With the surprise elimination of Kathy last week, who will become new front runners to the finale. As you might recall, I think I predicted Kathy would be in the final three but she had a bad week last week and now she is gone. Right now, going into Spice Week, I think the front runners to finale are Loïc, Camila and Heather. My dark horse is Candice. Which means, I think Andrew is going home this week. Let us see if I am right.

Signature Bake

The Bake: Ras Malai Sliced Cake

The Time: 2 hours

What I would bake: I’ve never heard of this let alone how to spell. The show had to tell me how to spell it. But now that I know what it is, I probably being doing a cross between Camila and Heather. I would do a chocolate cardamom cake with a ginger buttercream. Topped with a cayenne chenna cream.

What the contestants baked and judges thoughts:

Camilla’s look amazing and sound amazing. Definitely want to try that.

• Andrew: Raspberry Saffron Ras Malai Cake made with saffron pastry cream, pistachio nutmeg sponge, and raspberry chenna cream. Bruno liked the colour and the consistency and he said all the flavours complimented each other.
• Camila: Chocolate with Cheese Ras Malai Cake made with cinnamon-clove chocolate cake, ricotta cream and clove-cayenne milk soak. They were impressed with the presentation and like the right level of spice.
• Candice: Masala Chia Ras Malai Cake made with vanilla-clove sponge, pistachio mascarpone chenna and masala chai milk soak. Kyla called them exquisite and called it a perfect cup of chai. Bruno liked the lightness of it.
• Heather: Crab Apple Ras Malai Cake made with five spice crab apple sponge chenna ginger buttercream and spiced pecans. Bruno liked her piping milk and enjoyed the crab apple filling but said it could have used more spices. Kyla wanted more soak.
• Loïc: Horchata Ras Malai Cake made with orange blossom chenna and horchata milk soak. Bruno noted some inconsistencies and said that the orange flavour was overpowering. Kyla didn’t find any cardamom.

Technical Bake

The Bake: 12 x Jamaicain Patties with hot sauce on the side.

The Time: 2 hours

How I would have fared: I love eating these. I ate them when I was a teen even though they are quite spice. I think I would do well in this. I’ve dough like this before and the filling looks straightforward. I would say a top 3 finish for me.

How the bakers did:

1. Candice
2. Andrew
3. Heather
4. Camila
5. Loïc

Showstopper

The Bake: Spiced Cookie Architectural Wonder

The Time: 4 hours

What I would bake: The cookies will be a chocolate gingerbread cookie and a vanilla cardamom sugar cookie. I might do chai royal icing. In terms of my structure, I could do Hagrid’s hut.  I would surround the scene with some of the famous animals that Hagrid takes care of like a hippogriff and a dragon.

What the contestants baked and judges thoughts:

Except for maybe Loïc’s, everyone’s else’s showstoppers sound amazing in terms of the flavours. 

• Andrew: Dutch Treat made with chocolate gingerbread kransekake, anise cookies and cinnamon royal icing. Kyla loved the windmill design. Bruno liked the anise cookies and Kyla said the anise comes through. Bruno called the kransekake perfect. 
• Camila: Balcony in Bogota made with earl grey cardamom cookies, caramel windows and chocolate-pepper lace cookies. Both called with antique looking but Bruno noted the bare back of her showstopper. Bruno can taste the Earl Grey but not the cardamom. Both liked the chocolate lace cookies.
• Candice: Faces of Home made with maple gingerbread cookies, cinnamon royal icing and orange clove sugar cookies. Kyla admired her TO skyline and the Tanzinia skyline. Bruno said it was lacking some detail. Bruno liked the maple flavour but it was underbaked. Kyla really liked the orange clove sugar cookie.
• Heather: Notions and Potions Shop made with German spice mix gingerbread, snickerdoodle cookies and orange nutmeg royal icing. Kyla said it was very creative but noted it was leaning. Kyla noted the gingerbread was soft. Bruno liked the snickerdoodle but it also needed more baking.
• Loïc: Cookie Frigate made with apricot fennel lebkuchen, pink peppercorn sugar cookies and caramel ropes. Both admired the look of the showstopper but said the icing work was messy. Bruno said some of the cookies were over cooked. Kyla said the leckuchen was too spice.

Up for Star Baker: Andrew, Camila and Loïc

In danger of going home: Candice and Heather

Star Baker: Andrew

Going Home: Heather

Quick Thoughts: 

Wow. Andrew is definitely a late bloomer in this competition. My friend and I are texting back and forth about this and we consistently have been saying next week Andrew is going home and it would take a really bad week from a front runner for him to advance. Well, another strong baker had a bad week and Heather went home. Now I really don’t know who will be in the final three. I have to say that season 7 has been a surprising season and quite unpredictable.