When Adam Monette stepped into the Holiday Baking Championship kitchen, his love of the holidays was pretty obvious. This is, after all, the guy whose father keeps his Christmas tree up year-round. But Adam wasn’t just passionate, he was also able to execute week after week.
From somehow whipping up an impressive Ambrosia salad (and does anyone actually like Ambrosia salad?) to impressing the judges out of the gate with his pumpkin-butter filled donuts, it seemed like this competition was Adam’s to lose.
Thankfully, the St. Albans, Vermont native kept it together and pulled off the big W on Monday night’s supersized finale to take his place among the Holiday Baking Championship winners. Oh, and did we mention he also gets a cool $25,000 for beating out 11 other contestants over these past eight weeks?
In honour of Adam’s sweet, sweet victory, we wanted to dig in and take a look back at his inspiring journey.
He comes from humble roots
Growing up, making time to sit down together and breaking bread was important to Adam’s family. They specifically loved cooking and eating dishes inspired by French-Canadian cuisine (like Tourtiere), and they learned how to make meals stretch so that everyone could enjoy. “There were always lots of mouths to feed,” he previously told the Saint Albans Messenger. “The food was humble, but always very, very good.”
He did this competition for his wife and daughters
Adam frequently talked about his wife and kids on the show, and explained how he was really doing this for them (he actually hates seeing himself on camera!). So we thought it was beyond sweet that he not only baked his final cake in his daughters’ honour (they love peanut butter and chocolate), but he also added their names to the final “present-cake” décor.
He stayed calm and cool under pressure
Everyone knows this is a show that loves to throw extra challenges at the contestants, yet Adam never really seemed to stumble… much. If he was stressing you couldn’t ever really tell, except for maybe that brief moment in the finale where he took a giant gulp of sparkling wine before accepting the dessert charcuterie challenge. Staying calm, cool and collected tends to get you far in life, and it’s a trait that we definitely appreciate when it comes to being a chef in a hot kitchen.
He just really enjoyed the experience
They say if you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life. Well, Adam’s love for baking definitely shone through, to the point where we can’t help but be pumped for the guy. “If you love to bake, it’s a dream come true,” Monette previously told the Messenger about how cool doing the show was. “You’ve got an unlimited pantry, so as long as you keep it under the guidelines, you can make whatever you want, and that’s so fun.”
But he also showed us exactly how to get his aggression out
Look, sometimes things get stressful, and you need to find an outlet. But with tight timelines, the cameras watching and a big job at hand, it’s not like the contestants can just go pound it out at the gym or take a relaxing walk. So Adam took his stress out in more creative ways, like enthusiastically stabbing a fork into shortbread to create air holes, or beating certain batters by hand. Cathartic, right?
Of course his top-notch stirring skills definitely helped
We’d be remiss if we didn’t take a moment to acknowledge and appreciate Adam’s multitasking skills. There are only about a billion components that go into making most of these desserts, and the fact that he was always able to stay on top of everything is downright impressive. From double-fisting those wooden spoons and churning out multiple stovetop sauces at once, to baking and butter-creaming at the same time, Adam’s process is very much streamlined.
He kept his eye on the prize
Was Adam’s game perfect? Of course not. He too had some stumbles along the way, but he didn’t let that deter him. In each episode he came up with a game plan, executed that plan to the best of his ability, and pivoted when necessary. Like in the finale, when he ran out of butter cream? Rather than stressing, he knew the only thing to do was to make more, even if it put him behind. Or when host Jesse Palmer told the contestants they had to incorporate lights into their cakes? No big deal. What “present-cake” is complete without a light show anyway?
Offscreen, he works with kids
We love that by the end of the series, Adam was throwing the dad jokes right back at Jesse. Well as it turns out, Adam has had a bit of experience perfecting his own version of that craft as a culinary instructor at the Northwest Career & Technical Center in Vermont. There, young students get a taste of culinary training under Adam’s watchful eye, learning everything from knife skills to how to manage a restaurant. No wonder Adam is so good at multitasking!
Adam knows this show inspires others who speak through food
Adam might not have applied to be on the show himself (he was nominated by a former student), but he acknowledges that it’s a really special thing to do. “It’s one of those shows that touches a lot of families, and I think that’s what’s really cool and special,” he explained to the Messenger. “It’s very communal. Everybody gets together and they watch it, they share something and you know, it’s a real positive experience.”
You can’t help but be pumped for this guy’s win
No matter which contestant you were initially rooting for, it’s hard not to be happy for Adam after seeing how focused and passionate he was throughout this entire experience. Not only is it inspiring, but it just makes us happy.
“Oh my god, I can’t believe it. I’ve never won anything in my life,” Adam said after learning he is the next Holiday Baking Championship winner. “I can’t wait to tell my wife and my daughters, I know they’re going to be proud of me and that means everything. This is going to be the best Christmas they’ve ever had.”
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