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Cake, pies, donuts and their like are a dieter's nightmare, full of carbs, fat and sugar with little nutritional value. We all know that. Tasty though they are, you might as well just down a few cups of sugar and get it over with. Let the calories roll. But in one episode in the second season of "Sugar Showdown," which begins Wednesday, Sept. 14, on Cooking Channel, protein is introduced into these delectable confections in the form of a mystery ingredient that the competing bakers must incorporate into their creations. And that mystery ingredient would be bugs. Yes, insects – ants, crickets, tarantulas and even scorpions – all brimming with protein. Dr. Atkins would be proud. But that raises the question: What does scorpion taste like? "It's a whole mental block when eating bugs – you've got to get over the fact that you're crunching through an exoskeleton," says series host Josh Elkin. "Scorpions sort of have this, believe it or not, this maple-y kind of like aftertaste to it." But that wasn't the star of that particular show. "The coolest thing is ants," Elkin says. "Ants have this like super-sour aftertaste and instant taste on your tongue. And if you want to hide it and you want to sort of use ants, which when you use them like in a cake, look like poppy seeds. ... You think you're eating a poppy-seed cake. Very interesting. You know how you see like little black dots moving all through a cake or pastry of some sort? Same type of thing except it's ants." And for the record, Elkin says all the desserts were "incredible." Season 2 continues the format of Season 1, as three expert bakers battle it out over two rounds of challenges that test their skill and creativity. Their wares are then sampled by a rotating panel of three guest judges – among them Zane Caplansky, Duff Goldman, Sharone Hakman, Elise Strachan, Eddie Jackson and Laura Vitale – and the winner is awarded a $10,000 grand prize. In Wednesday's season opener, the bakers are challenged to make Italian donuts using basil and a mystery ingredient. "You think of Italian pastry or Italian dessert and you instantly think of tiramisu or cannolis ...," Elkin says. "So it was like a donut shaped in a cannoli but without that crispy cannoli dough, and then they were piped with really awesome Italian meringue. So it lent itself really, really well to this episode." Also interesting for Elkin was watching the bakers incorporating basil into a dessert. "I think the bakers we had on set for that episode had never really baked with basil before," he says, "so we saw some candying of the basil, which was really, really cool. We saw, from what I remember, two different styles of candying, so like an egg- white style and then we saw like an actual simple syrup kind of candying effect going on there. So it was interesting to use those two as contrasts when the judges were deciding who was going to go home. So a very cool episode. It wasn't just straight up cannolis and Italian meringue. It was a lot more than that." Contestants have a pest problem in Season 2 of 'Sugar Showdown' BY GEORGE DICKIE Josh Elkin Page 8 September 12 - 18, 2016 GOLF Italian Open, Final Round. From Golf Club Milano in Parco Reale di Monza, Italy. (N Same-day Tape) 3:00 p.m. GOLF Web.com: Albertsons Boise Open, Final Round. From the Hillcrest Country Club in Boise, Idaho. (N) 6:00 p.m. GOLF Champions: Nature Valley First Tee Open at Pebble Beach, Final Round. From Pebble Beach Golf Links in Pebble Beach, Calif. (N) Hockey TUESDAY 7:00 p.m. ESPN Hockey World Cup Exhibition — Team USA vs. Team Finland. From Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. (N) WEDNESDAY 7:30 p.m. ESPN2 Hockey World Cup Exhibition — Team Russia vs. Team Canada. From CONSOL Energy Center in Pittsburgh. (N) SATURDAY 3:30 p.m. ESPN2 2016 World Cup of Hockey Team USA vs. Team Europe. From Air Canada Centre in Toronto. (N) SUNDAY 3:00 p.m. ESPN 2016 World Cup of Hockey Team Swe - den vs. Team Russia. From Air Canada Centre in Toronto. (N) 8:00 p.m. ESPN2 2016 World Cup of Hockey Team North America vs. Team Finland. From Air Canada Centre in Toronto. (N) olyMpics MONDAY 7:00 p.m. NBCSN Rio Paralympics From Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (N) TUESDAY 2:00 p.m. NBCSN Rio Paralympics From Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (N) 7:00 p.m. NBCSN Rio Paralympics From Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (N) WEDNESDAY 2:00 p.m. NBCSN Rio Paralympics From Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (N) 7:00 p.m. NBCSN Rio Paralympics From Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (N) THURSDAY 2:00 p.m. NBCSN Rio Paralympics From Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (N) 7:00 p.m. NBCSN Rio Paralympics From Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (N) FRIDAY 8:00 p.m. NBCSN Rio Paralympics From Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (N) RETIRE WORK Take Control of Your Future 64825 County Road 31 Goshen, IN 46528 1-866-764-1601 www.QualityDriveAway.com See America and Supplement Your Income!! Get Paid to Deliver Vehicles Throughout the U.S. & Canada Retiring Doesn't have to be Scary We Have Vehicles for Every License Type! Call Us Today!

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