The end is here, as the winner of “Next Level Baker” will be crowned tonight on FOX. The final six bakers are heading to the kitchen to take on the final tasks given to them by the mentors: Gordon Ramsay, Carla Hall, and Candace Nelson. The baking will take place, and then decisions will be made. Who will win it all? Find out who won “Next Level Baker” tonight with us during our “Next Level Baker” live recap below.
The ‘Next Level Baker’ Finale
We are down to the final six bakers for this three-week holiday baking competition. The pressure will be on tonight, as they all want to be named the winner of this holiday special. However, only one of them can do it.
For tonight, they will be making a three-tier cake in hopes of impressing the mentors. At the end of the night, the mentors will select the winner of “Next Level Baker.” We made our predictions earlier, but who do you think it will be? Find out with us during our Live Recap below!
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD: THIS LIVE RECAP WILL BE UPDATED THROUGHOUT THE EPISODE, SO DO NOT KEEP READING IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO READ SPOILERS.
December 18 Live Recap – Finale
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One Last Bake
The six bakers come into the kitchen. Only five of them will make it to the final challenge. That means one more bake, and only five will move on. For this challenge, they have to create a savory holiday showstopper. They have 60 minutes to make this dish.
For this challenge, they will be separated into these levels:
- Top Kitchen – Stefanie and Jeff with Gordon
- Middle Kitchen – Zoha and Chloe with Clara
- Basement Kitchen – Deirdra and Nikki with Candace
The bakers get to their kitchens, and the tower comes down with ingredients. Nikki is on the bottom again, but this time doesn’t freeze and gets some ingredients she is happy with. No bundt cake for her!
The Baking Begins
Zoha is making a pizza for her dish, which Clara said is not a savory dish. They need the best to get to the finale, so Zoha is freaking out. Deridra is in the basement and was ecstatic to get salmon, as how did it make it all the way down there?
Zoha shifts and turns the pizza into a double-layer pizza. She puts a top crust on it, then shapes it into a snowflake. It totally changes the look of it and makes it more than just a pizza and very holiday-friendly.
The reindeer surprises the bakers, as the tower comes through with different carrot ingredients. The bakers get some more stuff to use for their dishes. Clara jokes that Zoha and Chloe are both intense, but in different ways. Zoha wants time checks and is in your face. Chloe wants Clara to stay out of her face!
Stefanie and Gordon bond over the fact that they both have twins. Stefanie said they may be best friends now. Deirdra is feeling good about her dish and the flavors, but then she adds seasoning to her sauce, and the top pops off. Yes, she just added like a whole bottle of seasoning into it!
With 15 minutes left, she has a very salty sauce. Candace tells her to start over with a base, and then add some of the existing into it until it’s not as salty. Deirdra gets to work. She gets it fixed as the time is winding down. Zoha’s dish looks a little overcooked for the bread. The time runs out, the platform comes out, and the dishes are in place!
First Bake Results
The dishes are in place, and time for the mentors to taste these dishes:
- Top Kitchen – For Stefanie, they said it feels decadent, but homey. The lobster was cooked beautifully. For Jeff, it’s not a showstopper holiday. The cook on the chicken was beautiful.
- Middle Kitchen – For Chloe, they said that is a savory flavor bomb. For Zoha, Gordon said it’s delicious. They said it was stunning.
- Basement Kitchen – For Nikki, they said flaky pie crust. They love the flavor of the sauce, and it’s warm and inviting. For Deirdra, they loved the way it looked. The seasoning is overpowering. The salmon is delicious, and the biscuit is good.
Results: The mentors discuss all the dishes, and here are the results: Zoha, Stefanie, Chloe, Nikki, and Deirdra are moving on. That means Jeff has been eliminated! They said his dish just wasn’t a holiday savory bake.
FOXThe final five bakers are all women, so Gordon is the last man standing!
The Final Bake
The ladies arrive back in the kitchen, and they have one final challenge in front of them. For this final challenge, they will all create a delicious three-tiered cake. Each tier of the cake must be baked on a different level. They must decide which level each tier will be baked on.
In addition, each tier must have a different flavor profile, but it still has to feel cohesive. The tower will drop three times, once when they are on each level. They have four hours to bake, and can move freely among the levels. The mentors will be moving among the floors also.
The first tower comes down, and the bakers are all swarming them. It’s intense, but they get what they need and the four hours have started.
The bakers get started on their cakes. There is pivoting and trying to figure out layers. Then they all move to the middle level for the tower to come down. Nikki and Deirdra get the ingredients they needed. Stefanie is looking for peppermint extract, but no luck. She’s going to try to use candy canes instead.
Cakes Are On Fire
Meanwhile, Nikki forgets about her cakes in the basement, and now they are burning! She comes to the basement, and it wasn’t as bad as it seemed. The cakes aren’t burnt, so she can still use them and doesn’t have to restart anything.
These bakers are all frazzled. They are on different levels, cakes everywhere, and it’s a lot. Zoha is a mess, but they all seem to be. Chloe gets her cakes in the oven, but when closing the door, it doesn’t shut. Yeah, she doesn’t notice!
We then get a funny compialation of the bakers moving back and forth, up and down, on all the floors. Chloe then notices the doors weren’t shut. She shuts them and hopes the cake will cook properly. She brings them out later, and they are undercooked and must start over.
More cake and floor confusion, as Gordon is calling for Deirdra to come get her cakes. No issues though, as she gets them out of the oven. Nikki is struggling, and is way behind. Now Chloe may have added baking soda instead of baking powder in her cake, so it’s not baking. Will she have to do it a third time now?
The Pressure Is On
Chloe must restart, and is having a breakdown. Down in the basement, Nikki is using a stocking to limit the cornstarch for her fondate. Thinking through it, good job.
We are down to 90 minutes, so cakes should be done and working on decorating them. The final platform is coming, which will contain those decorations to make their cakes look gorgeous.
Third time is the charm, as Chloe finally gets her cake correctly made. Now they are down to 60 minutes to finish up their cakes. Zoha is struggling with her cakes and they aren’t coming out of pans.
It’s all about decorating right now. They are all stressed out, and think nothing is working out. So much to do, as they all make their way up to the Top Kitchen. We have 25 minutes left to decorate on “Next Level Baker.”
The time is up, the platform has arrived and time to get their cakes on there. Stefanie has to go to the second level and not sure if she has the muscles to do it! She got it up there.
Final Tasting on ‘Next Level Baker’
The cakes are all in place, so time for the mentors to taste them! Here is their feedback:
- Zoha – They said it looked stunning and so festive. The flavors are complex and well-balanced. All the flavors go together. She has taken them on a cultural journey.
- Chloe – Well done. The scale of the tiers is a little off. It’s a simple, but elegant cake. This is packed with the spice flavors of the holidays. The sponge is too dense on middle tier, but top tier is perfect.
- Stefanie – This will be an inspiration for a lot of home cooks. It looks elegant. They said it feels like a party, and she brought out the spirit of the holidays. They were discovering something with every bite in every layer.
- Nikki – They said it looks beautiful, and kid-friendly. It reads to the back of the room. It’s very indulgent. It took them down South, well done. The density of the fondate was too thick in some parts.
- Deirdra – The cake is tilted, but it all comes down to the flavor. They said the carrot cake is divine. It may look busted, but the flavors are on-point.
Winner Is Announced
The mentors have discussed all of the cakes. They have made that hard decision, so time to announce the winner of “Next Level Baker” tonight.
Everyone is in place, and the final decision has been made. The winner of “this holiday baking competition “Next Level Baker” is: Stefanie, so we have a home baker winning tonight. She received $25,000 and a HexClad cookware prize package.
FOXWhat do you think of the results on tonight’s finale?
