Best Baker in America

The competition kicks off with 10 elite bakers and Southern dessert challenges. First the bakers must make Kentucky's May Day PieCaken with bourbon as the featured flavor. The elimination bake-off challenge involves the elements of Florida's Key lime pie.

The nine bakers' master challenge has a Mid-Atlantic theme: making their own upscale version of Maryland's Smith Island cake and incorporating boardwalk popcorn. The bake-off round involves a dessert inspired by the Pennsylvania classic shoofly pie.

The competition heads west as the eight bakers must feature Montana and Idaho's beloved huckleberries in their huckleberry pie-embouche pastry tower. In the bake-off challenge, the bakers celebrate Utah's official state snack -- gelatin.

The seven bakers put their own spin on kuchen, the official state dessert of South Dakota, and serve it with a side of ice cream. Then the bake-off challenge involves making a new dessert with the ingredients of Minnesota's scotcheroo bar.

The six remaining bakers must make Michigan's bumpy cake into a bumpy entremets using the featured flavor of cherries. In the bake-off, the competitors have to make mini versions of Missouri's beloved gooey butter cake.

The five remaining bakers have to reinvent the Boston cream pie using that great Massachusetts ingredient, coffee syrup. In the bake-off, the competitors are tasked with creating beautiful plated desserts based on Maine's whoopie pies.

With one last chance to claim a spot in the finale, the bakers get creative with Nevada's Basque cake using Southwest chile peppers as the featured flavor. Then they must combine New Mexico's state cookies, biscochitos, and flan into an original dessert.

In the finale, the bakers must turn California's famous chiffon cake into a tsunami cake featuring lemons and avocados. Then they have to build a 2-foot-tall Hawaiian-themed dessert showpiece with intricate chocolate work before the winner is chosen.