The Big Bake Season 3: Meet the Talented Team of Bakers

Hometown: Baltimore, MD

Jason Hisley is the go-to guy for dynamic cakes in the Maryland and Washington, DC area. While he can be intense in the kitchen, he also likes to have fun. Jason’s teammates are Rachel Lawley, a baking perfectionist who is obsessed with Halloween, and Nicole Moran, who considers large scale 3D-sculpted cakes her favourite thing to make.

Hometown: Rochester, NY

Mina Rivazfar-Hoyt is the Head Pastry Chef at the University of Rochester and loves making realistic horror cakes. Her teammates are Paloma Vazquez, an expert at 3D figurines who prides herself on being a great team player, and Deavynne Millward, a wedding cake designer who was trained at Le Cordon Bleu.

Hometown: Atlanta, GA

A life-long baker, Ebonie Carzo has been operating her home-based bakery for eight years. Her biggest bake to date was a 10-tier cake for a mass wedding event. Ebonie’s teammates are Michele Holmes, who specializes in scratch baking and has been decorating for 11 years, and Aleatra Dimitrijevski, a trained chef whose work is detailed and precise.

Hometown: San Antonio, TX

A self-described “professional competitor” who hates to lose, Maythe Del Angel is highly skilled at detailed painting and sculpting. Her teammates are Susan Trianos, who has been making and teaching edible art for 10 years, and Maurice “Blaque” Shelton who is known for flavour profiles that are both familiar and intriguing.

Hometown: Burlington, ON

Known for both her sculpted and wedding cakes, Hend El Tayeby prides herself on remaining calm under pressure and always getting the job done. Her teammates are Beth McNeill, who specializes in cakes that are structurally sound, and Denisse Grignon whose expertise is making perfect 3D fondant figures.

Hometown: Las Vegas, NV

Korey Wells holds a degree in illustration and fine arts which she uses in her baking. She specializes in hand painted and illustrated cakes and is also skilled in creating tall cakes and dynamic cakes with working lights. Her teammates are Christy Horner who has more than 20 years working in pastry, and Kristen Hutton who has an impeccable eye for design and balance.

Hometown: Nanaimo, BC

Amy Parmar loves making sculpted cakes that push her creative boundaries. She prides herself on being able to work fast but accurately. Amy’s teammates are Morgan Ray, who used to run a food truck but now has a full-time bakery, and her Aunt Gurmit Kaur Dhaliwal, who is a lifelong, self-taught baker.

Hometown: Fredericksburg, VA

Debbie Church is a self-taught baker known for her realism and ability to create cakes with big personality. Her teammates are Jewel Burgess, who is known for her detailed work with chocolate, fondant and sugar and Piper Guy, who works with Duff Goldman and specializes in sculpting and airbrushing.

Hometown: Vancouver, BC

Florencia Garcia describes her style as modern and elegant, and always tries to incorporate her Mexican heritage into her designs and flavours. Her teammates are Cynthia Ortiz, who has made more than 8,000 cakes in her career, and Sabnam Pokhrel, a self-taught baker who has grown into a highly skilled cake artist.

Hometown: Atlanta, GA

Gretchen Baker is an award-winning cake designer known for her brilliant use of colour with buttercream, fondant and ganache. She is highly skilled at sculpting and modeling with many sugar mediums and experienced using various lighting effects in her cakes. Gretchen’s teammates are Alene Paulk, who specializes in sculpted cakes and has 25 years of baking experience, and Nevia Giles, who is known for her ability to take a cake sketch and turn it into an edible piece of art.

Hometown: Pickering, ON

Izzy Ratnakaran is a graduate of the Bonnie Gordon College of Confectionary Arts and has 10 years of baking experience. She specializes in creating custom cakes and edible art, and has experience working with lights, candles and mini turntables. Izzy’s teammates are Veronica Ancheta, a home-based cake artist who excels at creating 3D figurines, and Tati Rosales, a creative artist known for her abstract buttercream designs, piping techniques and beautiful hand painted cakes.

Hometown: Toronto, ON

Larisa Koumaris is a graphic designer who pivoted to baking so she could eat her art. She has experience making cakes with dynamic elements and once made a life-sized alligator cake that required five people to carry. Larisa’s teammates are Courtney Gibson, who specializes in intricate designs that bring the whole piece together, and Nikki Smyth, who loves making small details like edible lace and beading.

Hometown: Chicago, IL

Victoria Mireles holds a degree in Graphic Design and applies this skill to her cake business. Her biggest bake to date was a cake for football player Jared Allen’s charity, Homes for Wounded Warriors, which served 1,000 people. Victoria’s teammates are her business partner Maria Maya, a perfectionist who loves working on gum paste sugar flowers, and her younger sister Jullisa Maya, who loves baking cakes and experimenting with flavour profiles.

Hometown: Boca Raton, FL

Joel Basco is famous for his giant hanging chandelier cakes and he loves using colour, lights and movement to capture people’s attention. His teammates are Daniela Borquez, who co-owns J&D Cakes with Joel and spent her childhood working in her grandmother’s bakery in Chile, and Sireena Edwards, who has 20 years of professional baking experience and is known for her expert detail and hand painting skills.

Hometown: Berea, KY

Meghan Morgan started baking professionally at 13, when she launched a cake business out of her parents’ converted garage. She has been featured in Kentucky Living magazine and won three state fair baking competitions. Meghan’s teammates are her mom Cristi Simmons, who has been baking her whole life, and Kim Dodgen, who specializes in detailed sculpting work and figurines.

Hometown: Las Vegas, NV

Holly Webster has extensive baking experience and has led the pastry kitchen in many top Vegas hotels. She now owns her own bake shop, which is known for their over-the-top, show-stopping fondant cakes. Holly’s teammates are Brooke Taylor, a completely self-taught sugar artist, and Amy Strickland, who has been baking and caking for the past 10 years.

Hometown: Bristol, United Kingdom

Kerry Hemms is a multi-award-winning cake artist with more than 40 years of baking experience. She is best known for big showy wedding cakes and over-the-top celebration cakes that not only look spectacular but taste delicious too. Kerry’s teammates are Dusica Roberts, a multi-award-winning cake designer and Verity Malinowska, who has a keen eye for detail and is a brand ambassador for one of the United Kingdom’s largest cake decorating suppliers.

Hometown: Stockbridge, GA

Cherie Robinson specializes in elaborate, personalized celebrity cakes, with light-up displays and moving parts. She has created cakes with spinning carousels, spinning letters and water fountains. Cherie’s teammates are Brooke Rentz, a self-taught cake artist whose skills include baking, sculpting and detailed fondant work, and Jennifer Brader, a third-generation baker who specializes in creative flavours, fondant, sculpting, structure, sugar work and repli-cakes.

Hometown: Detroit, MI

Beth Meyer is an award-winning cake and gingerbread artist and a professional chocolatier. She loves creating interactive and dynamic cakes, such as car cakes that move by remote control and barrel cakes that pour real liquid. Beth’s teammates are Josée Legault, a professional cake judge with 20 years of baking experience, and Jing Palasigue, an expert in isomalt, chocolate and tall cakes who says he knows everything there is to know about baking.

Hometown: Somerset, United Kingdom

Zoë Burmester is a multi-award-winning cake artist, teacher and columnist who was voted one of the Top 10 UK cake artists in 2019. She is known for her large, playful cake sculptures and hyper-realistic illusion cakes that feature dynamic elements like light and rotation. Zoë’s teammates are Jenny Chambers, named a Top 10 UK Cake Artist in 2020, and Zoe Hopkinson, a cake shop owner with nearly 500,000 followers on her YouTube Channel, Zoe’s Fancy Cakes.

Hometown: Chaplin, SC

Carmel Turner is a talented baker with extensive experience creating dynamic moving cakes. Her teammates are Desmond Pringle, a highly-skilled sugar artist and fondant worker, and Peggy Tucker, a certified master sugar artist.