A dozen young bakers put aside any fears or doubts about being on national TV to show off their skills on Food Network’s “Kids Baking Championship” — and to potentially win a $25,000 prize.
After several episodes of navigating unexpected challenges in the kitchen — and doing so with a time limit — the competition is officially down to a top five.
Arielle Yang, a sixth grade student at the Waterford School in Sandy, Utah, is one of the bakers still in the running to win Season 13. And she’s on a roll — she was named one of the top bakers during the show’s most recent episode.
What happened on ‘Kids Baking Championship’ Episode 7?
During the latest episode, which aired Monday night, the six remaining bakers were tasked with creating pet food-themed dessert imposters.
Since Arielle’s assigned animal was a mouse, she was challenged to create a dessert that looked like Swiss cheese within 2 hours and 30 minutes.
The 11-year-old baker opted to make a triangle shaped yellow layer cake with a basil paste cream — adding herbs or spices to milk is a good way to add flavor, she said — and an orange cream cheese frosting.
At the last minute, for more of a visual effect, Arielle decided to create little dirt crumbs to spread around her cheese since she figured mice like to eat food on the ground.
“Kids Baking Championship” hosts Duff Goldman and Kardea Brown seemed mildly confused and humored by this decision, but ultimately had nothing but praise for Arielle’s creation. They complimented the flavors and the cream cheese frosting, and said the cake rose to the challenge.
“This is really cool. I think you’ve done a great job here,” Brown said. “The way that you constructed your cheese, I am definitely fooled.”
In the end, the judges named Arielle one of two top bakers for the episode, immediately advancing her to the next round of the competition.
At the end of the episode, the judges revealed that 11-year-old Brooklyn Barrett of Orlando, Florida, was eliminated.
Next week’s episode will challenge the five remaining bakers to make edible terrariums featuring an assigned insect. The bakers will also have to create an edible flower to include in their terrariums, according to a TV listing for the show.
‘I think I worked well under pressure’
Arielle has been a standout baker all season, and never seems to be overwhelmed by the pressures of taking part in a TV competition. She previously told the Deseret News that while the time limits proved to be a challenge throughout the show, it generally ended up working in her favor.
“I think I worked well under pressure,” she said.
Baking has always been an activity that calms her down, so even amid the stress of it all, Arielle said she felt fairly relaxed. And under the pressure of the judges and the cameras and the time limits, Arielle said she was proud of herself for being able to bake new things and try out new techniques in the kitchen.
“At first I was really nervous, but I was also really excited, too, because my brain was like, ‘I’m on TV!’” she told the Deseret News. “And it was also really surreal, because I saw the show on TV before. But to see it in real life was really cool.”
Episodes of “Kids Baking Championship” air Mondays through March 3, culminating in a season finale that features the final three contestants baking zoo-inspired cakes for a shot at the $25,000 prize.