Bake the Best Cake 18 Photos
Get the basics on how to mix, prep and bake your best cake ever.
Episodes
See Episode GuideUnicornucopia
With their plush tails, pointy ears, brightly colored manes and, of course, magical horns, there's a lot to love about unicorns. Duff Goldman and Valerie Bertinelli challenge the eight kid bakers to use their imaginations to create a unicorn cake that illustrates a specific emotion.
Lunchbox Impostors
Valerie Bertinelli and Duff Goldman have fond memories of the lunches they took to school as kids, so they're challenging the six kid bakers to look at lunch in a new way. From a PBJ sandwich to chicken nuggets to a turkey wrap, the bakers have to turn common lunchbox foods into lookalike dessert masterpieces.
Out of This World
Duff Goldman and Valerie Bertinelli bring the galaxy into the kitchen by asking the five kid bakers to make colorful and imaginative intergalactic desserts. And because astronauts in space eat freeze-dried foods, the bakers must also use freeze-dried ingredients in their out-of-this-world creations.
Sand Castle Sweets
With spring and summer approaching, Valerie Bertinelli and Duff Goldman are reminded of their favorite place to hang out -- the beach! To earn a place in the finale, the remaining four kid bakers are challenged to create a cereal treat sand castle filled with two different baked goods.
Cover Story Cakes
There's a very special event happening for the Kids Baking Championship finale -- a 10th birthday celebration for Food Network Magazine! It's every baker for themselves as Duff Goldman and Valerie Bertinelli challenge the three finalists to create a Food Network Magazine birthday cake worthy of the $25,000 prize and the title of Kids Baking Champion.
Lunchbox Impostors
Valerie Bertinelli and Duff Goldman have fond memories of the lunches they took to school as kids, so they're challenging the six kid bakers to look at lunch in a new way. From a PBJ sandwich to chicken nuggets to a turkey wrap, the bakers have to turn common lunchbox foods into lookalike dessert masterpieces.
Out of This World
Duff Goldman and Valerie Bertinelli bring the galaxy into the kitchen by asking the five kid bakers to make colorful and imaginative intergalactic desserts. And because astronauts in space eat freeze-dried foods, the bakers must also use freeze-dried ingredients in their out-of-this-world creations.
Sand Castle Sweets
With spring and summer approaching, Valerie Bertinelli and Duff Goldman are reminded of their favorite place to hang out -- the beach! To earn a place in the finale, the remaining four kid bakers are challenged to create a cereal treat sand castle filled with two different baked goods.
Cover Story Cakes
There's a very special event happening for the Kids Baking Championship finale -- a 10th birthday celebration for Food Network Magazine! It's every baker for themselves as Duff Goldman and Valerie Bertinelli challenge the three finalists to create a Food Network Magazine birthday cake worthy of the $25,000 prize and the title of Kids Baking Champion.
Bakin' with Bacon
It's no secret that Valerie Bertinelli loves lemon, but Duff Goldman's favorite ingredient is revealed in this season's kick-off challenge -- bacon cupcakes! Each of the 12 young bakers must make a cupcake featuring bacon and an assigned ingredient like maple, chocolate or cherry.
Spots and Stripes Forever
Duff Goldman and Valerie Bertinelli take the 11 young bakers on a safari of sweetness as they challenge them to create mini cheesecakes with colorful animal prints, from tiger and zebra stripes to leopard and giraffe spots.
Brownies vs. Blondies
Duff Goldman and Valerie Bertinelli raise the eternal question: Which are better, brownies or blondies? To settle the debate, they divide the 10 young bakers into teams for the brownies vs. blondies challenge.
Macaron Madness
Macarons are a wildly popular dessert, and macarons decorated with faces are a definite trend. Valerie Bertinelli and Duff Goldman challenge the nine young bakers to create macarons decorated with happy faces and sad faces.
Opposites Attract
Valerie Bertinelli and Duff Goldman put the eight young bakers in teams and challenge them to each make half a cake that combines with their teammate's half-cake to make a whole cake representing an opposites theme like fire and ice, night and day, land and sea or big and small.
Spots and Stripes Forever
Duff Goldman and Valerie Bertinelli take the 11 young bakers on a safari of sweetness as they challenge them to create mini cheesecakes with colorful animal prints, from tiger and zebra stripes to leopard and giraffe spots.
Brownies vs. Blondies
Duff Goldman and Valerie Bertinelli raise the eternal question: Which are better, brownies or blondies? To settle the debate, they divide the 10 young bakers into teams for the brownies vs. blondies challenge.
Macaron Madness
Macarons are a wildly popular dessert, and macarons decorated with faces are a definite trend. Valerie Bertinelli and Duff Goldman challenge the nine young bakers to create macarons decorated with happy faces and sad faces.
Opposites Attract
Valerie Bertinelli and Duff Goldman put the eight young bakers in teams and challenge them to each make half a cake that combines with their teammate's half-cake to make a whole cake representing an opposites theme like fire and ice, night and day, land and sea or big and small.
Freaky Flavors
Duff Goldman and Valerie Bertinelli are cooking up something unusual in the science lab ... it's the freaky flavor tarts challenge! Each of the seven young bakers must create a large tart featuring a freaky flavor like jalapeno, goat cheese, yuzu, pink peppercorn, anise, blue cheese or curry.
Monkey See, Monkey Bake
Valerie Bertinelli and Duff Goldman know that sometimes you can make something extraordinary out of ingredients you have at home. They challenge the six young bakers to turn packaged biscuit dough into dramatic and delicious monkey bread volcanoes.
Let's Taco About Baking
Dessert impostors come in all shapes and sizes, so Valerie Bertinelli and Duff Goldman challenge the five young bakers to make sweet dessert tacos that look like the real thing.
Puzzle Me This
It's always a puzzle to determine which three bakers will make it to the finale, and this season, Valerie Bertinelli and Duff Goldman are making it a sugar cookie puzzle. The four remaining young bakers must make sugar cookie puzzles in assigned flavors like raspberry, butterscotch, spice or lemon to earn a spot in the top three!
