Holiday Baking Championship Season 5

Complete season breakdown

Every episode and bake

Season 5 runs through seven complete episodes and fourteen challenges, moving from pumpkin spice and Thanksgiving bakes to rugelach, fruitcake reinventions, edible ornaments, and a surprise-inside gift-cake finale. This guide records each aired brief and includes one original home-kitchen rugelach adaptation.

1. Episode 1 · Pumpkin spice and yule logs

   Holiday Essentials

   Nov 5, 2018

   Pumpkin spice opens the season before each baker combines a yule log with an assigned holiday pie, cookie, or cheesecake and works brandy into the mashup.

   • Preliminary

     Pumpkin spice dessert

     Create an original dessert driven by pumpkin spice in 90 minutes.

   • Main

     Yule log and holiday-treat mashup

     In two hours, combine a yule log with an assigned classic such as pecan pie, Linzer cookies, or cheesecake, then incorporate brandy when the twist is announced.

   Episode source 1Episode source 2

2. Episode 2 · Thanksgiving pies and stuffed cakes

   Plenty of Gratitude

   Nov 12, 2018

   Teams divide one sheet pan into four different pies, then the bakers make cakes stuffed with seasonal fruit and a late addition of mint.

   • Preliminary

     Four-flavor sheet-pan pie

     Working in pairs, bake four distinct pies together in one sheet pan within two hours.

   • Main

     Seasonal stuffed cake

     Bake a cake with a visible fruit filling such as pear, cherry, apple, or blood orange in two hours, then incorporate mint into the finished dessert.

   Episode source 1Episode source 2

3. Episode 3 · Cranberry and coffee

   Turkey Day Delights

   Nov 19, 2018

   Cranberry is paired with an assigned seasonal flavor before coffee desserts take on unusual syrups and a required biscotti component.

   • Preliminary

     Cranberry and seasonal-flavor dessert

     In 90 minutes, make a dessert pairing cranberry with an assigned flavor such as rosemary, chocolate, pistachio, ginger, pumpkin, lime, or fig.

   • Main

     Coffee and flavored-syrup dessert

     Create a sweet coffee dessert in 90 minutes using an unconventional assigned syrup, then add biscotti when the twist is revealed.

   Episode source 1Episode source 2

4. Episode 4 · Decorated cream puffs and cakes

   Holiday Artistry

   Nov 26, 2018

   Holiday characters inspire cream-puff family displays, followed by hand-painted eggnog cakes with a separate holly decoration made without fondant or gum paste.

   • Preliminary

     Holiday cream-puff family

     Build a family of cream-puff characters in 90 minutes based on an assigned subject such as Santa, snowmen, elves, penguins, or reindeer.

   • Main

     Hand-painted eggnog cake

     Bake and hand-paint an eggnog cake in two hours, then add a separate edible holly decoration without using fondant or gum paste.

   Episode source 1Episode source 2

5. Episode 5 · Hanukkah and light desserts

   Light and Inspiring

   Dec 3, 2018

   Rugelach receive unexpected assigned flavors before each baker creates a tiramisu from two favorite ingredients chosen by one judge and a maple-syrup twist.

   • Preliminary

     Two dozen flavored rugelach

     Bake 24 rugelach in 90 minutes using an assigned flavor: chai, grapefruit, guava paste, cardamom, or peanut butter.

   • Main

     Tiramisu with judges' favorite ingredients

     Create a tiramisu in 90 minutes using an assigned pair such as dates and speculoos, vanilla and matcha, bourbon and apple butter, coconut and hazelnut, or coffee and ginger, then add maple syrup.

   Make our home version →Episode source 1Episode source 2

6. Episode 6 · Reinvented holiday classics

   New Family Classics

   Dec 10, 2018

   Pantry ingredients update chocolate holiday desserts, then fruitcake's familiar fruits and nuts are redirected into new sweets with actual fruitcake added midway.

   • Preliminary

     Updated chocolate holiday classic

     Rework a classic chocolate dessert in 90 minutes using assigned pantry ingredients such as oats, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, potato chips, red wine, or dried fruit.

   • Main

     Fruitcake-ingredient reinvention

     Transform one assigned nut and one assigned dried or candied fruit into a new dessert in 90 minutes, then incorporate actual fruitcake when the twist is announced.

   Episode source 1Episode source 2

7. Episode 7 · Edible ornaments and gift cakes

   Gifts of Greatness

   Dec 17, 2018

   The finalists first produce two dozen edible ornaments, then close the season with decorated gift cakes that conceal a surprise when sliced.

   • Preliminary

     Two dozen edible ornaments

     Create 24 edible holiday ornaments and arrange them as a polished display within two hours.

   • Final

     Surprise-inside holiday gift cake

     In five hours, make a cake decorated as a wrapped gift on the outside and engineered to reveal a surprise inside when cut.

   Episode source 1Episode source 2

Inspired by the briefs

Bake it at home

These are original Baking Show Guide adaptations for a home kitchen. They are inspired by the challenge briefs, not the contestants' recipes or an official recipe from the show.

Inspired by Episode 5

Cardamom Orange Rugelach

Tender cream-cheese pastries rolled around apricot, toasted walnuts, orange zest, and cardamom.

Time

1 hr 2 min

Makes

24 rugelach

Level

Moderate

▶View ingredients and method

Ingredients

• 225 g all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
• 170 g cold unsalted butter, cubed
• 170 g full-fat cream cheese, cold and cubed
• 60 g apricot jam
• 70 g toasted walnuts, finely chopped
• 45 g light brown sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cardamom
• Finely grated zest of 1 orange
• 1 large egg
• 1 tablespoon water
• 2 tablespoons coarse sugar

Method

1. Pulse the flour and salt in a food processor. Add the butter and cream cheese and pulse just until moist clumps form.
2. Turn out the dough, press it together, and divide it into three equal discs. Wrap and chill for at least two hours.
3. Mix the walnuts, brown sugar, cardamom, and orange zest. Heat the oven to 190 C, or 170 C fan, and line two baking sheets with baking paper.
4. Roll one disc on a lightly floured surface into a 23 cm circle. Spread with one third of the jam and scatter with one third of the walnut mixture.
5. Cut the circle into eight wedges. Roll each wedge from its wide edge toward the point and place point-side down on a prepared sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling.
6. Whisk the egg with the water. Brush the pastries lightly with egg wash and sprinkle with coarse sugar.
7. Bake for 20 to 22 minutes, rotating the sheets once, until the rugelach are deeply golden. Cool on the sheets for five minutes, then transfer to a rack.

This is an original Baking Show Guide home adaptation inspired by the episode brief, not a contestant recipe or an official Food Network recipe.

Keep the unused dough chilled so the butter stays firm and the spirals hold their shape.

The baked rugelach keep in an airtight container at room temperature for three days.

Open the full recipe →

Episode guide sources

Challenge details verified 2026-07-14. foodnetwork.com, en.wikipedia.org.

Season result

The winner stays hidden until you choose to reveal it.

See every Holiday Baking Championshipwinner, season by season →

Full cast

Everyone recorded for Season 5, listed alphabetically without result spoilers.

Season fact sources

en.wikipedia.org, en.wikipedia.org.