kids encyclopedia robot

Next Great Baker (season 1) facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
Quick facts for kids
Next Great Baker
Country of origin United States
No. of episodes 8
Release
Original network TLC
Original release December 6, 2010 (2010-12-06) – January 24, 2011 (2011-01-24)
List of Next Great Baker episodes

The first season of Next Great Baker was a fun TV show where talented bakers competed! It aired on TLC from December 6, 2010, to January 24, 2011. The big prize for the winner was $50,000 in cash, a brand new Chevrolet Cruze car, and a chance to work as an apprentice at Buddy Valastro's famous bakery, Carlo's Bake Shop in Hoboken, New Jersey.

Show's Exciting Start

Each episode of Next Great Baker kicked off with a playful food fight among the contestants. As the fun chaos unfolded, each baker was introduced. Near the end of this lively opening, Buddy Valastro, the show's host, would walk into the kitchen. He'd often say, "This is gonna get ugly!" just before getting hit in the face with a piece of cake!

Some parts of this opening were also used in commercials for the show. Early ads even featured the song Sugar, Sugar by The Archies playing in the background.

Meet the Talented Bakers

Ten amazing chefs joined the competition, each hoping to become the Next Great Baker. They came from different places and had various backgrounds in baking.

Contestant Age Hometown Baking Background
Brian Stevens 37 Austin, Texas Owns Crazy Cakes Inc.; Senior Artist for Sony Online Entertainment
Corina Elgart 32 Huntington, New York Owns "taste," a specialty cake shop
Dana Herbert 34 Bear, Delaware Owns Desserts By Dana; Head Chef for the Delaware River and Bay Authority
Greggy Soriano 26 Jersey City, New Jersey Wedding Cake Designer
Jay Qualls 42 Nashville, Tennessee President and Cake Designer of Maples Wedding Cakes
Joseph "Joe" Glaser 47 Brooklyn, New York Pastry Chef/Owner, La Bella Torte
Johanna Lyons 29 Hanson, Massachusetts Co-owner, Sugar Plum Bakery
Kendra Jordan 31 Emporia, Virginia Sixth Grade English Teacher
Megan Rountree 23 Keller, Texas Owns Legacy Cakes
Pamela Ahn 29 Washington, DC Electrical Engineer; Owns PamCakes

Contestant Journey and Results

This table shows how each contestant performed throughout the season. You can see who won challenges and who was eliminated each week.

Place Contestant Episode 1 Episode 2 Episode 3 Episode 4 Episode 5 Episode 6 Episode 7 Episode 8
Baker's
challenge
winner(s)		 Joe Megan Corina
Johanna
Megan
Pamela		 Megan Jay Jay - Dana
1 Dana IN HIGH WIN LOW WIN WIN WIN WIN WINNER
2 Megan HIGH WIN LOW LOW LOW LOW IN LOW RUNNER-UP
3 Corina IN LOW LOW LOW WIN LOW LOW THIRD
4 Brian IN IN WIN LOW WIN WIN OUT
Jay IN HIGH WIN LOW LOW WIN OUT
6 Joe LOW WD OUT
7 Greggy WIN IN WIN LOW OUT
8 Pamela LOW IN LOW OUT
9 Johanna HIGH LOW OUT
10 Kendra OUT
     WINNER: This baker won the entire competition!
     RUNNER-UP: This baker came in second place.
     THIRD: This baker placed third overall.
     WIN: The baker(s) won that week's main challenge.
     HIGH: The baker(s) did very well, but didn't win the challenge.
     IN: The baker(s) were safe and moved on to the next week.
     LOW: The baker(s) were in the bottom group, but were not eliminated.
     LOW: The baker(s) had one of the worst cakes among those who stayed.
     OUT: The baker(s) were eliminated from the competition.
     WD: The baker(s) chose to leave the competition.

Episode Highlights

Here's a quick look at what happened in each exciting episode of the first season.


Episode
Number		 Episode Title Air Date Eliminated Baker
1 1 "Celebrate Good Times, C'mon" December 6, 2010 (2010-12-06) Kendra
  • Baker's Challenge: Contestants made a baked dessert. Joe won with his rosemary olive oil cake and got immunity.
  • Elimination Challenge: Bakers created cakes celebrating a holiday or special moment. Greggy's Sweet Sixteen cake won. Kendra was eliminated for her simple football cake.
2 2 "Do Not Pass "Go"!" December 13, 2010 (2010-12-13) Joe
  • Baker's Challenge: Contestants baked cupcakes based on clues. Megan won with her devil's food cupcake.
  • Elimination Challenge: Teams made cakes for Monopoly's 75th Anniversary. Megan's team won. Joe chose to leave the competition because he felt he wasn't pulling his weight.
3 3 "Tis The Season To Be Jolly!" December 20, 2010 (2010-12-20) Johanna
  • Baker's Challenge: Boys versus girls teams built three-layered Christmas cakes. The girls finished first.
  • Elimination Challenge: Teams made tall Christmas cakes and an Italian dinner for a charity event. The boys' team won both parts, with Dana winning $10,000, which he shared. Johanna was eliminated because her cake design wasn't strong enough.
4 4 "It's Dyn-O-Mite!" December 27, 2010 (2010-12-27) Pamela
  • Baker's Challenge: Contestants cracked eggs, made pie shells, and sculpted chocolate flowers. Megan won immunity.
  • Elimination Challenge: Teams created cakes with special effects for a special effects company's anniversary. No one won because the special effects didn't work well. Pamela was eliminated for not being a good team player.
5 5 "3-2-1 Blast Off!" January 3, 2011 (2011-01-03) Greggy
  • Baker's Challenge: Bakers made fondant layer cakes with bows. Jay won and became a team leader.
  • Elimination Challenge: Teams made outer-space themed cakes for Buddy Jr.'s birthday. Corina's team won despite a chocolate cake that didn't taste great. Greggy was eliminated for his struggles with cake construction.
6 6 "Here Comes The Bride!" January 10, 2011 (2011-01-10) Joe
  • Baker's Challenge: Contestants decorated model wedding cakes. Jay won. Joe, who had left earlier, returned to the competition.
  • Elimination Challenge: Teams made wedding cakes for a bride. Dana's team won. The losing team had to remake their cakes. Joe was eliminated again because his teammates felt he wasn't contributing enough.
7 7 "Pedal To The Metal" January 17, 2011 (2011-01-17) Brian & Jay
  • Elimination Challenge: The remaining bakers made cakes based on the Chevrolet Cruze car. The winner of the season would also win a Cruze! Buddy felt the cakes weren't good enough, so he gave them extra time to make another baked good. Dana won and went straight to the finals. Brian and Jay were eliminated because their cakes weren't good enough.
8 8 "The Big Finale!" January 24, 2011 (2011-01-24) Corina (1) - Megan (2)
  • Baker's Challenge: The finalists cleaned a grease trap. Dana won.
  • Elimination Challenge: Contestants had 24 hours to bake many cookies, cakes, pies, and pastries, plus a cake celebrating Hoboken. They then had to sell their goods. Dana sold the most, and Megan came in second. Corina was eliminated for selling the fewest items.
  • Final Stage: Megan and Dana had four hours to finish their Hoboken cakes. They presented them to a live audience, including Buddy's mom and the mayor of Hoboken. Buddy chose Dana as The Next Great Baker! He received a special jacket and a cake shaped like himself.
kids search engine
All content from Kiddle encyclopedia articles (including the article images and facts) can be freely used under Attribution-ShareAlike license, unless stated otherwise. Cite this article:
Next Great Baker (season 1) Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.