Holiday Baking Championship Season 8

Complete season breakdown

Every episode and bake

Season 8 spans eight episodes and seventeen baked challenges, including a three-stage finale. The season moves from fall-and-winter doughnuts through yule logs, message pies, bread cornucopias, olive oil cakes, updated vintage desserts, and illuminated party cakes. One original lemon-rosemary olive oil cake adapts a documented Hanukkah brief for home baking.

1. Episode 1 · Fall turns to winter

   Falling Into Winter

   Nov 1, 2021

   Two dozen doughnuts capture the transition from fall to winter before apple and cheese are paired in non-pie desserts finished with honey.

   • Preliminary

     Fall and winter doughnuts

     In two and a half hours, make 12 fall-themed doughnuts and 12 winter-themed doughnuts with flavors and decoration appropriate to each season.

   • Main

     Apple and cheese dessert

     Create a non-pie dessert in two hours combining apple with an assigned cheese such as Brie, Havarti, Gruyere, Manchego, cheddar, or Gouda, then add honey.

   Episode source 1Episode source 2

2. Episode 2 · Cocktails and yule logs

   Yule Be Merry

   Nov 8, 2021

   Teams turn three cocktail components into a dessert, then the bakers execute assigned yule-log forms and flavors with a marzipan woodland creature.

   • Preliminary

     Three-component cocktail dessert

     Working in pairs, make a dessert in two hours from an assigned liquor, mixer-style component, and garnish-style component.

   • Main

     Assigned-style yule log

     In two hours, create a yule log in an assigned traditional, miniature, stump, modern, or birch form with a specified flavor combination, then add a marzipan woodland creature.

   Episode source 1Episode source 2

3. Episode 3 · Canned fruit and Thanksgiving wishes

   Attitude of Gratitude

   Nov 15, 2021

   Canned fruit drives the first holiday desserts, while Thanksgiving pies carry edible one-word wishes and are served with scratch-made ice cream.

   • Preliminary

     Canned-fruit holiday dessert

     Make a holiday dessert in two hours that features an assigned canned fruit such as pear, pineapple, plum, cherry, peach, rhubarb, nectarine, mango, or apricot.

   • Main

     Thanksgiving wish pie with ice cream

     Bake a Thanksgiving pie in two hours and decorate it with an edible assigned message such as family, harvest, giving, welcome, or gratitude, then make ice cream to accompany it.

   Episode source 1Episode source 2

4. Episode 4 · Kitchen gadgets and bread cornucopias

   Best Thanksgiving Ever

   Nov 22, 2021

   Black Friday gadgets must play a real role in holiday desserts before teams build edible cornucopias filled with shaped, flavored breads and an accompanying spread.

   • Preliminary

     Kitchen-gadget holiday dessert

     In two hours, make a holiday dessert using an assigned appliance or tool such as a juicer, espresso machine, grill pan, spiral cutter, fryer, sous vide machine, smoking gun, or butter churn.

   • Main

     Holiday bread cornucopia

     Working in pairs for three hours, fill a cornucopia basket with flavored breads shaped like traditional harvest items, then make a dip or spread to serve with the breads.

   Episode source 1Episode source 2

5. Episode 5 · Hanukkah oil and dreaded desserts

   Gifts That Keep on Giving

   Nov 29, 2021

   Decorated olive oil cakes honor Hanukkah before the bakers rehabilitate assigned holiday desserts and make eggnog from scratch for service alongside.

   • Preliminary

     Flavored olive oil cake

     Bake and decorate an olive oil cake in two hours using an assigned pairing such as lemon rosemary, pomegranate ginger, fig hazelnut, lemon blueberry, apple walnut, apricot almond, or date cardamom.

   • Main

     Reworked dreaded holiday dessert

     Reinvent an assigned dessert such as fruitcake, banana pudding, creme brulee, sugar cookies, whoopie pies, bread pudding, or gingerbread in two hours, then serve homemade eggnog on the side.

   Make our home version →Episode source 1Episode source 2

6. Episode 6 · Dietary needs and vintage desserts

   Make New Friends, but Keep the Old

   Dec 6, 2021

   The bakers first meet vegan or gluten-free requirements, then modernize assigned vintage desserts and incorporate walnuts preserved in syrup.

   • Preliminary

     Vegan or gluten-free holiday dessert

     Create a holiday dessert in 90 minutes that satisfies an assigned vegan or gluten-free restriction.

   • Main

     Updated vintage holiday dessert

     In two hours, reinterpret an assigned vintage sweet such as a gelatin mold, ambrosia salad, grasshopper pie, bourbon balls, pineapple upside-down cake, or baked Alaska, then use walnuts in syrup.

   Episode source 1Episode source 2

7. Episode 7 · Kwanzaa and family holiday cards

   Holidays in All the Ways

   Dec 13, 2021

   Sweet potato and spice honor a Kwanzaa feast, followed by rectangular cakes designed as idealized family holiday greeting cards.

   • Preliminary

     Sweet potato and spice dessert

     In 90 minutes, make a dessert honoring the Kwanzaa feast with sweet potato and an assigned spice such as allspice, ginger, cloves, cardamom, or mace.

   • Main

     Family holiday-card cake

     Create a rectangular cake in two hours depicting a polished family holiday-card scene, then add a decorative border that frames the design.

   Episode source 1Episode source 2

8. Episode 8 · Holiday parties

   Ultimate Holiday Party

   Dec 20, 2021

   Dessert charcuterie boards establish the party theme, a sudden-elimination bake hides a surprise inside a pinata dessert, and the finalists complete illuminated celebration cakes.

   • Preliminary

     Dessert charcuterie board

     Create an abundant dessert charcuterie board suitable for a Christmas open house.

   • Face-off

     Surprise-inside holiday pinata dessert

     The bottom two bakers make festive pinata-style desserts that reveal a fun edible surprise inside.

   • Final

     Illuminated holiday party cake

     Create a large cake based on an assigned holiday party theme such as gift wrapping, a formal gathering, or tree trimming, and incorporate working lights into the design.

   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

Lemon Rosemary Olive Oil Cake

A moist citrus olive oil cake with a restrained rosemary note and tart lemon glaze.

Time

1 hr 7 min

Makes

One 23 cm cake, serving 10

Level

Easy

▶View ingredients and method

Ingredients

• 210 g all-purpose flour
• 50 g fine cornmeal
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
• 180 g granulated sugar
• Finely grated zest of 2 lemons
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary
• 3 large eggs
• 160 ml mild extra-virgin olive oil
• 120 g plain Greek yogurt
• 60 ml fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 100 g powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, for glaze
• 1 small rosemary sprig, for decoration

Method

1. Heat the oven to 175 C, or 160 C fan. Grease a 23 cm springform pan and line its base with baking paper.
2. Whisk the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.
3. Rub the granulated sugar, lemon zest, and chopped rosemary together in a large bowl until fragrant. Whisk in the eggs until pale and slightly thickened.
4. Slowly whisk in the olive oil, then whisk in the yogurt, 60 ml lemon juice, and vanilla.
5. Fold in the dry ingredients just until the batter is smooth. Pour into the pan and level the top.
6. Bake for 40 to 44 minutes, until the center springs back and a tester comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then remove the ring and cool completely.
7. Whisk the powdered sugar with the remaining lemon juice. Spoon the glaze over the cake and decorate with a few leaves from the rosemary sprig.

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

Use a mild olive oil so the citrus and rosemary remain balanced.

Do not add the woody rosemary stem to the cake; use only finely chopped leaves.

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 8, listed alphabetically without result spoilers.

Season fact sources

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