Holiday Baking Championship Season 6

Complete season breakdown

Every episode and bake

Season 6 contains eight episodes and sixteen challenges, beginning with edible introductions and a Danish wreath cake before moving through harvest pies, apple cider doughnuts, panettone, Hanukkah gelt, and a plaid-cake finale. One original baked doughnut adaptation brings the season's apple-cider brief into a home kitchen.

1. Episode 1 · Introductions and holiday wreaths

   Gearing Up for the Holidays

   Nov 4, 2019

   The bakers introduce themselves through edible place cards and one-bite signature sweets, then stack Danish almond rings into flavored holiday wreath cakes.

   • Preliminary

     Edible place card and one-bite holiday dessert

     In two hours, make an edible name card and a one-bite signature holiday dessert that serves as a personal introduction.

   • Main

     Holiday kransekake wreath

     Bake and stack a Danish kransekake wreath in two hours using an assigned holiday ingredient, then add an edible bow.

   Episode source 1Episode source 2

2. Episode 2 · Spiced nuts and harvest pies

   Filling Grateful

   Nov 11, 2019

   Holiday spiced nuts become complete desserts before the bakers build three-tier harvest pie towers with distinct crust designs and flavored whipped cream.

   • Preliminary

     Holiday spiced-nut dessert

     Create a dessert in two hours around an assigned style of holiday spiced nuts.

   • Main

     Three-pie harvest tower

     Bake three pies of different sizes with one assigned harvest filling and three different crust decorations in two hours, then serve a flavored whipped cream alongside.

   Episode source 1Episode source 2

3. Episode 3 · Fall doughnuts and Thanksgiving roll cakes

   Thanksgiving It My All

   Nov 18, 2019

   A dozen decorated apple cider doughnuts lead into inlaid Thanksgiving roll cakes flavored with an additional fall ingredient.

   • Preliminary

     One dozen fall-themed apple cider doughnuts

     Make 12 elevated apple cider doughnuts in two hours and decorate them to express an assigned fall subject such as apple picking, frost, leaves, or a warm fire.

   • Main

     Inlaid Thanksgiving roll cake

     Turn the yule-log format into an inlaid Thanksgiving roll cake in two hours, then include an assigned fall flavor such as raisin, hazelnut, orange, or dark chocolate.

   Make our home version →Episode source 1Episode source 2

4. Episode 4 · Brie pies and prepared ingredients

   Trendsetting Turkey Day

   Nov 25, 2019

   Mini pies pair baked Brie with homemade jam, then familiar prepared ingredients are redirected into Thanksgiving desserts with canned cranberry sauce added midway.

   • Preliminary

     Baked Brie and homemade-jam mini pies

     Bake miniature pies in 90 minutes combining Brie with an assigned jam flavor made from scratch.

   • Main

     Prepared-ingredient Thanksgiving dessert

     Use an assigned convenience ingredient, such as pumpkin butter, puff pastry, cake mix, or cookie dough, in a crowd-sized Thanksgiving dessert within 90 minutes, then add canned cranberry sauce.

   Episode source 1Episode source 2

5. Episode 5 · Repurposed gifts and holiday pajamas

   Gettin' Gifty with It

   Dec 2, 2019

   Panettone is repurposed into a new dessert before filled cupcakes become a pull-apart mosaic based on a pair of holiday pajamas.

   • Preliminary

     Reinvented panettone dessert

     Transform panettone into a distinctly different dessert in 90 minutes.

   • Main

     Filled cupcake pajama mosaic

     In two hours, assemble decorated cupcakes into a pull-apart mosaic inspired by holiday pajamas and fill the cupcakes with an assigned curd, compote, cream, ganache, mousse, or applesauce.

   Episode source 1Episode source 2

6. Episode 6 · Santa and the North Pole

   North Pole Vaulting

   Dec 9, 2019

   Assigned desserts must resemble Santa Claus, followed by igloo cakes finished with meringue and paired with freshly made ice cream.

   • Preliminary

     Santa-shaped assigned dessert

     In 90 minutes, make an assigned sweet such as mini layer cakes, whoopie pies, macarons, cake pops, or cream puffs and decorate it to look like Santa Claus.

   • Main

     Igloo cake with ice cream

     Create a cake shaped like an igloo and covered with meringue frosting in two hours, then make an ice cream to accompany it.

   Episode source 1Episode source 2

7. Episode 7 · Hanukkah gelt and ice rinks

   Traditions with a Twist

   Dec 16, 2019

   Chocolate desserts incorporate assigned flavors and handmade gelt before three-flavor cheesecakes become decorated ice-skating rinks with hot cocoa in the mix.

   • Preliminary

     Hanukkah gelt dessert

     Make a chocolate dessert featuring an assigned flavor and produce an original handmade chocolate gelt coin with a different flavor.

   • Main

     Three-flavor ice-rink cheesecake

     In two hours, make a cheesecake with an assigned crust and three flavors, decorate its top as a shiny edible ice rink, and incorporate hot cocoa mix.

   Episode source 1Episode source 2

8. Episode 8 · Christmas morning and plaid

   Christmas Day Delights

   Dec 23, 2019

   The finalists serve three-item Christmas brunches flavored with gingerbread, cinnamon, or eggnog, then construct celebration cakes with plaid designs inside and out.

   • Preliminary

     Three-item Christmas brunch

     Prepare a generous Christmas-morning brunch of three distinct items in two hours, centering the spread on gingerbread, cinnamon, or eggnog.

   • Final

     Plaid-inside-and-out holiday cake

     In five hours, create a holiday cake in an assigned color palette with a clear plaid pattern both through the sliced interior and across the exterior decoration.

   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 3

Baked Apple Cider Doughnuts

Soft cider-reduction doughnuts with apple butter, warm spice, and a crisp cinnamon-sugar coat.

Time

42 min

Makes

12 doughnuts

Level

Easy

▶View ingredients and method

Ingredients

• 360 ml apple cider
• 240 g all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
• 75 g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 90 g light brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 80 g apple butter
• 60 ml buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 40 g unsalted butter, melted, for coating
• 100 g granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, for coating

Method

1. Simmer the cider in a small saucepan until reduced to 120 ml. Cool to room temperature.
2. Heat the oven to 190 C, or 170 C fan. Grease two six-cavity doughnut pans.
3. Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a large bowl.
4. In another bowl, whisk the 75 g melted butter, brown sugar, egg, apple butter, buttermilk, vanilla, and cooled cider reduction until smooth.
5. Fold the wet mixture into the dry ingredients just until combined. Transfer the batter to a piping bag and divide it among the cavities, filling each about three quarters full.
6. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until the tops spring back. Rest in the pans for three minutes, then turn the doughnuts onto a rack.
7. Mix the granulated sugar and remaining cinnamon. Brush the warm doughnuts lightly with the 40 g melted butter and toss them in the cinnamon sugar.

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

Reducing the cider concentrates its flavor without adding excess liquid to the batter.

These are baked home-kitchen doughnuts; the episode brief did not prescribe this exact formula or method.

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 6, listed alphabetically without result spoilers.

Season fact sources

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