For this year’s edition of The Great Canadian Baking Show’s Holiday edition, we’ve got four former winners vying to win their second cake plate. We have season 2’s Andrei, season 3’s Nataliia, season 4’s Raufikat and season 5’s Vincent.

All four excelled in their season so who will walk away as a two-time winner? My bet is on Raufikat but my second guess is Andrei.

Signature Bake

The Bake: Interpretation of Cookies and Milk in Tart form

The Time: 2 hours and 15 minutes

What I would bake: An Oreo cookie base and a eggnog latte custard filling. 

What the contestants baked and judges thoughts:

Nataliia and I are on the same page in terms of what we would bake. I know I would like her bake. I am familiar with the cookie that Raufikat is trying to replicate as that was a cookie my mom liked. And Andrei and Vincent’s tart sound amazing. 

• Andrei: Milky Way Tart made with chocolate whisky ganache, oatmeal cookie crust. tea panna cotta and sugar glass. Kyla called it beautifully set. Bruno noted it had a lot of whisky and said it was good. Kyla called it the perfect after dinner dessert and said it honoured milk and cookies
• Nataliia: Cookies and Eggnog Tart made with speculoos crust, carrot cookie and cream cheese and eggnog filling. Kyla called it festive and admired the cookies around the tart. Bruno liked the speculous and Kyla liked the addition of the eggnog.
• Raufikat: Jammy and Creamy Tart made with a vanilla raspberry crust, raspberry jam and basil and white chocolate mousse. Kyla said it looked delicious. Bruno noted that the moussed didn’t set but said it was tasty. 
• Vincent: Fortune Cookie Tart made with tofu chocolate mousse, dark chocolate ganache and topped with a fortune cookie. Bruno admired the piping and Kyla said the fortune cookie was perfect. Bruno liked the tofu mousse and Kyla liked the crust.

Technical Bake

The Bake: 12 x Sufganiyot donut. Half filled with strawberry jam and the other with pastry cream.

The Time: 1 hour and 45 minutes.

How I would have fared: I think my issue would be ensuring that they are filled correctly and also the deep frying portion. With no instructions on how to make the jam and pastry cream, I might struggle as I don’t make these on a regular basis. Other than that the bake is fairly straight forward. So I would say maybe middle of the back on this one.

How the bakers did:

1. Vincent
2. Nataliia
3. Raufikat
4. Andrei

Showstopper

The Bake: Baking Gift Exchange featuring elaborate desserts hidden inside handmade cookie boxes decorated for the season.

The Time: 4 hours and 15 minutes

What I would bake: 

I actually did an edible cookie box in 2019. It was made of gingerbread and filled with assorted sugar cookies in Christmas shapes, chocolate sugar cookies and chocolate chip cookies. I made it in the same shape as a cookie tin. I remember my first attempt failing because when I tried to make the tin, I didn’t quite bake it right and it just slumped. But this is my final result on the right.

What the contestants baked and judges thoughts:  

Seeing what Andrei wants to attempt with his showstopper, if he pulls it off, I would say just give him the second cake plate. But everyone’s looks and sounds impressive.

• Andrei: Miini Italian Bakeshop made with gingerbread to look a panettone box and filled with pistachip amaretti and chocolate cherry panettone and topped with pulled sugar. Kyla is floored with the look and called it genius. Bruno said the panettone you could find in Italy. Bruno called the amaretti perfect.
• Nataliia: Ukrainian Tribute made with gingerbread cookie house and inside is cream puff filled with white chocolate and mandarin ganache that is topped with a craquelin. Bruno liked the artistry of the cookie. Kyla liked the freshness of the cream puff and Bruno called it amazing work.
• Raufikat: Fruity and Nutty Jewelry Box made with spiced coffee cookie and filled with pineapple and frangipane tarts filled with pineapple and coriander jam and blonde chocolate. Bruno liked the beautiful presentation and Kyla admired the piping. Bruno liked the tart and Kyla said she could eat a dozen of them. Bruno liked the buttery cookie.
• Vincent: Warm and Frosty Holiday Gift made with tamarind-chili cookie and inside will be an ube sponge cake with coconut cream filling and topped with meringue snowmen. Bruno called the design elegant. Both liked the ube sponge. Kyla liked the heat of the cookie.

Up for the Season 7 Holiday Cake Plate: All 

Winner of the Season 7 Holiday Special: Andrei

Quick Thoughts: Andrei nailed all three challenges and based on the judges comments, it is not a surprise that he won his second cake plate.