For the decoration, the three cakes were very different. Thomas and Cathy took a more simple approach. While their cake was elegant, the reality was that it didn’t really scream birthday cake. If you enjoy Crime Scene Kitchen, then be sure to tune in each week, starting at 8 pm EST, where we will see some mysterious treats being made by some of America’s best bakers! Still, not every challenge was perfection. Luis shared how he went astray with that babka. As trained pastry chefs, the clues made sense to him. But, Luis admitted, “the clues could lead people in every possible way.” Ultimately, the dessert from the crime scene kitchen was actually an Atlantic Beach Pie (also known as a Boardwalk Pie). This meant Steph and Cherry earned safety in this round and don’t have to do the elimination challenge. The second challenge in Crime Scene Kitchen is called the Main Event – the Showpiece Round. Whoever comes in last place this round will unfortunately be eliminated and go home.

The final dessert round challenge was a napoleon. While all four teams guessed the dessert correctly, one clue made the difference. Only Thomas and Cathy and Natalie and Luis made the classic Napoleon, the correct dessert. Both of those baking teams moved onto the showpiece round. YouTube sets this cookie to measure bandwidth, determining whether the user gets the new or old player interface. Successful contestants, what set them apart from those who struggled a little bit more with the clues?Natalie and Luis shared how they put together the concept for the cake. It was meant to be a party. From the top layer with its sprinkles and its surprise center to the middle palate cleanser to the indulgent bottom layer, it was an extravagant feast. Or, as Luis said, “it is a journey through cakes.” The French approach has been taken to an extreme by Charm City Cakes, the wild Baltimore bakery featured on the Food Network’s “Ace of Cakes.” This week, The Merge happened, so we, for the very first time, saw both the self-taught bakers and the professional bakers baking all at once at a chance for the grand prize!

The usual technique starts by creaming the butter and sugar -- a complicated, impressive, highly technical process that consist of putting both ingredients in the mixer on high speed for maybe two minu tes (the butter should be at room temperature, neither cold nor melted). Then you add the eggs one by one and beat for a minute or two. Wow, how hard was that? Throughout the season, the baking teams adapted to solving the clues. While some teams were more successful than others, this baking competition is unlike other food television shows. Combining execution, knowledge and skill are the keys to earning the victory. YouTube sets this cookie to register a unique ID to store data on what videos from YouTube the user has seen.Looking at the cakes’ flavors, it was clear that Natalie and Luis wowed the judges. Their chocolate layer with bananas foster made Yolanda swoon. Overall, their cake was the clear winner on flavor. For a lighter texture, many recipes add the yolks to the batter separate from the whites, which are beaten and folded into the batter after the flour (I rarely bother). Other recipes mix the sugar with the flour and add the butter, eggs and milk to it, or mix the sugar with the eggs first before beating in the rest. However you do it, the liquid should always be added to the flour last and the batter should be mixed just until the flour is absorbed. Once I’d grasped the basics (and tried just about every recipe in “Southern Cakes”), I moved on to Rose Levy Beranbaum’s “The Cake Bible,” and “The Art of the Cake” by her mentors Bruce Healy and Paul Bugat. Both books are crammed with sophisticated techniques, and I now follow Beranbaum’s foolproof method of making butter cream frosting. Her discussion of the chemistry and physics behind her recipes is invaluable. The network describes “Crime Scene Kitchen” as a “culinary guessing game,” in which bakers must decode what type of dessert they will be tasked with making. This will be done by them sifting through a few “elusive clues” and tasting the crumbs. Then, they will attempt to recreate the dessert for the celebrity judges, Stone and Gampp, who will determine how close they got to matching the dishes, as well as how good their item tastes.