Carla Hall Reveals How ‘Next Level Baker’ Is ‘Pushing the Envelope’ With Challenges

Chef Gordon Ramsay has made his list, checked it twice, and gathered 12 of the best bakers in the country to compete in Next Level Baker, a three-week holiday spinoff of cooking competition Next Level Chef premiering on Thursday, December 4, on Fox.

“The holidays are all about bringing people together, and nothing does that quite like delicious food and a sprinkling of friendly competition,” he says. “It’s going to be festive, it’s going to be fun, and it’s going to be next level.”

Ramsay is joined by Carla Hall of Food Network’s Holiday Baking Championship and Candace Nelson, cofounder of Sprinkles Cupcakes, to serve as judges and mentors (there is no team draft in this edition).

“The challenges are real, but the thing that I love about doing this show, instead of just judging, I get to mentor,” Hall says. “Getting in the kitchens and getting my hands dirty, that was the best part for me. I loved it.”

The three-story kitchen set has also been transformed into a winter wonderland, with carolers, ice skaters, a ukulele player, and a children’s choir raising holiday spirits. “It is so much larger than I thought it would be,” Hall says. “So, when I saw it for the first time, I was awestruck. And I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, we’re really doing this thing.’ I feel like I’m a kid, and the gift of the holidays was seeing the kitchen for the first time.”

The talented bakers, whose hometowns range from New York to California, are competing for something even sweeter than the desserts they’re creating: a $25,000 prize, plus a coveted HexClad cookware package.

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In the premiere episode, the first challenge is to make winter goodies that invoke memories of the past. Then, after an elimination round, boozy holiday party treats are on the menu. And don’t expect to see just the usual Christmas cookies and eggnog recipes in this episode, or future ones.

Bakers are tested to use the ingredients during the Platform Grab to capture the flavors and textures of traditional holiday sweets and pastries from around the globe. “We’re pushing the envelope with them having to lean into a particular culture and sort of pull some of that out,” Hall says. “And then in the second drop, are they thinking of the things that they need, the spices to make something actually feel like it’s from another country?”

Next Level Baker, Series Premiere, Thursday, December 4, 9/8c, Fox