(upbeat music) - Ready!

- [Both] Set!

Cook!

♪ Cooking up something, yes indeed ♪ ♪ Cooking up something really neat ♪ ♪ Just for my baby, extra sweet ♪ ♪ I'm cooking up something for you ♪ - [Announcer] Funding for "The Great Minnesota Recipe, Jr." is provided in part by Daugherty Appliance Sales and Service, Goat Hill Marketplace, The Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund, and viewers like you.

Thank you.

(upbeat music) - Welcome to "The Great Minnesota Recipe, Jr." I'm Chef Tomorrow Tanksley and, today, we've got three excited junior cooks ready to share their favorite winter recipes with you.

And today, I'm joined by André LeTendre-Wilcox, education and outreach coordinator at Whole Foods Co-op.

- Thank you very much, Tomorrow.

I am really excited to get these young folks out here and see their creativity come together in a delicious dish and I can't wait to try it.

- The theme today is winter recipes and our cooks are Lauren, Oliver, and Gigi.

- [André] They'll create two dishes for us, a small dish and then a larger dish.

They'll have 40 minutes to create the first dish and then another 40 minutes to create the second.

Both dishes will be used to crown the winner of "The Great Minnesota Recipe Jr." Let's get to know our contestants now.

(soft music) - I'm Lauren Jones.

I'm from Carlton, Minnesota.

And I've been cooking for four years.

I used to, like, bake cakes with, like, my grandma and my mom for, like, birthdays.

And then, I learned how to, like, make pancakes by myself.

So, like, I'd get up early and I would make pancakes for breakfast.

- [Interviewer] How are you feeling now that today's the day?

- Very excited.

Me and my brother, sometimes we cook together, but not very often.

I'm kind of scared now if I do win.

I think he's gonna take his Nerf gun and shoot me.

- Oh!

Why would he do that?

- I don't know.

Jealous?

He does that.

- I'm Oliver Tomksy.

I'm from Duluth, Minnesota.

I've been cooking for like three or four years.

I first learned how to cook when I was like five or six.

My grandma taught me.

- [Interviewer] How are you feeling now that today's the day?

(soft music) - Fine.

- [Interviewer] Not nervous?

Not excited?

Just fine?

- Yeah.

(soft music) I guess I'm kind of excited.

- [Interviewer] What would it mean to you to be the winter winner of "The Great Minnesota Recipe Jr."?

(soft music) - It'd be fun.

Because, uh ...

It'd be nice to pass down the trifle from my mom to my grandma then to me and everyone can know about it.

And then, maybe they'll make it sometime.

- I am Gigi Calland.

I live in Duluth, Minnesota.

And I started cooking at a very young age 'cause my grandma taught me how to make chocolate chip cookies when I was like three and it just stuck with me.

I feel super excited.

When I got the email I was like (shrieks excitedly) because I've never done, like, a cooking show before.

When I was, like, really young the only TV that my parents would let me watch was cooking shows, so that's just how I grew up.

Even if I didn't win, I would just be positively chuffed, as they say on "The Great British Baking Show," which I watch a lot, by the way.

(soft music) - As far as technique and skill, I will definitely keep my eye out for technique and skill.

For me, it's gonna be taste, presentation, and absolutely what the dish mean to them, where did they get this recipe, how did they come up with it.

That's important to me.

- Yeah, it's also important to me as well.

And of course, we want it to look good, we want it to taste good.

But do they have a passion for it?

I mean, did they choose a dish that they're like, "This is really important to me to make this dish because ..." and what is that because.

- Okay, you're at your stations and I'm gonna count you down.

Ready- - [Both] Set!

Cook!

(soft music) - Oh, good, they're running.

(chuckles) (soft music) Oliver's smart.

He grabbed his recipe.

Like, I'm gonna get everything on this piece of paper.

Okay, so we got two, they're going for it, getting all that stuff.

- [André] Have the hunt and gather underway.

- And we got this little baby.

She is grating her orange.

She's zesting.

Lauren and Marshall are brother and sister.

Our little Marshall from the summer season.

- [André] Mm-hmm.

Looks like Lauren is gonna be doing some baking.

- We're juicing an orange.

- That's Oliver breaking over there.

- That's Oliver.

(object blasts) (soft music) What, is he crunching up?

- Yeah.

- I don't know what that is.

- Going at it.

(upbeat music) - [Tomorrow] Oh, Miss Lauren, she's got her measuring cup.

- [André] Yup.

- [Tomorrow] She's getting herself together.

A little technique with the, there we go, that's right.

That's right.

Yup, she's got it.

(upbeat music) - Here we got hash browns.

- Hash browns?

- Cheddar cheese.

- Is he making a hot dish, this little one?

(upbeat music) - The potatoes are flying.

- Oliver is impressing me with his get it done attitude.

- [André] He is going at it with those hash browns.

He could be angry at them.

(upbeat music) Interested in seeing what's going on down at the end.

(upbeat music) - Ah, strength, muscles.

Ah.

- [Tomorrow] She squeezed the orange, so she used it, mm-hm.

(upbeat music) And now she's got her blender out.

I'm excited to see what Miss Lauren's over there working on.

(upbeat music) She's so cute.

She can just take that spout off and pour it.

(laughs) She's going like this.

She's just gonna go for it.

(playful music) (objects clatter) - Hi!

- Hi.

- Hi, Lauren.

What you got going on?

How's it going?

- Good.

I'm making blueberry muffins.

- Oh- - Excellent.

- my goodness.

- How did you choose blueberry muffins?

- I didn't.

My mom made me.

- Okay.

- Mom's know best sometimes.

You like to bake?

- Yes.

- Well, you look like you're doing a great job.

- Thanks.

- Where did you learn how to bake?

Is it something your family does a lot of or?

- A little bit and my brother, he has a dairy allergy, and so we got a dairy-free cookbook and it had, like, desserts in it.

And then, we started making that.

And then, I just started liking baking.

- You're so sweet.

- I was gonna say is that a big brother, a little brother?

- Um, big brother.

- Well, that's a pretty sweet sister to start baking for him.

- That's pretty awesome.

I loved your egg technique.

You cracked it and you put it right in the bowl instead of putting it right in your batter.

That was a very good move, okay?

So you're doing great and you just keep it up, okay?

- Okay.

- And watch your time, okay?

Time management.

- Great job, Lauren.

- All right.

Great job, sweetheart.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) - Do I just press start or is it already working?

- Let's see.

It's already on.

- Hello.

Hi, Oliver.

- Hi.

- Hey, Oliver.

How you doing?

Looks like El Nino hit back here.

(Tomorrow laughs) How's it going?

- Uh, I basically had to just mix all the materials and do this.

So now it's just baking and cleaning up stuff up so I don't have to later.

- Yeah.

- What are you making for us?

- Yeah.

- Cheesy potatoes.

I'm just basically gonna wait till the clock hits like 10 seconds and take it out of the oven and salt it and give it a little pepper.

- Okay.

- 10 seconds?

- Yeah.

- Maybe a little more.

- Okay.

- Yeah.

- [Tomorrow] Give yourself a little more time, okay?

- No, it needs to bake as much as possible.

It's supposed to bake for like an hour at 350 degrees, so- - Okay, so you got this all figured out?

- Yeah.

- All right, well- - Have you made this before?

- Yeah, a lot of times, but I've only made it, like, the quick baking once and it worked out fine.

I'll just give you a corner piece and it should be fine.

- Okay.

There you go.

You've got a plan and I like it.

It's always good to have a plan.

So we'll let you get this station cleaned up and you're doing good, okay?

- Um-hmm.

- All right.

Thank you.

- Yeah, great job cleaning while you cook, Oliver.

- Yup.

(hand mixer whirs) (egg thuds) - Whoa, oh, oh.

Shell in the bowl.

Buttermilk.

Oh, there it is.

Oranges.

(soft music) Oh, I can't get over the fact that this is so like "Cook's Country."

Cinnamon.

- Hello, Gigi!

- Hi!

- Hi, what do you got going on?

- I am making glazed orange muffins.

They're very similar to a cake that my great-grandma made.

And it's kind of like cinnamon-y and warm and like winter-y.

- Where did you get this recipe from?

- I made it up.

That's one of my things.

I look at recipes and then I just sort of, you know, riff.

- I love it.

I love it.

You know, I do the same thing, so that's great.

And so, you said your great-grandmother makes a cake very similar to this?

- Yeah, I mean, I never knew her, but I knew her recipes.

- There you go!

- So ... - Well, since you never knew her, but you knew her recipes, what do you think some of her favorite foods were?

- Well, I mean, she liked a lot of baked goods and stuff.

She has a lot of recipes for, you know, all the usual things, but they're always better than the usual things.

- There you go.

I saw you zesting that orange.

You were doing great with that.

(Gigi giggles) You look like you got this all under control.

- I hope so.

- I think- - I hope it doesn't explode in the oven.

That would not be good.

- So you're doing wonderful.

You just get yourself all cleaned up and you just keep it going, okay?

- Mm-hmm.

Thank you.

- All right.

And when we plate, just make it look pretty, okay?

- Definitely.

- You gotta make it look pretty.

All right.

You're doing wonderful.

- Thanks, Gigi.

- Thank you.

- Bye, Gigi.

Well, André, what did you think of our little cooks over there?

- I think we have some great stuff going on.

Starting right in the forefront here we have Lauren with the blueberry muffins.

What did you think?

You pointed out a technique- - Some technique.

- that was very good news.

- She's got some technique over there with her egg cracking.

I love that she found this recipe in a non-dairy cookbook 'cause her brother has a dairy allergy.

- Very sweet and very nice thing to do.

- [Tomorrow] What do you think about little Oliver?

- [André] I think is raring to go.

We have a- - Swift.

- It looks like frozen hash browns that he's putting together to make- - Cheesy potatoes, I think.

- Cheesy potatoes.

And it does seem like he has a plan to make sure that they get done.

And then, even has a backup plan, which I was glad to hear.

(soft music) - I'm proud of his backup plan.

He said he'll just give us the corner pieces.

10 seconds.

It's coming out in 10 seconds.

He said he's gonna pull it out 10 seconds left on the clock.

Okay.

- We'll keep an eye.

I think it'll be fine.

- He'll be okay.

We'll give him a little grace.

And what do you think about Miss Gigi?

- The smells down there.

I mean- - Oh.

- It all smells wonderful, but when you get that fresh zested orange, the freshly-squeezed orange juice- - I smell.

Mm-hmm.

- in there.

- I smelt her cinnamon too.

I smell- - Hits your senses right away.

- Yeah, very warm.

And she made this up herself, so that's pretty cool.

Off of her grandma's recipe.

- Using her grandmother's recipe, I think, is so sweet.

Her great-grandma.

- Yeah.

That's where- - She's lucky to have that and- - Absolutely.

Absolutely.

Just sounds amazing.

And we have 15 minutes left, guys!

15 minutes!

(soft music) I'm impressed that the girls are baking.

It's quite a feat.

- It really is.

- [Tomorrow] A baker has to be very precise and you have to get your measuring correct.

- Fresh blueberries.

- Okay.

Oh, look at Lauren over there.

She is- - I can only see- - [Tomorrow] getting herself together with her plating.

- That's exactly what I was- - It's looking good.

- [André] talking about.

You have this extra time.

- Time, yeah.

- Put it into something.

(soft music) - Oh, look at those.

She put blueberries in those muffins, honey.

- Yes.

- It is blue.

Look at Lauren's little technique with the toothpick.

- Yeah.

- Mm-hmm.

Uh-oh, looks like Lauren put her muffins back in.

Maybe they weren't quite here she wanted them to be.

- They might've been squishy.

(soft music) The only one I'm really slight worried about plating is gonna be Oliver.

- 'Cause he's not gonna pull it out?

- Even if he does pull it out- - Seconds on the clock.

- it's not gonna set up.

- No.

- It could just splatter on the plate.

- He said he did run this recipe through though.

He said he did it, he timed it out, and he said it turned out pretty good he said, so I have faith in Oliver.

(soft music) This might be part of his dish.

We don't know.

Maybe he's gonna serve us a bowl of cereal with those cheesy potatoes.

A little banana.

He is making a fantastic bowl of cereal.

I would say that.

- He is.

- Where's my other glove?

No!

This is horrible!

There it is!

(soft music) Need a spoon.

Need a spoon.

- She is getting down on those oranges.

Watch your fingers.

- I know.

(soft music) (soft music continues) - Gigi looks like she has her plates ready to go and I think we nailed that garnish.

- Yeah, she's just got her garnish.

- Because I aim seeing the orange wedges that are standing up.

- Mm-hmm.

(soft music) - Time.

Takes a very long time.

(soft music) - [Tomorrow] Miss Gigi's pulled out her muffins.

- [André] Oh, they look nice.

I see those rounded tops over there.

- Mm-hmm.

And she's letting them rest.

- I didn't see any sort of cups on Gigi's.

- No, 'cause I think hers is more like a little cake.

It's gonna be like a little cake.

(soft music) - Be careful plating if that's hot!

Attention to detail is (laughs) ... - Did I miss?

What did I miss?

- Attention to detail is very important.

- All right, guys, three- - [Both] two, one.

- Hands up!

(soft music) It's okay.

Can we let Lauren?

It's okay, it's okay.

It's looks beautiful.

It's okay.

(group applauds and cheers) It's okay.

- Did you see Oliver seasoning the ... - What did he do?

- You didn't see him season it?

- Oh, I missed it.

Dang it!

Hi, Lauren.

- Hi.

- [Tomorrow] So what do we have here, honey?

- [Lauren] Uh, blueberry muffin with whipped cream.

- [Tomorrow] You got a beautiful little garnish on it.

Is those raspberries?

- Yes.

- Okay.

- It's like it's sitting on a little snow bank.

- Yeah.

It's not intentional 'cause that looks great.

- Thanks.

- You did a great job.

How did it go for you this first round?

- Pretty good.

- Pretty good?

Little nervous?

- Yeah.

- I'm gonna taste it, okay, 'cause I'm excited to taste this.

- Two fork it.

- [Tomorrow] Oh, look at all those blueberries!

Nice and purple on the inside.

That's what I like to see.

- Yeah, I think they were more purple 'cause they were wild blueberries.

- Mm, it's wild blueberries?

- Yeah.

- Good choice.

- And you made this blueberry muffin with no dairy, right?

- Right.

I used the milk.

- Okay, so it does have a little dairy?

- Yeah, but usually I make it- - It's very good.

- Oh, when make it for, like, your brother you would not use milk.

- Yeah.

- What you replace the milk with?

- Um, almond milk and I would add lemon juice.

- It was very good.

- It's very good.

Yeah, it's very good.

One thing with the presentation, we're on a time restraint, maybe hold off on the plate whipped cream until right beforehand.

- Okay.

- Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

- [André] Especially when it's the aerosol kind, it's gonna sit there.

It's gonna melt down.

- When you got cream on your dish you can always put that on last.

Okay?

- Okay.

- Mm, it's delicious, honey.

- And in this situation, it might've been a little bit better to have not the whipped cream, but have the muffin on there.

So just time management.

You got it down.

It's a great muffin.

It was really good.

Thank you so much.

- Delicious muffin.

Thank you.

- What can you tell us, Oliver?

What did you make for us?

- I made cheesy potatoes.

I make it every Christmas and Easter with my grandma.

- [Tomorrow] That's great.

Tell me what's on it.

- There's frozen hash browns, some cheddar cheese, some cornflakes, and some salt and pepper to top it off.

- Lovely.

- And I added this bowl of cereal so you can see how much better the cornflakes taste in my dish than they do in the cereal.

And I also added some marshmallows and strawberries and blueberries.

This cereal is probably gonna be good, even if there is some pepper in it.

- Well, this is a really smart idea because that's gonna give those potatoes a lot of texture.

- Yeah, little crunch.

Little crunch- - Where did this recipe come from?

- It actually came from my grandma's friend's mom's friend.

- Oh, lovely.

- So a whole group of people on that.

- Yeah.

I love that you want us to compare the cornflakes.

Well, you had to let that dish bake.

Did you pull it out at the 10-second mark like you told me you were?

- Uh, no.

I decided I should probably plate up, because I forgot about plating it up.

I was just gonna take the thing out.

- That's okay.

- Well, good.

Well- - I pulled it out at, like, the one-minute mark.

- One minute?

Okay.

- What do you think it's gonna be?

- What?

- You think you had it done?

- Yeah, I think it's pretty good.

I took the corner piece so the texture should be right.

I might've added a little too much pepper, but I think it'll do fine.

- Oh, we like pepper.

I like seasoning.

- Mm-hmm.

- Mm, I like the crunch of the cornflake.

- Oliver, I'm gonna be absolutely honest with you.

I'm surprised.

I did not think you were gonna pull that off.

This is really good.

You did a great job.

- Mm-hmm.

I'm gonna have some cereal too.

- I put too much milk.

- You put marshmallows in it?

- Two marshmallow slices, some strawberry slices, blueberries.

- I just want the marshmallows.

Okay, I will not that do that.

All right.

(chuckles) Good job with this.

I think it's so cute.

- [André] And this could even be served together if you wanted to.

- It could.

It's like a very composed little Christmas dish.

- And you are correct.

The cornflakes are much better in your dish than they are in the bowl of cereal.

- Much better.

Much better.

All right.

Well, you did a great job and thank you so much.

Hello, Gigi.

- Hi.

- Oh my gosh, look at this.

This looks wonderful.

- Thank you.

- So do you have a name for your dish?

- [Gigi] Glazed orange muffins.

- [Tomorrow] And tell me about your plating.

- I decided to put a little bit of what was in the muffins on the plate so, obviously, orange juice and orange zest go in the muffins as well as cinnamon.

- Okay.

And I love your plating.

It looks very cute.

- Thank you so much.

- Shall we?

- Let's do it.

- Okay.

- One bite?

(Tomorrow chuckles) - Oh, Gigi, that was good.

- Thank you.

- Mm-hmm.

- I'm told they're really good with coffee.

- They would be great with coffee.

A little orange coffee cooked muffin.

- It's very fresh and bright and hits the palate in a nice bite, yeah.

- Thank you.

- And I love your glaze that you did on top.

Nice and shiny.

Your presentation- - Thanks.

- of the cupcake.

Not quite a cupcake.

- Muffin.

I mean, glazed muffin.

- Glazed muffin.

- It's half cupcake, half muffin.

- There you go.

Very nice.

Very creative.

I love it.

- Thank you.

- Gigi, thank you very much.

- Oh, of course.

(soft music) (soft music continues) (gentle rhythmic music) - Alright, guys!

Great round one, and now we're ready for round two.

You get 40 minutes.

Are you guys ready?

- [Contestants] Yeah!

- Here we go.

- Okay, so we're gonna count you down!

Ready, set- - Three.... - [Tomorrow And André] Cook!

- Gimme the milk!

- Or three, two, one.

- I was gonna go three, two... Yeah, either way.

(Tomorrow laughing) (gentle rhythmic music continues) - I'm really excited for round two.

- I am too, there's a lot going on.

- [Tomorrow] That Gigi gets right to it, she's already choppin'.

Is that a whole cake?

I don't know what that is.

What is that on his station?

(laughing) - [André] On who's?

- [Tomorrow] Oliver's, what is that he has?

- [André] It's an angel food cake.

- [Tomorrow] Lauren, she has the muffin pan out again.

- Yup.

- Okay.

- [André] I'm seeing a lot more baking.

- Oliver's runnin' around.

(laughing) - [André] It's all baking, it looks like, with the exception of Oliver.

- [Tomorrow] Oliver's doin' something with berries.

It might be a dessert.

I'm seein' a lot of fruit.

- [André] I'm seein' nuts too.

- [Tomorrow] I see a banana.

I'm thinking a banana split, I don't know what this kid's doin' over there.

(laughing) He's gonna surprise us, I know that.

(gentle rhythmic music continues) And I can't quite see what Miss Gigi's doin' down there.

Do you see baking?

- I'm seeing...

There's a blender out and we've got some cracked eggs.

Very well composed, it looks like.

(salt shaker tumbling) - Ooh!

The pressure's on!

(jars thudding) - [André] Lauren is pullin' it together.

(gentle rhythmic music continues) - Lauren, hello!

- Hi.

- How are ya?

- Good.

- What have we got goin' on this round?

- Mini donuts.

- Oh my goodness.

Have you ever made mini donuts before?

- Yes.

- Okay.

And is this one of your recipes from your cookbook that you like?

- Yeah.

- Amazing.

- When would you serve these, would you say?

Is this just kinda like a treat to have around like a plate of cookies, or is this somethin' that maybe gets served on Sunday mornings?

- Sometimes, I just like randomly make them and then we just have 'em.

- That's very nice.

- [André] There's nothin' wrong with that at all.

- That's lovely.

I love the way you do your eggs.

So when you crack your egg, you wanna just crack it right on a flat surface, okay?

If you do it on anything like this or a lip, it's easier to get egg shelves in your stuff.

So just right on a flat surface, okay?

- Okay.

- Alright.

Good job, babe.

- It's lookin' great.

- You're doin' wonderful.

(gentle pensive music) - Gimme the milk!

I need a whisk.

I need it bad.

(milk pouring) (jar thudding) (lid clinking) Do I put in the whole thing of pudding mix?

(cap popping) The whole thing?

That looks about right.

(whisk clicking) That's enough whisking.

(dishes clinking) I really whisk I had more time to whisk this.

- Yeah.

- No, stop, stop spilling!

Just go in the refrigerator and puddify!

(gentle pensive music continues) Ew, a mushy part.

(nuts clinking) (fruit and nuts clinking) My fruit and nut mixture, and some cake.

Pudding should be done by now.

Why are you not pudding yet, did I do something wrong?

Oh no, (panting) how do you make pudding?

(paper rustling) Oh no, I'm dead.

Please tell me you have more pudding mixture.

I messed up bad.

I forgot to measure the milk, I just poured some in.

Wait, what?

I did measure the milk.

It's only supposed to take five minutes, but maybe I just put too much in it?

No, maybe this is a good thing, more drama for the show.

- Hello, Oliver.

Uh, hello.

- How are you?

- Not great.

I thought I messed up the pudding, and I took it out of the fridge and I wasted a bunch of time.

- You're doin' alright, Oliver.

- I do remember measuring it.

- Okay.

- But it seems like it's not solidifying fast enough, and I don't know why.

- Okay.

- I did everything as the directions said.

- Alright, well where'd you get this recipe from?

- Maybe I didn't whisk it enough.

I got it from the thing.

I'm gonna whisk it more in a second.

- Okay, okay.

- After I take my marshmallows out.

But yeah, this recipe- - Alright, and you just gotta time it, did you time your five minutes?

Just give it time, give time time.

- You still have 23 minutes left, you're good.

- You're okay, it's gonna be fine.

- [Tomorrow And André] Yeah.

- Does this go in the oven?

- What?

No, no, no.

- Okay, well I think you might be okay.

- [Oliver] It goes in the fridge actually.

- Oh, you wanna let it set, alright.

- [André] Oliver, where'd you get this recipe?

- Um, my grandma's mom.

- Oh, so your great-grandma?

- So your great-grandma?

- Mm-hmm.

- Alright.

- Okay.

Alright, well you look like you've got it.

- Where'd I put that whisk?

- Your whisk is gonna be...

It should be in there, I don't know where it is.

Okay, we're gonna let you get to it.

- [André] Oliver, I have faith in you, thank you very much.

- I do too, I do too.

- You just gotta stay calm and keep movin' forward.

You can get this, okay?

- Yup, you got this.

Alright, good job.

- I'm lookin' forward to tryin' it.

- Yes.

- It should work out fine.

(metal clanging) (blender buzzing) (Gigi grunting) - Muscles!

I got it, I got it.

(mixer buzzing) - Hello!

- Hi!

- Hi, Gigi.

- Gigi, how's it goin'?

- It's goin' well, it's going messy.

(laughing) - No, no, that's okay.

What are you making for us?

- I'm making crepes with Nutella, and homemade whipped cream, and fresh fruit.

- Oh, lovely.

So is this a recipe you came up with, or- - No, this one is something that my mom showed me.

I don't know who made it originally.

And the toppings are just things that I think would go well on crepes.

- Okay.

- Okay, cool.

Cool, cool, cool.

You've made your own whipped cream, that's lovely.

- Mm-hmm.

- And- - Where are the crepes at?

- The crepes are chilling, and that's my timer to take 'em outta the freezer.

- Okay.

- Usually, when I make 'em at home, we just put 'em out in a snowbank.

(laughing) - [Tomorrow] What a great technique.

- But yeah- - They call that a Minnesota refrigerator.

- Uh-huh, exactly.

- Uh-huh.

(laughing) Awesome.

Well, you look like you're doin' great.

You have it all under control.

I'll call out when we're 10 minutes in, okay?

- Okay.

- Alright.

- Gigi, thank you very much.

- Thank you, Gigi.

- Thank you.

- [Tomorrow] Well André, what'd you think?

- Tomorrow, I think they're doing a great job.

There's a lot goin' on.

And with all of the baking, there's so many more steps that need to be achieved to get the result that they're hoping for, and I hope that they can do it.

- It's very ambitious to bake with a time constraint.

Little Miss Lauren, these girls, you can tell they bake.

- [André] Yeah, I guess they bake a lot, yeah.

- [Tomorrow] They bake all the time.

- [André] Well, these are donut holes, aren't they?

- Did she call them donut holes?

- I thought they were donut holes.

- Okay, so that would be just like the little round ball.

- Yeah.

- [Tomorrow] Very ambitious.

(gentle rhythmic music) A little muffin testin'.

She's really good about her muffin testin'.

She uses the toothpick method, which always works.

- [André] Now she is taking the little muffins out.

- [Tomorrow] They're muffins, but they're donut muffins.

- Their donut muffins.

- That's what it is, they're donut muffins.

(gentle rhythmic music continues) We're buttering or glazing maybe perhaps.

So she made a little glaze, I believe- - It could be.

- For her donut muffins.

Interesting.

(gentle rhythmic music continues) (Oliver grunting) - [André] And a pile of... We have so much whipped cream everywhere.

- We're whippin' it up, whip it real good.

(dishes clinking) - Mmm.

- [André] Oliver is the only one I'm seeing taste it as he's making it.

- [Tomorrow] And that's important.

- The components of the dish are getting tried before they get put together.

- [Tomorrow] Okay.

- Okay, this isn't hardening at all, what did I miss?

(glass clinking) There's still 20 minutes left.

I'll just whisk it more.

Please work, please harden, (laughing) please.

I'm gonna put you in the freezer so you harden faster.

Hopefully, that works.

That's all I need to do.

- [Tomorrow] Oliver seems to be pullin' it together.

- The bananas!

I forgot the bananas, no!

- Oliver has all the fruit.

I saw a banana, I saw a strawberry.

(gentle rhythmic music continues) - I'm gonna let this sit in the freezer so the flavors can blend together even if it isn't fully done.

- Okay, Oliver's got a plate.

- He's got two.

- He's got two plates, yay, one for me and one for you.

- Mm-hmm.

- The pudding's a no-go, I'm gonna have to rely on my Cool Whip mixture.

(gentle rhythmic music continues) (Oliver grunting) Why'd I put my plate all the way over there?

(gentle rhythmic music continues) (dish clinking) (gentle rhythmic music continues) - [Tomorrow] Miss Gigi seems quite composed.

- Glorious.

- [Tomorrow] She chilled her batter- - [André] That's what she meant.

- Now, there's a technique there.

That's technique in that.

She's using her meas...

So she's measuring it out and she's pourin' it right into her hot pan.

- I like seeing the chatter, even if there's no one responding.

- Yeah, absolutely.

- I like seeing the chatter of them while they're working.

- [Tomorrow] Yeah.

- This is oddly thin.

Uh, oh no.

That's not good.

Hmm.

(spatula clinking) Let's try that again.

It's too thin.

Hmm.

Third time's the charm.

Whew!

Nutella focused.

- [Tomorrow] And I can see Gigi looks like she started her plating.

(gentle rhythmic music continues) - Folks, you got about two minutes left!

Try to work on that final plating!

Make sure it looks good, make sure it's something that you're happy to present!

(footsteps running) (tin rattling) Clean plates.

- Yeah, clean your plates.

(gentle rhythmic music continues) - [Tomorrow And André] Five, four, three, two, one!

Time's up!

(gentle rhythmic music continues) (Gigi panting) (Gigi exhaling) (people applauding in background) (bright joyful music) (simple staccato music) - Well hello, Lauren.

- Hi.

- So, what do we have here?

- [Lauren] Mini donut holes.

- [Tomorrow] Mini donut holes.

Well, they look delicious.

Is there anything you wanna tell us about your dish?

- Well, it has lotta butter, and butter makes things better.

- Absolutely, butter makes everything better.

And I see you have a little garnish of that, is that sugar?

- Yes, and cinnamon.

- Sugar-cinnamon dust, lovely, lovely.

- Lauren, can you remind me, why did you choose this dish?

- It's just something that I'm kind of good at baking and I really like it.

- Yeah.

It's quite the art form.

I'm gonna taste now.

Alright, excited.

(bright pensive music) Mm-hmm.

Mmm, so good.

Well, these are delicious.

- Mm-hmm.

- They're done all the way through.

- Yup.

- I love the sugar, that's really good.

One thing you wanna remember is you just wanna make sure your plate's all nice and clean when you present it, okay?

Other than that, great job, Lauren.

- [André] It has a real nice state fair mini donut taste to it.

- [Tomorrow] It does.

- And I have to agree, just clean the plate and- - Yup, a nice clean plate when you present, okay?

So, so important.

But thank you so much.

Thanks for doin' such a great job and being here with us.

- Thank you for having me.

- [André] Thanks, Lauren.

- Hi, Oliver!

- [Oliver And André] Hi.

- [Tomorrow] What do we have here?

- It's English trifle, but I added some things, so now it's "Amazing Mongoose Trifle."

My pudding, I followed the directions right, but it just didn't work.

- Okay.

- So it's pudding-less trifle, but it's okay because they have guardians.

One is George and one over there is Larry.

- Wait, you said guardians?

- Yeah, so it doesn't go bad.

- [André] Okay.

- Without the pudding because it's not gonna be quite the same without the pudding.

- Okay.

- But you know what?

You had to make an adjustment and you pivoted.

Because if you would've put the pudding on, it would've probably ruined the dish, right?

- Mm-hmm.

Well actually, if I would've put it on top, it would've.

- Yeah.

- Okay, we're gonna dig right in and give it a try here.

(bright pensive music) Mmm.

- And I mixed the marshmallows into the Cool Whip.

- [André] Mm-hmm.

- [Tomorrow] Okay.

- It would've been a lot better with the pudding.

- But you melted those marshmallows, mixed it in with the Cool Whip, it thickened it up quite a bit and it's nice.

- Mm-hmm, I'm gonna taste a marshmallow whip thingy.

Oh, there's a... That's a... (laughing) That's a marshmallow there.

Mmm.

- And Larry and and George probably taste pretty good too.

- Is that what's happening here?

- Apple and banana?

- [Oliver] Yeah.

- [Tomorrow] I love how you- - [Oliver] It's a smiley face.

- [Tomorrow] Oh, it's a smiley face.

- [André] Gotcha, okay!

- [Oliver] I used raspberry leafs as eyebrows.

- [Tomorrow] Ooh, (laughing) well there ya go.

Sweetie, I think you did a great job.

- [André] Mm-hmm.

- I think it looks great, it's very colorful.

The one thing you could have done, but you didn't have to, with Larry and George's eyes- - [Oliver] Yeah, I was gonna add blueberry pupils, but I just didn't quite have enough time.

- No, that's okay.

How you keep your apples from turning this color is just soak 'em in a little lemon juice and they don't get brown, okay?

That's just somethin' that- - They're kind of freshly cut, so they're not that brown yet.

- Okay.

- [Oliver] I don't think.

- Alright.

(laughing) (Tomorrow speaking with mouth full) - You did what you had to do to get it done.

Everything's on there with the exception of the pudding.

It is a comprised dish.

And what did you like about makin' it?

- I liked making the little smiley faces.

- [André] Okay.

- And I liked making the Cool Whip mixture.

- [Tomorrow] Well, good job Oliver.

You did an amazin' job.

- [André] Yeah, Oliver, thank you for making this for us.

- Yeah.

Very creative.

Hello, Gigi!

- Hi.

- Okay, what do we have here, young lady?

- [Gigi] Crepe with Nutella, bananas, and whipped cream.

- [Tomorrow] Mmm.

- And why did you decide to make this dish?

- I decided to make it because during winter, we have a lot of like brunch type things, and crepes is always something on the menu.

- [Tomorrow] Lovely.

- I have a question, why did you refrigerate your batter?

- Well first of all, what a big surprise, it was in the recipe.

I think the reason is like, it might change the cooking process.

- [Tomorrow] Okay.

- It might like change the texture or something is what I'm guessing.

- I'm ready to dig in.

I'm ready to taste this.

So, okay.

(gentle string music) - Very nice, nice texture.

- Thank you.

- [André] And consistent throughout.

- And you made your whipped cream yourself, right?

- Yes- - Lovely.

- It's my grandma's recipe.

- [Tomorrow] Alright.

- We make whipped cream a lot on Easter and stuff.

- I wish you would've gone a little bit more with... You have this wonderful centerpiece on there.

And you started flaring it with the strawberries.

The two plates didn't match, not a huge deal.

Maybe a little bit more color, a little bit more fruit.

Because what it tastes like and what it looks like right now are way separate- - Okay.

- [André] Where I would like to see the look be as good as the flavor.

- Well I think it tastes wonderful, and I would've loved some more of your whipped cream that you made.

- Oh, okay.

- But other than that, Gigi, I think you did an amazing job.

- Thank you.

- Alright.

- Very good, Gigi.

- Yeah, thank you.

Alright André, what did you think of that second round?

- I thought it was a great round of dishes.

Again, yeah, there were some mistakes, yeah, there were some things that were missed perhaps.

But when you look at the dishes overall, we had Lauren with the blueberry muffins followed by the- - [Tomorrow] Donut holes.

- [André] The donut holes.

- [Tomorrow] Mm-hmm.

- [André] We had Oliver with the cheesy potatoes and then the "Amazing Mongoose Trifle."

- [Tomorrow] Yes.

- [André] Very creative.

- [Tomorrow] Yes.

- [André] Followed by Gigi, with- - [Tomorrow] The cinnamon orange little muffins.

And then she did this nice little Nutella banana crepe.

- There was a lotta creativity, a lot of sweet stories that went with where these recipes came from.

- Yes, I love that.

- What they mean to some of the kids.

- Yes.

- And it was really nice to hear that.

And it was great to see some of the cooking techniques that were going on because a lot of people don't bake, a lot of adults don't bake.

- Right.

- So to see these kids doing it- - Yeah, it's pretty impressive.

I'm just up in the air, but we'll discuss.

(bright rhythmic music) - I just think it went good.

The blueberry muffins, I didn't have enough time to cook them for 20 minutes 'cause I had got like a little like late start 'cause I was grabbin' all the ingredients.

And so I didn't have enough time to like start, and so I had to put them in for like 15, and then some got 17 minutes instead of 15.

They were very like liquidy in the middle.

Like I did a toothpick and it came out dirty, and I didn't have enough time.

- I was nervous for her, but she did a great job.

I'm really proud of her.

- I kinda like burnt my finger a little bit when I was grabbin' the muffins out.

The blueberry muffins, I'm very proud of those, very.

- [Interviewer] How would you rate this experience, would you do it again?

- Yes, I would just.

Just maybe not as late 'cause I'm very tired right now.

- [Interviewer] What did you learn from this experience?

- That baking is hard work.

Sometimes, you have to have to use time management wisely.

- I think I went pretty good.

I think on my first dish, I nailed it.

And on my second one, it didn't go as great, but I think I kinda pulled through.

- He's good at everything he does, you know?

He jumps right in there and gets her done.

- [Interviewer] What do you thin was the most successful part of your dishes today?

- The cheesy potatoes.

I think they went good.

The pudding was a complete disaster.

I followed the directions, but it didn't work out.

I learned don't rush things, even if you have like not that much time.

Well actually no, I didn't learn that.

I learned don't trust directions.

(Laughing) - Well.

- Especially for pudding.

- I think it went well.

- I feel like I just aged (laughing) 20 years.

That was the most stressful thing I've ever done in my life!

(Gigi and Gigi's Mom laughing) You were so calm.

- Uh, what's a tablespoon?

(laughing) - [Gigi's Mom] And your father and I were not calm.

- Yeah, I know, I know, I was joking, (laughing) I was joking.

The format was different than I had expected.

Like I thought it was just gonna be, you know, I'm baking something and then you know, it's just sort of like a cooking show type thing.

But no, it was "Great British Baking Show" Junior!

Oh, I would definitely do this again.

I think if I could do this every two days...

I mean first of all, I would get bored of it, but it's awesome in my mind.

(Gigi's Mom laughing) - You would not get bored of it.

- I think everyone did a good job, so like I would be really pleased if I won.

But, I think everyone has a chance of winning.

- Either me or...

I forgot her name.

Gigi.

- [Interviewer] Who do you think won?

- Me.

(Oliver and Interviewer laughing) - [Interviewer] It's like... (laughing) (Oliver and Interviewer laughing) - But the other dishes were really good.

I tried some of those glazed orange muffins, they were good, and the blueberry muffins were good too.

It's not as good as my cheesy potatoes though, not even close.

At least, in my opinion.

But I just really like cheesy potatoes.

(bright rhythmic music ending) - So excited to be back.

Thank you, chefs, my little young chefs.

You guys have all earned that title today.

I wanna thank you for your participation, you all did an amazing job.

- Yeah, you guys did a great job.

Each and every one of you had so many strong points throughout the day on the dishes that you were making, so I hope that you guys go home with a desire and a want to do more cooking.

- [André And Tomorrow] And the winner of "The Great Minnesota Recipe Jr." is... - Miss Gigi blew us away.

(Gigi squeaking) (bright rhythmic music) - I feel really good because I know that like I practiced really hard, and these dishes that I made were like things that I really love to make, like it's fun for me.

It's not just I need to do this for a cooking show.

So it was kind of just expressing me.

I want to train and like work really hard to own my own bakery.

It's been my dream since I was little.

And so yeah, I'm just gonna make the best food in the entire world, and have everyone come visit me in Paris and buy my food for $1,000,000.

- So we had three great kids.

And for us, the winner, it just came down to originality.

- Originality, recipe.

- Yeah.

I love an original recipe.

Presentation- - And the taste.

- [Tomorrow] And the taste, absolutely.

- [André] It was delicious.

I mean, chocolate, banana- - A couple delicious dishes.

No, that's a winner right there.

But it was her first dish for me, her cinnamon orange.

It was fantastic.

- Tonight, I am going to sleep, sleep, sleep, and be happy.

(bright rhythmic music continues) (bright joyful music) (bright joyful music continues) (bright joyful music continues) (bright joyful music ending) - [Presenter] Funding for "The Great Minnesota Recipe Jr." is provided in part by: Daugherty Appliance Sales and Service, Goat Hill Marketplace, the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.

And viewers like you, thank you.

(gentle jazz music) (gentle droning music) (air whooshing)