Four talented bakers are so obsessed with Christmas that they celebrate it twice a year. Host Jesse Palmer leads them through hotly contested challenges focused on melted snowman desserts and cool and creamy Christmas ice cream cakes. Beloved Holiday Baking Championship judges Nancy Fuller, Duff Goldman and Lorraine Pascale bring Christmas cheer as they determine which baker deserves the $10,000 prize.

Six previous Holiday Baking Championship winners step back into the kitchen for a new competition judged by Nancy Fuller, Duff Goldman and Lorraine Pascale. Competitors Maeve Rochford, Jason Smith, Jen Barney, Jordan Pilarski, Nacho Aguirre and Michelle Antonishek bring their very best for a shot at a second Holiday Baking Champion title. In the pre-heat, the bakers are teamed up to turn the lightest of all pastries -- pate a choux -- into eclair holiday light strings. For the main heat, the teams take on the metallic trend with stunning monochromatic gold and silver Christmas cakes.

Three bakers remain in the competition, and in the pre-heat, they have to create a beautiful edible holiday ornament display. For the final main heat, the bakers channel holiday gift shopping by creating a cake that is decorated like a gift on the outside and reveals a surprise inside when sliced. For one talented baker, the ultimate gift will be $25,000 and the title of Holiday Baking Champion!

The remaining four bakers are going cocoa-loco for the holiday season in the chocolaty pre-heat, when they have to combine common pantry ingredients like balsamic vinegar, potato chips, oatmeal, red wine, olive oil and more in a new version of a classic holiday dessert. For the main heat, the bakers must use two key fruitcake components in a new dessert.

The Festival of Lights ignites creativity in the pre-heat, when the five bakers have to update traditional rugelach with unexpected new flavors like cardamom, grapefruit, guava paste, peanut butter or chai. For the main heat, the judges are craving their favorite ingredients in the form of a light and creamy tiramisu.

The holidays are a time for artistry and decorations, so for the pre-heat, inflatable holiday decorations inspire the six bakers' cute cream puff displays. In the main heat, the bakers dazzle the judges with delicious hand-painted eggnog cakes.

Cranberries are the most popular accompaniment for turkey, so in the pre-heat, the seven bakers must make a dessert combining cranberry with another flavor of the season. To combat the sleepiness that follows Thanksgiving turkey, the main heat challenges the bakers to create a sweet treat that pairs coffee with an unusual flavor of coffee syrup.

Everyone has a different favorite pie for Thanksgiving, so for the pre-heat, the eight bakers work in teams to make four different kinds of pies ... on the same sheet pan! In the main heat, the bakers embrace the stuffed feeling after the Thanksgiving meal by making stuffed cakes featuring seasonal ingredients.

Featuring the pumpkin spice phenomenon. For the pre-heat, nine bakers attempt to wow the judges with creative pumpkin spiciness. In the main heat, the bakers must combine a yule log with a classic holiday treat.