Great Canadian Baking Show S6 finale

Great Canadian Baking Show
Meet the S6 bakers
André Hayde
Age: 46
Occupation: ESL teacher and personal trainer
Hometown: Ottawa, Ontario
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/edible_fitness

André is full of surprises as a personal trainer who loves to bake sweet things. His baking style may be bright and playful, but André prepared for his time in the tent with the same energy as he would for a bodybuilding competition: disciplined practice and repetition to hone his craft. Outside of baking and keeping fit, André loves to sing and has a vast collection of cookbooks and editions of his favourite classic novel, Pride & Prejudice.

Chi Nguyễn (they/she)
Age: 35
Occupation: C.O.O. of a cellular technology company
Hometown: Tkaronto, Ontario
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/snax.nguyen/

Chi was born in Vietnam and raised in Germany before moving to Toronto at age 13. Watching cooking shows helped them learn English and provided useful baking skills to make friends with their school classmates. They now use baking as a meditative practice to balance with their busy career in tech. Their vibrant style is inspired by their six-year-old daughter, Quinn, who is also their sassiest critic. Chi’s partner, Ryan, lends a gentler ear and supports by tidying up the post-baking mess. 

John Fowler (he/him)
Age: 49
Occupation: university administrator
Hometown: Victoria, British Columbia
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/johnnyboybakes

John is a man of two coasts who grew up in St. John’s, before moving to B.C. for work. He’s now settled in Victoria with his fiancé, Martin, his mother-in-law and their two small dogs. John prides himself on being willing to try anything, whether that be a new hobby, an unexplored hiking trail, or researching a highly challenging baking technique. He takes after his grandmother in baking, who taught him to do his best and keep going even if you make mistakes. 

Jomar Manzano (he/him)
Age: 36
Occupation: structural engineer
Hometown: Toronto, Ontario
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jomar.manzano/

Jomar spent most of his life in Winnipeg before moving to Toronto for work, together with his husband, Carl. He found his chosen family here while singing in the Toronto Gay Men’s Chorus and they get to sample his baking experiments, which often incorporate the Filipino flavours he grew up with. Jomar is precise by trade as a structural engineer so he feels the pressure that his bakes stand the test of the Tent. Jomar also hopes that this experience will help other queer, Asian folks feel seen and inspires them to follow their dreams. 

Kristi Carey (she/her)
Age: 29
Occupation: grant and proposal writer
Hometown: Tkaronto, Ontario
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kristi_carey_/ 

Kristi grew up in the United States and came to Canada in 2015 for graduate school. Here she met her wife, Abha, and decided to stay. Kristi excels at facing new tasks head-on, whether it’s learning to laminate dough or building furniture from scratch. She discovered a passion for baking during the pandemic, and the hobby quickly became an obsession. Kristi loves to marry her Chinese heritage flavours with those from her wife’s Indian background. When not baking, Kristi and Abha enjoy hiking around the city with their dog, Po.
 

Lauren Tjoe (she/her)
Age: 21
Occupation: finance student
Hometown: Tsawwassen, British Columbia
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lauren_bakes_and_makes/ 

Finance student Lauren is a self-described 21-year-old grandma. In addition to baking, her hobbies include knitting, crocheting, sewing, and collecting vintage tea pots. But this grandma has an eclectic twist, as she’s also a lover of classic cars and heavy metal music. Lauren has dreamed of being in the Tent since she was in 10th grade and was sadly too young to apply. Though she’s the youngest baker of the season, she is armed with knowledge from her vast research, using her analytical skills and preparing as she would cram for a final exam.

Lydiane Gaborieau (she/her)
Age: 35
Occupation: biobank manager
Hometown: Montréal, Québec
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lydiane_et_al/

Lydiane is originally from France, and now lives in Montréal with her husband and their young daughter. Lydiane and husband Mathieu met during the quintessentially-Québec experience of visiting a sugar shack. Though she has been baking for years, Lydiane was motivated by watching this show to expand her repertoire. Lydiane has a PhD in biology and works as a biobank manager, so baking is the creative outlet to balance out her scientific skills. She looks forward to creating stylish bakes in the Tent and debating about butter with fellow Frenchman, Bruno.

Nigel Batchelor (he/him)
Age: 32
Occupation: grad student
Hometown: Winnipeg, Manitoba
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/butterbuttbakes/ 

Nigel was born in Vancouver and now calls Winnipeg home. He has baking in his blood as the son of a professional baker. For Nigel and his ma, baking is a shared passion and he cherishes their time together in the kitchen. He hopes to use his experience in the Tent to make his parents and long-term partner proud about his home-taught baking journey. Nigel also thrives in friendly competition, whether it’s among his ultimate frisbee and disc golf leagues, or in a fantasy roleplaying tabletop game.

Rosemary O’Neill (she/her)
Age: 64
Hometown: Ottawa, Ontario
Occupation: federal security advisor
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/onrosiegram/ 

Rosemary’s grandson is at the heart of her baking journey. She stepped in to make his birthday cakes in tribute to her late daughter who was a pastry chef and loved to bake for her nephew. Rosemary then discovered a true passion and the birthday cakes rapidly evolved into baked goods of all varieties and even hyper-realistic illusion cakes. She now has a dedicated butter fridge! Outside of baking, Rosemary enjoys painting landscape scenes and taking long walks with her Australian Shepherd, Jelly Bean. 

Zoya Thawer (she/her)
Age: 33
Occupation: pediatric endocrinologist
Hometown: Edmonton, Alberta.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/allpurposezoya/ 

Zoya has been baking since childhood after moving to Canada from Tanzania. With help from her mother and sister she maintained her own cabinet with everything needed for her kitchen experiments. Her mother is still her biggest resource for baking advice and even some signature tools. Now a doctor in Edmonton, Zoya has succeeded through medical school, residency, and fellowship, but baking in the Tent feels like her biggest challenge yet.  

6×8: Finale
Bakers demonstrate their abilities by taking on the classic Paris Brest; bakers try their hand at cassata; the bakers push their skills to the limit with a garden party dessert centerpiece made of at least three different bakes.

Signature challenge: Paris-Brest
Who made what: [Spoiler (click to open)]
Chi – coconut sticky rice, chili lime mango curd, lime cream, mascarpone
Lauren – Tjoe-choux stew-choux with eggplant stew, labneh mousse, pomegranate, za’atar pistachios
Zoya – Hondwo inspired Paris-Brest with chickpea craquelin, pan fried vegetables, fried onion, sour lemon pickle, raita cream 

Technical challenge: cassata
Rankings: [Spoiler (click to open)]
1 – Lauren
2 – Zoya
3 – Chi

Showstopper challenge: garden party centerpiece
Who made what: [Spoiler (click to open)]
Chi – mid autumn festival tower with red bean chè ba màu Montblanc inspired tarts, jackfruit lychee jelly rolls, taro snowskin mooncakes, Taiwanese pineapple cake
Lauren – carrot halvah scones, feta jalapeno tart peapods, cornbread dirt, hotteok with mulled wine tomatoes, stroopwafel eggplants, challah fence
Zoya – wedding garden party with pandan chiffon cake with earl grey tea icing, mangosteen profiteroles with craquelin, Szechuan jalebis 

2022 winner: [Spoiler (click to open)] Lauren
 
source: my tv

FYI – the holiday episode airs next week so I’ll do one last GCBS post for the year!