Gingerbread Man Joe Daigle works hard in the Foot Network kitchen
This article contains spoilers (down at the end).
BRANDYWINE HUNDRED — Delawarean Joe Daigle, who in 2022 with a friend won $10,000 from the Food Network for his gingerbread skills, was invited back by the cable channel for another challenge.
Alone.
“No pastry chef this time,” Daigle said, referring to friend Sean McGovern, who has that job at the Urban Outfitters headquarters in Philadelphia.
The “Gingerbread Experts” episode of “Christmas Cookie Challenge” streams 24/7 for Max subscribers andrepeats8 p.m. Dec. 14, midnight Dec. 15 and 10 a.m. Christmas Day. The show — for Food Network superfans — is hosted by Ree Drummond and Eddie Jackson.
The four competitors share smiles before going to “war” over gingerbread
The episode asked four bakers to create a North Pole Christmas market. Halfway through their work in the studio, they were also asked to bake a dozen gingerbread cookies that somehow incorporated one of four fruits (apples, blackberries, blood oranges, pears).
Daigle said he rushed up to select blood oranges, realizing he could incorporate the zest into the dough without risking its structure and using the juice to replace the water in royal icing.
Had he ever done that before?
“Of course not,” he said.
He gave his North Pole market a Philadelphia flavor, with a Liberty Bell, the “big and iconic facade of Philadelphia City Hall” and a booth selling sportswear (“but not disrupting any copyrights”). His vendors also were selling typical Christmas gifts and crafts, ornaments, hot cocoa and mulled wine.
He said he was inspired by the Christmas Village that pops up yearly around Philadelphia City Hall.
“It was really exciting to represent our region,” said Daigle, a regular at that market and CEO at Mallard Financial Partners in Newark. “It had a little special meaning.”
He competed against Sean Patrick Henry, a Washington resident who said it was his third Food Network show; Heather Brookshire, who runs the Cake Whisperer in Texas and said she has been on Food Network shows at least twice before; and Katlin Pfropper, a culinary instructor in Michigan.
Daigle has many memories from being in Los Angeles for the first time to compete.
“Very surreal, like a dream,” he said. “Busy. Chaotic. A lot of fun.”
So much fun that he is still texting with his competitors and hopes to connect with Henry the next time he visits D.C.
The Food Network appearance included dining and sightseeing with his fellow competitors, partly led by Henry, a former L.A. resident who gave them an insider’s perspective.
For the episode, Brookshire was crowned the overall winner, and Daigle won the contest for best-tasting cookie. His prize was a $1,000 Ghirardelli package, which included cash and enough baking chocolate to fill the downstairs freezer in his Brandywine Hundred home.
Daigle expects 25 to 30 people for Christmas dinner this year and says they’ll like see some form of a gingerbread house.
“I haven’t decided what,” he said, “but I’ve already made a lot of construction pieces.”
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