It's no secret that Valerie Bertinelli loves lemon, but Duff Goldman's favorite ingredient is revealed in this season's kick-off challenge -- bacon cupcakes! Each of the 12 young bakers must make a cupcake featuring bacon and an assigned ingredient like maple, chocolate or cherry.

Duff Goldman and Valerie Bertinelli raise the eternal question: Which are better, brownies or blondies? To settle the debate, they divide the 10 young bakers into teams for the brownies vs. blondies challenge.