Kids Baking Championship

There's a gorgeous parrot and loveable cockatoo in the kitchen, because this season is all about animals! For the kickoff challenge, hosts and judges Duff Goldman and Kardea Brown ask the 12 bakers to create an animal texture tart decorated with creature-inspired features like scales, feathers, fur or fins. Then, for a twist, the kitchen whiz kids must add an edible version of their animal's tail to their dessert.

Hosts and judges Duff Goldman and Kardea Brown have noticed that a particular dessert can be easily shaped into animals like a turtle, a panda or a frog ... but the dessert itself can be tricky. So, for the macaron animals challenge, Duff shows the kid bakers how to create a silky smooth macaron batter before baking time starts. Then, since the animal macarons need a place to rest, the bakers must give their animals an edible habitat to hang out in.

Dog Man is half police officer and half dog, and the animated movie "Dog Man" is all about him. So, for this challenge, hosts and judges Duff Goldman and Kardea Brown pair up the 10 bakers to create two-tiered Dog Man cakes! One team member creates a dog head for the top tier, and their teammate makes the human bottom tier of the cake. For a twist, the bakers must incorporate an ingredient that all dogs (and humans) love -- bacon!

This week, we're setting sail with Disney Cruise Line to visit Disney Lookout Cay, where the native sea creatures are so beautiful and inspiring that Duff Goldman and Kardea Brown ask the bakers to create sea animal desserts in an ocean or beach setting. For the twist, bakers are required to make a custom ice cream with a mix-in that goes with their dessert. Then, very special guests Captain Mickey Mouse and Captain Minnie Mouse drop by for a visit because there is an amazing prize at stake in this challenge -- the winning baker will enjoy a Disney Cruise Vacation!

Game on! The remaining eight bakers are challenged by Duff Goldman and Kardea Brown to make paw print gridiron desserts inspired by Puppy Bowl on Animal Planet. Special guest Dan the Ref keeps everyone in line while real live football-playing puppies motivate the bakers. In a twist, the competitors are tasked with making dessert bark from scratch. Finally, it's a gridiron tasting battle on the football field as the same types of desserts face off head-to-head.

Smurfs are taking over the kitchen! Inspired by the movie "Smurfs," Duff Goldman and Kardea Brown ask the remaining seven bakers to create a Smurf dome cake that illustrates what kind of Smurf they would be! Then, since the Smurfs travel to Australia in the movie, the young bakers must make a cookie decorated to look like an animal found in Australia.

Get ready for cuteness overload! Rudy the mini horse joins Duff Goldman and Kardea Brown to introduce everyone's favorite challenge -- dessert imposters! The kid bakers must create imposters of their assigned animal's favorite food, and before the challenge, Duff shows off some airbrush techniques to prep them for success. For a twist, the competitors need to incorporate an herb, spice or veggie into their dessert that is safe for their animal to eat.

Duff Goldman and Kardea Brown are embracing bugs and the soil they call home when they challenge the five remaining bakers to make edible terrariums featuring assigned insects. Plus, since bugs love flowers, the bakers must create an edible flower to feature in their terrarium.

Everyone needs a place to call home -- especially farm animals! Duff Goldman and Kardea Brown test the bakers' skills by asking them to build yummy cookie animal houses. The choice of cookie and flavor is up to the bakers, but Duff demonstrates the best ways to glue together cookie panels before the challenge. For a twist, the competitors must also whip up haystack cookies and a water trough of dipping sauce for the hungry animals.

For the final big bake, Duff Goldman and Kardea Brown encourage the last three bakers to "think outside the cage" and create a zoo cake inspired by the monkey enclosure, the African safari enclosure and the forest predators enclosure. Then, since people love to eat popcorn at the zoo, for the last twist of the season, the young bakers must use popcorn in their zoo cake. The most successful cake maker will earn the title of Kids Baking Champion and $25,000!