‘I’m back, baby!’ Utah chef declares after 2 rough episodes on Food Network — but it still wasn’t smooth sailing

So far during his time on Food Network’s “The Ultimate Baking Championship,” Adalberto Diaz has suffered through a setback he described as “the biggest embarrassment,” and heard a judge on the show say his cake could not be served in a restaurant.

Going into the third episode of the competition, which aired earlier this week, the Utah chef behind the Salt Lake City bakery Fillings & Emulsions wanted a moment of redemption.

He got it — sort of.

Things went much more smoothly for Diaz than his previous rounds on the show — at one point, he even declared, “I’m back, baby!”

But it wasn’t completely smooth sailing.

For the third week in a row, Diaz found himself among the bottom bakers and on the brink of elimination.

Here’s a look at how he fared in the competition — and if he’s still in the running for the $50,000 grand prize.

Adalberto Diaz lands in the bottom 3 on ‘The Ultimate Baking Championship’

“The Ultimate Baking Championship” competition has been intense — the premiere episode eliminated six of the 16 top pastry chefs from across the country.

At the start of the third episode, Diaz found himself in the top nine.

For this round of the competition, the show divided the nine bakers into groups of three. The three bakers in each group received the same classic pastry assignment and had to compete against each other with their own interpretations of the dish.

Diaz’s group got assigned Boston cream pie, which delighted the Utah chef, who said he’s been making pastry cream filling since he was 9.

To make his pastry stand out, Diaz drew inspiration from history. He channeled the architecture of the Parker House Hotel — where the Boston cream pie was created — by adding little gold details to his chocolate rum ganache cake.

After 2½ hours, he confidently brought his cake to pastry chef Duff Goldman and guest judge Shinmin Li for feedback.

“I think the message is very clear — I am back,” Diaz told producers ahead of the judging. “I feel very, very good about this.”

The judges had high praise for the Diaz’s final product, complimenting everything from its appearance to its taste.

“That is the fanciest Boston cream pie I have ever seen in my life,” Goldman said.

“I’m back, baby,” Diaz said with a smile.

But the Utah chef had some fierce competition, directly up against Christopher Teixeira, who is from Boston, and Juan Gutierrez, who has been one of the top bakers throughout the competition.

“This is gonna be a tough one,” Goldman said before entering his score.

Ultimately, host Jesse Palmer revealed that Diaz had placed at the bottom of his group of three: Teixeira had finished first with 45 points, Gutierrez was in the middle with 43, and Diaz was close behind with 41.

But that didn’t mean Diaz was automatically eliminated. He was placed among the bottom three bakers, joining the other two who had finished last in their respective groups.

When Palmer revealed the scores of the other two bakers, Diaz, once again on the brink of elimination, could breathe a sigh of relief.

His score of 41 was more than enough to allow him to move forward. In the end, chef Robert Gonzalez, with a score of 29, found himself out of the competition.

Now, Diaz moves forward as one of eight remaining chefs competing for $50,000 in “The Ultimate Baking Championship.”

The show airs Monday nights on Food Network, with episodes available for streaming the following day on Discovery+ and HBO Max.

Who is Adalberto Diaz?

Diaz’s colorful macarons and fruit desserts are on display at Fillings & Emulsions in Salt Lake City — which the chef has described as an “eclectic Latin bakery with a French flair.”

“The last 12 years I have invested everything I have, everything, into my pastry shop,” Diaz said during “The Ultimate Baking Championship” premiere episode, which included footage of his new location that features bright murals painted by his brother to highlight their Cuban heritage.

“When I win this competition, it will be a dream come true and that money is gonna go straight into my business and my amazing team of chefs and pastry chefs,” he said during the premiere episode. “I want to make sure that we make it out of these harsh economic times.”

Diaz emigrated from Cuba in 2000 and made a home in Utah, where he quickly began working in the food industry. He worked at a few places around Salt Lake City over the next decade, and earned the American Culinary Federation’s title of Pastry Chef of the Year in 2012. He opened Fillings & Emulsions the following year, as the Deseret News reported.

The chef’s appearance on “The Ultimate Baking Championship” comes on the heels of being nominated as a semifinalist for the prestigious James Beard award for outstanding pastry chef or baker.

“I am part of this community and this community has welcomed me to be part of it, and even bigger, this country welcomed me when I came here, and gave me an opportunity to be more where I am today,” Diaz told the Deseret News last year after his James Beard nomination. “And I wish that opportunity was given to more people because you don’t know how they would change the world.”