Original subtitles

On next level, Baker, Gordon gave to me.

How did you make it?

I messed up my cake.

What's that time you want to eat?

Flavor? Dude.

Your cake's a party!

Grab something.

I hate to see puppet.

The air is sweet in the top kitchen.

Merry

Christmas,

guys, and good night.

Welcome.

This just feels like being a kid on Christmas morning.

I grew up watching, making shows, and now it's me.

Oh, my God.

I see the mentors, and my heart is... Happy holidays. I'm having an

out -of -body experience. I literally cannot believe I'm here right now.

to our first ever Next Level Baker.

Come on.

Come on!

This is my absolute favorite time of the year, the best season for some amazing

baking, right?

Yes. Absolutely.

Now, everyone says that our kitchens are intimidating.

So why don't we fill this place up with some holiday cheer? Woo! Yes. Yes. On

the count of three.

One, two, three.

Let's go!

Amazing. Come on. How cool is this?

That is beautiful.

The tower is nothing short of magical.

And then you add twinkly lights. I'm just obsessed.

Joining me for this amazing season are two giants in the world of baking.

First is someone you all know and love. An acclaimed chef, best -selling author,

and the host of some of your favorite baking competitions.

Give it up for Carla Hall. Come on.

Yes, yes, yes. I love you.

Extremely happy to see Carla Hall. I watch her on TV all the time. I want to

have a conversation with her and just pick her brain. I'm an avid watcher of

Next Level Chef, so I can't wait to see what you all do at Next Level Baking.

This is going to be sweet and lovely.

Now, on my other side, she's a prolific entrepreneur.

and the creator of one of the most successful cupcake brands in history,

founder of Sprinkle Cupcakes. Give it up for Candice Nelson, everybody.

Come on.

Sprinkle me. Sprinkle me. Sprinkle me.

I am all about baking all year round, but I am especially excited to kick this

off for the holidays.

Candice is my baking entrepreneur idol.

She was the woman who created the cupcake vending machine.

I am just in awe of her. She's incredible.

Now, listen up, all of you. You've been chosen from the nation's top

professional bakers, those incredible, influential social media stars, and, of

course, the finest home bakers in the country.

Over the next three weeks, Candice, Carla, and myself will be pushing all of

harder than you've ever been pushed before.

But remember, no matter how talented you are, where you bake will seriously

affect how you bake.

Bakers on the top level will be working with state -of -the -art equipment and

prime ingredients.

But wind up in the basement, and you will be faced with substandard tools and

bottom -of -the -barrel ingredients.

And here's the good news. The baker who pulls it off will be walking away with

an amazing holiday bonus of $25 ,000.

Talk about a good one.

Plus, an incredible Hexad prize package.

But most importantly, our winner will be crowned our first ever next level

baker.

Who's it going to be?

Me.

Let's get it. The holidays are when families come together to celebrate and

enjoy incredible baked goods. Yeah. So listen up for your first challenge.

You'll have 60 minutes to create a delicious family holiday favorite.

And you're going to be using one of the most versatile ingredients on the

planet.

Chocolate. Come on.

Who doesn't love chocolate?

Crazy people, that's who. I don't see any crazy people out there.

No. Take a look over here. Under this tree are three wrapped presents.

Inside each one is the level on which your group will be starting the

competition.

Homebakers, you're up first. Choose one person to come up and pick out a

present. Go, Jeff. Come on, Jeff. No pressure.

Pick the basement.

Love that.

Come on. Love that.

Look at you thinking that's a Tiffany box.

Right. Social media chefs, who's coming up to grab a present? Chloe, you got it.

Come on, Chloe. Take good. I already know the big one, scary.

No basement.

So I just go with my favorite bet, top floor. And I'm hoping that it's a

Christmas miracle.

Pros, probably need two of you.

Right.

Time for the unveiling.

Pro, lift up your box. Find out what level you're cooking on. Top level, top

level, top level.

Middle kitchen. Go!

That tastes good.

Not bad at all.

Oh, my. Oh, Lord.

Social media.

You got the medium present.

Top kitchen.

Yes!

I really needed this.

Home chef, unfair. We know where you're going, but let's confirm it.

Basement kitchen.

I guess horrible things come in small packages.

Listen up. At the end of this first bake, one pro, one social media, and one

home baker will be heading home for the holidays.

Did this just get real for some of you? Yeah.

All of you, head to the elevator. We'll meet you in your kitchen shortly. Good

job, Chloe.

Oh, my God.

We're out here.

Good luck, Chef.

Okay. All right, let's go. Oh,

my gosh, you guys.

Look at that doll.

The very first thing I see is this little creepy doll saying, welcome to

basement. Happy Christmas.

Look at this mess.

Pretty much everything in the basement feels kind of like that doll.

These are all bent. Everything is so wonky. I mean, it's kind of fun to

such a vintage place.

They didn't even clean the grease off.

That's our job.

You got good stuff. I'm sad to not be at the top level, but

this middle kitchen is still a step up from my bakery, so I'm ready to go.

I want to live in here.

Oh,

my God.

Oh, my God.

I have won the lottery.

We have everything we need.

Everything is state of the art.

Some of this stuff, I don't even know how to use it. So take me to the top and

leave me there.

It's so Christmassy. Oh, my God.

excited for you all. You cannot forget, grab the chocolate on top.

They're coming.

Oh, my God.

Hi, bakers. Hi, everybody.

The challenge is chocolate.

Chocolate's my love language.

You guys got to speak it to me.

Go. Come on.

Are we good?

Do not be put off by the basement.

Now, we may be down, but we're not out, right?

When that platform comes down, we're going to get what they don't want.

But I've seen food come out of this basement.

Michelin star.

Right. Line up against that elevator. Let's go, guys.

There's something quite unique about chocolate, because there are so many

avenues. Whether it's beautiful finishes, the chocolate frosting, the

there's always a showstopper with chocolate dessert.

Stay until you see the platform light up green. Green means go.

Here it comes, guys.

Wait for it to turn green.

Go. Come on.

Yes, get in there. We are on the top level with all of the really fancy

ingredients. Get your chocolate.

I saw some, like, really, really crappy chocolate, and then, boom, there is some

quality milk chocolate over there. Zohan, get your chocolate.

I'm looking at the ingredients, but I am at a blank.

No, no, no.

Okay, ten seconds. Make sure you're taking the entire thing. Okay, what's

on? What I got to get? Nikki, don't leave it up there. Come on. Oh.

You got all that stuff?

Holy cow.

I did not get enough. That platform, it come fast and it leave fast.

Oh, Lord.

Here comes that platform.

What's happening here?

Oh, my God, oh, my God, oh, my God.

I know that the people upstairs have already grabbed all of the good stuff,

I quickly see the Mexican spice chocolate.

That's you.

Because I'm Mexican -American, I feel like my ancestors, like, brought this

literally from the heavens for me.

Man, I definitely want you. Five seconds.

Oh, my God. Platform won't be here forever.

I don't know what I want. I don't know what's happening.

All right, that's it. That's what we got.

This is crazy.

Go, guys. Let's go.

Go, go, go.

Chocolate first.

Because we're at the bottom, the only thing left is chocolate syrup. Oh, come

on. Chocolate syrup. Oh, my gosh.

I knew it was going to be bad because the vultures are picking higher up, and

got scraps.

You want the chocolate powder? You sure?

Yes. I'm not going to serve the mentors chocolate milk, so this has to be turned

into something else.

Grab, grab, grab, grab, grab.

Well done.

Your 60 minutes starts right now.

All right, Zoha, I see that you are meticulously separating your frozen

cherries. I wish I had gotten, like, fresh cherries. I don't love the frozen.

went by really fast. All right, tell me what you prepped.

Okay, so I got semi -sweet chocolate chip cherries, so I'm going to make a

forest withdrawal.

I'm from Pakistan, and we have black forest cakes in every bakery, and I want

make a grown -up, better version of it.

When I decided to leave my very well -paying job, and start baking.

My dad was very much like, don't leave your job.

But to have one million plus followers, I still can't believe it.

I love being a mom, but content creation with a baby is definitely very

different.

His name is Mikhail, and he's a cutie. It's been a day, but I miss him.

So you are going to put a whipped cream topping into a cake that has to cool

completely before it comes together. Wish me luck.

Hey, Nikki.

Hey. So tell me what you got. I got the chocolate bar.

Okay. So I'm thinking a German chocolate cake, but I needed evaporated milk.

Okay. So now I'm in trouble. You can have a plan in your head, but I think to

see something that could turn into something else is how you play the game.

You're right about that.

All right, Justin.

Hello. Tell me what you grabbed, first of all. A whole lot. I wasn't thinking.

Dark chocolate and strawberry.

Something to do.

Chocolate mousse.

with a strawberry compote as an insert. So you need to add some acid to balance

all those flavors.

Okay. I'm just saying. You're stressing me out now. I don't need to stress you

out. I got you.

Okay. Mentors, they're expecting good desserts. They're expecting holiday

I got to pull my A game.

So being a social media baker, I celebrate all the holidays, and

favorite. My family, we have traditions. Like, we wake up super early, like 5 a

.m., and we always eat cinnamon rolls, and then we wait to see what Santa

brought us.

Yes, I'm 22, and I still get up for Santa.

It never has to end.

Oh, I'm stressed.

That's okay. You have chocolate on your face. You look delicious. Oh, my God. Of

course I do.

Fifty minutes to go, bakers. Holy crap.

Starting to smell like the holidays.

Woo! Look at that peanut butter. I thought I was going to have to make this

scratch here. Aubrey, what do you have in store for us? I'm going to fold

actually all these goodies into the peanut butter and make a filling. So

basically be like brownie filling brownie. This is pro work.

You're serving the best. You better have your together.

Okay, moving right along.

Chad, how you doing?

I'm going to do a nice white chocolate whipped ganache and then a traditional

pecan pie filling. Probably throw a little bit of raspberry compote in

Love the idea of the acidity from the raspberries to balance the white

chocolate, and that pecan pie filling is pure nostalgia.

Thank you, Chef.

I'm Marixa. Hello, come on.

Do you have a plan?

Yes, I do. I'm making brownies. This is very much nostalgic to me, and my mother

means the world to me, so hopefully she sees this and she's like, ah, a little

bit of her today.

My earliest holiday baking memory is probably helping my mom make tamales.

Now I have a fun job. I get to taste pastries all day.

At my bakery, we have three J3 nominations.

I was a finalist. If I win, I'm hoping that I get to go back home and celebrate

with my mom and my dad.

I'm going to be emotional because I love my parents.

They'll come in and help me just doing dishes.

I'm here for them.

My parents are like my superheroes.

You need to wow us with the flavor because someone is going home.

Um, don't hate me if I don't make it to the next one.

Guys, I know the ingredients weren't the best down here, but if you want to get

that top -like kitchen, then you've got to cook your way out of that. This is

crazy. Stephanie, what did you get, chocolate -wise? I got chocolate kisses.

You going to melt them? No, I might make a little ganache out of them. That's

the toffee. Be careful.

How are you going to finish them off?

Yeah, so this is going to be like a wreath cake. Focus, getting it

beautifully done.

Right, Michael, tell me about this dish. What are you going to do? I'm almost

thinking about baking almost like a marshmallow.

Okay, that's a nice idea. It might be kind of fun. The love of baking comes

where? How did we start?

When my wife was ill, she passed away. I'm sorry. I used a baker or something.

For her, whilst she was ill. Yeah.

After she passed away, I kind of kept doing it.

I started baking when my wife, Elizabeth, was diagnosed with breast

I wanted to cheer her up.

Every holiday after Christmas, She would donate to different charities. And so

if I won that $25 ,000, I would follow in her footsteps and donate.

All right, guys, here comes our first holiday surprise.

Who's coming down on TV?

Ho, ho, ho.

Everyone grab one sake.

Hurry up, hurry up. It's going to keep going. Hurry up, grab something.

Ho, ho, ho. Oh, yo.

You all must use one ingredient that is in your stocking in your bait. Okay.

Girl, you must have been nice. Santa has delivered.

What did you get that you were so excited about?

Drink whip.

Okay. This is like evaporated milk. Look at you.

Look at you pivot. Now, don't forget to taste.

It's just a lot of sweetness.

Right. Ho, ho, ho.

A very special guest has arrived.

Ho, ho, ho.

Oh, my God. Everyone must grab one stocking.

What the hell am I doing with this look who's coming down

That kind of works. That kind of works.

Sandra, what did you grab in the stocking? I got dulce de leche. I was

do cookie crumble in between.

I think I might just heat up the almonds with the dulce de leche to add as a

layer of the trifle.

Gotcha. Honestly,

I feel like it's going to whip it pretty fast. Like, my help with the heavy

cream. 40 minutes left.

Let me check on my cake.

I'm going to have to make my cake again.

My cake is raw.

I messed up my cake.

I think it was slightly underdone.

Oh, no!

Doha, do you have to make it over? Do you want to pivot? You have 40 minutes

left. I'm going to just make this as soon as I can. Time was always of the

essence, but it's really of the essence right now. I can't waste a single

breath. So, it's pressed out.

35 minutes.

So, it's pressed out.

Why? First of all, think about how quickly you got that in the oven and you

it made. You got that. I know. I have to make it even quicker now.

Yep. You absolutely have to.

30 minutes, everyone.

Winston,

what do we got?

I'm getting some truffle in there.

Struggling with what I'm going to do, but I'm going to figure it out. I'm

worried about the truffle because I've never used it in dessert before, but

also something that I really like to eat.

You're going to pull this off? It's going to be Jamaican magic.

It's going to be Jamaican magic. Jamaican magic. Yeah, man.

I am the proudest Jamaican you will find on this earth. In my family, at

Christmas time, one of the things I remember the most is we had a very small

Christmas tree, and it was so short that we had to put it on cinder blocks that

was wrapped in Christmas paper. So whenever time I smell a plastic

tree, it brings me right back to my childhood days.

Save some of that for dinner later, too.

You got to get those big ends so they have time to cool.

Someone got an oven open. You know that?

Marissa, your oven's open. The last thing we need is any heat loss from this

oven. It needs to bake.

It's not the time for mistakes.

Last five minutes, y 'all. Show us what you're made of. Make it beautiful.

And don't forget about a little salt.

I call salt compliments.

Y 'all know why?

Why? Because if you don't use it, you ain't going to get no compliments.

That would be the quickest stroll I've ever made in my life. Doha, it's coming

together. Would your followers not like that?

My followers are really nice.

Guys, three minutes to go. Did we good?

Yeah.

Oh, come on. Did you break it? Yep.

Bring it home, Michael. Come on, you got that. All right, well, that's what I

can do here.

Two minutes left.

Decorate that plate.

Make it look nice. One of you is headed home for the holiday. Let it not be you.

You look terrible.

I'm just disappointed.

Platform's moving, guys.

Put it on there. Good.

Platform's here.

Oh, it's here. Go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go. Oh, we go.

Well done.

Good job, man. Good job.

Good job.

Here comes that platform.

You don't want to miss it. Bugger.

My brownies are hot. Hopefully don't turn everything on top in the soup.

Platform is here. Get those desserts on.

Come on, guys. Don't let me down.

Chad, get on there now.

Mercy, you've got to go.

Anyone ever played it on the platform? Get her on there. Thank you for that.

Okay, bye.

See ya.

The platform is coming, guys. The platform is here. Everybody, get your

there. Get your dishes on there.

Justin, where's your other one?

It's got to go. It's got to go. Oh, come on. Come on.

Y 'all did it. It's not easy.

No, this was no cakewalk.

Right, first off, well done, all of you. We are excited to try your holiday

-inspired bake.

This is how excited I am. I love that.

Shall we start in the basement with the home bakers? Yes.

This is Stephanie's sugar cookie cake with a chocolate ganache with the little

kisses. It's a gorgeous buttercream from chocolate kisses.

Soft, buttery, rich.

I'm actually shocked that this was cooked in the basement.

It's gorgeous.

So this is Michael's cake and florentines.

Dipped in a chocolate and caramel sauce.

Garnished it with a sort of festive sprig of rosemary. I would have loved

rosemary to be candied or something. Yeah, the rosemary reminds me of a

bit of a Christmas tree. I'm not going to lie.

This is Jeff's chocolate tart.

Very dense.

Yes, just a little underbaked.

Next up, Deidre's brown butter brownie trifle.

In her stocking, she got some dulce de leche.

You can take the top. Yep. The flavors are nice. I wanted a little more salt

because it's really sweet. Yeah, what a shame. Middle floor?

I was working with the pros.

Okay. So first up, we have Chad's pecan pie and a white chocolate

mascarpone mousse.

For me, the pecan pie says the holidays.

Absolutely. Pastry cooked beautifully.

Really nice. Very good. Wow.

Next up.

We have Marixa's brownies. And what is that on top? Chocolate spice whipped

cream and puffed rice.

It does taste a little bit under. And you can tell that it was still piping

when the cream went on.

Yeah. Put that on the side next time. Next up, we have Aubrey's fudge brownie

peanut butter bar crunch.

Very peanutty.

Very, very. Could use a glass of milk with this. Need it. Mm -hmm.

Finally, this is Winston's chocolate trifle with Jamaican spiced chocolate

mousse and some truffles.

Truffle? Oh.

Just a touch.

I know.

Ooh. Can you find that cake in there? Did you get it? Did you get to the

I'm scared to go to the bottom of that one.

My palate's blown out by the truffle, so it's hard to navigate anywhere else.

Okay, shall we move to the top level? Shall we?

With the social media chef.

All right, so first up is Doha's Black Forest.

Swiss roll. Mm -hmm. This was Zoha's second cake.

Let's see if we have that roll.

Wow. And we do.

That looks incredible. Perfect slice. This is the second one. With like 35

minutes left, she made another cake.

Is it a ganache?

Yep, it's a ganache.

That's delicious.

That's really nice. Good comeback.

Next up is Justin's dark chocolate mousse.

With sweetened strawberries.

Mm -hmm.

The mousse is so rich. It's very rich. It's a balance.

At a minimum, it needs to look good. But it doesn't look that elegant. What a

shame. All right, so we have Chloe's chocolate ganache -filled tart.

The pastry crust is delicious. Mm -hmm. Nice and crisp, and the chocolate works

really well.

Lastly, we have Nikki's German chocolate cake.

It's a coconut pecan frosting, very classic.

Mm -hmm.

German chocolate cake is sweet. This is sweet, but maybe a hit more salt to

balance that out.

Yeah, listen, the sponge is delicious. Just be careful, the sweetness.

Wow, great first tasting.

Candice and Carla and I have a lot to discuss.

Excuse us.

Thank you.

That was brutal.

60 minutes?

Yeah. First taste, I think it's setting.

So I was in a tizzy the entire time, but I thought the roulade really turned out

well. It was an honor to bake with you guys. It was so much fun. Rick says...

Spiced brownie would have been amazing if it had just had a little bit more

in the oven. Yes.

It's a shame that, unfortunately, we have to pick our bottom three, one from

each kitchen. Are we in agreement?

Shall we? Each and every one of you made

an incredible first effort today, so keep your heads up high.

However, one baker from each level sadly will be going home tonight.

It wasn't easy, let me tell you. The first individual heading home is...

One

baker from each level sadly will be going home tonight.

The bakers heading home are...

Michael.

Justin.

And Winston.

Michael, Justin, Winston, say goodbye to your teams, and please enjoy the

holidays with your families. Thank you, guys. Thank you, guys. Thank you.

I'm going to keep representing, keep pushing.

Better watch out for this Jamaican boy.

Shake it off. Let's bring some holiday spirit back, okay?

Because three of you have just earned...

Cooking in that top level kitchen in the next challenge.

Those bakers are Chad.

All right, Chad.

Stephanie.

And finally, Zoha.

Great job.

Well done, you three.

All right, three of you earned your way to the middle level. Those bakers are

Nikki, Deirdre, and Chloe.

Well done. Of course. That means, Aubrey, Jeff, and Marissa, you'll be

down in that dreaded basement.

Right. Ready for your next challenge?

Yes. You know what my favorite part of the holiday season is?

It's all of the fabulous parties.

Absolutely. You may have guessed it. Your next challenge is all about baking

with alcohol.

Here's the good news. The big man himself has sent his trusted scout elves

spread some incredible festive cheer and holiday magic. How cool is that?

Amazing. Okay.

And, Gordon, just so you know, Santa sent a special scout elf to keep an eye

on you. Come on. Seriously? He wants to make sure you end up on the nice list

this year. It hasn't happened.

Naughty. In 57 Christmases.

It's thick.

Right, let's get to it, shall we?

Yes. You'll have 75 minutes tonight to create an exciting bake with alcohol.

This is a competition.

One of you will be leaving after this bake. Make sure it's not you.

Head to the elevator. We'll see you shortly. Good luck. Thanks, chef. Thank

Great job.

Definitely well done.

75 minutes.

I know, isn't it?

It feels like a luxury.

I know.

Okay. All right.

Let's get it.

Let's do this. Holy smokes. What is this?

Our own oven? This is like the nicest kitchen I've ever been in in my life.

Wow.

I can handle this.

Okay. There are a lot of elves.

Look at these cuties.

My sister does elf on a shelf for my nephew and my niece, and he's done a lot

of, like, silly, funny things. I'm not stoked to be in this kitchen, but I'm

hoping that the elves can create some magic in here.

I can't wait to use you, you little funny thing.

Good luck.

Hi, Baker.

Hello. How are we feeling? A little scared, I feel like. There's nowhere to

but up. Yeah. That is true.

Oh, we're back together again.

Nikki, when that platform comes down, I need you to get some stuff. I'm ready.

Right.

Let's go.

Feeling good? Yeah.

You've got the pick of the litter. Okay. Don't be smart.

Right. Let's go. Line up against the door.

Let's go.

75 minutes to create an exciting, boozy Christmas treat.

Three, two, one.

Let's go.

Look at that.

Okay. So we're going to go here.

You guys see the alcohol free?

Obviously, I'm Muslim. I don't drink alcohol. So I do not know what alcohol

tastes like. Here's alcohol free right there. But I'm somehow going to make it

work. There you go. You got it.

Okay, tummy.

Tummy, y 'all.

Go. Come on.

Now remember, pick balance. Think about acid. Think about how you're going to

balance that alcohol.

I'm feeling really good. One thing I do know is boo.

Still grab things.

Okay, can you grab something? It helps that you're tall, girl. Yes.

Long arms. Okay.

Make sure you're grabbing alcohol. Up the top of the platform. Green, green,

green. Go, go, go.

Okay, that's it. Is that a beer?

I think so.

I don't ever drink beer, so this is probably worst -case scenario for me.

Just grab what you can. You're going to make magic out of it.

Booze filled chocolate.

Going, going, gone.

Oh, my God. I don't even know where I grabbed.

I don't know what to do with this beer. The panic of this beer has set in and

is, like, not letting go of me.

All right, bakers.

Your time starts now.

Does anybody see the teaspoon?

No, I don't have one.

All right, Marikza. Hello.

How are you feeling?

I got alcohol freaked out. It is not something that I drink normally.

Right. So it's a little nerve -wracking, but I'm thinking fruitcake. I'm going

to do like a wreath.

How to shoot. And you're going to have enough time to do that? I'm hoping so.

Okay, sounds good. I'm not looking to go home. I'm not looking to be at the

bottom like I was last time. That's right.

Bakers, get to work. Let's go.

All right, Jeff.

What are we planning to do with that box wine?

I'm planning to make a mulled wine sauce to go over an apple cake.

Okay. All right. Box wine looks scary, but you've got a plan.

I think we're going to get out of the basement with this one.

All right, Aubrey. I'm going to do a crostata. Okay. And an apple pear

basically. Calvados is made with apples.

I love that.

Hello. Hello, Miss Chloe. So I'm going to be making spice cake. Okay. And to

that I'm going to add a cranberry compote and make an Irish cream liqueur

buttercream. How's it going? My buttercream's ending up a little bit

than it should.

Okay. Did you use room temperature butter? I did. Cold butter's better.

will give your butter stability.

50 minutes left. All right, Nikki.

I see that you wrapped more items this time. What did you wrap?

Amaretto. Okay, so what are you making with this? I'm going to make an eggnog

parfait with the ginger snap base.

What makes your eggnog noggy?

That booze I put in there, and I'll put a little bit more nutmeg. It doesn't

take too much, so you just need a tiny, tiny bit. We are encouraged to taste,

aren't we? Yeah, we are. What about that?

Okay, girl. Get it, girl.

Come on, you're encouraged.

Hey, I act first.

I am Nikki J, the diva, the queen, the 60 -year -old powerhouse. I have been

going viral before viral was even cool.

My daughter's wedding cake went viral during the wedding, and overnight I got

orders from so many celebrities.

Baby, I'm the queen of social media.

I'm the queen of the bakery. I was just born a queen. I don't know why my mama

didn't name me queen.

Carla! Oh, God, yeah?

We good?

How'd it go down there? Let me tell you, we have some really great stuff.

And what about the boozy celebration?

Nikki's celebrating more than anybody. She loves a boozy jam. I love that.

Yeah, drinking and thinking.

Love that. Thank you.

Zohar, tell me about the dish. What are you doing?

So I'm going to do a chocolate pecan caramel tart, and hopefully there will

some tempered chocolate decoration.

Gotcha. Smart, smart, smart.

Right, Shaz. Yes, Chef. Let's go, my man. So I'm going to do a port wine,

apple tatin. Working on my poaching liquid right now.

Right, and you've got cooking apples, right? Yes.

Traditionally, we're using those cooking apples for puree. But hey, always got a

lot.

And where have you seen this before?

I mean, I've dreamed about it, so let's see what we can do here. Well, let's

hope this is a happy dream.

Right, Stephanie, what is it? Okay, so this cake is a festive eggnog cake. It's

got a little bit of the bourbon in the cake. How many layers are you doing?

Shooting for three. And you're going to get three done?

I think so. Love it, love it, love it. I'm going for it.

Give me an insight to Stephanie's household around the holidays. I have

kids, and it's just really, really fun.

I'm completely self -taught.

When my kids were young, I would watch baking shows, and I realized, like, oh,

my goodness, I love to bake. And I was like, maybe this is a gift.

I was encouraged by family and friends to start a home bakery business.

And then all of a sudden I had strangers wanting to order.

My husband and I had always talked about opening a bakery.

We sold our house to finance the business and moved our family into like

tiny rental for a year. We have this big, beautiful, chaotic family.

It has been a wild ride.

But honestly, it's all been worth it.

This is so messy.

My hands are going to be green.

Patashou is temperamental.

Usually, they look tall and puffy. I would get in the oven soon, though, if

you're not.

If they don't have enough time in the oven, they're going to sink.

Brick it.

20 minutes to go.

20 minutes to go.

So pretty.

Stephanie, we good? Yeah. I'll use a little bit of bourbon in the compote.

Absolutely incredible.

Good luck.

Yeah, baby.

What the?

I pick up my apples with a spoon and quickly realize that they're

No, no, no.

That's perfect.

Such a stupid mistake.

Cut. You good?

I picked my apples up. You've what?

They have disintegrated in my poaching liquid, Chef.

Remember I said to you earlier, they're just for pure ice. So they do just all

of a sudden go. I know. I'm turning it into a pear titan. A pear titan. Same

concept. I won't over poach this.

This is obviously going down to the wire. I know I need every single second

poach these pears.

A little scared.

Y 'all are looking good.

Chloe punching out her cakes.

My buttercream smoothed out. Nice. I love it. Big, beautiful buttercream

Erecta. Yep, we're deflating.

Are we crisping them up now?

Yes. I'm just trying to crisp them. Okay. At this point, I swear I'm better

this.

My pastry thinking and my heart is thinking with it. Guys, let's start

Two minutes left. The platform waits for no one.

Platform's going.

60 seconds to go, guys. Platform's gone.

Get everything on those plates and make it beautiful, yes? Let's go.

Bring it home, guys.

The platform is moving. No time to waste.

Get your bags on the platform. Let's go, go, go.

Aubrey, 10 seconds.

Good queen.

Well done, makers.

Make it nice.

I'm going to add ginger snaps.

I stuck it in like a cocktail. Yeah, it looks like a cocktail.

All right, the platform is coming.

Where are we?

Oh, my God.

Okay. All right.

Go ahead, girl. Go ahead. You deserve a drink. Oh, my God.

Literally, I love it. Can I drink some of that? He's passing around.

All right, chefs, we're here.

Okay, guys, we're going. Come on, come on, come on.

You're going to miss that platform go. It's going to go. I don't have any

chocolate. Five seconds.

Four, three, two, one, and go. Well done.

That's beautiful.

Wow.

These incredible holiday -inspired bakes look festive and exactly what you want

to see for the holidays.

But sadly, we do have to send somebody home.

Right, so we start at the very top on my level. First off, a Stephanie.

Stephanie, you bourbon.

Inspired by eggnog funfetti cake.

Get it, girl.

Okay, Stephanie.

Look at you.

Up in the game.

Okay, sorry.

Dig in, please.

Help me take it.

The crumb is so tender.

It's inspiring.

The amount of work that went into this across 75 minutes is exceptional.

Great start.

Right, next up.

Zohar made a chocolate and caramel pecan tartlet with non -alcoholic rum.

There's an ooey -gooey quality to this that is also just very decadent, yet so

refined.

Last up, it's Chad's take on a pear tartletan.

I'm not going to lie, it looks like a pear tata taco.

This young man pivoted, had a slight problem with the original apples, went

pear. Oh, those pears, that sounds like they're undercooked.

Yeah, they look a little firm. A little crunchy.

Middle level, what have you got? These are Nikki's amaretto eggnog parfaits.

That's a boozy bite.

Yeah, a lot of booze. A lot of booze. A lot of sugar.

The ginger, did we make these on top?

We did not make these.

What a shame.

These are from Chloe.

Spiced cakes with Irish liqueur buttercream made to look like a hot

look beautiful and they taste elegant.

Next up, spiced apple cupcakes cooked by Deidre. I mean, a cupcake at first

glance seems very simplistic, but you really made it artful.

Yeah. Come on down to the basement.

Look at these.

What is that?

We're going to start with Murex's pate a choux wreath without fig compote.

Are they undercooked?

Yeah. Damn.

This one falls flat, sadly.

Literally. The choux pastry is undercooked.

Next up is Jeff's apple cake with mulled wine sauce.

Looks festive. He grabbed the bagged wine, which I thought was kind of a

grab, but he worked it out. It's taking bad ingredients and turning it into

something amazing.

Thank you. Last up, this is a Calvados apple pear crostata.

It looks beautiful.

Rustic, full of charm. Wow. And it feels so effortless. Yes. But just is packed

with flavor.

We've got a lot to talk about, let me tell you. We need a moment. Thank you.

Oh, God.

Stunning, stunning, stunning.

What a way to celebrate the holidays. It really was.

I feel like I got to step up my game now because you're whipping out. Are you

kidding me? What you made? I'm like. The crostata.

There were clearly some that weren't as good.

Yep. I did the best with what I was given.

I'm still so nervous.

Sorry to see any baker go, but it is a competition. I make all these things at

home, but I make them in the thousands. I think that threw me for like the

biggest loop.

There was one bake from each today that stood out from the crowd.

Those three bakers are headed to the top level in the next challenge.

And those are Stephanie, Aubrey, Walt. Okay, cool. And Chloe.

Well done, guys. Well done.

This is the greatest Christmas gift I ever could have asked for. Now, three of

you all are safe and have earned a spot in the middle kitchen. Those bakers are

Zoha, Deidre, and Jeff.

Well done.

Just getting out of the basement.

Finally.

Which means, unfortunately, Marixa, Chad, and Nicky, sadly, one of you

is heading home early for the holidays.

Holy smokes.

It could be the end.

The baker leaving us today is...

Marixa.

I'm excited to, like, spend the holidays with my family. I'm ready to be cozy

and drinking eggnog with them.

Wish your husband and your parents a happy holiday for us. Take care. Safe

travels back.

Wow. What a competition this is turning out to be.

Get some rest, because things are about to get spicy.

Well done.

Next time on Next Level Baker.

It's like Rockefeller Plaza in here.

Go, go, go, go, go.

These desserts seem to be perfect.

Damn, damn, damn. One wrong move and everything's going to come crashing

You're in trouble.

Are you ready for the perfect thing for egg whites?

Oh, no. Where'd it go? Somebody poached your whipped cream?

Oh, no, no, no, no, no.

That was not good.

It was so bad.

Do I go home now?

Seriously?

What the hell is going on?