Prime Video announced the premiere date for its upcoming unscripted competition series Dr. Seuss Baking Challenge, along with the competing bakers.
Hosted by actress, author, producer, and Emmy award-winning host Tamera Mowry-Housley with baking icons Clarice Lam and Joshua John Russell as judges, all eight episodes of Dr. Seuss Baking Challenge will premiere on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide on December 13. In the U.S. and UK, Dr. Seuss Baking Challenge will also premiere simultaneously on the free ad-supported service, Amazon Freevee.
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Dr. Seuss Baking Challenge invites America’s best bakers to step into the world of Dr. Seuss. From classically trained pastry chefs, to self-taught cake artists, 9 teams of two bakers will compete for a grand prize of $50,000. From The Grinch to The Cat in the Hat, these bakers will use their limitless imaginations to craft jaw-dropping creations inspired by beloved Dr. Seuss characters. Hosted by Tamera Mowry-Housley, in each episode bakers will be given a challenge based around Seuss characters and stories, and their towering creations will be judged by Clarice Lam and Joshua John Russell based on taste, creativity, and storytelling.
Meet the Contestants
RED TEAM
Angelo Satterwhite – Pastry Chef
Angelo is a pastry chef and owner of Angelo Bakes in Albany, New York. He was first inspired by his grandmother’s Mississippi cuisine and is a graduate of the Art Institute of Atlanta. He loves coming up with strange and delicious combinations, telling stories with his pastry and is coming into this competition ready to go big and think out of the box.
Lily Sanchez – Cake Artist
Lily is a senior art director from Belleville, New Jersey, who has developed a love of cake art over the last 10 years and opened her own business, Lil’ Dame Cake Studio to further that passion. She tries to mix different mediums whenever possible, from isomalt to pie crust, and wants to push herself creatively in a way that she never has before by competing among the best in the City of Seuss.
BLUE TEAM
Kyle Smothers – Pastry Chef
Kyle Smothers is an executive pastry chef in Columbia, South Carolina and uses his eclectic, artistic style to create desserts that range from whimsical to elegant to modern. If he comes out victorious in the City of Seuss, his goal is to open his own ice cream shop, something that has always been a dream of his. He’s also got the most Seuss experience of any of his fellow bakers after performing in Seussical: The Musical and working at Seuss Landing in Orlando.
Huiwen Lu – Cake Artist
Huiwen Lu is an engineer and a cake artist on a mission to prove that creativity and practicality can co-exist. Having gone into a more practical engineering career with a degree from Stanford, she rediscovered her love of art through cake after making her son’s birthday cake. Being completely self-taught and using her engineering smarts, it’s all about the Wow for Huiwen, and she’s determined to show the judges just that.
BROWN TEAM
Maya Hayes – Pastry Chef
Maya Hayes grew up in Vermont with her environmentally-minded parents, so The Lorax and its environmental message meant a lot to her, and still resonates with her today. After discovering in college that food made her happy, she attended culinary school at the New England Culinary Institute in Vermont. A self-professed free spirit, Maya believes your emotions transfer into your desserts, so she’s going to make sure she bakes with love in this competition.
Angel Figueroa – Cake Artist
Angel Figueroa grew up in Chile and has cooked all over the world after attending culinary school. Once she moved to the United States, she realized cake artistry was her passion and now owns her own business specializing in 3D-sculpted cakes. Angel is cool under pressure and knows she can handle any adventures the City of Seuss might throw at her.
PURPLE TEAM
Nikki Jessop – Pastry Chef
Born in Thailand and raised by an American father, Nikki Jessop fuses her Thai and American heritage to make unique desserts with unusual ingredients. She trained in classical French pastry at the Institut Paul Bocuse in Lyon, France, and sees herself as an artist in the kitchen. She’ll bring her moves to the Seuss kitchen and plans to stand out with her one-of-a-kind flavors.
Alejandra Galan – Cake Artist
Colombian-born cake artist Alejandra Galan describes herself as “the best cake artist in the world,” and grew up in the bakery business with her parents. They taught her from an early age to be an entrepreneur and now owns her own cake business and a successful cookie business, Cookie Xperiment. She wants to set herself apart in this competition by bringing her unique style of photo-realism mixed with abstract expressionism to her team’s Seussian creations
YELLOW TEAM
Lorenzo Delgado – Pastry Chef
Lorenzo Delgado is a pastry chef in Kannapolis, North Carolina who loves to showcase his vibrant personality through his creative pastry work. He fully embraced himself when he came out at 21 and everything changed, including his desserts. Before, he would make pastries with a more simple, basic approach – now, he’s all about bright vibrant colors and unique textures, often inspired by his love of thrift shopping! Lorenzo knows he struggles with time management and is going to have to overcome that obstacle to showcase the strength of his skills in this competition.
Tareka Lofton – Cake Artist
Inspired, by Oh, the Places You’ll Go!, Tareka Lofton took the risk of quitting her job at age 30 to go to culinary school to follow her dream. Almost a decade later, she has built a successful business at Loft22 Cakes in Fort Worth, Texas, which specializes in large, gravity-defying cakes. Tareka’s father taught her to be fearless and dream big, so by competing here in the City of Seuss she is honoring his legacy.
TEAL TEAM
Rebecca Reed – Pastry Chef
Rebecca Reed is a successful executive pastry chef, leading three different teams at the Black Sheep Restaurant Group in Jacksonville, Florida. After her husband Ben encouraged her to follow her heart and go to culinary school, she graduated from the French Culinary Institute and interned under a James Beard Award-winning chef. Rebecca is here to prove that working moms can do hard things, and that she can compete at the highest levels of competition.
Ashley Ball – Cake Artist
Ashley Ball is a mom of four boys from Rock Spring, Georgia, and a formidable force when it comes to baking and power tools. Her expertise ranges from making handmade furniture to 3D-sculpted cakes. She’s entirely self-taught in the kitchen and first started experimenting with cakes when her husband was traveling for work. Ashley has a super-competitive streak and can turn anything into a competition, so she’s ready to bring her statement cakes to the City of Seuss and come out a winner.
GREEN TEAM
Cristina Vazquez – Pastry Chef
Cristina Vazquez grew up in New Jersey with her parents and grandparents in a strict Cuban household. Studying at Johnson & Wales University, she trained as a pastry chef and cake artist and her baking style ties her Cuban roots together with her “Jersey girl” upbringing. She’s not afraid to mix genres because of her experience in the field, and will even combine homestyle bakes with French pastry. She can do it all, claiming her only weakness is not knowing when to stop!
Kerrie Breuer – Cake Artist
Kerrie Breuer was born in Seoul, and at 6 months old, was adopted into a family of 11. Born with one hand, Kerrie’s parents never allowed her to think she couldn’t do something and often found her role in the family in cooking meals for the entire family. After attending The French Pastry School, she has worked her way up the ranks to become a lead cake decorator. Her goal is to master all aspects of cake design, and not just be exceptional for someone with one hand, but be an exceptional cake sculptor overall!
ORANGE TEAM
Chris Cwierz – Pastry Chef
Chris Cwierz fell in love with baking as a child, helping his Polish grandmother in the kitchen. Chris has done it all, from working as a pastry instructor, to executive pastry chef at a major hotel, to having the freedom to create desserts beyond anyone’s imagination. Because of his extensive knowledge, he has been trusted to create some incredible pieces – such as sugar-and-chocolate sculptures that tower over 4 feet with no structural support. He’s excited to show off his larger-than-life creations, as well as his expertise in the craft of pastries.
Alene Paulk – Cake Artist
Alene Paulk is a proud Georgia Peach and is truly the definition of a mom that does it all, with three kids all under the age of 9 years old. Alene works a full-time job as a federal contractor, and has run a very successful sculpted cake business for the last 10 years. Alene’s love for baking is hereditary and every recipe that Alene uses in her cake business comes from her grandma’s original recipes. Alene’s cake business specializes in sculpted cakes, and she is known for her gravity-defying cakes. Alene thrives on being a high performer and expects nothing but the best from herself, especially in this competition.
PINK TEAM
Daniel Santo Edwards – Pastry Chef
Daniel Santo Edwards is a pastry chef who describes himself as a walking contradiction. He’s a fit baker, a nerd that is always the life of the party, and from the outside his family looks straight, yet he’s gay and co-parenting with his lesbian best friend. Daniel’s earliest memory is baking with his grandmother, a cake decorator, who would often have Daniel working in the kitchen with her. After college, he started his own cake business and now works as a head pastry chef. He’s here to make his friends and family proud, and most importantly to live up to his grandmother’s legacy.
Joyce Osorio – Cake Artist
Born and raised in Brooklyn, Joyce Osorio is a self-taught baker who believes in reinventing yourself at any age. A former real estate agent, she started pursuing cake art after attempting to make Elmo cupcakes for her son’s second birthday. From there, she has grown immensely as a cake artist and clients now tell her they can recognize her cakes instantly – from the fun, cheerful colors combined with the modernity of her clean lines. Usually she works alone, but she’s excited to have a second set of eyes and creativity with her partner in this competition!
Dr. Seuss Baking Challenge is produced by Amazon Studios, Dr. Seuss Enterprises, and Super Delicious. Ruth Amsel serves as showrunner and executive producer for the series. Cara Tapper, Adam Cohen, and Joanna Vernetti from Super Delicious serve as executive producers. President and CEO of Dr. Seuss Enterprises, Susan Brandt, is also an executive producer.
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