Holiday Baking Championship Show Summary, Upcoming Episodes and TV Guide

It's the season finale, and the last five bakers face three challenges. Christmas Eve is filled with so much excitement and so many gifts, and the sweetest gift of all is a plate of cookies for Santa. For the final preheat, host Jesse Palmer wants the bakers to upgrade those cookies by making macaron wreaths for judges Carla Hall, Duff Goldman and Nancy Fuller! The bottom two bakers battle it out to see who makes it to the final main heat by taking on a stocking-stuffed eclairs challenge. Then, its 'All aboard!' as the remaining four bakers make showstopping, championship-worthy holiday train cakes with actual trains running through them! In the end, a Holiday Baking Champion is crowned and takes home $25,000!

Love you a latke! Hanukkah is almost here, and Nancy Fuller is teaching Jesse Palmer how to make a traditional latke. For the preheat, the bakers must use their imaginations as they take the latke basics and turn them into latke-inspired desserts. Then, the bakers really let their imaginations run wild in the main heat while creating letterboard holiday bars that feature cute sayings to put judges Carla Hall, Duff Goldman and Nancy Fuller in the holiday spirit.

Host Jesse Palmer is climbing the Alps and heading towards the highest peak: the beautiful Mont Blanc! For the preheat, the bakers must make whimsical Mont Blanc desserts with colors, playful flavors and whatever else they can imagine! The whimsy doesn't stop there as unexpected upside-down cakes force the bakers to impress judges Carla Hall, Duff Goldman and Nancy Fuller with their inner Willy Wonka when they make a cake, flip it upside-down and suspend it in midair!

Every Thanksgiving meal is centered around one vital component: the turkey! So for this preheat, host Jesse Palmer tasks the bakers with creating turkey dome desserts, complete with edible feathers and heads. Then, no Thanksgiving is complete without a beautifully set table, and the bakers show judges Carla Hall, Duff Goldman and Nancy Fuller their tablescaping skills by making mini Thanksgiving table cakes!

Mmm … can you smell it? The sweet aroma of cinnamon rolls baking in the oven, or is it the pumpkin-spiced latte you're sipping? For the preheat, host Jesse Palmer asks the bakers to combine two of the fall season's best treats and make seasonal coffee drink cinnamon rolls. Then, the bakers roll right into the main heat with a fall-themed yule log that Jesse calls Thanksgiving Swiss Rolls. In the end, judges Carla Hall, Duff Goldman and Nancy Fuller decide which baker is rolling home.

With the holidays fast approaching, host Jesse Palmer gets into the Hanukkah spirit by asking the bakers to create ugly sweater cakes using halvah as a featured ingredient. Then, the competitors feel the holiday rush as they quickly transform a basic store-bought cake into a tasty centerpiece for a dessert table. Finally, the bakers face the final crunch with a fast holiday decoration: a snowman croquembouche. When the flour settles, one competitor heads for the exit as judges Nancy Fuller, Duff Goldman and Carla Hall send the remaining bakers to the finale!

With the popularity of English period dramas at an all-time high, host Jesse Palmer dons a Regency-era waistcoat and challenges the bakers to create a splendid holiday high tea. In the Main Heat, it's all about the rom-com as bakers use an ingredient inspired by a holiday movie trope to create a dessert that's dripping with festive decorations. After all the desserts are tasted by judges Nancy Fuller, Duff Goldman and Carla Hall, one baker will be sent out the door as the credits roll.

These days, holiday turkeys can be smoked, fried, brined, roasted and bacon-wrapped, so host Jesse Palmer uses the five-way turkey as inspiration for the bakers' Preheat challenge. Then, the competitors divide into teams to create a flight of pies that takes judges Nancy Fuller, Duff Goldman and Carla Hall on a flavor progression journey, just like a flight of bourbon. Bottom crusts up, everyone! In the end, one baker goes home.

Season's greetings! Host Jesse Palmer gets some welcoming inspiration for the first Preheat as he challenges the 12 bakers to create meringue pavlova wreaths in yummy fall flavors. For the Main Heat, Jesse settles a long-standing debate over the best holiday dessert by dividing the kitchen into the pie team and the cake team. The better bake wins immunity for their whole team, and judges Nancy Fuller, Duff Goldman and Carla Hall send one baker from the losing team home.

Host Jesse Palmer asks the bakers to create sweet potato and spice desserts in honor of Kwanzaa. In the main heat, the competitors make Christmas card cakes that depict a perfect family snapshot for a holiday card to capture the smiles of judges Nancy Fuller, Duff Goldman and Carla Hall. In the end, one baker heads for the exit.

In honor of the Hanukkah oil that kept burning, host Jesse Palmer asks the seven remaining bakers to create festive Hanukkah olive oil cakes. In the main heat, it's all about gift exchange desserts as the competitors randomly choose a dreaded holiday dessert and attempt to spin it into holiday happiness to please judges Nancy Fuller, Duff Goldman and Carla Hall.

In a holiday pantry raid, host Jesse Palmer throws open the cupboards and the Mason jars to ask the nine remaining bakers to create canned fruit desserts. In the main heat, judges Nancy Fuller, Duff Goldman and Carla Hall are in for a treat when the competitors create heartfelt messages on top of everyone's favorite Thanksgiving dessert -- pie! In the end, one baker goes home.

The competition kicks off as host Jesse Palmer asks the twelve bakers to embrace the seasonal transition by making fall and winter doughnuts. For the main heat, the competitors combine holiday cheese board staples in creative apple and cheese desserts. A double elimination looms and judges Nancy Fuller, Duff Goldman and Carla Hall must send two bakers home for the holidays.

Dressed as a Christmas tree, host Jesse Palmer kicks things off by asking the final four competitors to honor the holiday tree in the form of a beautifully decorated macaron tower. In the Christmas past, present and future main heat, the bakers must feature an assigned icing style in a stunning cake that evokes their assigned time period -- marzipan from the past, buttercream from the present or mirror glaze from the future. In the end, judges Nancy Fuller, Duff Goldman and Carla Hall will decide the one baker who will be crowned Holiday Baking Champion and walk away $25,000 richer!

Host Jesse Palmer is turning things on their heads as he challenges the six competitors to work in teams to create jelly doughnut-inspired desserts, a twist on traditional Hanukkah jelly doughnuts. Then, the bakers get creative with the yummiest, gooiest holiday decorated upside-down cakes to satisfy judges Nancy Fuller, Duff Goldman and Carla Hall.

Host Jesse Palmer challenges the eight remaining bakers to turn breakfast items, like French toast, into amazing Thanksgiving breakfast desserts. Then, the competitors take common Friendsgiving potluck dishes, such as glazed carrots, and use them in a dessert to impress judges Nancy Fuller, Duff Goldman and Carla Hall. Plus, since Friendsgiving is all about community, they're doing it in teams.

Host Jesse Palmer asks the 10 bakers to highlight a nut or seed in a holiday dessert. Then, the competitors spin a wheel to determine which fundamental holiday ingredient -- holiday spice, dried fruit or holiday spirits -- they must add to unseasonable desserts, like icebox cakes or fruit tarts. Judges Nancy Fuller, Duff Goldman and Carla Hall make the call on which bakers pull it off.

Nothing beats waking up to the smell of a holiday brunch, so Jesse Palmer challenges the three remaining bakers to make a Christmas morning brunch using the classic holiday flavors of gingerbread, cinnamon and eggnog. In the final round, the bakers must create cakes that are plaid both on the inside and the outside. Judges Nancy Fuller, Duff Goldman and Lorraine Pascale crown one baker the Holiday Baking Champion and award the $25,000 prize.

Jesse Palmer challenges the five bakers to create assigned desserts that are inspired by and look like Santa Claus. To secure their place in the final four, the bakers are tasked with creating impressive cakes made to look like another icy North Pole staple: an igloo. Judges Nancy Fuller, Duff Goldman and Lorraine Pascale decide which bakers move on to the next round and which one goes home.

In the first challenge, Jesse Palmer tasks the seven bakers with taking a beloved holiday appetizer to a whole new level with baked Brie and jam mini pies. The main heat is all about being prepared for greatness as the bakers take a prepared ingredient and use it to make a crowd-pleasing Thanksgiving dessert. In the end, judges Nancy Fuller, Duff Goldman and Lorraine Pascale send one competitor home.

The popularity of holiday spiced nuts inspires Jesse Palmer's challenge to the nine bakers: Use the crowd-pleasing holiday gift to create holiday spiced nut desserts. In the main heat, each baker must make three pies using an assigned harvest ingredient and decorate each pie crust differently. Judges Nancy Fuller, Duff Goldman and Lorraine Pascale send one baker packing.

Three bakers remain in the competition, and in the pre-heat, they have to create a beautiful edible holiday ornament display. For the final main heat, the bakers channel holiday gift shopping by creating a cake that is decorated like a gift on the outside and reveals a surprise inside when sliced. For one talented baker, the ultimate gift will be $25,000 and the title of Holiday Baking Champion!

The Festival of Lights ignites creativity in the pre-heat, when the five bakers have to update traditional rugelach with unexpected new flavors like cardamom, grapefruit, guava paste, peanut butter or chai. For the main heat, the judges are craving their favorite ingredients in the form of a light and creamy tiramisu.

Cranberries are the most popular accompaniment for turkey, so in the pre-heat, the seven bakers must make a dessert combining cranberry with another flavor of the season. To combat the sleepiness that follows Thanksgiving turkey, the main heat challenges the bakers to create a sweet treat that pairs coffee with an unusual flavor of coffee syrup.

Featuring the pumpkin spice phenomenon. For the pre-heat, nine bakers attempt to wow the judges with creative pumpkin spiciness. In the main heat, the bakers must combine a yule log with a classic holiday treat.

The four remaining bakers celebrate two classic holiday traditions: Hanukkah jelly doughnuts and ye olde fruitcake. Duff Goldman helps introduce the pre-heat challenge in which bakers must create a dozen doughnuts featuring a challenging flavor combination. Then for the main heat, bakers try their best to reinvent fruitcake.

The six remaining bakers are creating new takes on traditional holiday baking. Inspired by an internet baking meme, they'll use yellow cake mix to make anything but cake and in the main heat, bakers must 'holiday up!' a non-holiday dessert.

During the holidays, it takes teamwork to pull off special gatherings. So in the pre-heat, eight bakers team up to make a dozen hand pies in a festive holiday shape. Then for the main heat, bakers create a holiday dessert duo inspired by classic holiday flavor combinations.

It's time to celebrate the holidays and all that goes along with it: parties, the big game and one last decadent blast before the New Year's resolutions kick in! In a very special episode of Holiday Baking Championship, three Holiday Baking champions and three fan favorites from Kids Baking Championship show off their chops in a holiday showdown to win $10,000. Host Bobby Deen oversees the all-star game along with tough-love judges Duff Goldman, Nancy Fuller and Lorraine Pascale.

The remaining four bakers recreate their childhood memories of waking up on Christmas morning by making edible dessert stockings for the pre-heat. Then, they take their designs to new heights in the main heat by building colorful cream puff Christmas trees.

Nothing says the holidays like a crisp fire on a snowy day, so in the pre-heat, the remaining six bakers are tested on how well they can make a dessert featuring toasted marshmallows. For the main heat, bakers get the chance to put a fresh spin on an old holiday classic by 'blinging out' yule logs.

When it comes to Thanksgiving, nobody can compete with grandma's signature recipes, so Clash of the Grandmas star Norma Zager joins Bobby Deen to lend her expertise to the remaining eight bakers. For the pre-heat, they must whip up two types of cookies, with one inspired by dear old grandma. Then, in the main heat, the bakers compete to create the best pie by hand -- no appliances -- just like grandma used to!

The last three bakers must show off their decorating chops by baking and beautifully decorating a sugar cookie tree; in the final heat, the bakers need to transform their assigned holiday tradition into an intricately decorated cake.

Every culture has their own holiday traditions, and the five remaining bakers celebrate a couple of favorites by reinventing two Hanukkah classics: rugelach and macaroons. Then, they must create their own unique version of a holiday croquembouche.

The seven remaining bakers get creative with Thanksgiving-inspired desserts, and in the first round, their sweets feature canned cranberry sauce. Then, in the main heat, the bakers must invent a dessert highlighting their assigned harvest ingredient: sweet potato, pumpkin, apple, pear, pomegranate, carrot or lemon.

It's time to get crafty! The remaining nine bakers attempt to amp up the visual impact of holiday baked goods as they create festive candy cane and holiday wreath desserts.

In the epic finale, the three remaining bakers have just one challenge, but it's a massive one. Each baker taps into a favorite holiday memory and then constructs gingerbread worlds filled with all sorts of treats. The baker who can impress the judges the most will become the Holiday Baking Champion and take home $50,000!

The five bakers left in the Holiday Baking Championship take the polarizing fruitcake someplace new and reinvent the biggest holiday cake of all, the yule log.

The seven remaining bakers take classic holiday flavors into tasty new territory. In the first challenge, they create a swirled treat using eggnog and have to play nice with varieties of sugar and spice for their second dessert.