Summary
Crime Scene Kitchenis that perfect show.
It blends humor, mystery, competition, and baked goods!
But their time together on the show goes beyond their talent in the kitchen.
Custom image by Zanda Rice; Fox
What was on full display in their shop was the importance of friendship and simply having fun.
COLLIDER: They solved it all with a victory.
It’sCrime Scene KitchenSeason Three winners with Jessica and Lenore.
Image via FOX
JESSICA AND LENORE:Thank you!
I like to describeCrime Scene Kitchenas an escape room with a culinary twist.
What was it like engaging in this game and using your mental and kitchen skills all at once?
Image via FOX
JESSICA: I love crime in general.
Not committing crime, but listening to crime podcasts, detective shows, and all that kind of thing.
So you’re besties, yet competitors in real life.
How did you become such good friends?
LENORE: By not seeing each other as competitors.
JESSICA: Everyone says, “What’s it like having competing businesses?”
Image via FOX
I don’t view Lenore as a competitor.
I view her as, obviously, a friend and a fellow baker.
And both of what we do is very different.
In a unique cooking competition, teams of bakers must piece together clues left in a kitchen to identify and recreate a mystery dessert. Each episode presents the contestants with a series of challenges, where they inspect ingredient remnants and cooking utensils to infer the recipe. The recreated desserts are then judged based on their similarity to the original. The show combines elements of detective work with baking expertise, as teams are progressively eliminated until one remains as the champion.
We both have very different strengths when it comes to the baking world.
I think it’s because we respect each other’s talents so much.
Jess is over there doing whatever she’s doing and she’s killing in the game.
I love that for her, and I’m so proud of her.
I’m excited for her.
I feel like the same thing for her for me.
What makes you the perfect pair?
LENORE: Everywhere that I lack, Jess makes up.
I cannot math right now.’
When it came to really intense decor, that’s where my strengths and my education come into play.
I really love learning on this show.
I didn’t know there was anything beyond just, you know, a cake or a cookie.
The specificity of each item.
So, if your bestie was a baked good, what would they be?
JESSICA: I love this question!
Lenore would be very complex, in the sense that we have lots of layers.
We have a crunchy layer.
Something with really exotic fruit.
And then just finished off with a beautiful chocolate.
And just every component is strong in itself, but together, it’s just fascinating.
LENORE: I was going in the absolute opposite.
JESSICA: Which makes sense!
LENORE: Literally, I was gonna say that you’re like a meringue.
Like a perfect meringue kiss.
Very beautiful, very tall and perfect.
Crispy on the outside, soft and pillowy on the inside.
Lots of different colors, if you want.
Sprinkles, if you want.
Depending on how you feel, like a little gold dust.
That is how I’m seeing Jessica.
Kind of like a crispy exterior, but very good soft and squishy interior.
JESSICA: I absolutely love this question.
I’m gonna live off this forever.
I will absolutely be a meringue kiss.
that is so perfect I cannot even
LENORE: Like a fluted meringue.
Let’s talk strategy.
What was the strategy going into the crime scenes?
Did it get easier as the season went on?
LENORE: No, it did not get easier.
But we watched both prior seasons alone, separately, and then together.
Jess had the right side of the kitchen: bulletin board, answering machine, compost, dishwasher.
I think it also had garbage.
And then we would meet in the island.
If we had any questions about anything, we would put on the island.
That’s where we were going to end every time.
That was our strategy.
Is there a baked good you never want to see again?
JESSICA: Red wine poached pear tart.
Probably happy to never see that one again.
And never see a cream pop again.
JESSICA: I’d be happy with that.
LENORE: Specifically key lime.
JESSICA: Key lime!
I loved your little showmanship when you bring your baked goods over, and swing by your competitors.
Listen, you knew you baked something brilliant!
You just needed to show it off.
But you did it with respect.
What was the camaraderie like with the other teams?
They’re genuinely all four of them, such great guys, they really are.
We loved getting to know them and spend time with them.
Oh, I’ll never forget it whenNikkiandBrandobrought up their Charlotte Russe.
Brando was carrying it out, and we’re like, ‘Oh, they didn’t finish.’
JESSICA: Each time you saw the devastation on our faces, that was all very genuine.
That wasn’t the show.
That wasn’t anything because we were connecting.
Yeah, we may have just met these people, but we understand what it feels like.
We understand what they’re going through, and we really connected.
Did you see the other teams as threats, or were you just in your lane the entire time?
If we were both wrong, and it wasn’t what was made in the crime scene kitchen.
It’s us and the crime scene kitchen every time.
JESSICA: The crime scene kitchen was our big competitor.
That was the only competition that we that we really saw and felt like was a threat.
And everyone was like really nice.
This was like an amazing group of people that they gathered to be on this show.
There was nobody that was like, wow, they’re they’re little too much.
Everyone was so nice and really cared about their craft, and each other.
It was really lovely to see.
And we still talk now.
With high drama and even higher layers, Crime Scene Kitchen continues to surprise.
Do They Stand by the Butt Print?
“Did you see the close-up?
Crime Scene Kitchenhas a fantastic judging panel with Curtis Stone, Yolanda Gampp.
Who were you most nervous about getting your critique from?
And who did you want to impress the most?
JESSICA: I’ll go first.
I think everybody already knows that my obsession with Yolanda Gampp is really quite big.
She would stack a pie with cake and then candies and chocolate.
And I’m like, ‘This is amazing.’
And she was honestly a fellow Canadian as well.
Such a lovely person.
So to meet somebody that I felt I saw as an idol, I have to impress her.
I want her to like me, you know?
As long as we’re like, “Yeah, you’re free to eat it.”
Thank you so much, I appreciate it.
We’ll see you later.
What’s the best piece of advice you got from the judges?
We had kind of already been doing it.
We were very quick to have to re-bake something.
But every single bake that we made, we always made extras.
We didn’t even question it.
We’re going to incorporate this into the recipe to verify that we have backups.
We can just do it again.
Let’s talk about the brilliant, hilarious, and often distractingJoel McHale.
What was it like having his energy in the room as the host?
LENORE: You know, I loved having Joely in the kitchen.
I truly didn’t really know what to expect.
He plays really douchey characters, I think I can say that, on TV.
And sometimes it’s really hard to not conflate.
But he seemed so genuine and down to earth.
And then meeting him in person, that was the version of Joel McHale that we got to see.
Very genuine and down to earth.
Very funny, which we all knew, because he’s a comedy actor.
But in a relatable, funny way.
Not like, “I’m funny.
You don’t get to be funny.
Don’t make any jokes.
That’s my job.”
He’s not like that at all.
Loved having his energy in the kitchen.
It’s just a ball of laughs, really.
Consistency was the name of your game.
You finally got your big win in the penultimate episode with a near-perfect comic book cake.
Why do you think having the momentum going into the final episode was best for your journey?
LENORE: Oh, man.
By that time, we just needed a break!
JESSICA: Not winning any single safety, and we’re just people bringing it up.
LENORE: At least one.
JESSICA: And then them being like, ‘Did you hear about Jessica and Lenore?
Oh, they’re not getting anything.
Even if we didn’t win another single safety, just that bake alone so great.
Can we talk about the butt print?
Do we still think it looks like a butt print?
Did you see the close-up?
So for that, it’s a butt.
People are going off online.
“Butt what do you mean?”
You didn’t see it?
Especially when it had glass dome.
You really couldn’t get super close to it.
And they did that on purpose.
So all we could see were these lines, and we both look at it at the same time.
We’re like, it’s a butt.
The judges were so pressed.
They’re like, what a butt, really?
Curtis was like, “That’s weird wording for that.”
LENORE: It worked.
JESSICA: It led us in the right direction.
It was such a delicious cake.
Something light and delicious.
That was one of our most successful bakes on the show.
I would make that all day, every day.
LENORE: Yeah, we actually made Charlotte Russe in our shop for Mother’s Day.
Yes, it is!
[Otherwise], man, I don’t know.
We already made little branchy tarts, which is fun.
We still won’t poach any pears in red wine, though.
I would love to do the vertical chiffon roll.
I think people are just so impressed by it.
What Will Jessica and Lenore Do With Their Grand Prize?
“For me, it is a small step forward in securing some property.”
Here’s the big money question: what are you going to do with the grand prize?
We’re finally going to make our house a home and use some of that money to renovate.
Which he’s really been focusing on me.
It’s nice to have this money, so we can do that.
LENORE: For me, it is a small step forward in securing some property.
Prices are coming down.
Probably not enough, but they’re coming down.
So yeah, property either here in Canada or somewhere else, but that’s the goal.
JESSICA: Don’t let that inner voice take over.
Then I’ll be like, “Stop.
Don’t let that take over.”
Just put it away.
You’re doing great.
Those kind of things would really deter me.
So just keeping that energy and not letting that inner voice get me.
LENORE: For me, it would be Jessica’s ability to be committed to a hunch.
Even if she’s not 100% sure.
If she got a hunch?
Dog with a bone.
She was like, “Nah, it has to be.
It has to be this, or it’s close to this.”
Even if I am not 100% right, I’m going to have to run with it.
It would do it to the best of my ability.
I can be I can be a lot more like Jess.
Well, my final question is, plug away.
Where can we come and taste your amazing treats in person?
LENORE: Well, I guess you’ll have to come to Kitchener-Waterloo!
JESSICA: Canada is just a short flight from wherever you are, probably.
But yeah, we are in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, where we have our businesses.
So you’re free to visit us both very quickly.
LENORE: you might also hear us on our podcast.
And this kind of just really ramped it up for us.
Well, congratulations on your victory.
It was such a fun season, and you two have such amazing chemistry.
Thank you for bringing so much joy to the screen.
LENORE: Oh, Michael, you’re so kind.
The recreated desserts are then judged based on their similarity to the original.
