"He needs to learn how to decorate" — Spring Baking Championship judge Duff Goldman shares his honest take on Paul's cake

Spring Baking Championship season 11 aired a new episode, titled Spring Forward & Spring Backward, on April 7, 2025. It featured bakers being challenged to create a "top-forward clock cake," meaning standing cakes with their tops facing forward instead of upward. Paul presented the judges with a steampunk clock cake, however, it failed to impress them, risking his position in the competition.

After tasting his cake, judge Duff Goldman told other experts, Kardea Brown and Nancy Fuller, that:

"He [Paul] needs to learn how to decorate."

The panelists were not only disappointed with Paul's overall presentation and the details on the cake, but also with the presence of berry seeds in the sponge. Consequently, Paul found himself in the bottom two alongside Kareem, as he faced the risk of being eliminated from the competitive series.

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"He's not a cake guy" — Spring Baking Championship panelist Kardea Brown comments on Paul's clock-inspired dessert

For the main heat round, the Spring Baking Championship contestants were tasked with creating a top-forward clock cake, which would test their skills to create a standing cake. Host Jesse Palmer noted that top-forward cakes were "all the rage" on social media before asking the bakers to head to the shop to select their timepiece.

He also asked them to set the hands of the clock cakes to the "most magical time of your life." With two and a half hours to create the cake, bakers rushed to their stations to start their work, hoping to leave a lasting impression on the panelists.

Paul had to create a steampunk clock-inspired cake, which he said was a "really challenging challenge" for him, because he was not confident about making cakes.

I don't think the details of the clock are going to be difficult for me, it will be the structure of the cake," Paul said.

The Spring Baking Championship contestant, while describing the details of his cake, said that the hands of his clock would be set at 3 am because that was when he woke up each day. While speaking to the cameras, he explained that he could do sports, paperwork, and focus on the "important stuff" if he woke up early while his children were still asleep.

Paul decided to present the judges with a raspberry cake, with white chocolate ganache made with ruby chocolate, and a raspberry jam with fresh fruits. He added that his cake would have golden gears and golden numbers with a pink and white marble fondant.

While cutting into his cake, Paul realized it was a "little too fragile" and said he should have waited a while longer before unmolding it, as it was still warm.

"I'm going home today," he said.

The Spring Baking Championship contestant decided to freeze his sponge, hoping it would recover some structure. However, he was compelled to use a cardboard cutout to support his cake since he was running out of time.

When Paul presented his clock cake to the judges, Kardea immediately pointed at the back of the cake, saying it looked "messy" and added that "things could be tight."

After tasting the cake, she said:

"Your sponge is really soft. I don't know how your cake, like, held up."

The Spring Baking Championship judge then criticized the sponge, stating she was not a fan of chewing on berry seeds. However, Nancy praised his ganache, making Paul hopeful.

"He's not a cake guy," Kardea told her co-panelists.

Although his cake landed him in the bottom two, he managed to evade elimination. Meanwhile, Kareem's journey on the show ended.

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Spring Baking Championship episodes are available to stream on MAX.