Stephanie Boswell Transforms Failing Bakeries in New Makeover Series

Award-winning pastry chef Stephanie Boswell shares her years of experience and expertise with failing bakery owners to help save real struggling businesses on the new series Bake or Break, premiering on Food Network and discovery+ on Monday, April 11th at 10|9c. In each of the four hour-long episodes, Stephanie and her team focus on one crashing bakery and figure out how to completely makeover their business. To stop these pastry shops from bleeding money, she must freshen up stale recipes and revamp dingy storefronts, along with HGTV designers Lauren Makk and Breegan Jane, to get customers back in the door. Stephanie does not sugarcoat the truth from the bakery owners as she diagnoses their problems. But with her sharp eyes, razor wit and loving compassion, Stephanie can transform these battered pastry shops and burnt-out bakeries to gleaming showrooms filled with delicious sweets and vibrant, eye-popping desserts.

“Emotions run high as there is so much on the line both personally and professionally for the bakery owners. I see the potential in these struggling bakeries, and encouragement is the ingredient these owners need to believe in themselves so they can turn their businesses around. With hard work and some guidance, we freshen up their menus, add flavor, and fill counters with bounties of colorful baked goods to make each shop fun, vibrant, and inviting so customers pour in,” said Boswell.
“This year Food Network is broadening our ever-popular baking genre. Bake or Break busts out of the studio into real-life bakeries all over the country. Stephanie Boswell is smart, funny, warm, and amazingly skilled and experienced. Watching her overhaul and elevate these sweets businesses to the next level is such fun, colorful and compelling television,” said Courtney White, President, Food Network and Streaming Food Content, Discovery Inc.

In the premiere episode, Stephanie heads to Flint, MI to The Cookie Jar. Owner Teressa Morris has poured every penny she has into her bakery and is struggling to keep the lights on. Her Million Dollar Cookies are epic but one hit menu item is not enough to keep her in business. Stephanie teaches Teressa how to capitalize on her signature cookie to expand her menu and bring in new revenue streams. Stephanie restores more than just the bakery, as she instills confidence in Teressa to be a stronger leader.

Later in the season, the Los Angeles third-generation family-owned bakery, 27th Street Bakery, is in desperate need of Stephanie’s help. Owner and Olympic gold medalist Jeanette Bolden Pickens and her family have been making mouthwatering pies for nearly 100 years, but for the bakery to survive, she needs to renovate the space and bring more flavor to the menu to entice walk-in customers. Stephanie also uses her expertise to help a crumbling Greek bakery owned by a molecular geneticist that is losing over $60,000 a year, and a cake shop whose one-off over-the-top celebrity cake orders can’t sustain the business.