Host Jesse Palmer welcomes 16 of America's top pastry chefs to the most intense baking competition ever. First, the chefs are split into two groups and tasked with creating a dessert that is centered around assigned flavor profiles -- sweet, salty, sour, or bitter -- combined with a specific texture. Each baker must craft an elevated plated dessert in their signature style inspired by their assigned profile. After each round, two bakers are eliminated, leaving 12 to advance to the master challenge. In this round, the remaining chefs must create a dessert inspired by the roots of their baking journey for judges Duff Goldman and Sherry Yard. In the end, two additional chefs are eliminated.