Tracey Buchanan
Tracey Buchanan manages the wedding and specialty cake portion of Sweet, which includes a lot of cupcake weddings and events. She attended culinary school just long enough to get her sanitation manager certification, but most of her crazy cake-decorating skills are self-taught. Tracey is a true artist, born to be a baker. When she's not creating out-of-the-box designs, she can be found playing guitar or bass in a band called Baby Aspirin. She chose her mother as her assistant because they have been baking together her entire life. Although Sweet is one of the oldest bakeries in the Baltimore area, with lots of history and charm, Tracey's dream is one day to open her own store.
Allyson Fiander
Allyson Fiander is a self-described control freak, the mother of four young girls and the confident owner of Daddy Cakes cupcakery. Her confidence comes from experience, having worked in the baking and pastry industry for the past 25 years. With a degree from the San Francisco Baking Institute and an apprenticeship in France, this cupcake baker is well trained in all things dessert. Allyson owned her own high-end French boulangerie / patisserie but decided she wanted to do something a little more fun with her skills. Thus cupcakes became the perfect medium. Allyson knows how to have fun, but when it's time to compete — she doesn't mess around. She tailored her whole career around becoming the very best. Allyson knows how to work fast under pressure and loves to be in the spotlight. She may live in a small city, but there's nothing small about the flavor of her cupcakes.
WINNER!: Lindsay Morton
Mini cupcakes are the signature treat of Dollhouse Bake Shoppe, but there's nothing miniature about their flavor. Lindsay Morton was cursed with a major sweet tooth and blessed with a fast metabolism. She has a natural artistic ability, so after graduating from UCSB, she combined her passion and talent to start Dollhouse Bake Shoppe. The bakeshop is a dessert delivery service in Los Angeles that creates custom-designed treats for any occasion. This young entrepreneur is exploding into the cupcake scene and hopes to have a storefront of her own someday soon.
Try LIndsay's winning recipe:
Bret Thompson
Bret Thompson is the owner and executive chef of Hollywood hot spot, Milk. Bret was born and raised in Los Angeles and, at the age of 15, realized his passion for food. After high school, he immediately began the culinary program at California Culinary Academy in San Francisco. Upon graduation, Bret worked for Roy Yamaguchi in Hawaii before heading back to Los Angeles to work with Joachim Splichal's Patina Group. During the next 10 years with the Patina Group, he opened and managed many Patina Group restaurants and was named Orange County Chef of the Year in 2002 at Catal. Bret spent the final two years of his Patina tenure as the corporate executive chef overseeing companywide kitchen operations. He left the Patina group to pursue his dream of opening his own business, and thus Milk was born.
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