Spring Baking Championship season 11 debuted on March 10, featuring 13 bakers from different backgrounds competing for the $25,000 cash prize. Among them is Priya Winsor, who is not only a pastry chef but also a chocolatier. She runs her own chocolate business called Compass Chocolates, specializing in handcrafted sweets.
Priya's journey on the show has not been without hurdles. Time constraints, challenging concepts, and competition from fellow bakers added to her worries. While her dishes and performance in the kitchen mostly received positive feedback from the judges, sometimes, it failed to leave a lasting impression.
From winning two pre-heat rounds to receiving negative feedback from the panelists, Priya had experienced many ups and downs while being on the show.
Spring Baking Championship's latest episode, which aired on April 14, saw Priya struggle to perfect a tiramisu. While she called it tiramisu, the panelists mentioned that it tasted like cake. Consequently, she found herself in the bottom two, facing the risk of elimination.
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Spring Baking Championship star Priya won the first pre-heat round of the competition
Priya presented tough competition to her co-bakers in the first episode of Spring Baking Championship itself, after she won the pre-heat round with her black forest cake, cherry mouse, and chocolate tree. The judges, Kardea Brown, Nancy Fuller, and Duff Goldman, were in awe of her artistry and complimented her for showing her skills in such a short time.
Consequently, she won the gift of time, earning herself an advantage over her competitors. For the main round, she prepared a hot toddy pie with honey rum cremeaux. Like the previous round, the Spring Baking Championship panelists complimented her decorations, but wanted more of the hot toddy flavor.
In episode 2 of Spring Baking Championship, Priya presented the panelists with a raspberry sponge with raspberry crunch, gelee, and mousse, when asked to create square fruit entremets in the pre-heat round. The experts were impressed by the "brightness" of the raspberry, but Nancy said she wanted more cake in it.
"You are really showing up and showing out!" Kardea said.
For the main round, a team challenge, the bakers faced a challenging task: creating two Minecraft-inspired cakes. Priya, teamed with Kareem, made a lemon poppy-seed chiffon with blackberry jam and lavender buttercream. Despite their efforts, the team's performance failed to deliver visually. Moreover, the flavors were not cohesive or complementary.
In the pre-heat round of episode 3 of Spring Baking Championship, the bakers were tasked with cooking madeleines and stacking them as a tower. Priya crafted a jasmine-madeleine with marbled royal icing. However, the experts said the dessert was "very bland." For the main heat, Priya prepared a raspberry cheesecake with a red velvet cake base, earning positive reviews.
In episode 4, the Spring Baking Championship bakers had to create faux egg desserts. Priya was excited about working with chocolate and hoped to win the challenge. She prepared a coconut dacquoise shell with a coconut mousse center, and a saffron and mango gelee "yolk."
"Absolutely stunning!" Nancy exclaimed.
Kardea added that it was the best dessert Priya had baked since being on the show. Consequently, she won the pre-heat round, earning herself the gift to trade ingredients. For the main round, where she had to create a dessert resembling a savory dish, Priya made a B.L.T. sandwich with pickled beets, using vanilla orange cake and poached pears.
Episode 5 of Spring Baking Championship saw Priya recreate her childhood dessert, the hummingbird mousse cake. While the judges appreciated the appearance, they said it lacked the banana flavor. In the main heat, Priya had to create a compass-clock-inspired top-front cake. It was a chocolate cake with salted chocolate caramel filling.
While the judges were pleased with the flavors, they believed the cake did not resemble a compass clock.
Episode 6 of the show saw Priya struggle to master the tiramisu. The judges criticized her for presenting a cake instead of a tiramisu, even though they liked its overall taste. Consequently, she landed in the bottom two and faced the danger of elimination. However, the judges decided to send Julian packing, disappointed with his performance in the main heat.
Watch Priya on Spring Baking Championship every Monday at 8 pm ET only on Food Network.
