cooking this week
WEDNESDAY
Sideshow showdown: ‘Freakshow
Cakes’ debuts on Cooking Channel
By Michelle Rose
TV Media
T
he popularity of carnival
freak shows peaked in the
late 19th century, when people
like P.T. Barnum turned our
fascination with the abnormal
into entertainment for the
masses.
Today, our appetite for
curiosities and oddities hasn’t
diminished — we just have
television and YouTube to sati-
ate it.
Besides, the word “freak
show” doesn’t necessarily
conjure images of bearded
ladies and giants anymore.
In common parlance, it’s just
a label for anything strange,
occasionally provocative, even
fascinatingly grotesque. It’s
about standing out from the
rest. And that’s exactly what
Cooking Channel hopes to ac-
complish with its newest cake-
decorating competition.
Premiering Friday, Oct. 4,
“Freakshow Cakes” is being
touted as a “one-of-a-kind
cake showdown” due to its
uniquely themed challenges.
It’s a limited series, and it’s just
in time for Halloween month
on Cooking Channel.
In each episode, “three of
the most sinister cake artists”
(per Cooking Channel’s news
release) compete to create the
freakiest cake. The one with
the wildest and most shock-
ingly creative design will be
crowned the Freakshow Cham-
pion and awarded the $10,000
prize.
The series title and its late
time-slot seem to indicate
that it’s for a more mature
audience, and it’s not yet clear
how far they’ll go to create
their creep-out cakes that tell
a story. But we do know that
the weekly themes will include
scary clowns, snake charmers,
fortune tellers and fire breath-
ers (this is probably the only
time you’d ever hope to see a
cake smoke or burn).
The series features two
hosts: pastry chef Zac Young
and Vivian Chan, who is a
digital culinary producer at
Discovery.
If Young looks familiar, you
may have seen him in Cooking
Channel’s “Unique Sweets,”
Bravo’s “Top Chef: Just Des-
serts,” and in Food Network
shows such as “Beat Bobby
Flay,” “Chopped” and “Worst
Cooks in America.”
Off-screen, Young is the
pastry director of Craveable Hos-
pitality Group and the creator
of the dessert equivalent to the
Turducken: the PieCaken. It’s
the ultimate Thanksgiving meal
ender when you can’t decide
between pecan pie, pumpkin pie
and apple cake, because it com-
bines all three into one glorious
layered cake. It’s an incredible
showstopper for sure, and a
complete horror to dietitians.
And that kind of over-the-top
creative flair is proof that Young
is the right choice to host a show
like “Freakshow Cakes.”
So tune in on Friday, Oct.
4, and be prepared to jump
clown-feet first into the spirit of
Halloween.
2:00 p.m.
FOOD Guy’s Grocery Games Chefs
must use odds and ends from the Clear-
ance Carts. (CC)
3:00 p.m.
KVEW The Rachael Ray Show (CC)
FOOD Guy’s Grocery Games Dynamic
duos are taking over Flavortown Market.
(CC)
4:00 p.m.
FOOD Guy’s Grocery Games Three
DDD family duos compete. (CC)
5:00 p.m.
FOOD Guy’s Grocery Games Chefs get
mandatory ingredients for burgers and
fries. (CC)
6:00 p.m.
FOOD Guy’s Grocery Games Three
duos compete for the last spot. (CC)
7:00 p.m.
FOOD Guy’s Grocery Games Three
families compete in two games. (CC)
8:00 p.m.
FOOD Guy’s Grocery Games Four chefs
battle in a three-round fright fest. (CC)
THURSDAY
2:00 p.m.
FOOD Beat Bobby Flay Giada De
Laurentiis and Michael Symon vs. Bobby
Flay. (CC)
2:30 p.m.
FOOD Beat Bobby Flay Diane DiMeo
and Ian Russo put Bobby in his place. (CC)
3:00 p.m.
KVEW The Rachael Ray Show (CC)
FOOD Beat Bobby Flay Michael Wal-
ters and Seattle’s Lisa Nakamu battle. (CC)
3:30 p.m.
FOOD Beat Bobby Flay Lee Frank and
Joe Wolfson vie to bump Bobby down.
(CC)
(CC)
5:00 p.m.
FOOD Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives Guy
heads to places where families rule. (CC)
5:30 p.m.
FOOD Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives
Clam cakes in Rhode Island and St. Louis
cheesefries. (CC)
6:00 p.m.
FOOD Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives
This trip, Guy’s hitting up some legit local
landmarks. (CC)
6:30 p.m.
FOOD Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives Guy
hits up world flavors tucked away in the
U.S.A. (CC)
7:00 p.m.
FOOD Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives Guy
cruises the food scene in Cuba. (CC)
7:30 p.m.
FOOD Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives
Guy hits up the hot spots in Havana,
Cuba. (CC)
8:00 p.m.
FOOD Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives
Guy’s digging into crazy twists on chicken
and burgers. (CC)
SATURDAY
1:30 p.m.
KTNW tasteMAKERS Freshly milled
wheat, rye & corn become artisan bread.
(CC)
4:00 p.m.
FOOD Beat Bobby Flay Jason Dady
and Mike DeCamp compete against
Bobby. (CC)
4:30 p.m.
FOOD Beat Bobby Flay Justin and Mike
hope their plates pack a punch. (CC)
5:00 p.m.
FOOD Beat Bobby Flay Iron Chefs Jose
Garces and Stephanie Izard battle. (CC)
5:30 p.m.
FOOD Beat Bobby Flay Melissa and Jen
intend to prove they can compete. (CC)
6:00 p.m.
FOOD Beat Bobby Flay Katie Lee and
Valerie Bertinelli judge. (CC)
6:30 p.m.
FOOD Beat Bobby Flay Gail Simmons
and Sunny Anderson try to get Bobby
beat. (CC)
8:00 p.m.
FOOD Kids Halloween Baking Cham-
pionship Fan favorites from ‘Kids Baking
Championship’ are back. (CC)
FRIDAY
Zac Young and Vivian Chan co-host “Freakshow Cakes”
3:30 p.m.
FOOD Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives
Guy tries meals done fresh and a little
different. (CC)
4:00 p.m.
FOOD Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives
Guy meets cooks doing things their own
way. (CC)
4:30 p.m.
FOOD Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives Guy
visits a Peruvian restaurant in Chicago.
2:00 p.m.
FOOD Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives Guy
visits North Carolina, Ohio and Texas. (CC)
2:30 p.m.
FOOD Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives Guy
visits Alabama for gumbo and a crawfish
boil. (CC)
3:00 p.m.
KVEW The Rachael Ray Show (CC)
FOOD Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives Guy
Fieri tries a chili and tator-tot pizza. (CC)
OPB America’s Test Kitchen From
Cook’s Illustrated The secrets to the
perfect gingerbread layer cake. (CC)
2:00 p.m.
OPB Cook’s Country From America’s
Test Kitchen Chicago thin-crust pizza
with Italian sausage is made. (CC)
FOOD Halloween Cake-Off Bakers
must create Halloween cakes. (CC)
2:30 p.m.
OPB Martha Bakes Learn to bake anise-
flavored chrabeli. (CC)
3:00 p.m.
KTNW America’s Test Kitchen From
Cook’s Illustrated An Indoor Pulled
Chicken is prepared. (CC)
FOOD Chopped Chefs find spooky fun
in the Halloween baskets. (CC)
3:30 p.m.
KTNW Food Over 50 Make easy lamb
curry and vegetarian saag aloo. (CC)
4:00 p.m.
FOOD Chopped Halloween-themed
challenge featuring pig snouts. (CC)
5:00 p.m.
FOOD Chopped Chefs are dressed for
Halloween in the Chopped kitchen. (CC)
6:00 p.m.
OPB The Great British Baking Show
Mary and Paul prove no bake is too big or
too small. (CC)
FOOD Chopped Chefs find a freaky
gummy in their first basket. (CC)
7:00 p.m.
KTNW The Great British Baking Show
The bakers tackle three of Paul’s toughest
challenges. (CC)
SUNDAY
Noon
FOOD The Kitchen We’re tailgating
early with a breakfast of champions. (CC)
1:00 p.m.
FOOD Good Eats Alton shares how to
get dates into your culinary life. (CC)
1:30 p.m.
FOOD Good Eats (CC)
MONDAY
1:00 p.m.
OPB Cook’s Country From America’s
Test Kitchen Julia and Bridget make
flank steak in adobo. (CC)
FOOD The Pioneer Woman Ree cooks
a Brady-inspired menu at a special loca-
tion. (CC)
1:30 p.m.
FOOD The Pioneer Woman Ree Drum-
mond prepares a game night spread. (CC)
2:00 p.m.
FOOD Halloween Wars The kitchen is
set and the judges are ready. (CC)
3:00 p.m.
KVEW The Rachael Ray Show (CC)
8:00 p.m.
FOOD Halloween Baking Champion-
ship: Extra Spooky (N) Eight bakers
make scary skeleton desserts.
TUESDAY
1:00 p.m.
KTNW Mexico: One Plate at a Time
Featuring meatball torta and traditional
albondingas. (CC)
OPB Food Over 50 A focus on the di-
etary challenges of ‘eating outdoors.’ (CC)
FOOD The Pioneer Woman Ree is
cooking mega with food for the big
game. (CC)
1:30 p.m.
FOOD The Pioneer Woman Find out
what Ree’s making for 120 hungry kids.
(CC)
2:00 p.m.
FOOD Chopped Junior The dessert
round includes a lollipop and a sandwich.
(CC)
3:00 p.m.
KVEW The Rachael Ray Show (CC)
FOOD Chopped The chefs use meatless
ingredients in appetizer round. (CC)
4:00 p.m.
FOOD Chopped Strange versions of
ingredients challenge the chefs. (CC)
5:00 p.m.
FOOD Chopped Chefs are tasked with
making the perfect midnight meal. (CC)
6:00 p.m.
FOOD Chopped The chefs compete in a
Halloween style competition.
7:00 p.m.
FOOD Chopped The chefs discover fine
fare for a German party. (CC)
8:00 p.m.
FOOD Chopped Junior A Halloween
showdown includes gory surprises. (CC)
Pendleton East-Oregonian, OR: Food Sep 25,
2019 to Oct 1, 2019
East Oregonian and Hermiston Herald | September 25, 2019
Screentime | 21