''Halloween Baking Championship'' is an American cooking

competition Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum game). Competition can arise between entities such as organisms, indiv ...

show that premiered on

Food Network Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a joint venture and general partnership between Warner Bros. Discovery Networks (which holds a 69% ownership stake of the network) and Nexstar Media Group ( ...

on October 5, 2015. Like its sister show,

Holiday Baking Championship The ''Holiday Baking Championship'' is an American cooking competition series produced by Triage Entertainment and aired on Food Network. It airs from early November through late December, covering the U.S Thanksgiving and Christmas season. The f ...

, it's a seasonal program that runs for a few weeks (in this case, the month of October) and aims to crown the best baker of spooky, creepy desserts.

Rounds

Each episode has two rounds. The first round is the "Preliminary Heat" where the bakers are first told of their themes and get varying cook times (anywhere from 30 minutes up to 2 hours) to create a small pastry (usual cookies or small cakes). The person who wins the first round gets an advantage going into the next round, and aren't told until after the second round is announced (and sometimes they're not told until the middle of cooking in the second round). The advantage varies by episode (''Ex'': exclusive use of a certain baking mold/ingredient or first choice of a specific theme). The second round is called the "Main Heat" and the contestants get a considerably longer time to bake than the "pre-heat" (in the final round of the final episode they're given several hours to make a large confection). This larger dessert must fit a new theme presented (usually in the same vein as the pre-heat theme). The winner of the "Main Heat" advances to the next episode. One baker is eliminated every episode except for the last one. In the finale it's down to the final three or four contestants competing in a winner-take-all final round. The winner gets $25,000 and a spot In Food Network Magazine in season 4–5.

Host & Judges

Unlike its sister show,

, the panel of judges has changed consistently throughout the series (with the exception of Carla Hall). The first season was hosted by

Richard Blais Richard Blais (born February 12, 1972) is an American chef, television personality, restaurateur and author. He appeared on the reality show cooking show '' Top Chef'', and is known for his take on classic American cuisine. Blais was the runner ...

with chefs

Carla Hall Carla Hall (born May 12, 1964) is an American chef, television personality and former model. She appeared in the fifth and eighth seasons of ''Top Chef'', Bravo's cooking competition show. She was a cohost on ''The Chew'', a one-hour talk sh ...

, Ron Ben-Israel and

Sherry Yard Sherry Yard (born January 11, 1964) is an American chef, restaurateur and cookbook author. Career Yard has served as a chef in several Wolfgang Puck restaurants, including Spago, Rainbow Room and Tribeca Grill. She also served as chief operati ...

serving as judges. The second season saw Carla Hall as the only returning chef/judge. She was joined by Food Network personality Sandra Lee and

Damiano Carrara Damiano Carrara (born 22 September 1985) is an Italian chef, restaurateur and cookbook author who resides in Italy. Early life Carrara was born in Lucca, Tuscany. He served as a bartender at age 19 in his hometown before he continued bartending ...

to help judge, and comedian

Jeff Dunham Jeffrey Douglas Dunham (born April 18, 1962) is an American ventriloquist, stand-up comedian and actor who has also appeared on numerous television shows, including ''Late Show with David Letterman'', ''Comedy Central Presents'', ''The Tonigh ...

as the host. For seasons three through five, the show was hosted by John Henson. Lorraine Pascale and

Zac Young Zac Young (born 1982) is an American pastry chef and TV personality. He has been featured on various baking shows on Food Network and the Cooking Channel, most notably on '' Top Chef: Just Desserts'' and '' Unique Sweets''. He also appeared as a ...

joined Carla Hall as judges for the third and fourth seasons, while Katie Lee replaced Pascale for season five. For the sixth season Carla Hall returned not only as a judge but as the show's host, accompanied by Zac Young and Stephanie Boswell as judges. John Henson later returned to serve as host in 2021 for seasons seven and eight.

Series overview

References

External links

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