." This is $10,000.
I got to win. I got to win.
Yo.
Want to hit the pool, do some laps, buddy?
No, I can't. I just ate like 40 cupcakes.
Safety first.
90 minutes!
Dana, we got 90 minutes left. Are we all right?
90 minutes -- geez, Louise.
Case, chocolate cakes are going in.
Whoo-hoo!
It's clear who's winning this thing.
Bringing the heat to South Beach.
All right, I found this statue at the prop shop,
put our sign on it -- winning display.
[ Bell dings ]
WILLMAN: Cupcake bakers, you have one hour!
Oh, my gosh, we got an hour left.
Oh, my gosh.
CASEY: Time goes by so fast.
Okay, I'm gonna check the chocolates.
Oh, no, oh, no!
Cheese and rice.
Oh, my gosh.
I went to check on the chocolate cupcakes.
They'd been in the oven way too long
and were burnt beyond crisp.
So, this is a disaster. I've got to chuck these.
I have made so many mistakes.
I cannot believe this.
CARLA: Oh, no! I burnt them!
I went to check on the chocolate cupcakes.
They'd been in the oven way too long
and were burnt beyond crisp.
They're awful!
They're like little rocks.
I have no time.
These have to go in the trash.
WENDY: What are we gonna do?!
I don't know where I'm gonna find the time,
but these have to be remade.
We got to hurry, we got to hurry, hurry, hurry.
Okay, I'm gonna baby-sit these cupcakes like none other.
I don't care what else is happening.
I want to focus on these chocolate cupcakes.
Come on, little cupcakes, hurry, hurry, hurry!
Cupcake bakers, judgment in 30 minutes!
Oh, 30 minutes!
Oh, my God, Carla, 30!
We've got to finish frosting all these cupcakes
I am getting scared.
CASEY: This time is going way too quickly!
We got it, we got it.
How are they looking?
Yay!
CARLA: We get these chocolate cupcakes out.
Thank goodness that these worked out this time,
and they are not overcooked.
CASEY: Oh, my gosh, Dana, that's our display.
Why does everything happen when I'm piping grapes?!
Oh, my gosh.
Oh, wow.
Holy cow!
This is amazing!
Wait till we light it up.
You have lights?!
It gets better than this?!
Jake is the man.
My display is amazing.
Thank you! Thank you!
WENDY: Carla, look!
Oh, my gosh, it's here!
Oh, my gosh.
Wow.
CARLA: My display comes in,
and it is everything I had hoped it would be.
Oh, she's beautiful!
It is big, it is bright,
and my bathing beauty is just that.
She's beautiful.
It's a trapeze artist.
I think it's a mermaid.
Okay.
Thank you.
Oh, you did such a better job than your brother!
Oh, it happens all the time. I'm used to it.
10 minutes left!
CASEY: We got 10 minutes.
We got -- We got to get these on the display!
Okay, let's go, let's go, let's go.
So, these all the way to the left.
WENDY: All right, let's get these bad boys in.
Beautiful. All the way down.
We got to get going, girls and boys.
Gentlemen.
Ladies, how are you doing over there?
Yep!
Got it, got it, got it!
We still have the whole back of the display to do!
All right, we got to go. We got to go, guys.
CARLA: I want everything facing the same way.
I need some Collins.
Here it is -- one minute!
All right, one minute, one minute, okay?
Keep it going, keep it going, keep it going.
Everything looking perfect.
Are you loading the back?
How's everybody doing? We got it?
You guys rock so much.
Good, good, good.
10, 9, 8, 7,
6, 5, 4,
3, 2, 1...
Your time is up!
Yes!
Good job.
Thank you, thank you.
So, bakers, for this final round,
you were asked to create an incredible 1,000-cupcake display
that would hold its own among the best
at the South Beach Wine & Food Festival's Burger Bash.
Carla, tell us about your display.
CARLA: Miami is home to more art-deco architecture
than anywhere else in the world,
so I felt it was essential to have that as the backdrop
to house these little cupcakes.
To create movement, we also added blue glass
with neon behind it that goes up to the bathing beauty
that holds the South Beach Wine & Food Festival sign,
and I hope you like it.
Any cupcake changes?
The strawberry guava cupcake -- I added more guava paste,
and the coconut cupcake -- we lightened it up
and watched the baking times a lot closer.
Thank you, Carla.
Casey, tell us what you did.
CASEY: It wouldn't be the South Beach Wine & Food Festival
without South Beach,
and we have the iconic South Beach skyline
framing our wonderful cupcakes.
And it wouldn't be the Wine & Food Festival
without a wine glass and some silverware.
Obviously, in round 2, we wowed you with our L.E.D.s,
so we wanted to keep that,
and we've added some great neon elements
and a wonderful logo that's lit.
We added some actual butter and the wine ganache
and made that fat-to-water ratio much, much more solid.
WILLMAN: Thank you, Casey.
Bakers, we're gonna give our judges
a chance to check out your displays, have a chat.
We'll see you in a few with their final decision.
Thanks, guys.
CARLA: Everything that I have worked for
and thought about that I could redo
and should've done differently
all comes down to this one moment,
and I can only hope it will seal the deal.
CASEY: I don't know what could happen,
but Dana and I deserve to be
in South Beach at the Wine & Food Festival.
Now our fate lies in the judges' hands.
So, Jeff, it has been lovely having you,
but we're kind of bummed that you have not made us a sandwich.
It's hard to eat a lot of cupcakes,
and it took all my energy.
Candace, let's talk about what Carla's done.
NELSON: I love what Carla's done here.
I mean, it looks like this display
was literally ripped off a facade
of one of the hotels in South Beach.
BELLANGER: The art-deco design is beautiful.
It's pure.
The only thing is, it's quite bulky
and those cupcakes are very small.
The cupcakes kind of get lost
in all that black, negative space.
The cupcakes should be the star and not the display.
Number one.
WILLMAN: So, Florian, what do you think
about what she put on the display?
She revised the guava strawberry.
She added more guava taste inside,
and now it's just perfect.
NELSON: That key lime cupcake
was still my favorite of the whole day.
For such tiny cupcakes,
there's a lot of intricate detail to them,
which I think is harder to do on a smaller platform.
WILLMAN: Let's shift our gaze to Casey's creation.
Casey has done just a really marvelous job
of pulling from Miami and South Beach.
My only concern about this wine glass
is that it seems to sort of disappear.
Those cupcakes almost appear to be floating in midair.
We're always happy to see branding,
but what about this branding?
It needed to have a base, and he was smart enough
to design in a way that this base is used for branding.
My only problem is
those layers look like a crowded parking garage,
and I don't know how to get a cupcake out.
WILLMAN: How are the cupcakes?
He did a great revision on the ganache.
Now the ganache is really soft,
and it's not breaking up anymore.
It's just perfect consistency.
So, judges, you guys have a decision?
Mm-hmm.
All right, let's bring them back.
Bakers, today, we asked for cupcakes inspired
by the prestigious South Beach Wine & Food Festival,
which is packed with A-list chefs from around the world.
We wanted your cupcakes to be inventive, swanky,
and downright chic, just like the festival itself,
and, of course, they needed to taste delicious.
Casey, all day, your flavors
have perfectly captured the spirit of Miami,
and your neon branding even surprised the judges,
which is not easy to do.
Carla, you nailed it with an original display
that truly pays homage to the art-deco beauty of South Beach,
and your round-1 key lime cupcake
was a favorite of the day.
But in the end, it came down to who best captured
the sizzle of this A-list event.
So the winner of today's "Cupcake Wars" is...
...Casey.
Congratulations!
[ Applause ]
Thank you!
You come to "Cupcake Wars" to win.
You come to hear your name,
so it is terribly disappointing when -- when you don't hear it.
Oh, thank you!
Holy cow! We won for the second time!
This win means the world to Jilly's Cupcake Bar and Café.
We are the kings of St. Louis,
and now we come home victorious again.
All right, Casey, pack up your cupcakes and display.
Let's head to South Beach.
We came into battle with the gloves off,
delivered stellar cupcakes,
and Florian, Candace, and Jeff all loved what we did.
My guys! Congratulations.
I am so ecstatic.
Welcome to Miami.
We are champions in more than one way.
We brought it home not only for St. Louis
but the entire midwest.
Oh, I'm having them all.
That is so good.
And on top of it, we get to go
to the South Beach Wine & Food Festival.
That's almost better than the 10 grand.
[ All cheering ]