By Claudia Loucks
Geneseo Current
Abigail and Kenneth Wolf made history as the Geneseo siblings secured the championship title in the final segment of the “Baking Championship: Next Gen” Food Network television series. They were in competition with two other teams who had made it through the first eight weeks of the series.
The Wolf brother and sister captivated the judges with their heart-theme decorated animated cake, that they completed on the show which aired Monday, March 2.
Abigail and Kenneth were awarded $25,000 for their creative skills and secured the title of
“Baking Championship: Next Gen” champions.
Having won the previous week’s competition, they were given the honor of assigning the shapes for the animated cakes to the remaining teams - hearts, flowers and stars.
The Wolf team chose first and took hearts because Abigail knew their options for a theme for the entire cake could be focused around love.
Abigail and Kenneth teamed up well in their task, which was completed .in the allotted five hours of time. During that time, they baked several layers of cake and chose the correct flavor profile to go with chocolate. Although the hazelnuts that were added to the ingredients were not chopped finely enough for Judge Duff Goldman, the combined flavors were a hit with both Duff and Judge Kardea Brown.
Abigail’s primary focus was on the zoetrope as that was an important element to the overall challenge.
The children’s mom, Erica Wolf, shared that Abigail had talked about how she wanted to put in the hearts without being interrupted by the judges, and that was when Judge Duff Goldman stopped to chat with Abigail and Kenneth.
The children’s mom, Erica Wolf, said, “It was a stressful environment and many finishing touches were made before the end of the five hours.”
Even with the stress of working under pressure, the brother and sister team worked together in harmony, and at one time on the March 2 show, Kenneth could be heard complimenting his sister in her work of placing the hearts on the cake with “That’s incredible Abby!”
The show featured teams of siblings and one of the challenges of the series was how well they could work together, so I asked their mom about how Abigail and Kenneth fared in that area, and she said, “They did incredibly well together on and off set. Our time outside the studio was relaxing and fun, and they were able to agree on everything we had to do together: activities, pool time, restaurant choices. They grew together during this process and will always have this positive experience as a shared memory. We all missed home, especially Dan and Lucy.”
Erica Wolf also shared that she did cry when they won the series, which was taped in July in California, – “I cried when they won in July, and I cried again tonight (while watching the show on March 2). They are amazing kids.”
When asked what they planned to do with the $25,000 prize money, their mom answered with, “Neither has actually decided what to do with the money, but they will be required to save almost all of it! Abigail has been trying an endless number of new bakes – my favorite being a turtle cupcake. Kenneth continues to make amazing cream puffs and even has a request for them for his cousin’s birthday in May.”
When they were asked on the show what they might do with their winnings, Kenneth said he might invest in the stock market, so when mom was asked about his remark, she replied, “Yes, in the stock market! He plays the old game of “Stocks and Bonds” with my father-in-law.”
Abigail and Kenneth are the children of Dan and Erica Wolf, and the family includes sister Lucy.
About the reality baking Show:
The TV series debuted on Jan. 5 of this year in Burbank, CA, when 12 teams of siblings gathered in the fully-equipped kitchen and began to showcase their culinary skills.
Two of the 12 teams were eliminated on the first competition, which was referred to as a “tryout” round of challenges.
In each of the following weeks, one teams was sent home, leaving three teams in the final competition on March 2.
Duff Goldman, a pastry chef and a regular judge on Food Network, and Kardea Brown, a Southern chef and host, were the hosts and judges for the series.
