The Great American Baking Show Episode 6 - Cookie Week

A recap of The Great American Baking Show Episode 6 - Cookie Week

**SPOILER ALERT!!! THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR EPISODE 5! STOP READING NOW IF YOU HAVE NOT WATCHED YET!**

If you haven't read my recap of Episode 5, read it HERE.

I remember making a comment a couple of days after my elimination in Pastry Week that I could have nailed Cookie Week. I mean, come on - COOKIES! I make them all the time. I rock at making cookies! I was very confident in the challenges that I knew about. The Technical, of course, is always a wild card.

But I was confident with my Olive Oil Cake in Week 1 and in Puff Pastry in Week 5 and everyone saw how that worked out.

The thing that I didn't think about is the Tent Factor. It's the one thing that no one puts into their recipes but that somehow makes its way into every bake. I think I talked about it in my post about Episode 1 when my Olive Oil Cake was a complete disaster. The Tent Factor is real and there is no way to plan for it.

You can practice, practice, practice. You can plan for setbacks and problems. But you just won't know how things will turn out until you are in the Tent.

I'm not saying this to scare you away from applying for the show. On the contrary, I think everyone should GO FOR IT! It will only make you a better baker! I promise!

I'm telling you about the Tent Factor so that you understand how really amazing bakers can appear to struggle in the Tent. The equipment is different, the ingredients are different, you are wearing a microphone all the time, there are producers asking you questions every second and there are constantly cameras on you - especially if something goes wrong or appears to have gone wrong!

Something as 'easy' as cookies can turn into a minefield of difficulties.

Signature - Sugar Cookies

Our brief was to make 18 identical highly decorative sugar cookies in a winter theme.

Sounds easy enough, right?

Well, it could be if you weren't required to make the dough, chill, roll, cut, chill again, bake, cool, decorate and dry them in two and a half hours.

I had planned to make Chocolate Cayenne Sugar Cookies that were decorated to look like a holiday mantle. I created the design with a strategy in mind. My strategy was to get a basic design on each cookie as quickly as possible and then add detail as time allowed.

My cookies were 3D - basically two parts: the stone fireplace and the wooden mantle. I had hoped that the 3D look would get me bonus points with the judges. (That doesn't work out if you are eliminated before the challenge!)

The flavor of these cookies is just amazing. My husband wasn't sure that he would like them but, after one bite, he said,"That's a damn good cookie!" I knew I had a winner and these cookies will now be in my normal rotation (but with much more simple decoration!)

This recipe will be posted very soon here on globalbakes.com!

The Technical - Fortune Cookies

Everyone has eaten Fortune Cookies at one point or another. It seems like a simple challenge on the surface.

But with no advance knowledge of what they were making or the methods and techniques that are required to get the result that will make the judges happy, the bakers had their hands full!

The end result was beautiful and one day, I will make them.

Or, maybe I'll just eat a bunch the next time we go out for Chinese!

The Showstopper - Macaron Tower

Above is the only photo that I took of my practice Macaron tower. It would have been decorated a bit differently on the show but I downplayed the colors for my daughter's grad party. I'll be honest, I don't see the point in putting macarons on a styrofoam cone!!

I love to make macarons and they are one of my daughters' favorites. But I like to stack them on a beautiful cake plate or swirl them on a nice platter.

The challenge was to make 50 sandwiched macarons in two different flavors (so a total of 100 shells). I was going to make a Tipsy Tower, with Blackcurrent Moscato Macarons and Espresso Irish Cream Macarons.

Maybe I was trying to bribe the judges with alcohol. Maybe I wasn't. Now we'll never know!!

I will say that these were delicious. I especially loved the Blackcurrant Moscato. Blackcurrant is not a flavor that is seen often in the US but I wish it were! It is like a cross between a blackberry, a cranberry, and a grape. Sweet and fruity but also a little tart.

So sad to lose another great baker!

My first thought when I met Sarita in the hotel lobby was "Yay, another baker from Saint Louis!!" (I live about 45 minutes from both Sarita and Helen!). I was so excited that we could hang and bake together after the show! I don't know many bakers and geeking out with everyone, all day long, was a dream come true! And now I have two amazing baker's so close to me!

My next thought was, "Wow, she's pretty!" We had all been flying for a very long time and I know I looked like death warmed over. But not Sarita! She looked awesome. HOW?? Well, because she's Sarita and she is always polished and looks great!

Obviously, Sarita is an amazing baker. All you have to do it look at her blog to know that! Her recipes are amazing and it is so obvious that she loves what she does. Blogging is hard work and takes soooo much time. Sarita's blog is a labor of love and the hard work shows!

But when I think of Sarita, the first thing that comes to mind is her hugs. When Sarita hugs you, you know she means it. You know how some people lean towards you, sort of reach around you and pat your back or shoulder when they hug? It feels uncomfortable and insincere.

That's not how Sarita hugs. Sarita hugs you like she means it! You know that she genuinely wants to make you feel better, feel loved, feel uplifted. Just watch the show. Watch when she hugs someone. We did A LOT lof hugging in that tent and Sarita's hugs are the best!

You can keep up with Sarita on her blog at ritzymom.com and on Instagram @ritzymom .