All language subtitles for mebarrys01e01

On next level, Baker, Gordon gave to me.

How did you make it?

I messed up my cake.

What's that time you want to eat?

Flavor? Dude.

Your cake's a party!

Grab something.

I hate to see puppet.

The air is sweet in the top kitchen.

Merry

Christmas,

guys, and good night.

Welcome.

This just feels like being a kid on
Christmas morning.

I grew up watching, making shows, and
now it's me.

Oh, my God.

I see the mentors, and my heart is...
Happy holidays. I'm having an

out -of -body experience. I literally
cannot believe I'm here right now.

to our first ever Next Level Baker.

Come on.

Come on!

This is my absolute favorite time of the
year, the best season for some amazing

baking, right?

Yes. Absolutely.

Now, everyone says that our kitchens are
intimidating.

So why don't we fill this place up with
some holiday cheer? Woo! Yes. Yes. On

the count of three.

One, two, three.

Let's go!

Amazing. Come on. How cool is this?

That is beautiful.

The tower is nothing short of magical.

And then you add twinkly lights. I'm
just obsessed.

Joining me for this amazing season are
two giants in the world of baking.

First is someone you all know and love.
An acclaimed chef, best -selling author,

and the host of some of your favorite
baking competitions.

Give it up for Carla Hall. Come on.

Yes, yes, yes. I love you.

Extremely happy to see Carla Hall. I
watch her on TV all the time. I want to

have a conversation with her and just
pick her brain. I'm an avid watcher of

Next Level Chef, so I can't wait to see
what you all do at Next Level Baking.

This is going to be sweet and lovely.

Now, on my other side, she's a prolific
entrepreneur.

and the creator of one of the most
successful cupcake brands in history,

founder of Sprinkle Cupcakes. Give it up
for Candice Nelson, everybody.

Come on.

Sprinkle me. Sprinkle me. Sprinkle me.

I am all about baking all year round,
but I am especially excited to kick this

off for the holidays.

Candice is my baking entrepreneur idol.

She was the woman who created the
cupcake vending machine.

I am just in awe of her. She's
incredible.

Now, listen up, all of you. You've been
chosen from the nation's top

professional bakers, those incredible,
influential social media stars, and, of

course, the finest home bakers in the
country.

Over the next three weeks, Candice,
Carla, and myself will be pushing all of

harder than you've ever been pushed
before.

But remember, no matter how talented you
are, where you bake will seriously

affect how you bake.

Bakers on the top level will be working
with state -of -the -art equipment and

prime ingredients.

But wind up in the basement, and you
will be faced with substandard tools and

bottom -of -the -barrel ingredients.

And here's the good news. The baker who
pulls it off will be walking away with

an amazing holiday bonus of $25 ,000.

Talk about a good one.

Plus, an incredible Hexad prize package.

But most importantly, our winner will be
crowned our first ever next level

baker.

Who's it going to be?

Me.

Let's get it. The holidays are when
families come together to celebrate and

enjoy incredible baked goods. Yeah. So
listen up for your first challenge.

You'll have 60 minutes to create a
delicious family holiday favorite.

And you're going to be using one of the
most versatile ingredients on the

planet.

Chocolate. Come on.

Who doesn't love chocolate?

Crazy people, that's who. I don't see
any crazy people out there.

No. Take a look over here. Under this
tree are three wrapped presents.

Inside each one is the level on which
your group will be starting the

competition.

Homebakers, you're up first. Choose one
person to come up and pick out a

present. Go, Jeff. Come on, Jeff. No
pressure.

Pick the basement.

Love that.

Come on. Love that.

Look at you thinking that's a Tiffany
box.

Right. Social media chefs, who's coming
up to grab a present? Chloe, you got it.

Come on, Chloe. Take good. I already
know the big one, scary.

No basement.

So I just go with my favorite bet, top
floor. And I'm hoping that it's a

Christmas miracle.

Pros, probably need two of you.

Right.

Time for the unveiling.

Pro, lift up your box. Find out what
level you're cooking on. Top level, top

level, top level.

Middle kitchen. Go!

That tastes good.

Not bad at all.

Oh, my. Oh, Lord.

Social media.

You got the medium present.

Top kitchen.

Yes!

I really needed this.

Home chef, unfair. We know where you're
going, but let's confirm it.

Basement kitchen.

I guess horrible things come in small
packages.

Listen up. At the end of this first
bake, one pro, one social media, and one

home baker will be heading home for the
holidays.

Did this just get real for some of you?
Yeah.

All of you, head to the elevator. We'll
meet you in your kitchen shortly. Good

job, Chloe.

Oh, my God.

We're out here.

Good luck, Chef.

Okay. All right, let's go. Oh,

my gosh, you guys.

Look at that doll.

The very first thing I see is this
little creepy doll saying, welcome to

basement. Happy Christmas.

Look at this mess.

Pretty much everything in the basement
feels kind of like that doll.

These are all bent. Everything is so
wonky. I mean, it's kind of fun to

such a vintage place.

They didn't even clean the grease off.

That's our job.

You got good stuff. I'm sad to not be at
the top level, but

this middle kitchen is still a step up
from my bakery, so I'm ready to go.

I want to live in here.

Oh,

my God.

Oh, my God.

I have won the lottery.

We have everything we need.

Everything is state of the art.

Some of this stuff, I don't even know
how to use it. So take me to the top and

leave me there.

It's so Christmassy. Oh, my God.

excited for you all. You cannot forget,
grab the chocolate on top.

They're coming.

Oh, my God.

Hi, bakers. Hi, everybody.

The challenge is chocolate.

Chocolate's my love language.

You guys got to speak it to me.

Go. Come on.

Are we good?

Do not be put off by the basement.

Now, we may be down, but we're not out,
right?

When that platform comes down, we're
going to get what they don't want.

But I've seen food come out of this
basement.

Michelin star.

Right. Line up against that elevator.
Let's go, guys.

There's something quite unique about
chocolate, because there are so many

avenues. Whether it's beautiful
finishes, the chocolate frosting, the

there's always a showstopper with
chocolate dessert.

Stay until you see the platform light up
green. Green means go.

Here it comes, guys.

Wait for it to turn green.

Go. Come on.

Yes, get in there. We are on the top
level with all of the really fancy

ingredients. Get your chocolate.

I saw some, like, really, really crappy
chocolate, and then, boom, there is some

quality milk chocolate over there.
Zohan, get your chocolate.

I'm looking at the ingredients, but I am
at a blank.

No, no, no.

Okay, ten seconds. Make sure you're
taking the entire thing. Okay, what's

on? What I got to get? Nikki, don't
leave it up there. Come on. Oh.

You got all that stuff?

Holy cow.

I did not get enough. That platform, it
come fast and it leave fast.

Oh, Lord.

Here comes that platform.

What's happening here?

Oh, my God, oh, my God, oh, my God.

I know that the people upstairs have
already grabbed all of the good stuff,

I quickly see the Mexican spice
chocolate.

That's you.

Because I'm Mexican -American, I feel
like my ancestors, like, brought this

literally from the heavens for me.

Man, I definitely want you. Five
seconds.

Oh, my God. Platform won't be here
forever.

I don't know what I want. I don't know
what's happening.

All right, that's it. That's what we
got.

This is crazy.

Go, guys. Let's go.

Go, go, go.

Chocolate first.

Because we're at the bottom, the only
thing left is chocolate syrup. Oh, come

on. Chocolate syrup. Oh, my gosh.

I knew it was going to be bad because
the vultures are picking higher up, and

got scraps.

You want the chocolate powder? You sure?

Yes. I'm not going to serve the mentors
chocolate milk, so this has to be turned

into something else.

Grab, grab, grab, grab, grab.

Well done.

Your 60 minutes starts right now.

All right, Zoha, I see that you are
meticulously separating your frozen

cherries. I wish I had gotten, like,
fresh cherries. I don't love the frozen.

went by really fast. All right, tell me
what you prepped.

Okay, so I got semi -sweet chocolate
chip cherries, so I'm going to make a

forest withdrawal.

I'm from Pakistan, and we have black
forest cakes in every bakery, and I want

make a grown -up, better version of it.

When I decided to leave my very well
-paying job, and start baking.

My dad was very much like, don't leave
your job.

But to have one million plus followers,
I still can't believe it.

I love being a mom, but content creation
with a baby is definitely very

different.

His name is Mikhail, and he's a cutie.
It's been a day, but I miss him.

So you are going to put a whipped cream
topping into a cake that has to cool

completely before it comes together.
Wish me luck.

Hey, Nikki.

Hey. So tell me what you got. I got the
chocolate bar.

Okay. So I'm thinking a German chocolate
cake, but I needed evaporated milk.

Okay. So now I'm in trouble. You can
have a plan in your head, but I think to

see something that could turn into
something else is how you play the game.

You're right about that.

All right, Justin.

Hello. Tell me what you grabbed, first
of all. A whole lot. I wasn't thinking.

Dark chocolate and strawberry.

Something to do.

Chocolate mousse.

with a strawberry compote as an insert.
So you need to add some acid to balance

all those flavors.

Okay. I'm just saying. You're stressing
me out now. I don't need to stress you

out. I got you.

Okay. Mentors, they're expecting good
desserts. They're expecting holiday

I got to pull my A game.

So being a social media baker, I
celebrate all the holidays, and

favorite. My family, we have traditions.
Like, we wake up super early, like 5 a

.m., and we always eat cinnamon rolls,
and then we wait to see what Santa

brought us.

Yes, I'm 22, and I still get up for
Santa.

It never has to end.

Oh, I'm stressed.

That's okay. You have chocolate on your
face. You look delicious. Oh, my God. Of

course I do.

Fifty minutes to go, bakers. Holy crap.

Starting to smell like the holidays.

Woo! Look at that peanut butter. I
thought I was going to have to make this

scratch here. Aubrey, what do you have
in store for us? I'm going to fold

actually all these goodies into the
peanut butter and make a filling. So

basically be like brownie filling
brownie. This is pro work.

You're serving the best. You better have
your together.

Okay, moving right along.

Chad, how you doing?

I'm going to do a nice white chocolate
whipped ganache and then a traditional

pecan pie filling. Probably throw a
little bit of raspberry compote in

Love the idea of the acidity from the
raspberries to balance the white

chocolate, and that pecan pie filling is
pure nostalgia.

Thank you, Chef.

I'm Marixa. Hello, come on.

Do you have a plan?

Yes, I do. I'm making brownies. This is
very much nostalgic to me, and my mother

means the world to me, so hopefully she
sees this and she's like, ah, a little

bit of her today.

My earliest holiday baking memory is
probably helping my mom make tamales.

Now I have a fun job. I get to taste
pastries all day.

At my bakery, we have three J3
nominations.

I was a finalist. If I win, I'm hoping
that I get to go back home and celebrate

with my mom and my dad.

I'm going to be emotional because I love
my parents.

They'll come in and help me just doing
dishes.

I'm here for them.

My parents are like my superheroes.

You need to wow us with the flavor
because someone is going home.

Um, don't hate me if I don't make it to
the next one.

Guys, I know the ingredients weren't the
best down here, but if you want to get

that top -like kitchen, then you've got
to cook your way out of that. This is

crazy. Stephanie, what did you get,
chocolate -wise? I got chocolate kisses.

You going to melt them? No, I might make
a little ganache out of them. That's

the toffee. Be careful.

How are you going to finish them off?

Yeah, so this is going to be like a
wreath cake. Focus, getting it

beautifully done.

Right, Michael, tell me about this dish.
What are you going to do? I'm almost

thinking about baking almost like a
marshmallow.

Okay, that's a nice idea. It might be
kind of fun. The love of baking comes

where? How did we start?

When my wife was ill, she passed away.
I'm sorry. I used a baker or something.

For her, whilst she was ill. Yeah.

After she passed away, I kind of kept
doing it.

I started baking when my wife,
Elizabeth, was diagnosed with breast

I wanted to cheer her up.

Every holiday after Christmas, She would
donate to different charities. And so

if I won that $25 ,000, I would follow
in her footsteps and donate.

All right, guys, here comes our first
holiday surprise.

Who's coming down on TV?

Ho, ho, ho.

Everyone grab one sake.

Hurry up, hurry up. It's going to keep
going. Hurry up, grab something.

Ho, ho, ho. Oh, yo.

You all must use one ingredient that is
in your stocking in your bait. Okay.

Girl, you must have been nice. Santa has
delivered.

What did you get that you were so
excited about?

Drink whip.

Okay. This is like evaporated milk. Look
at you.

Look at you pivot. Now, don't forget to
taste.

It's just a lot of sweetness.

Right. Ho, ho, ho.

A very special guest has arrived.

Ho, ho, ho.

Oh, my God. Everyone must grab one
stocking.

What the hell am I doing with this look
who's coming down

That kind of works. That kind of works.

Sandra, what did you grab in the
stocking? I got dulce de leche. I was

do cookie crumble in between.

I think I might just heat up the almonds
with the dulce de leche to add as a

layer of the trifle.

Gotcha. Honestly,

I feel like it's going to whip it pretty
fast. Like, my help with the heavy

cream. 40 minutes left.

Let me check on my cake.

I'm going to have to make my cake again.

My cake is raw.

I messed up my cake.

I think it was slightly underdone.

Oh, no!

Doha, do you have to make it over? Do
you want to pivot? You have 40 minutes

left. I'm going to just make this as
soon as I can. Time was always of the

essence, but it's really of the essence
right now. I can't waste a single

breath. So, it's pressed out.

35 minutes.

So, it's pressed out.

Why? First of all, think about how
quickly you got that in the oven and you

it made. You got that. I know. I have to
make it even quicker now.

Yep. You absolutely have to.

30 minutes, everyone.

Winston,

what do we got?

I'm getting some truffle in there.

Struggling with what I'm going to do,
but I'm going to figure it out. I'm

worried about the truffle because I've
never used it in dessert before, but

also something that I really like to
eat.

You're going to pull this off? It's
going to be Jamaican magic.

It's going to be Jamaican magic.
Jamaican magic. Yeah, man.

I am the proudest Jamaican you will find
on this earth. In my family, at

Christmas time, one of the things I
remember the most is we had a very small

Christmas tree, and it was so short that
we had to put it on cinder blocks that

was wrapped in Christmas paper. So
whenever time I smell a plastic

tree, it brings me right back to my
childhood days.

Save some of that for dinner later, too.

You got to get those big ends so they
have time to cool.

Someone got an oven open. You know that?

Marissa, your oven's open. The last
thing we need is any heat loss from this

oven. It needs to bake.

It's not the time for mistakes.

Last five minutes, y 'all. Show us what
you're made of. Make it beautiful.

And don't forget about a little salt.

I call salt compliments.

Y 'all know why?

Why? Because if you don't use it, you
ain't going to get no compliments.

That would be the quickest stroll I've
ever made in my life. Doha, it's coming

together. Would your followers not like
that?

My followers are really nice.

Guys, three minutes to go. Did we good?

Yeah.

Oh, come on. Did you break it? Yep.

Bring it home, Michael. Come on, you got
that. All right, well, that's what I

can do here.

Two minutes left.

Decorate that plate.

Make it look nice. One of you is headed
home for the holiday. Let it not be you.

You look terrible.

I'm just disappointed.

Platform's moving, guys.

Put it on there. Good.

Platform's here.

Oh, it's here. Go, go, go, go, go, go,
go, go, go. Oh, we go.

Well done.

Good job, man. Good job.

Good job.

Here comes that platform.

You don't want to miss it. Bugger.

My brownies are hot. Hopefully don't
turn everything on top in the soup.

Platform is here. Get those desserts on.

Come on, guys. Don't let me down.

Chad, get on there now.

Mercy, you've got to go.

Anyone ever played it on the platform?
Get her on there. Thank you for that.

Okay, bye.

See ya.

The platform is coming, guys. The
platform is here. Everybody, get your

there. Get your dishes on there.

Justin, where's your other one?

It's got to go. It's got to go. Oh, come
on. Come on.

Y 'all did it. It's not easy.

No, this was no cakewalk.

Right, first off, well done, all of you.
We are excited to try your holiday

-inspired bake.

This is how excited I am. I love that.

Shall we start in the basement with the
home bakers? Yes.

This is Stephanie's sugar cookie cake
with a chocolate ganache with the little

kisses. It's a gorgeous buttercream from
chocolate kisses.

Soft, buttery, rich.

I'm actually shocked that this was
cooked in the basement.

It's gorgeous.

So this is Michael's cake and
florentines.

Dipped in a chocolate and caramel sauce.

Garnished it with a sort of festive
sprig of rosemary. I would have loved

rosemary to be candied or something.
Yeah, the rosemary reminds me of a

bit of a Christmas tree. I'm not going
to lie.

This is Jeff's chocolate tart.

Very dense.

Yes, just a little underbaked.

Next up, Deidre's brown butter brownie
trifle.

In her stocking, she got some dulce de
leche.

You can take the top. Yep. The flavors
are nice. I wanted a little more salt

because it's really sweet. Yeah, what a
shame. Middle floor?

I was working with the pros.

Okay. So first up, we have Chad's pecan
pie and a white chocolate

mascarpone mousse.

For me, the pecan pie says the holidays.

Absolutely. Pastry cooked beautifully.

Really nice. Very good. Wow.

Next up.

We have Marixa's brownies. And what is
that on top? Chocolate spice whipped

cream and puffed rice.

It does taste a little bit under. And
you can tell that it was still piping

when the cream went on.

Yeah. Put that on the side next time.
Next up, we have Aubrey's fudge brownie

peanut butter bar crunch.

Very peanutty.

Very, very. Could use a glass of milk
with this. Need it. Mm -hmm.

Finally, this is Winston's chocolate
trifle with Jamaican spiced chocolate

mousse and some truffles.

Truffle? Oh.

Just a touch.

I know.

Ooh. Can you find that cake in there?
Did you get it? Did you get to the

I'm scared to go to the bottom of that
one.

My palate's blown out by the truffle, so
it's hard to navigate anywhere else.

Okay, shall we move to the top level?
Shall we?

With the social media chef.

All right, so first up is Doha's Black
Forest.

Swiss roll. Mm -hmm. This was Zoha's
second cake.

Let's see if we have that roll.

Wow. And we do.

That looks incredible. Perfect slice.
This is the second one. With like 35

minutes left, she made another cake.

Is it a ganache?

Yep, it's a ganache.

That's delicious.

That's really nice. Good comeback.

Next up is Justin's dark chocolate
mousse.

With sweetened strawberries.

Mm -hmm.

The mousse is so rich. It's very rich.
It's a balance.

At a minimum, it needs to look good. But
it doesn't look that elegant. What a

shame. All right, so we have Chloe's
chocolate ganache -filled tart.

The pastry crust is delicious. Mm -hmm.
Nice and crisp, and the chocolate works

really well.

Lastly, we have Nikki's German chocolate
cake.

It's a coconut pecan frosting, very
classic.

Mm -hmm.

German chocolate cake is sweet. This is
sweet, but maybe a hit more salt to

balance that out.

Yeah, listen, the sponge is delicious.
Just be careful, the sweetness.

Wow, great first tasting.

Candice and Carla and I have a lot to
discuss.

Excuse us.

Thank you.

That was brutal.

60 minutes?

Yeah. First taste, I think it's setting.

So I was in a tizzy the entire time, but
I thought the roulade really turned out

well. It was an honor to bake with you
guys. It was so much fun. Rick says...

Spiced brownie would have been amazing
if it had just had a little bit more

in the oven. Yes.

It's a shame that, unfortunately, we
have to pick our bottom three, one from

each kitchen. Are we in agreement?

Shall we? Each and every one of you made

an incredible first effort today, so
keep your heads up high.

However, one baker from each level sadly
will be going home tonight.

It wasn't easy, let me tell you. The
first individual heading home is...

One

baker from each level sadly will be
going home tonight.

The bakers heading home are...

Michael.

Justin.

And Winston.

Michael, Justin, Winston, say goodbye to
your teams, and please enjoy the

holidays with your families. Thank you,
guys. Thank you, guys. Thank you.

I'm going to keep representing, keep
pushing.

Better watch out for this Jamaican boy.

Shake it off. Let's bring some holiday
spirit back, okay?

Because three of you have just earned...

Cooking in that top level kitchen in the
next challenge.

Those bakers are Chad.

All right, Chad.

Stephanie.

And finally, Zoha.

Great job.

Well done, you three.

All right, three of you earned your way
to the middle level. Those bakers are

Nikki, Deirdre, and Chloe.

Well done. Of course. That means,
Aubrey, Jeff, and Marissa, you'll be

down in that dreaded basement.

Right. Ready for your next challenge?

Yes. You know what my favorite part of
the holiday season is?

It's all of the fabulous parties.

Absolutely. You may have guessed it.
Your next challenge is all about baking

with alcohol.

Here's the good news. The big man
himself has sent his trusted scout elves

spread some incredible festive cheer and
holiday magic. How cool is that?

Amazing. Okay.

And, Gordon, just so you know, Santa
sent a special scout elf to keep an eye

on you. Come on. Seriously? He wants to
make sure you end up on the nice list

this year. It hasn't happened.

Naughty. In 57 Christmases.

It's thick.

Right, let's get to it, shall we?

Yes. You'll have 75 minutes tonight to
create an exciting bake with alcohol.

This is a competition.

One of you will be leaving after this
bake. Make sure it's not you.

Head to the elevator. We'll see you
shortly. Good luck. Thanks, chef. Thank

Great job.

Definitely well done.

75 minutes.

I know, isn't it?

It feels like a luxury.

I know.

Okay. All right.

Let's get it.

Let's do this. Holy smokes. What is
this?

Our own oven? This is like the nicest
kitchen I've ever been in in my life.

Wow.

I can handle this.

Okay. There are a lot of elves.

Look at these cuties.

My sister does elf on a shelf for my
nephew and my niece, and he's done a lot

of, like, silly, funny things. I'm not
stoked to be in this kitchen, but I'm

hoping that the elves can create some
magic in here.

I can't wait to use you, you little
funny thing.

Good luck.

Hi, Baker.

Hello. How are we feeling? A little
scared, I feel like. There's nowhere to

but up. Yeah. That is true.

Oh, we're back together again.

Nikki, when that platform comes down, I
need you to get some stuff. I'm ready.

Right.

Let's go.

Feeling good? Yeah.

You've got the pick of the litter. Okay.
Don't be smart.

Right. Let's go. Line up against the
door.

Let's go.

75 minutes to create an exciting, boozy
Christmas treat.

Three, two, one.

Let's go.

Look at that.

Okay. So we're going to go here.

You guys see the alcohol free?

Obviously, I'm Muslim. I don't drink
alcohol. So I do not know what alcohol

tastes like. Here's alcohol free right
there. But I'm somehow going to make it

work. There you go. You got it.

Okay, tummy.

Tummy, y 'all.

Go. Come on.

Now remember, pick balance. Think about
acid. Think about how you're going to

balance that alcohol.

I'm feeling really good. One thing I do
know is boo.

Still grab things.

Okay, can you grab something? It helps
that you're tall, girl. Yes.

Long arms. Okay.

Make sure you're grabbing alcohol. Up
the top of the platform. Green, green,

green. Go, go, go.

Okay, that's it. Is that a beer?

I think so.

I don't ever drink beer, so this is
probably worst -case scenario for me.

Just grab what you can. You're going to
make magic out of it.

Booze filled chocolate.

Going, going, gone.

Oh, my God. I don't even know where I
grabbed.

I don't know what to do with this beer.
The panic of this beer has set in and

is, like, not letting go of me.

All right, bakers.

Your time starts now.

Does anybody see the teaspoon?

No, I don't have one.

All right, Marikza. Hello.

How are you feeling?

I got alcohol freaked out. It is not
something that I drink normally.

Right. So it's a little nerve -wracking,
but I'm thinking fruitcake. I'm going

to do like a wreath.

How to shoot. And you're going to have
enough time to do that? I'm hoping so.

Okay, sounds good. I'm not looking to go
home. I'm not looking to be at the

bottom like I was last time. That's
right.

Bakers, get to work. Let's go.

All right, Jeff.

What are we planning to do with that box
wine?

I'm planning to make a mulled wine sauce
to go over an apple cake.

Okay. All right. Box wine looks scary,
but you've got a plan.

I think we're going to get out of the
basement with this one.

All right, Aubrey. I'm going to do a
crostata. Okay. And an apple pear

basically. Calvados is made with apples.

I love that.

Hello. Hello, Miss Chloe. So I'm going
to be making spice cake. Okay. And to

that I'm going to add a cranberry
compote and make an Irish cream liqueur

buttercream. How's it going? My
buttercream's ending up a little bit

than it should.

Okay. Did you use room temperature
butter? I did. Cold butter's better.

will give your butter stability.

50 minutes left. All right, Nikki.

I see that you wrapped more items this
time. What did you wrap?

Amaretto. Okay, so what are you making
with this? I'm going to make an eggnog

parfait with the ginger snap base.

What makes your eggnog noggy?

That booze I put in there, and I'll put
a little bit more nutmeg. It doesn't

take too much, so you just need a tiny,
tiny bit. We are encouraged to taste,

aren't we? Yeah, we are. What about
that?

Okay, girl. Get it, girl.

Come on, you're encouraged.

Hey, I act first.

I am Nikki J, the diva, the queen, the
60 -year -old powerhouse. I have been

going viral before viral was even cool.

My daughter's wedding cake went viral
during the wedding, and overnight I got

orders from so many celebrities.

Baby, I'm the queen of social media.

I'm the queen of the bakery. I was just
born a queen. I don't know why my mama

didn't name me queen.

Carla! Oh, God, yeah?

We good?

How'd it go down there? Let me tell you,
we have some really great stuff.

And what about the boozy celebration?

Nikki's celebrating more than anybody.
She loves a boozy jam. I love that.

Yeah, drinking and thinking.

Love that. Thank you.

Zohar, tell me about the dish. What are
you doing?

So I'm going to do a chocolate pecan
caramel tart, and hopefully there will

some tempered chocolate decoration.

Gotcha. Smart, smart, smart.

Right, Shaz. Yes, Chef. Let's go, my
man. So I'm going to do a port wine,

apple tatin. Working on my poaching
liquid right now.

Right, and you've got cooking apples,
right? Yes.

Traditionally, we're using those cooking
apples for puree. But hey, always got a

lot.

And where have you seen this before?

I mean, I've dreamed about it, so let's
see what we can do here. Well, let's

hope this is a happy dream.

Right, Stephanie, what is it? Okay, so
this cake is a festive eggnog cake. It's

got a little bit of the bourbon in the
cake. How many layers are you doing?

Shooting for three. And you're going to
get three done?

I think so. Love it, love it, love it.
I'm going for it.

Give me an insight to Stephanie's
household around the holidays. I have

kids, and it's just really, really fun.

I'm completely self -taught.

When my kids were young, I would watch
baking shows, and I realized, like, oh,

my goodness, I love to bake. And I was
like, maybe this is a gift.

I was encouraged by family and friends
to start a home bakery business.

And then all of a sudden I had strangers
wanting to order.

My husband and I had always talked about
opening a bakery.

We sold our house to finance the
business and moved our family into like

tiny rental for a year. We have this
big, beautiful, chaotic family.

It has been a wild ride.

But honestly, it's all been worth it.

This is so messy.

My hands are going to be green.

Patashou is temperamental.

Usually, they look tall and puffy. I
would get in the oven soon, though, if

you're not.

If they don't have enough time in the
oven, they're going to sink.

Brick it.

20 minutes to go.

20 minutes to go.

So pretty.

Stephanie, we good? Yeah. I'll use a
little bit of bourbon in the compote.

Absolutely incredible.

Good luck.

Yeah, baby.

What the?

I pick up my apples with a spoon and
quickly realize that they're

No, no, no.

That's perfect.

Such a stupid mistake.

Cut. You good?

I picked my apples up. You've what?

They have disintegrated in my poaching
liquid, Chef.

Remember I said to you earlier, they're
just for pure ice. So they do just all

of a sudden go. I know. I'm turning it
into a pear titan. A pear titan. Same

concept. I won't over poach this.

This is obviously going down to the
wire. I know I need every single second

poach these pears.

A little scared.

Y 'all are looking good.

Chloe punching out her cakes.

My buttercream smoothed out. Nice. I
love it. Big, beautiful buttercream

Erecta. Yep, we're deflating.

Are we crisping them up now?

Yes. I'm just trying to crisp them.
Okay. At this point, I swear I'm better

this.

My pastry thinking and my heart is
thinking with it. Guys, let's start

Two minutes left. The platform waits for
no one.

Platform's going.

60 seconds to go, guys. Platform's gone.

Get everything on those plates and make
it beautiful, yes? Let's go.

Bring it home, guys.

The platform is moving. No time to
waste.

Get your bags on the platform. Let's go,
go, go.

Aubrey, 10 seconds.

Good queen.

Well done, makers.

Make it nice.

I'm going to add ginger snaps.

I stuck it in like a cocktail. Yeah, it
looks like a cocktail.

All right, the platform is coming.

Where are we?

Oh, my God.

Okay. All right.

Go ahead, girl. Go ahead. You deserve a
drink. Oh, my God.

Literally, I love it. Can I drink some
of that? He's passing around.

All right, chefs, we're here.

Okay, guys, we're going. Come on, come
on, come on.

You're going to miss that platform go.
It's going to go. I don't have any

chocolate. Five seconds.

Four, three, two, one, and go. Well
done.

That's beautiful.

Wow.

These incredible holiday -inspired bakes
look festive and exactly what you want

to see for the holidays.

But sadly, we do have to send somebody
home.

Right, so we start at the very top on my
level. First off, a Stephanie.

Stephanie, you bourbon.

Inspired by eggnog funfetti cake.

Get it, girl.

Okay, Stephanie.

Look at you.

Up in the game.

Okay, sorry.

Dig in, please.

Help me take it.

The crumb is so tender.

It's inspiring.

The amount of work that went into this
across 75 minutes is exceptional.

Great start.

Right, next up.

Zohar made a chocolate and caramel pecan
tartlet with non -alcoholic rum.

There's an ooey -gooey quality to this
that is also just very decadent, yet so

refined.

Last up, it's Chad's take on a pear
tartletan.

I'm not going to lie, it looks like a
pear tata taco.

This young man pivoted, had a slight
problem with the original apples, went

pear. Oh, those pears, that sounds like
they're undercooked.

Yeah, they look a little firm. A little
crunchy.

Middle level, what have you got? These
are Nikki's amaretto eggnog parfaits.

That's a boozy bite.

Yeah, a lot of booze. A lot of booze. A
lot of sugar.

The ginger, did we make these on top?

We did not make these.

What a shame.

These are from Chloe.

Spiced cakes with Irish liqueur
buttercream made to look like a hot

look beautiful and they taste elegant.

Next up, spiced apple cupcakes cooked by
Deidre. I mean, a cupcake at first

glance seems very simplistic, but you
really made it artful.

Yeah. Come on down to the basement.

Look at these.

What is that?

We're going to start with Murex's pate a
choux wreath without fig compote.

Are they undercooked?

Yeah. Damn.

This one falls flat, sadly.

Literally. The choux pastry is
undercooked.

Next up is Jeff's apple cake with mulled
wine sauce.

Looks festive. He grabbed the bagged
wine, which I thought was kind of a

grab, but he worked it out. It's taking
bad ingredients and turning it into

something amazing.

Thank you. Last up, this is a Calvados
apple pear crostata.

It looks beautiful.

Rustic, full of charm. Wow. And it feels
so effortless. Yes. But just is packed

with flavor.

We've got a lot to talk about, let me
tell you. We need a moment. Thank you.

Oh, God.

Stunning, stunning, stunning.

What a way to celebrate the holidays. It
really was.

I feel like I got to step up my game now
because you're whipping out. Are you

kidding me? What you made? I'm like. The
crostata.

There were clearly some that weren't as
good.

Yep. I did the best with what I was
given.

I'm still so nervous.

Sorry to see any baker go, but it is a
competition. I make all these things at

home, but I make them in the thousands.
I think that threw me for like the

biggest loop.

There was one bake from each today that
stood out from the crowd.

Those three bakers are headed to the top
level in the next challenge.

And those are Stephanie, Aubrey, Walt.
Okay, cool. And Chloe.

Well done, guys. Well done.

This is the greatest Christmas gift I
ever could have asked for. Now, three of

you all are safe and have earned a spot
in the middle kitchen. Those bakers are

Zoha, Deidre, and Jeff.

Well done.

Just getting out of the basement.

Finally.

Which means, unfortunately, Marixa,
Chad, and Nicky, sadly, one of you

is heading home early for the holidays.

Holy smokes.

It could be the end.

The baker leaving us today is...

Marixa.

I'm excited to, like, spend the holidays
with my family. I'm ready to be cozy

and drinking eggnog with them.

Wish your husband and your parents a
happy holiday for us. Take care. Safe

travels back.

Wow. What a competition this is turning
out to be.

Get some rest, because things are about
to get spicy.

Well done.

Next time on Next Level Baker.

It's like Rockefeller Plaza in here.

Go, go, go, go, go.

These desserts seem to be perfect.

Damn, damn, damn. One wrong move and
everything's going to come crashing

You're in trouble.

Are you ready for the perfect thing for
egg whites?

Oh, no. Where'd it go? Somebody poached
your whipped cream?

Oh, no, no, no, no, no.

That was not good.

It was so bad.

Do I go home now?

Seriously?

What the hell is going on?