Anna, Reese, Norman, and Connor all lined up behind their desserts. Now that time was up, Anna's mind was flooded with ways she could have made her tart taste ten times better, but none of the contestants could touch a single crumb without getting disqualified.
"Today you will be judged based on three criteria," Ivan said. "Taste, presentation, and how well your dessert relates to your companions. Reese, you're up first."
They carried their dessert to the judges' table with their head held high and their skunk proudly waving its tail in the air. "I made you chocolate caramel cookies and cream ice cream sandwiches."
Perfectly gooey caramel dripped down cookies filled with chocolate chips. Crumbled Oreos and even more chocolate chips studded the vanilla ice cream sandwiched between the cookies. Just looking at Reese's dessert made Anna's stomach growl.
She wasn't the only one who thought their ice cream sandwiches looked delicious. "I don't suppose you made any extras?" Philip mumbled around a mouthful. His duck hopped into his lap to peck at the crumbs speckling his plate. "These are absolutely delicious!"
"We have to save room for everyone, Philip," Jessica chided. She turned her ice cream sandwich in her hand. "I love how you went with a more unusual cookie, especially since the toppings melted into the ice cream and made it extra flavorful. I wish the ice cream itself had something to give it some extra pizzazz, though. Some toasted nuts would have given it a unique textural component."
"It took so long to get the ice cream machine to behave I thought adding nuts would break it," Reese said.
"I'm guessing the element that's supposed to tie into your companion is the ice cream itself?" Ivan asked.
Reese nodded. "I used Oreos since Petunia's black and white, and she's always trying to sneak a bite of 'em."
Their skunk chattered and stomped its feet like a toddler who'd been caught with their hand in the cookie jar.
Ivan sighed. "It tastes like deluxe Baskin Robbins, and that's a problem. The chocolate and caramel from the cookies go together very well, but using Oreos, a pre-made component, is a huge disservice to your companion. If you must use something like that in a dessert, it cannot be the most important ingredient unless you do something to transform it into something more unique."
"Thank you for your feedback." Reese received Ivan's harsh words with a smile.
"Thank you, Reese." Ivan motioned for them to step back in line. "Next up, Norman."
His cupcakes received less than stellar reviews. While Jessica called the 'beaver dams' of chocolate-dipped pretzels that topped the blue frosting a fun way to tie in his companion, Ivan said his dense cupcakes were so dry it not even a lake of chocolate sauce could make them appealing.
Not even the ever-cheerful Philip had many good things to say about them. "The blue frosting was a neat touch, but I wish you hadn't used food coloring. There are so many techniques you could have used to get both that lovely color and more flavor."
Connor went next. "I made a cheesecake topped with raspberry sauce and a red velvet cookie shaped like my rooster's comb." He met the judges' eyes without so much as stuttering. His rooster clucked quietly at his feet, twisting its neck this way and that to observe the judges' birds.
"You dealt with a catastrophe in the kitchen today," Ivan said. "Not many bakers could salvage a cheesecake with so many cracks, but aside from a smear or two where you got sloppy with the spatula, you pulled this off quite well."
"Couldn't have done it without a little help." A small smile graced Connor's face, and his rooster turned to nod at Anna.
"Whatever you did, this turned out so good." Philip licked his lips. "I just love how decadent this is."
"And using a garnish inspired by your rooster's comb was such a creative idea." Jessica plucked the cookie off her slice and nibbled it daintily. Her toucan was much less graceful, clapping its beak together in an attempt to convince her to give it the rest. "It tastes like a delightful dessert in its own right, not like you just threw it on there for the sake of the theme. The cookie could have been broken more cleanly so it didn't leave crumbs in the cheesecake, but really, who cares about a couple crumbs when they taste so good?"
"The cookie is nice, but it's just a garnish. You did tie your companion into the cheesecake too by using the redness of the sauce to unify the dessert's theme, though. It's just not the main attraction." Ivan closed his eyes as he silently chewed on the cheesecake, his face not betraying the slightest hint of a reaction. "Very creamy. Is there a reason you went with a plain cheesecake instead of a particular flavor?"
"I thought about doing a chocolate swirl cheesecake, but I wanted to make sure I gave every part of my dessert plenty of attention instead of making it too complicated and messy."
"Well, it's certainly not too complicated." Ivan motioned for Connor to get back in line. "Alright, Anna, let's see what you've made for us today."
Her bees whirled around her like a black and yellow tornado as her heart hammered. After how the judges had criticized the previous contestants, there wasn't a doubt in her mind they'd be harsh on her, too.
But that didn't matter. All that mattered was she'd done everything she could to represent everything Sweet Surprise stood for.
"I made a kiwi rhubarb tart topped with lemon whipped cream. The crust's got slivered almonds baked into the bottom." Anna bit her lip as she gave each judge their share of her dessert. As much as she loved how the bright red rhubarb contrasted with the green chunks of kiwi, the pinkish juice oozing onto the plate and seeping into the yellow peaks of whipped cream stood out like candle wax on a birthday cake.
"You know, since you have bees, I was expecting you to use honey or some kind of edible flower like lavender," Jessica said. "Could you please tell us a little more about how your dessert relates to your companions?"
"Bees pollinate all sorts of plants, so I wanted to use some of the amazing ingredients they help grow." Anna's bees twirled around her as she explained. "Kiwis, rhubarb, lemons, and almonds all depend on them."
"Ooh, I had no idea they helped so many different plants. Thanks, bees!" Philip took his first bite of tart, bright red juice dripping down his chin. "Mm, this is amazing!"
"I love how you brought so many colors into this," Jessica said. "It's a feast for the eyes, not just my taste buds. There are a couple hiccups, though." One of the cameramen stepped forward to get a close-up shot of the dessert as she rotated the plate to show bright red juice dripping through a crack in the crust. "You were in quite a hurry when you were putting your dough in the pan, so you must have missed when it split. It still tastes really good, but the presentation is a bit sloppy."
Ivan scowled at Anna as his vulture ruffled its feathers. "The sweetness of the kiwi plays off of the rhubarb's tartness well, but the way you just scattered your filling around instead of arranging it into a pattern definitely detracts from my enjoyment. Makes me wonder what your tart might have looked like if you'd focused on it instead of the other contestants."
"It wouldn't have tasted like I made it," Anna said. Her voice caught in her throat as Ivan's icy blue eyes bore into her, but she managed to squeeze the last of her words out. "My family's bakery is all about making people's lives a little sweeter. Even if I don't win, at least I'll know I did everything I could to give folks a real sweet surprise."
"You sure did," Conner said. "My cheesecake would have been a horrible mess if it weren't for you."
"It was real nice seeing everyone workin' together." Reese gave Norman a grateful smile. "If it weren't for Norman letting me use some of his chocolate chips, my ice cream sandwiches wouldn't have been even half as good."
"And I would have eaten way too much chocolate!" Everyone laughed as Norman patted his stomach. "But seriously, thanks for helping me ice my cupcakes. They turned out so pretty!"
"It's not every day we see all the contestants helping each other." Philip's smile was as warm and sweet as freshly baked apple pie. "Your families should be very proud of you!"
"But as you all know, there can only be one winner, regardless of how much help you gave or received." Ivan's gaze raked over the contestants, his lips set in a firm line. "We'll call you back out here once we've decided on the winner."