We took Alaina Greenlee ‘23 and Carmen Crabtree ‘22, and put them head to head in our version of “Nailed It”: “Failed It.” The bakers were instructed to recreate a complex cake in a limited amount of time. The bakers were then judged on appearance, texture, and taste.

Before the competition, the bakers were asked how they were feeling about their confectionery skills? Greenlee answered,“If I’m just going up against Carmen then I’m good to go, it sounds like Carmen sucks.” Crabtree answered,“I am feeling super confident.” Both competitors felt very confident in their baking skills and underestimated each other. Going into this competition Greenlee had been baking for years. On the other hand, Crabtree had very little experience. 

The bakers were given recipes and the materials needed to produce a cookie monster cake. Right from the start, there was tension in the air, they both raced to get to the ingredients first. Both competitors wanted to win and take the title of “Failed It” champion. As they moved throughout the kitchen the contestants made many mistakes. Greenlee started measuring her dry ingredients with the liquid measuring cup and put too much batter in her pan. Crabtree did not grease her pan enough and the cake became stuck to it. It started to look like neither one of them were going to come out of the kitchen with a final product.

When the time was up both competitors brought their cakes forward. Everything now was out of their hands and up to the judges. Greenlee’s cake was judged first. The looks did not meet the judges expectations , but the flavor was rich and the texture was phenomenal. Then, Crabtree’s cake was judged. It looked very appealing but the flavor, hard outside, and oily middle dragged the score down. The judges took their time discussing all the factors and finally came to a decision. Both cakes had some issues, but the cake that shone through was created by Greenlee. Greenlee took home the title of “Failed It” champion and a prize of cookies too.