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You know we're gonna kick everybody's butt, right?
If we serve this to the judges, we're going home.
WILLMAN: In just a few moments,
four bakers will face off in a brutal cupcake battle.
I want this so bad.
There's nothing gonna stop us.
WILLMAN: And one by one, they'll be eliminated.
As they're judged on taste...
This was essentially a flavorless frosting.
WILLMAN: ...presentation...
I did not like any of your cupcake.
I'm totally embarrassed.
WILLMAN: And in the final round, the last two bakers standing
will each have to bring it all together
into one magical cupcake display.
The winner gets to have their creation as the centerpiece
of one Hollywood's most enchanting parties,
the 75th anniversary of the new, remastered "Wizard of Oz."
[ Singsong ] Oh, my God.
And they'll sing and dance their way home with $10,000.
There's smoke.
Anything that can go wrong is going wrong.
Oh, my God.
WILLMAN: Get ready, 'cause this is "Cupcake Wars."
-- Captions by VITAC --
Closed Captions provided by Scripps Networks, LLC.
[ Ding! ]
What's up, guys?
I'm Justin Willman,
and the battle for cupcake supremacy
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.
The kitchens are stocked. Our judges are ready.
But there's one thing missing from this magical journey --
contestants.
Let's meet them.
MELISSA: We've got cute stuff,
we've got yummy stuff,
and we're good at what we do.
My name is Melissa Herring.
I'm the owner of MR Sisters Sweets
in Emporia, Kansas.
We are the only cupcake shop in a very small town.
Our customers can't just go to the local grocery store
and get key lime cupcakes or bacon french-toast cupcakes.
They're gonna come to us.
Fresh out of the oven. You can't beat that.
No way.
My assistant today is my sister-in-law,
Rhiannon Torres.
She's my business partner at MR Sister Sweets.
It is so important that we win.
We're gonna get our name out there.
If we win "Cupcake Wars,"
everyone in the country is gonna know who we are,
and we can get a cupcake truck
so we can take our cupcakes all around town
and not just downtown.
[ Both scream ]
Sweet Dreams is coming to kick some butt.
They're not ready.
My name is Tiffany Broadous.
I own Sweet Dreams Cakes 'n Things
in Palmdale, California.
We're an online bakery,
and we've been in business for five years.
What is sassafras?
Like, who puts that in a cupcake?
I keep simple flavors.
I don't like to go too over the top.
Jose, I have to win.
I got you.
This is my third time at "Cupcake Wars."
I was on the Tim Burton episode
and the Renaissance Faire episode.
I failed miserably. It was bad both times.
Look at you over there, flower master.
That's why I'm taking you.
My assistant is Jose Rodriguez.
He's actually a chef.
He's competitive, he's focused,
and he's thirsty, just like I am.
We have to win. That's it.
I believe you.
I need to win "Cupcake Wars" because I lost two times before.
I feel like a loser.
I am more determined than ever.
"Cupcake Wars," here we come.
Let's go!
Welcome to SHOWBOY BakeShop.
My name is Stephen Lowry.
I own SHOWBOY BakeShop in Las Vegas, Nevada.
I love show business.
We love our show people.
Our bakery is definitely different.
We love Broadway,
and we decided to do the two things that we love --
shows and baking.
That's so good.
My assistant today is Jared Sullivan,
my business partner.
We met working several years ago in Las Vegas.
If we won $10,000...
In my head, I've made it $10 million.
I'm not gonna lie. $10,000 would be awesome.
Because we have the best cupcakes in town,
I know we're going to win.
And we are off to L.A.
Here we come. Come on, girls.
Whoo!
I'm excited.
My name is Diana Colletti.
I own Incr-Edible Cupcakes
in Old Town Temecula, California.
Temecula is all about food and wine,
and the way that we stand out is we use fresh, local ingredients.
We don't just do your basic vanilla and chocolate.
We cannot go out like last time.
This is my second time coming to "Cupcake Wars."
I was previously on
the Professional Bull Rider's episode.
I went out in a bad way last time.
I lost it.
We do have some good flavors.
Hopefully, we can incorporate them into the theme.
Lisa's a perfect assistant.
She's one of my bakers at the shop.
We're almost identical.
We don't even have to talk to each other.
We're gonna win.
I mean, we have to.
We need this.
With all the wineries,
and there's so many cupcake shops to choose from.
If we win, we can say, "We won 'Cupcake Wars.'
Come to see us."
Ready to go.
Let's go.
Hello, bakers.
Let's begin.
Welcome to "Cupcake Wars," guys.
Tonight, you are going on a fantastical adventure.
You will soar with winged monkeys.
You will dance with Munchkins.
You will travel the yellow brick road.
One of you is off to see the wizard,
or, more specifically,
to a V.I.P. screening for one of the greatest movies of all time,
the 75th anniversary party for "The Wizard of Oz."
My heart just blossomed. I was so excited.
I used to go home every day and watch "The Wizard of Oz."
And, by the way, guys, this is "The Wizard of Oz"
bigger and better than you have ever seen it before,
because for the first time,
Dorothy and her friends will be in 3-D.
There are three rounds of competition,
and after each round,
one of you, sadly, will be eliminated.
Your first challenge is a taste test.
You each have 45 minutes to concoct a delicious cupcake
that will transport our judges over the rainbow.
But wait. There's a "twist"-er.
These aren't just any cupcakes, guys.
You need to create a cupcake worthy of the Emerald City
by using at least two emerald-colored ingredients.
Check it out -- We've got kale...
...asparagus...
...broccoli,
and so much more.
Good luck. You have 45 minutes starting now.
All I could see was things like kale and asparagus and celery.
Am I making a cupcake or a side salad?
Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh.
Everything's green. It's gross.
Brussels sprouts, celery.
Kiwi.
Green peppers.
I'm kind of scared.
I saw green tea.
Maybe we can do, like, a green-tea cupcake.
What goes with green-tea cupcake?
Perfect.
I'm going to make a make a matcha green-tea cupcake
with a green-tea cream-cheese filling,
a kiwi cream-cheese frosting,
and we're going to take a celery stick
and cut it into the shape of Emerald City.
Okay, I'm pouring the matcha in.
I'm gonna whisk my green tea into the milk.
I want to make sure that you can definitely taste it.
We are gonna nail this.
You can't be from Kansas and not get "The Wizard of Oz."
And I hate Brussels sprouts.
This is the only way I would eat them.
Nobody would ever think to put a Brussels sprout in a cupcake.
I've been here before,
and I know with these judges, you have to bring it.
Well, do you think we should sauté them,
or should we put them in the oven?
I think we should roast them.
I'm gonna make a Brussels-sprout cupcake
with a kale-and-celery smoothie,
buttercream topped with some of the reduction from the smoothie,
and it's topped with a witch hat.
How much kale did you put in here?
Let's add some heavy cream to the celery.
Whip that up for us, okay?
Okay.
I am going to make a celery cake
with a pinch of celery salt and also some celery seeds
with a kiwi buttercream,
and for decoration,
we're going to do some celery coated in sugar
as little Emerald Cities.
Blend it, blend it, blend it, all right.
Does that look all right?
Nice and green.
I really want to blow the judges away.
All right, here we go.
I'm just gonna blend these in the food processor,
so that way, we don't have big chunks of artichoke in the cake.
I'm gonna do an artichoke olive-oil cake
with a fresh kiwi filling,
topped with an Italian buttercream.
Nothing says "cupcakes" like artichokes.
[ Both laugh ]
When I saw all those vegetables on the table,
I didn't know how I was gonna put anything edible together,
but I'm here to impress the judges.
Uh, no. It's coming together. It's coming together.
Sugar, flour, and eggs. Oh, my.
30 minutes.
Oh, my God. We've got to hurry up.
I want it to, like, really pop,
I guess it is the taste round so let them taste it.
These smell really, really good.
We need to put them in the food processor.
Scoop those.
I'm scooping.
Cupcakes going in.
I'm throwing these in, okay?
Do it. Do it.
Okay.
This is ready for the Brussels.
The trick for this cupcake is gonna be
to roast those Brussels sprouts in brown sugar and maple syrup.
It makes them really sweet and really appealing to the palate.
It looks good.
The Brussels sprouts have to be roasted first,
which means we're cutting it really close.
We need to put the pedal to the metal.
All right, here we go.
All right, I'm gonna start the buttercream.
The kiwi buttercream,
I have decided that I will use some fresh fruit
and also just a little extract
just to really make the flavor pop.
You know what? It's just gonna add color, too.
Kiwi is a very delicate flavor to work with.
If you don't use enough, you can't really taste it.
It's gonna be, like, blasted with flavor.
More is better, usually, right?
More is better.
God.
Holy crap. There is too much extract.
It's so sour.
That's way too much.
This is making it taste way too fake.
[ Groans ]
And the time is ticking.
I don't know how we're gonna make this happen.
If we serve this to the judges, we're going home.
Not cool.
STEVEN: The kiwi buttercream,
I have decided that I will use some fresh fruit
and also just a little extract
just to really make the flavor pop.
God. It's so sour.
There is too much extract. It tastes way too strong.
If we serve this to the judges, we're going home.
This is gonna overpower the cake.
Okay, I'm just gonna dump it.
Go for it. Dump it right here.
The only way to fix this is to trash this and start over.
But we'll try it again,
but we'll just do less of the extract.
We're gonna fix this buttercream
by adding way less extract and a little more water
to make sure that the buttercream
is still a good consistency.
JARED: Not the day for this.
Let's put it on low speed. Just let it blend up.
These are so awesome. It looks just like the Emerald City.
This is the taste challenge, but I want to go above and beyond
and have a decoration.
I decided to take the celery
and cut it into the shape of the Emerald City
because the Emerald City is our inspiration.
Let's make sure they look good.
I think we got it. We're gonna go with it.
This one's all on you.
It's all me this time. This one will be perfect.
It looks really good, Tiffany, the reduction.
It looks good?
Okay, good.
MELISSA: These are getting a lot better.
It's good they're looking better,
because everybody else is doing a decoration, too.
Yes.
You know what? These are done.
Yeah.
I'm gonna go with it.
WILLMAN: 10 minutes!
Oh, my Gosh, we've got to get these cupcakes.
Not ready?
They're still really soft in the middle.
My cupcake is just too moist, so I'm really worried.
Okay.
We've got to make sure that they get totally cool
before we put that frosting on it.
All right, I'm gonna make this buttercream,
put some of that good celery reduction in there --
that kale reduction.
My plan for the frosting is to make a regular buttercream
but to add the kale and celery reduction
to give it the flavor and to give it some color.
If you can't taste the kale, you can taste the celery.
I want to make sure everything comes through properly.
That's really good.
The kiwi was way too strong last time.
Oh, my God, this is great.
You like it?
It's so fruity. It's perfect.
Are we gonna be able to make it in the time?
We have to. We just have to.
Oh, my gosh. Okay.
Beautiful. Good job.
It's good.
One minute.
One minute. Coming out.
Oh, my gosh.
Gonna fill them? Let me fill it.
Really drench them.
I don't want these dry at all.
Boy, our buttercream is really thin.
Beautiful.
We've got to get the frosting and our decorations.
MELISSA: The texture is really moist and really soft
because it didn't have time to cool,
and I'm worried that it might fall apart
once we put our decoration on.
WILLMAN: 10, 9, 8, 7, 6,
5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
Time is up.
Okay, we're good.
Did it.
We're done.
It's okay.
Cupcake bakers, we asked you to create a delicious cupcake,
using at least two ingredients that belong in the Emerald City
but don't necessarily belong in a cupcake.
Now, when it comes to cupcakes, there are three people
who have more brains, heart, and courage than anyone I know,
and they are the judges.
You already know Candace and Florian.
Let's say hello to our guest judge.
You've watched him on "Entertainment Tonight"
for 30 years,
and now he's got a show on REELZchannel,
"Maltin on Movies."
Celebrated film critic and historian Leonard Maltin.
You know, "Wizard of Oz" is one of my all-time favorite movies,
and I'm hoping that I'll get
some of the same joy and sense of wonder from that movie
out of these cupcakes.
Hi, Diana.
Hello.
What did you bake?
I made for you an artichoke olive-oil cake
with a fresh kiwi filling,
topped it with an Italian buttercream
and a little green-tea white-chocolate emerald on top.
So, Candace, how did Diana do?
Well, I felt like this cupcake had a lot of heart.
You know, the cake itself was moist and springy,
and the kiwi filling was bright and lively.
However, I felt the frosting was really missing some courage.
I would have loved to have seen you incorporate that artichoke.
Florian, what do you say?
Working with artichoke and kiwi
was a bit of a risk-taker, but you made it.
I really could taste of kiwi, and the artichoke was delicious.
Thank you.
Leonard, your first cupcake. How was it?
Dorothy and Toto set out on that yellow brick road.
They didn't know what to expect,
and I didn't know what to expect from this cupcake.
I thought it was delicious.
Hi, Stephen. What did you bake them?
Steven: We made for you a celery cake with a kiwi buttercream,
and just for fun,
we put on the very top a candied celery Emerald City.
First of all, the texture of your cake.
It just like...
Look at my fork.
It's like a bouncing ball.
And on top of it, your frosting,
you used probably some kiwi extract in it,
and I could taste it like artificial candy.
Okay.
Well, I've never been so excited to eat my vegetables before.
I love the fact that you attacked the celery
in your cake,
and the flavor was really present.
However,
it really had the texture of sort of a dinner roll.
I think it's a good try.
Like a good movie,
has to have all the right ingredients.
I don't think this cupcake
had that harmony that I was looking for.
Hi, Justin.
Tell us what you baked.
Today, we made for you a green-tea cupcake
with a green-tea cream-cheese filling
with a kiwi cream-cheese frosting,
and we also made an Emerald City
out of celery dipped in white chocolate.
Well, just like the Wicked Witch in the movie "The Wizard of Oz,"
this cupcake is literally melting away,
not just the body of it, but the flavors.
I couldn't really taste much
except for the overwhelming tang of cream cheese.
Cream cheese just seemed to be everywhere.
I couldn't taste the flavor that you described.
It was collapsing. It was overpacked with sugar.
I mean, literally very sweet.
This cupcake is a mess.
And Tiffany, what did you bake?
I did a roasted Brussels-sprout cupcake
with a kale and celery smoothie buttercream,
topped with a witch hat to look like she was melting.
I really could taste the Brussels sprout and the celery,
but the texture of your cake was too dense to be a good cupcake.
Okay.
I will say your cupcake
was plagued with some technical issues.
The cake itself was dense, and the frosting was liquidy,
but those flavors really, really packed a punch.
I thought you did a wonderful job
creating an unusual flavor for a cupcake.
Thank you, judges. Thank you, Tiffany.
You're welcome.
All right, bakers,
we're gonna give our jury a chance to chat.
We'll bring you back in a few. Thanks.
MELISSA: I walked into this round
feeling so confident about these flavors,
and now I'm afraid we might be going home.
STEVEN: After hearing the judging,
I know that it's gonna be
between me and Melissa to go home,
and I just hope it's not us,
'cause we have so much more to show them.
"The Wizard of Oz"
tells a classic tale of good versus evil,
and that came to life in today's first challenge.
Stephen and Melissa,
one of you will get a chance at redemption.
Stephen...
...you're gonna have to step it up.
Melissa, I'm sorry.
You're done in the cupcake war.
[ Sighs ]
I'm just really upset.
I know that we're better than this.
This is just not the quality of work that we do normally.
Well, bakers, in "The Wizard of Oz,"
the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion,
they all got what they wanted.
Unfortunately, most of you will not be so lucky
because only two of you can advance to the final round
to bake your 1,000-cupcake display,
but first, you have to survive this next challenge.
"The Wizard of Oz" is not just a cinematic masterpiece.
It's also a story packed with universal themes
like friendship and home.
Your job, bake three cupcakes
that capture "The Wizard of Oz's" themes
in their flavors and their decorations.
In this round,
you'll be judged 50% on taste and 50% on presentation.
You have just 75 minutes to blow the judges away.
Starting now.
Okay, we made it. We made it. Okay.
Yeah.
We got through by the skin of our teeth.
Thank God we are still here.
Okay, so, we have to bring it this round.
We should do, like, a lemon poppy seed,
and then that way, we can put the poppy on top.
My first cupcake is a lemon poppy-seed cupcake
with lemon frosting
and a French cruller with lemon glaze
and a poppy flower for the top.
I think we should do an apple-pie cupcake,
'cause I think about Dorothy -- apple pie.
My second cupcake is a coffee-cake cupcake
with apple-pie filling
with vanilla-bean buttercream
with a glittery red slipper.
Maybe a blueberry for the winged monkeys,
and we'll make the tail and the wings and a little hat.
Yeah.
My third cupcake is a vanilla-blueberry cupcake
with blueberry filling
and a blueberry cream-cheese frosting,
topped with the little monkey hat, a tail, and some wings.
You know we're gonna kick everybody's butt, right?
We got this.
I'm working on the apple-sauce cake, Lisa.
My first cupcake is an apple-sauce cupcake
topped with a fresh apple compote
with cinnamon goat-cheese frosting,
topped with ruby-red slippers.
Oranges.
My second cupcake is an orange poppy-seed cupcake
with an orange liqueur cream-cheese frosting,
and for decoration, a cute fondant poppy.
I'm gonna put a lot of cocoa in.
My final cupcake is a chocolate-dipped banana cupcake
with a banana buttercream and a chocolate ganache
garnished with
a yellow brick road banana-chip chocolate.
I'm nervous we're not gonna be able
to get everything accomplished that we wanted to get done.
We have to "wow" them this time,
'cause that was the worst feeling in the world.
Getting into round 2 is a shock.
I thought we were going home.
Fresh coconut.
Florian wants fresh.
My first cupcake is going to be a coconut cupcake
with a gray vanilla buttercream
with coconut debris and a white-chocolate tornado.
Over the rainbow. We'll do rainbow sherbet.
Orange, raspberry, lime.
My second cupcake is going to be an orange cake
with a raspberry-lime swirl.
Top it with a fondant yellow brick road
and a pink chocolate Glinda bubble.
Don't forget to use a parchment paper
when you make the chocolate.
For our last cupcake,
we're going to do a chocolate blueberry cake
with a blueberry cream-cheese frosting,
and we're gonna top it with a winged monkey.
We are totally gonna "wow" them.
These are gonna be good.
STEVEN: Let's get this sucker mixed up.
I'm adding the orange juice right now to this.
Let's taste it and see if we need to add anything, okay?
The orange -- I don't taste it.
So, to intensify the flavor,
we are gonna add a little extract.
It's gonna be, like, blasted with flavor.
I'm concerned to use extract this time around
because it was a little off-putting to the judges
the first time,
but not using it could mean that you get no flavor at all.
I know Florian's not a huge extract person,
but I can't have, like, lack of flavor in here.
Okay, I just want to make sure that Florian's happy.
This batter is done.
We got a plan. We got a plan.
All right.
We have not even an hour.
Jose, while that's cooking, I need you, like, for real.
TIFFANY: For all of our cupcakes,
we have a lot of components that go into them.
On the stove,
I have blueberry filling, apple-pie filling, crullers,
and I'm really concerned
that we're not gonna get everything done.
Feeling a little pressure here.
Apple topping going on top.
Open that a little more. Don't burn yourself.
Go, go, go, go, go.
DIANA: Apple cupcakes going in.
WILLMAN: 45 minutes.
Oh, my God.
How much banana do you think we should do?
Our biggest challenge is our banana chocolate cake.
We're making two different batters,
and we fill the cupcake 1/3 of the way full with the banana
and then another 1/3 of the way full with the chocolate.
This is really watery.
I'm making the chocolate batter, and it looks like soup.
It's not gonna scoop. What do I do?
I don't have time to start over.
I have no idea what I'm gonna do.
If we start a batter over,
we're not gonna have any time for the cupcakes to cool.
I have to just pour it on top and hope that it works.
Oh, boy. Lisa, it's like water.
I'm stressed out.
Cupcakes going in.
I ought to get these last two in.
We got to make all these decorations.
We're cutting it real close.
WILLMAN: You know, Leonard, a cupcake's like a good movie.
Really? How is that, Justin?
I was actually hoping you could tell me.
30 minutes.
Oh, my God. 30 minutes.
We're already down to the wire.
Jared. Okay, all right. Um, uh...
Poppy's out of the oven.
Hot pan. Apple's out.
The chocolate-covered banana cupcakes,
they're not rising yet.
I'm working on the blueberry batter.
Oh, my God.
You know, we still have a whole nother cupcake to do.
We don't even have a single part of the Dorothy cupcake done.
Having all of these elements wasn't a good idea
because it's slowing us down a lot.
I hope that these ones have time to cool.
I'm gonna go check on the chocolate.
Okay.
I go to pull the chocolate cupcakes out.
Oh! They rose, Lisa.
And they look like they baked.
I am ecstatic.
Oh, my God, I'm so relieved.
Can you imagine?
Oh, it's my favorite cake, and I don't know how to make it.
JOSE: I'm gonna start on the flowers.
I found these molds in the pantry. Look.
I'm gonna put it on top of the apple cake.
I'm gonna put these in here like this
Okay.
We still need lemon frosting
and the blueberry cream-cheese frosting.
STEVEN: These have to be accurate, accurate, accurate,
because everybody knows this movie.
This is it. 10 minutes.
10 minutes. We got to get these frosted.
Hurry up with those, for real.
We have 10 minutes left, and we don't even have
a completed cupcake anywhere in sight.
We are.
Do you need me to hold them?
Super hip.
That is the most amazing frosting, Lisa.
STEVEN: It's nice.
I don't even know
if the lemon ones are gonna get done in time.
DIANA: Yellow brick road.
If this doesn't capture the theme of "Wizard of Oz,"
I don't know what does.
Which one's this one? Is this a batter?
No. Yeah, that's a batter.
I'm sorry. I'm wigging right now.
JARED: I really, really like that.
The cream cheese still needs to be done.
I need you to do that.
I got to go check on the lemon.
Those are done.
One minute!
I got the chocolate.
We're not gonna finish.
STEVEN: So, this will be okay?
It's not gonna happen.
Cool. Let's do it.
10, 9...
We're not gonna finish.
...8, 7, 6,
5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
Time's up.
[ Groans ]
TIFFANY: I'm devastated right now.
The only hope we have
is that the people that did finish their cupcakes
made cupcakes that are awful.
WILLMAN: Cupcake makers, for round 2, your mission was to dream up
three cupcake gifts
with looks and flavors that embody the themes
of America's favorite film, "The Wizard of Oz."
Let's see what the judges have to say.
Diana, what did you make?
DIANA: My first cupcake is an orange poppy-seed cupcake
topped with orange-liqueur cream-cheese frosting
with a fondant poppy on top.
In the middle, we have an apple-sauce cupcake
that we made a fresh apple compote baked into the cake
and made a cinnamon goat-cheese frosting to top it.
Lastly, we have a banana cake
stacked with a dark-chocolate cake
with a banana buttercream,
topped with a white-chocolate banana-chip yellow brick road.
NELSON: Hi, Diana.
"The Wizard of Oz" is just such a film classic,
and I love how you pulled
some of the most famous iconography from the movie.
These decorations just lit up the plate.
In terms of the cupcakes themselves,
I have a little bit more of a mixed review.
I did enjoy the orange poppy-seed cake.
It had bright, fresh flavors.
But in terms of your banana chocolate,
it just was dry and spongy and a bit confused.
First of all, beautiful plate.
Your chocolate decoration is also tasty.
Regarding your cupcakes,
my favorite was definitely
the apple and goat cheese.
Now, the chocolate banana, not so much.
Your frosting tasted greasy.
It was kind of oily almost, you know?
But the other two, great.
I love the presentation.
I had some reservations, too,
about the taste and texture of some of them,
so I would call that a mixed review.
Thank you, judges.
Stephen, tell us about your trio.
STEVEN: So, we started with a coconut cupcake
with a vanilla-bean buttercream,
coconut debris, and a white-chocolate tornado.
Our next cupcake is an orange cake
with a raspberry-lime buttercream swirl,
topped with a fondant yellow brick road,
and the last cupcake is a chocolate blueberry cake
with a blueberry cream-cheese frosting,
topped with a blue chocolate winged monkey.
Well, good job on the decoration.
You put some thought in it, and I really like that.
It's a shame, because I have to admit
that I didn't like any of your cupcake.
I think you should rework your recipes.
On the orange one, you go too heavy on your extract.
Your chocolate and blueberry cupcake,
the icing blueberry was tasting too artificial.
Such a wonderful job on your decorations.
They're so imaginative. They're so creative.
Unfortunately, with respect to the cupcakes themselves,
I really felt
you were too heavy-handed with those extracts.
There just was nothing natural-tasting on this plate.
The look of this platter was fantastic.
The taste doesn't quite match the look of them.
Okay.
Thank you, judges.
Hi.
You don't seem in a good mood.
Tell us what you did.
TIFFANY: The one to the right is a blueberry cupcake.
It was supposed to have a swirled blueberry cream cheese,
and it would have been a winged monkey
with fondant decorations.
The middle is a lemon poppy-seed cupcake.
It had lemon frosting.
It was topped with a cruller,
and the poppy
was actually supposed to go on top of that one,
but in a time crunch,
we went ahead and put it on what you have to the left,
which is Dorothy.
That's a coffee cupcake with apple-pie filling,
topped with vanilla-bean frosting,
and it was supposed to have a blue bow.
NELSON: Well, Tiffany,
I wish I could click my heels
and make all these frostings and decorations appear for you,
but I can't.
I have to judge based on what I see on this plate,
and I'm really disappointed,
because I felt that your cake was really good.
All the textures were really moist and light and fluffy,
and this one over here was delicious.
It was apple pie in a cup.
I agree. 'The cakes were pretty good.
And it could have been a nice plate,
but I'll be judging a plate of muffins here,
and that's unacceptable.
I can't disagree about the disappointment
of not having the decorations that you intended to have,
but I really like these cupcakes a lot.
Thank you.
Thank you, judges.
All right, bakers,
we're gonna give our judges a moment to chat.
We'll bring you back in a few. Thanks.
TIFFANY: I got 50 percent on the taste,
and Stephen got 50 percent on the decoration.
There's a slim chance that I still may win.
STEVEN: I have no idea what's about to happen.
At least I finished the task,
and I'm hoping that's enough to keep us in the competition.
WILLMAN: Well, just like the end of "The Wizard of Oz,"
this round was a nail-biter.
In the end, though, in a round based on taste and decorations,
Tiffany, you had yummy cupcakes,
but your decorations were almost nowhere to be found.
Sorry, Tiffany. You're done in the cupcake war.
TIFFANY: It's so frustrating
because they liked the way all of mine tasted.
I just needed to finish.
WILLMAN: Congratulations.
This, my friends, is round 3,
or should I say round 3-D,
because the winner will be headed
to Warner Bros. V.I.P. celebration
of the 3-D re-release of "The Wizard of Oz."
But to get there, you've got to earn it
by making 1,000 cupcakes,
along with a 1,000-cupcake display
worthy of Glinda the good witch herself.
Succeed, and you'll be heading to the party
with more than ruby slippers.
You'll have 10,000 bucks in your pockets.
Now, because "The Wizard of Oz"
is all about helping your friends,
we're giving each of you a master carpenter
to help you build.
Justin and Jake.
What's up, Guys.
And for baking assistance,
each to help prepare an awesome display.
Hey, ladies.
Now, at the end of this challenge,
the judges here will evaluate your flavors,
rate your display, and name one of you the winner.
you will have only two hours to complete this challenge,
starting now.
We made it. We made it. We made it.
Okay, okay.
Oh, my God. Okay.
I thought we were going home.
STEVEN: I survived two rounds of Florian telling me
that my cakes are not good enough for him,
but I'm still here, and we're gonna win this.
Our cupcakes basically tell the story of the movie.
They go from black and white to color.
So, we were thinking of having a tornado type display here.
Our display is gonna mimic the journey of the movie,
from the tornado all the way to the Emerald City.
If we can do a rainbow, that would be awesome.
Some kind of, like, emerald tower.
And for the base of this display,
I want it to look like the witch's legs
with a little touch of ruby red at the bottom.
And then maybe a little house with her underneath it.
Okay, very cool.
It's gonna blow the judges away.
I'll see you in a couple hours.
Thank you so much. See you then.
I want to do, like, pedestals,
and I want it to look like
it's being supported by Dorothy's house.
I'm trying to capture the original Oz.
I wanted to really incorporate the scenes.
I'm gonna want the yellow brick road to go back,
and then if we can do the Emerald City
and then a rainbow,
and then I don't want just, like, a black table skirt.
If you can find, like, her dress.
Each panel represents a character.
I want the fur with the red bow,
the Scarecrow with his knee pads.
I want everything.
And then that logo
that was on the inspiration table.
Awesome.
Good luck in here. See you in a bit.
Lisa and I want this so bad.
There's nothing gonna stop us.
Let's get started.
DIANA: I need someone to zest lemons, zest orange.
Keep them separate.
Our cupcakes do need a lot of work.
We need to go in there
with fresh, fruity, delicious flavors.
The judges said that I was
way too heavy-handed with the extracts,
so this time, everything they will taste today
will be straight-up fruit juice.
I'm just gonna go straight for the juice.
On the rainbow-sherbet cupcake,
the judges are getting only orange juice,
raspberry puree, and lime juice.
That is natural and real.
And on the chocolate cake,
the judges are gonna get a little less chocolate
and a little more fresh blueberry.
The changes I've made to these cupcakes could be the difference
between whether I make it or break it.
I just hope these cakes don't come out too dense
'cause I've been too dense all day.
I'm starting the banana.
For my chocolate-dipped banana cupcake,
Florian said that my banana frosting was greasy,
so I'm going to go with a traditional buttercream
and add fresh bananas to it.
Yeah, let's do honey and lemon.
So, I need to change the first-round artichoke cupcake
by making a better frosting.
I'm gonna add more lemon to this, Lisa.
If I can make these changes and they love them,
then I'm gonna win this.
Just keep moving, okay? Don't stop moving.
I am not stopping.
You gonna start the apple cake next?
You guys, I'll scoop the chocolate.
Hurry, hurry. We got to get those in the oven.
Hey, Jared, you definitely put the flour in here, right?
Are they a little runny?
If anything, it'll make this cake lighter.
When you're done with this one, put it on this timer.
Going in the oven.
Did we put a timer on the last ones?
I had this crazy dream,
and you were there, and you were there,
and you were there,
and there was 90 minutes left.
Oh, my God.
Oh, that's real.
How do you think the carpenter's doing?
I don't know. I hope he's doing good.
And now I'm off to see the wizard.
What's that thing?
Tornado!
Rome wasn't built in a day, but the Emerald City, two hours.
[ Ding! ]
Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain,
but, bakers, you have one hour left.
NELSON: Who's behind the curtain?
There's nobody there.
Oh, my God, there's only an hour, Jared. One hour.
I'm stressing out.
STEVEN: All right, these look good.
Hot pan.
Come on, guys. We need like 100 more of these.
DIANA: Quick, quick. Fast, fast. We're behind.
STEVEN: All right, let's start decorating.
JARED: Okay, let's do it.
Jared, I'm taking the chocolate out.
They better be done.
They're gonna have to be.
Do you smell something?
I think I smell burning.
The poppy. There's smoke.
Oh, my God. Oh, my God, Lisa.
Their stuff's all burned.
STEVEN: I thought I was having problems with my chocolate cupcakes.
Her oven's on fire.
DIANA: They're like charcoal briquettes.
All of a sudden, there was smoke coming out of the oven,
and I turn around,
and the poppy-seed cupcakes are all burned.
We cannot serve this. I'd rather plate nothing.
If I don't finish because of these burnt cupcakes,
I'll be devastated.
Oh, my God.
Oh, my God.
Oh, my God, Lisa.
They're burned.
DIANA: The poppy-seed cupcakes are burned.
I'm completely freaked out.
We cannot serve this. I'd rather plate nothing.
We're gonna have to redo it.
We're almost there,
and now I have to redo a couple hundred cupcakes.
If I don't finish because of these burnt cupcakes,
I'll be devastated.
Hurry, hurry. We've got to get those in the oven.
It's hard enough to get all this done,
let alone to have to redo a batter.
WILLMAN: 45 minutes!
STEVEN: We've got to go. We've got to go.
Everybody get a bag. Start frosting.
Very simple.
Just a swirl like that,
'cause the tornadoes are gonna stick
right in the top of all of those.
All right, all right, all right.
LISA: It's done.
Got to get them in the oven.
Finally, the cupcakes are in the oven.
We've already burned one batch. We're behind.
Make sure we put the timer on this time.
Come on, guys. Really, really pick this up.
Just keep going. We're almost done.
Yeah, Jared, this one is definitely not gonna stretch.
I need to make more?
We need to make more of the kiwi.
Oh, lovely.
STEVEN: It's happening, but not fast enough.
We are running out of time.
We've got to hurry, guys.
Might want to check those poppy.
STEVEN: We are doing so good, but we have so many more to do.
DIANA: Lisa, they're not burned. Whoo! Good to go.
My last cupcakes are out of the oven.
Let's get it done. Let's end this.
Oh, my God! Lisa, look.
Oh, my God.
It's awesome.
I am in awe.
It's bright. It's vivid. It's everything I envisioned.
Look at that display, Jared.
I know.
Diana's display is brought in, and it looks good.
It looks good.
That's awesome. I love it.
[ Gasps ]
Yes. Thank you.
Oh, my God. Jared, look at that.
It looks awesome.
He went way above and beyond what I was hoping for,
but you know what?
I think our display looks better.
Look at the witch's legs.
Oh, my Gosh. It's so cute.
It's amazing.
There's more to it.
Oh, my gosh. Yes! I love that.
WILLMAN: 10 minutes!
10 minutes, you guys. 10 minutes.
Load them up as far as they'll go.
Start swarming it, okay?
We have 10 minutes. That's $1,000 a minute.
So, I'm going as fast as I can,
and I'm not even sure at this point
that it's even fast enough.
DIANA: Organize. Organize. Quick, quick, quick.
STEVEN: Oh, my Gosh, you guys, come on.
Make them look all pretty.
Push them together. They've got to fit.
WILLMAN: One minute!
STEVEN: Oh, my gosh, you guys, one minute.
Hustle, hustle. Almost there.
Come on, guys, let's do it. Let's do it.
Everything's almost on there.
We have a lot of cupcakes.
10, 9, 8, 7, 6,
5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
Time is up.
[ Applause ]
High fives. High fives.
Oh, my gosh, thank you.
DIANA: Awesome.
Cupcake makers, in this final round,
you were charged with creating a 1,000-cupcake display
to "wow" the fans
at Warner Bros. 75th anniversary party
for the nationwide re-release
of one of the greatest movies ever made, "The Wizard of Oz."
Stephen, present your display.
So, our display, we start at the very top here,
and that is our white tornado section --
the black and white part of the movie.
It comes down into the Technicolor section,
and we put on there our yellow brick road cupcake,
and it winds all the way around through the forest,
where you'll find the winged monkeys,
and it ends right here at the Emerald City
right before the end of the movie.
Any cupcake changes?
I took your advice, and I cut all of my extracts.
I replaced everything with either a fresh fruit or a juice.
In the rainbow-sherbet cupcake, I did an orange-juice cake,
and I took lime and raspberry to make a buttercream.
Diana, present your display.
So, I wanted to take you through the whole movie
down the yellow brick road,
starting at Dorothy's house, leading into the forest,
where the trees are throwing the apples at Dorothy,
then heading into the Emerald City
with the rainbow.
I didn't want just a plain skirt around,
so each panel represents
one of the main characters in the movie.
Any cupcake changes?
For my first round, I changed the frosting.
It's not an Italian buttercream.
We added extra lemon zest and fresh lemon juice
and also honey.
On the chocolate banana,
I completely got rid of that frosting.
I did a traditional buttercream
with fresh bananas to lighten it up for you.
All right, bakers, we're gonna give our judges a chance
to check out your displays and chat.
Bring you back in a few.
STEVEN: Our display looks awesome,
and I feel like we did the best we could do.
I followed the judges' advice.
I've gotten rid of all the extracts,
and I hope they love the changes.
To win this thing would just be a dream come true.
DIANA: Even though we had some obstacles today,
I think that we fixed it.
I need this win. I need redemption for my shop.
I need to show my kids
that if you don't do it the first time, try again.
Never quit.
WILLMAN: Well, we have some great displays.
Let's talk about Stephen's display.
Candace, what do you think?
NELSON: I think Stephen has given us a really imaginative display.
Not only are the cupcakes colorful.
They're in Technicolor,
and this display is really uniquely shaped, as well.
I think it's a great effort.
I like the fact that he kept this line
of going from black and white on the bottom
to Technicolor on the middle and the top.
Leonard, in terms of paying homage to the movie
and really capturing it, how did he do?
There's a lot of wonderful moments from the movie
that come to life here, and I admire the detail,
but you almost have to get close to it
to really appreciate the detail.
So, Stephen had a unique situation
where he had to revise all four of his cupcakes.
Did he pull it off?
I was pleased by the chocolate blueberry cake.
There were fresh blueberries in there.
The chocolate flavor was really coming through.
But he may have gone a little too far with our notes.
I mean, he really pulled back on the extract
to the point where some of those cupcakes are lacking flavor now.
Two of them are flavorless now,
but the other two are quite okay.
What do you think about Diana's work?
I like her display. It's very well done.
Compared to Stephen,
Mm-hmm.
You look at the way she executed the Emerald City.
It could have been way more shiny.
She could have had some glitter in it.
I mean, it's green, but it's quite flat.
I really like the look of this.
There's "The Wizard of Oz." There's the Emerald City.
There's the rainbow.
This is the 75th anniversary of "The Wizard of Oz."
I want this display
to hit me over the head with "Wizard of Oz,"
and I think that's exactly what she's done.
Diana is a good baker, and she proved it.
She was giving us consistently good cupcakes all day long.
I was really looking for a big improvement
in that chocolate banana cake.
The density is still a problem for me.
I agree that the banana chocolate
is a little disappointing,
but that little piece of yellow brick road
helps make up for it.
[ Chuckles ]
For once, a garnish tasted good.
I loved it.
Well, judges, do we have a decision?
Okay, let's bring them back.
One of the things that makes "The Wizard of Oz" a classic
is the story of a determined hero who refuses to give up,
and tonight, we've witnessed
that same level of determination.
The judges sided with the baker
who most captured the joy and bombast of the movie
not only in the display, but in their mouth-watering cupcakes.
Congratulations...
...Diana.
You're the winner of "Cupcake Wars."
[ Applause ]
DIANA: It's amazing.
I can't believe Lisa and I did it.
We rocked it.
[ Sobbing ] Oh, my God.
We got this far, and we didn't win.
It's just heartbreaking.
Diana, everybody's waiting to taste your delicious cupcakes.
Let's scoop them up, because we're off to see the wizard.
WILLMAN: Just don't tell us how the movie ends.
Thanks for having me here tonight,
and we'll see you afterwards with some cupcakes.
[ Applause ]
DIANA: I can't explain how excited I am.
This is amazing.
Fabulous.
So good.
We're a small business,
and this is going to change our business forever.
Oh, my gosh, thank you so much.
Winning this, we can start looking at a second location.
I mean, this is huge for us.
We did it.