Lifestyle
Zac Young Serves Up Scares and Sweets on Halloween Baking Championship
Join Jamie Syer as he welcomes Zach Young, the beloved judge from the Halloween Baking Championship, to discuss all things fall and sweet treats. From the origins of the iconic piecaken to the latest ...
Zac Young Serves Up Scares and Sweets on Halloween Baking Championship
Lifestyle •
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Interactive Transcript
Speaker A
I'm Samin Nosrat.
Speaker B
And I'm Hrishikesh Hirway.
Speaker A
Together we make a podcast called Home Cooking.
Speaker B
You might remember home cooking from back in March 2020, when we launched it to help folks who were stuck in lockdown with their quarantine cooking questions.
Speaker A
And now that things are super scary again, we thought maybe it's time to bring the podcast back.
Speaker B
We're back with a brand new season of eight episodes, and just like before, we're gonna try and answer all kinds of questions.
Speaker A
Whatever you need. Where are your friends? In the kitchen.
Speaker B
So look for home cooking on your favorite podcast app and subscribe today.
Speaker A
Hello, hello, and welcome to Food Network Obsessed. This is the podcast where we dish on all things food with your favorite chefs, food influencers, and Food Network stars. I'm your host, Jamie Syer. And today's guest is here to help us usher in fall and bring a little spooky sweetness to the pod. For from outrageous desserts to over the top costumes, he's always serving up fun. You know him as one of the judges on Halloween Baking Championship. It's Zach Young. Zach, welcome back to the podcast. It has been a long time. Too long, in fact. Uh, how have you been since our last conversation in 2021?
Speaker B
2021. I am so good. I mean, how can you be bad? It is fall. If you ask me between September and November how I'm doing, even if it's the worst day of my life, I will still say it's great because it's fall. Like, how can you be unhappy when the weather starts to do this?
Speaker A
Yeah. I mean, fall is your season. I would argue it is your wheelhouse. In fact, our last convo, you actually described yourself as a tumnal. What is it about this that inspires you so much?
Speaker B
Fall is a multisensory experience, Right? It's the taste, it's the smell, it's the visuals, clearly, it's the textures, the sounds, you know, and no other season does that I think that, you know, like, my friends are like, oh, I love spring because it's rebirth and the world is coming alive. And I'm like, it's muddy. Whereas fall, I feel, is like the 11 o' clock number of like, oh, you thought the flowers in summer were pretty. You ain't seen nothing yet.
Speaker A
It is very exciting and excited to dive into all things fall in this conversation. But I do want to go back to a little piece of information that you dropped on our last podcast. You said that you would like to become a competitive Dim sum eater. So I'm wondering if that dream has advanced at all. Are we still in training? Have you given it up? What's going on with that?
Speaker B
I've been training a lot. It's really aggressive. I should actually start a TikTok of my training routine.
Speaker A
What does the training routine include? I guess.
Speaker B
Oh, it goes on, you know, going on the various delivery apps and ordering way too much to. To the point where, you know, they send like 12 chopsticks and you're like, it's just for me, it's like when room service says how many people are dining? And you're like, two. And then room service comes to your room and you yell into the bathroom and you're like, babe, no one's there. Babe, the food is here. This is not a personal experience or frequent.
Speaker A
Where did this dream of dim sum eating come from? Or is it just more of, you know, a passion that you have that you would like to turn into something more professional?
Speaker B
Oh, it's just justification for my love of everything wrapped in carbs.
Speaker A
I think that is a fair assumption. And speaking of carbs, I hear that there is a big milestone coming up this year. The 10 year anniversary of the pie cake in. For anyone who still doesn't know what a pie cake in is, could you please enlighten them?
Speaker B
The original Thanksgiving pie caken was born as the all in one Thanksgiving dessert, the turducken of dessert. So it was a layer of pecan pie, pumpkin pie, spice cake, apple pie filling, all wrapped in cinnamon buttercream and covered in oat crumble and topped with apple pie filling. And 10 years ago, we were just making it as a special in one of our restaurants for Thanksgiving. That's all it was. And then all of my friends started asking, you know, can, can I buy one for Thanksgiving? We were not in the business of selling cake. Decided to sell them. Next thing we know, Kelly Ripa is talking about it on the show. And a decade later, which is totally wild, we went from the basement of a hotel in midtown to two UPS tractor trailers backed up into the production facility every day from September through the end of the year. We're shipping nationwide. It's wild. It's totally insane.
Speaker A
Did you ever think that the PI caken would have a decade or longer? I mean, we're still, we're still going of relevance?
Speaker B
I guess not at all. I mean, I think like I wanted to do it as a, as a first. It was a joke of like turducken. And then it turned into a challenge. Of how do we do this, how do we ship it? Then it turned into, how do we scale it? You know, how do we. How do we get it nationwide? And. But I never set out to sell cake, ship cake, or build a business. I just wanted to make cookies, you know, and, you know, a year over year, I'm. I'm just so grateful and surprised and happy that people are either ordering it for their 10th time or people are just discovering it too. But I think, you know, the original Thanksgiving pie cake in, like, that it checks all the boxes. It's all of the things we love and all of the things we love about Thanksgiving and fall and these desserts. And it also makes sense. It's very practical, despite being over the top, because there's not a dessert plate big enough on Thanksgiving to load everything on so you can get everything in one slice.
Speaker A
I mean, it's. It's a dream come true for, you know, your Thanksgiving spread over these 10 years. Like, what's the wildest story or fan request that you've. You've received, you know, in response to their pie cake?
Speaker B
And, well, I think, you know, when we started. And then, you know, it turned into, like, the Christmas pie. Login the Saint Pat cake in. As we kind of started expanding holidays, we would have our regular customers kind of ask for or request certain holidays that maybe weren't, you know, like, big food holidays. So there were a few, like, very special VIP one offs. I did a Hanukkah cake for one of our. One of our. My favorite which was. It was a pykugle kugel, the baked noodle dish. Very. My grandmother used to make it. And so it was like a layer of noodle kugel jelly donuts on top of, like, all of the Hanukkah desserts. So that was one of my favorite memories.
Speaker A
I mean, that's a pretty good one. Have you made yourself a Zach cake in yet? Like, what. What layers would make the cut of the Zac cake in?
Speaker B
Oh, gosh. Oh, no, I don't touch that stuff. That stuff's terrible. Have you seen me? No, I. It would be carrot cake and, like a big old slab of really cream cheesy cheesecake. It completely would not make sense, but there'd have to be something blueberry on it.
Speaker A
Okay. All right. Just because you like blueberries.
Speaker B
Love, like, it's my default. My. My team has a joke that anytime they ask me for a recipe, it doesn't matter when it is. I'm like, what about blueberries? So, yeah, it would be like, A blueberry donut, cheesecake and carrot cake. And it absolutely wouldn't make sense, but I would definitely eat it at 1am.
Speaker A
All right, all right. Well, that sounds very, very Zach Kagan. You know, in light of this new information about blueberries. And speaking of which, I've seen some blueberry items on, on the menu of one of your latest ventures, Sprinkle Town donuts and ice cream, your permanent spot at Foxwoods. What did you learn from running a pop up that helped you open this brick and mortar shop?
Speaker B
Yeah, the Foxwood shop is amazing. We're a year and a half into it of the brick and mortar. Four years ago, they asked me to do this pop up that was supposed to be for the holidays. And then, classic story of my life. Like, everything lasts longer in a very good way. That's not a complaint. That's like, oh, it was supposed to be November, December, and then we were open until June until the buildings department were like, you need real permits now. And I think the, you know, the biggest learning curve was what our guests want, you know, and we threw a lot of stuff at the wall. Like, the menu was massive and it was, let's try everything, including, like, should we do hot dogs? Maybe hot dogs. So I think that, you know, learning, it's all about the guests. It's what the guests respond to and circling around to ice cream and donuts. And it's also about ease of service too, you know, for the guest. You want the guest to be able to get what they want. You don't want to overwhelm them. We have a massive menu still, but, like, more focused and also working on the service of it to how people move through the space. It's basically, we built it as a counter. It used to be a walk in store. Now it's a counter because we want to be able to get people in and get people out as quickly as possible.
Speaker A
What did you learn about your customers there in the course of this kind of, you know, learning process? Like, what do they. Like, what do they want?
Speaker B
Well, I wanted to do like a choose your own adventure, right? Like, I'm very like, pick your base, pick your toppings, pick your glaze, pick your. And we still have that. I did discover that not as many people are as playful. So to have the kind of menu items, if you will, or like our favorites or like our pairings, like, give a little more guidance than just, here's 17 glazes and 38 toppings. Have fun. So I think, yeah, a little more guidance. But I Wanted it to be a playground.
Speaker A
I can kind of understand it. You know, sometimes having too many options is overwhelming and you just want somebody to make that decision for you, I guess. But speaking of all of these toppings and combos that you have, like, what is one combo that you did not think would work until it did?
Speaker B
I'm a purist, which seems a little weird. I love junky things. I love supernatural things, but I don't like to cross them over. Right. Like, I feel like if it's going to be junky, it's going to be junky. And if it's going to be natural, it's going to be natural. So something like the cotton candy pop rocks and strawberries, and we do this watermelon non dairy watermelon soft serve, which I love. It's basically my version of dole whip.
Speaker A
Oh my gosh.
Speaker B
It's my favorite thing on the menu at Sprinkle Town, which is kind of weird that the vegan option is my favorite. But when we built the sundae for that, it was that watermelon, which is super fresh, and then the cotton candy pop rocks, like a multi berry magic shell and then, you know, strawberry sauce. And it was kind of the intermingling of real and I'd say artificial, but.
Speaker A
It worked for you. You like the combo?
Speaker B
It does. Because it made me realize, you know, like, all of the kind of artificial flavors that we love are born from somewhere. So, like, I love black raspberries, right. They grow wild here everywhere. And they're one of my favorite things. And one day as I was eating a handful of them, I realized, oh, wait, this is what they want blue raspberry to taste like. So it was that kind of recognition of, oh, yeah, everything is based on come from somewhere. Yeah.
Speaker A
Okay, so if pie cake in is sort of like your holiday alter ego, what role would you say Sprinkle Town plays in your dessert universe, so to speak?
Speaker B
Sprinkle Town is like the everyday use. And that's why I kind of separated them to keep pie cake in is. It is a holiday, it is a special occasion. And Sprinkle Town has become this kind of everyday indulgence. You know, we have the shop, we also do a lot of retail products, wholesale products, food service products, and it's everything from like pre sliced pound cakes to cookies, cheesecakes, et cetera. But it's really meant for everyday consumption.
Speaker A
When it comes to like these ideas you've kind of talked about. How do you kind of organize that chaos or do you. Do you kind of just let your imagination, your creativity run wild. When you're coming up with new ideas.
Speaker B
It'S challenging because if someone holds you and says, be creative, and, like, tries to shake it out of you, which. Which sometimes you have to force yourself, right? A magazine reaches out and they're like, hey, we need a Halloween recipe tomorrow. And you're like, well, I don't have time to think about that. But my real process, I would say, is it does just kind of come to me. And frequently at like, 3am I will. I will jump out of bed and say, bacon and coffee. And then I'll write it in the notebook that I keep on my nightstand because I realized I should start doing that.
Speaker A
I was just about to ask if you have one of those.
Speaker B
Yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, imagine how many great ideas were lost in the years that I didn't have them, that I was. That I was relying on my terrible memory. So, yeah, it's one of those things where if you. It's almost like if you're not trying, it's when it happens. It's kind of like dating or, like, job success. Like, I feel like the less you try, the more it happens. And same in creative.
Speaker A
Yeah, I would agree with that. Do you ever look in the notebook and, like, have no idea what you were even talking about?
Speaker B
My handwriting is terrible. I should have been a doctor.
Speaker A
Speaking of ideas and things, you probably write in that notebook. We've heard some rumors of maybe some home renovations. Like, how far along are you in this process?
Speaker B
Oh, so, I mean, I have always loved, like, design, home construction, etc. From, like, Bob Feela growing up to HGTV. And I've always done stuff, you know, I've kind of taught myself how to do a lot of stuff.
Speaker A
Stuff.
Speaker B
And I greatly enjoy it. And oddly, like, a few years ago, I renovated my bathroom in the city and did a time lapse of it and posted it. And, like, I post my little baking things or my little whatever and I get, you know, lovely views on it. But this bathroom renovation. 2.1 million views on Instagram. So now we live up in Pound Ridge, New York, which is like an hour out of the city. Beautiful, beautiful place. My boyfriend bought a house here, like, three years ago. And then when we started seriously dating and, like, moved in together, I was like, babe, the whole house is white. It looks like an art museum. Which is a nice aesthetic, but, like, we both enjoy color. So in January, we started a big reno that started with an architect and a designer and then moved to Us. And we've found that both of us love the design process. I love doing things and oddly, like, the skill set in pastry translates really well to design and execution. So, like the art and architecture and engineering of a dessert and the science of baking is very much a part of the design process beyond the aesthetic, like the actual functionality of it. And then the execution. Like hanging wallpaper is basically like putting fondant on a cake. You're just frosting a wall and same thing with like drywall and tape and mud and spackle. Like, it's just frosting.
Speaker A
You're just frosting your cake, you're frosting your house that you're. You approach kind of designing this space. Like, you've kind of mentioned, like the similarities between pastry and that. But is it also the same esthetic that you're going for? Like the pops of color, the different layers, the textures, and that kind of thing as well?
Speaker B
I mean, it very much is. And I think in terms of design too, you know, this is what I told Michael was, you know, buy what you like. You have a blank canvas, so start getting things that appeal to you. And that's why it's such a long process. But it's kind of the same in dessert world, where, you know, to develop something, you're kind of taking these pieces and moving them around, you know, or even if you think of a plated dessert. I can't tell you how many times I would replate things in the restaurants, but it's like, I have all the elements and let me start building it. But it's all about the core products, whether it's the furniture, the rugs, the wall treatments, and then it's about kind of being in the space because it's like, it's literally like you're living in a dessert.
Speaker A
I love that.
Speaker B
Like, I have a lot of friends who are great architects and great designers and their work is amazing. But sometimes you go into those spaces and you're like, I know this was very nice and I know this was very expensive, and I know that your client likes it a lot, but like, does anyone actually live here? So I think it's about being in the space and, you know, really feeling it out.
Speaker A
What kind of cake or dessert will you, I guess, bake or create to celebrate when it's all done, when all the reno is complete?
Speaker B
Well, in the year 3000, it will be a freeze dried cake that you.
Speaker A
Just press a button.
Speaker B
Yes, that will be, it will be fat free, it'll taste totally normal, but it will be Fat free and zero calories.
Speaker A
Love it, love it. Can't wait. Look, we'll book our next podcast episode.
Speaker B
For this, I will actually just make something in the pizza oven.
Speaker A
Oh, perfect.
Speaker B
Of course, we couldn't just do the inside. We had to do the outside of the house too.
Speaker A
Of course. I mean, you gotta be able to enjoy all things all year round. Coming up, we shift from sprinkles to scares as Zach dishes on outrageous costumes, terrifying desserts, and what's new this season on Halloween Baking Championship. I'm Samin Nosrat.
Speaker B
And I'm Hrishikesh Hirway.
Speaker A
Together we make a podcast called Home Cooking.
Speaker B
You might remember home cooking from back in March 2020, when we launched it to help folks who were stuck in lockdown with their quarantine cooking questions.
Speaker A
And now that things are super scary again, we thought maybe it's time to bring the podcast back.
Speaker B
We're back with a brand new season of eight episodes. And just like before, we're going to try and answer all kinds of questions.
Speaker A
Whatever you need. We're your friends in the kitchen.
Speaker B
So look for home cooking on your favorite podcast app and subscribe today.
Speaker A
Well, speaking of dessert and your maybe your second home Halloween Baking championship has returned. How does it feel to be back?
Speaker B
I mean, season 11, it's wild. And they all kind of run together. It's our favorite time of year when we make the show. Steph, Carla and John and I call it summer camp. You know, we. We go away for a couple weeks and get to see all of our friends and hang out with our favorite people. And then we go home and are very sad for a little bit and.
Speaker A
Then you get to watch it all on tv.
Speaker B
So in the gap between filming and when it airs, you don't really remember a lot of things. So for me, it's always fun to watch. And, you know, like, watching the premiere, I forgot so much of what happened. And every episode, you know, I'm just reminded of how much fun and how crazy it was.
Speaker A
As you mentioned, you're not recording these in real time. So how do you personally get into the Halloween. Is there a ritual, a playlist, Candy stash? How are you getting into that Halloween spirit before it's actually Halloween?
Speaker B
We convene the coven, we bring in witches. No. So it's actually very easy because for us, for the judges, because, you know, we have our costumes, we have, you know, just walking on set to, you know, like, the set is just like a fully immersive environment. I think it's a Little bit harder for the bakers because we are not in fall when we're filming. And sometimes I feel it's my job to remind them of what season we're in to the point where this. This season, at some point, I said to Beryl, our culinary producer, our amazing culinary producer, I was like, can you pull the strawberries out of the pantry so no one can use them? Yes. They're using strawberries for blood. Sure, that's Halloween. But, like, Halloween is so much more. It's autumnal flavor. It's the multi sensory experience of autumn.
Speaker A
Yeah. I mean, you are the authority, so I think that, you know, obviously, and the judge. So people should listen to you, but.
Speaker B
It'S sometimes it's that reminder of, you know, just because there are raspberries, should I be using raspberries?
Speaker A
This year's twist is that the bottom three bakers are, quote, baking for their lives. How does that also add to the energy and just environment in the kitchen?
Speaker B
The format change, I think, is really cool. One of my favorite parts is that the bakers are back listening to all of the judging, which we did in the. In the first few seasons. They were all standing there. Now they're. They're up on the balcony. But I think it's important for the bakers to hear what we're saying to the other bakers. For me, when I was competing, like, when I did Top Chef, etc, I learned so much when the judges were talking to other people. So that part I love. The. The bake for your life, I love, because it puts a little more focus on those three bakers, and you kind of get to see more of what they're actually doing on those desserts, as opposed to 10, eight, seven other bakers. And as a judge, it's also really nice to not have to eat another 12 desserts. I mean, I love my job, but We've already eaten 12 desserts in the first part. So to have the privilege of only eating three is actually quite nice.
Speaker A
I can see that when you look back kind of over all of the seasons, what's one skill or quality that you would say separates bakers who go far in the competition from those who kind of flame out early?
Speaker B
The ability to pivot. The number one trap for pastry chefs in particular is we're such technicians, and there is a right way to do everything, and we've been taught that you must do it the right way. And to be able to kind of let those constructs go is so important, because nothing ever goes as planned, and nothing will ever be perfect in two and a half hours. That's the hardest part for the bakers to kind of let go of. And the faster you realize I have to make something that is spectacular and tastes delicious, and the process to get there is a little less important.
Speaker A
I mean, speaking of which, you know, when you have these bakers kind of leaning into these theatrics, how do you balance giving credit for the creativity versus, like you said, like, holding them accountable for the flavor because it has to be delicious as well.
Speaker B
At the end of the day, it's a dessert. By definition, it's meant to be eaten. So, yes, it's Halloween. It is all about theatricality and bonus points for skill or whimsy or things that explode. But the core is deliciousness. And sometimes, you know, when we're really torn and this happens more frequently of, you know, who's. Who's going to win this week? We go back to whose dessert do I want another bite of at the.
Speaker A
End of the day? Like you said, it's. It's dessert. It's a dessert challenge. It's a dessert competition. Without spoiling too much, can you tease maybe one challenge this season that kind of still makes you laugh and. Or cringe?
Speaker B
There's a clown episode. I think I can leave it there.
Speaker A
Was that a. Was that a cringe or a laugh or.
Speaker B
Yes, it was. Yes, all of the above.
Speaker A
Well, as you've mentioned, you have judged alongside Stephanie Boswell and Carla hall for years. What do you think each of the judges kind of brings to the table?
Speaker B
You know, I think that Carla is kind of the arbiter of challenge, too, of the actual core of the challenge and the structure and the rules. And she's also, I would say, the spirit of Halloween.
Speaker A
She is.
Speaker B
And Stefanie is the technician. And I was so grateful when Stephanie came on, too, because in the seasons before Stephanie, I was kind of the technical judge, and then Stephanie was able to kind of take that. So we. We really kind of end up with the original American Idol panel, where Carla is Randy Jackson, Stephanie is Simon Cowell, and I get to be Paula.
Speaker A
I mean, that is a. That's a dream come true as well.
Speaker B
The point is that I've been there, too, you know, in the way that Paula, you know, is a performer. Paula's had this career, you know, she had made her name, like icon. Right? And I think for me to be like, I've won. I've been on both sides of this table. I've competed a ton. Also my career as a pastry Chef. You know, there's an understanding of what they're going through too.
Speaker A
And obviously everybody loves to see, like the costume reveals as well. Like, what are we in store for this season in terms of costumes?
Speaker B
I mean, every season I just. How do they one up? It's just. It's crazy. So this season, makeup designery, which is a makeup school in la, and they have a bunch of other locations, they've always done a few little like prosthetic pieces or like animatronic pieces for us. And this season they really, like, blew it out of the park. Like we had all of our life cast face, you know, so they could build all the prosthetics on them. Wow. Which was. Ever since I saw Mrs. Doubtfire, I had always wanted a mold of my face, and I do have it.
Speaker A
Wow. Where is that displayed?
Speaker B
It's in our place in San Francisco and Michael had put it in bed when I got back from filming.
Speaker A
That a little jump scare for you?
Speaker B
Absolutely was. Yes.
Speaker A
I can't even imagine. Fans still talk about the cranky cupcake costume. Is there a. Is there a ridiculous costume that you pitched this year that did not make it to air?
Speaker B
Not this year. But I will just go back on record saying that I have been requesting to be Peter Pan only if I can fly in every season. And every season they tell me that insurance won't cover it.
Speaker A
You know, there's always next year, season 12.
Speaker B
I get to fly. All right.
Speaker A
Everyone knows season 12 is the flying episode.
Speaker B
Yeah. Just putting this out there. I'll take out my own policy, literally.
Speaker A
I think you should. I think you should. I think fans deserve it. You've also got Jon Hansen back, always throwing in the jokes and puns. Do you have a memory of maybe a time he's made you laugh really hard on set?
Speaker B
John, who I've loved since Talk Soup days, you know, watched him. Me and my dad watched him growing up. He's also become a really, really good friend. And it's non stop. I mean, we just have so much unusable footage. And it's to the point now where he doesn't have to say anything. He can just raise an eyebrow. And this season, and I have no clue how this made it to air, but. And they've used it as a promo clip. One of the bakers, Gonzalea, who's incredible, wanted to add licorice flavor. And so she said, I grabbed the anus seeds. And they kept this in because she said it. And then I grabbed Stephanie. We all start losing it. And Finally, Carla comes to and says it's pronounced anise seed. It was anise seed, not anus seed. Thank you to the editors, producers, and the network for letting that glorious moment make it to air.
Speaker A
I mean, I personally cannot wait to see that unfold live.
Speaker B
Actual spit take. And granted, these are crazy bakers, and it's a pressure cooker, and you're tired and you're stressed, and sure you're gonna say something wrong, but that was, like. That was perfect. You can't script that.
Speaker A
Yeah, I mean, you know, fancy the four of you on camera. They love the dynamic. It's so fun. What is it like off camera? Is it pretty much the same?
Speaker B
It's absolutely the same. And I would say that we've never had to say, save it for camera, you know, between the four of us, because we also just energize each other. But we are a family. I consider the three of them three of my best. And again, that's. That's the summer camp of it. And then we hang out afterwards. You know, we spend 12 days on set, and we'll still be full and say, oh, we should grab a bite. And on our days off, too. Nothing is better than a day off with Carla, John, and Steph. And you don't know what it's going to be. When we were filming in Knoxville, I dragged them all to Dollywood. We've taken a pottery class together. It's the best. They're the best.
Speaker A
Oh, my gosh, I love this. Who's, like, the social director who's coming up with the ideas for. For your activities?
Speaker B
We all have our individual things, so it's like, you know, I was Dollywood, Steph was pottery. Carla was archery, which was unexpected.
Speaker A
Well, fear is a theme this year where the bakers are facing their own personal nightmares. So we want to know what is a Zach Young fear, and how would you turn it into dessert?
Speaker B
Okay. I still have the same stress dream that basically, I didn't do my homework, and it has translated into, like, I didn't do my prep for the restaurants. It morphs into every way. It's the fear of, I guess, unpreparedness. So I would do a cake that is unfinished on one side or only a quarter finished, but, like, immaculately finished, immaculately piped, like Victorian piping. And then the rest of it would be totally exposed.
Speaker A
All right. That's a very visual representation of your biggest fear. So bravo. Good job. No notes. 10 out of 10, no notes. Well, on that note, let's finish off with A little rapid fire round then. We have our final question for you here on Food Network Obsessed. Last time you were here, you told us that you grew up sneaking blue Slush Puppies and snack cakes. Any childhood treat that has disappeared or been discontinued, what would it be?
Speaker B
They're kind of back, but frozen Charleston Chews. The Charleston Chews have kind of went away and they've kind of come back.
Speaker A
Okay. It's not like a new product. It's just now. Why the freezer?
Speaker B
Yeah, it like, crunches at first and then it softens and it gets, like, chewy.
Speaker A
Mm. All right, I'm going to have to try that this Halloween. Sprinkles or frosting? Which one is more essential?
Speaker B
Frosting. You can't. It's a building block. You know, it's like wallpaper or concrete. You kind of need concrete.
Speaker A
You need concrete. Yeah, that's definitely more essential. For sure. All right. Broadway role that you would love to play if you went back on stage.
Speaker B
I would alternate nights as Madeline Ashton and Helen Sharp in Death Becomes her the Musical.
Speaker A
Oh, I've heard it's so good.
Speaker B
Oh, it's so good. It's so good. And Megan Hiltig and Jennifer Simard are just like, geniuses.
Speaker A
You just reinforce that. That needs to be my next one. All right, your go to midnight snack.
Speaker B
Oh, it depends on the day. Okay, so Bjorn Corn, spicy popcorn.
Speaker A
That's a good one. Ingredient you never want to see in a dessert again.
Speaker B
Fish products, cured fish, anchovies.
Speaker A
When was that?
Speaker B
One of the competitions? In some of the mid years.
Speaker A
All right. A dessert trend that you would be happy to see disappear.
Speaker B
I would just say overly sweet. Anything. Like, it can be. It can be massive and colorful and all of the things, but it still needs to be balanced.
Speaker A
I would agree with that. All right, our final question is the one we ask everybody at the end of the podcast. We asked you four years ago, and I'm sure your answer has changed. So what would be on the menu for your perfect food day? So breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert? Like, take us through the whole progression. There's no rules. So, like, calories don't count. You can travel, time travel, do whatever you want. It's your day. We want to hear about it.
Speaker B
I forgot what I said last time, but it was probably something about a food court.
Speaker A
You're big. Big food court. Stan over here.
Speaker B
I love it. I mean, I'd have to start out with my normal breakfast, which is a Trenta. Starbucks. Iced coffee. Iced coffee. Not cold brew iced coffee. Okay. And either one of the egg white. Either the. The egg white and turkey bacon sandwich or the spinach egg white wrap. I'm creature of habit.
Speaker A
So you have that every single morning.
Speaker B
Well, now I make a version at home because the nearest Starbucks up here is far too far, and I need my coffee. Then for lunch, I'd be going to the airport. To the airport, because I'd probably be traveling.
Speaker A
Oh, okay. I'm like, you're eating in the airport. All right.
Speaker B
Well, yes. Yes, I am, because it would be Panda Express. And I believe that I probably might have said that last time.
Speaker A
I actually now that. That. That's. That's definitely ringing a bell from. From last time. And what do you get at Panda Express if.
Speaker B
If we've forgotten the only order, which is orange chicken and chow mein.
Speaker A
All right, so you are eating some Panda Express for lunch on your way to somewhere fabulous. What is happening for dinner?
Speaker B
For dinner, I would go to. I'm gonna get on a plane, and I'm gonna go to Paris, and I'm gonna go to, like, a really, really old school, like, guise of Wa or, like, you know, one of the really kind of classic French upper tier, because I want the duck in the duck press table side. You know, I want all of the carts coming around. Grand theatrics.
Speaker A
I love it. Are you getting the dessert there as well, or are you going somewhere else for that?
Speaker B
Must get the dessert. I mean, used to have this ice cream cart that they would wheel out fancy ice cream, cartoon. So, yeah, no, definitely got dessert. There were, like, crepe suzette, you know, something lit on fire tableside. And then for dessert, and I probably said this last time, I would go to McDonald's and I would resurrect the strawberry sundae because they don't make that anymore. But McDonald's vanilla soft serve, if the.
Speaker A
Machine'S working, I'm not proud of it.
Speaker B
But there have been times where I have said, I will jump over this counter and fix it for you. Like, I. I know how to do that. McDonald's soft serve is. Is probably the perfect food. And that. That strawberry. That syrupy strawberry topping that they don't have anymore, and it used to be on the dollar menu. I mean, like, I survived most of my 20s on that and that alone.
Speaker A
You're still here. Well, that sounds like a very. A very Zach Young food day. And I appreciate you sharing it with us. I appreciate you taking the time. And, of course, we are so excited for season 11 of Halloween baking championships. So congrats on another season as well.
Speaker B
Thank you. And next time, let's not go so long before we reconnect.
Speaker A
Agreed? Agreed. Let's book it now. Catch Zach on the new season of Halloween Baking championship Monday at 9pm Eastern Eastern on Food Network and streaming the next day on hbo. Max, make sure to follow us wherever you listen to podcasts so you never miss an episode. And if you enjoy today's show, please rate and review. We love hearing from you. That's all for now. We'll catch you foodies next Friday.