Today's Entertainment

Jason Smith, a judge on Food Network's "Best Baker in America," finds that the elite pastry chefs competing on the series all share some common traits, including what the self- taught Kentucky-based chef calls the ability to "adapt and modify." "They start pulling out the French style and the different types of styles of baking and pastries ... and then they try to use that in an everyday dessert that we all know, say it's a strawberry shortcake or a cheesecake," he explains. "So instead of us getting a very, very nice-tasting cheesecake, you get an exceptional cheesecake that you really just can't find anywhere. So they start pulling out all their baking prowess and ... you're seeing desserts that every single thing that they do is so well- done that it just absolutely blows your mind." In the second season of the competition series, which gets underway Monday, May 7, Smith joins host Scott Conant, fellow judge Marcela Valladolid and rotating guest judges including Yolanda Gampp, Gemma Stafford, Florian Belanger and Zac Young to put the contestants through a series of challenges to determine which possess the skill and artistry to advance through seven episodes and vie for the title of "Best Baker in America" and a $25,000 grand prize. Included in the many gauntlets the contestants must run is the Skills Challenge, in which the bakers are tasked with creating a basic recipe like a vanilla cake. On the surface it's a deceptively simple assignment, but Smith says its simplicity can often lull contestants into overconfidence, at which point mistakes occur. "It's because they're not paying attention to detail and it is so basic," Smith says. "Sometimes the basic is harder to do than a very elaborate cake or an elaborate dessert. So that's what I always tell people, is, 'OK, you think this is going to be easy, but you have to pay attention to what the recipe is saying. You have to read the instructions thoroughly. You have to make sure you're doing each one of those steps as closely as possible because it will not turn out.' "If you decide that, if the recipe says all- purpose flour and you use self-rising, it's not going to turn out the same," he continues. "So a lot of people think, 'Oh, I can just take a shortcut because it's such a basic recipe, it won't mess it up.' And it does every time. It's not going to work." BY GEORGE DICKIE Jason Smith Page 8 May 7 - 13, 2018 On or Off-Site Catering All Occasions Dine under the glow of gas lanterns Breakfast and Lunch Meals also available Open Tuesday through Saturday PICK UP y o u r c o p y a t : t h e h A R T Your source for arts, entertainment and culture news in Elkhart County Safe and Dependable Delivery of your Freight Get paid to deliver vehicles throughout the U.S & Canada. Retiring does not have to be scary. We have vehicles for every license type. CALL US TODAY! See America & Supplement your income!

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