G R E AT E S T
Baker Bak er THE
C O M P E T I T I O N by Jade Kensington | photos courtesy of Cara Vasquez
L
ocal baker and owner of The Flour Shop Bakery, Cara Vasquez, recently participated in “The Greatest Baker” competition. This is the world’s largest online competition for bakers across the globe to compete for a featured spread in Bake from Scratch Magazine and a $10,000 cash prize. It was hosted by Food Network’s twotime Baking Champion, Jen Barney, who also shared her baking expertise and coached participants with tips and advice throughout their Greatest Baker journey. The competition was unique in that the
Like many professional bakers, Cara grew
voting system. Supporters were allotted
model who cooked and baked everything
winner was chosen through a public one free vote per day, using their
Facebook account. They had the option
to pay for additional votes, at a dollar per
vote, with the proceeds benefiting the No Kid Hungry foundation, a 501(c)(3) charity working to end child hunger in America. Cara chose to enter this competition because it focused on her specialty, which is baking. Other baking
competitions are geared more towards
decorating. While that can be fun, Cara’s passion lies in the baking and creation process ofher desserts.
She started out in the initial public
voting round, which determined who
would continue on to the top 10 in their
“THE KITCHEN IS
from scratch, Cara’s growing interest
MY HAPPY PLACE
led her to enroll in culinary school upon graduating high school. “It was the best
— THE BAKERY
Cara has been baking professionally for
KITCHEN. I NEVER
have been in her own bakery. The Flour
B A K E AT H O M E ! ”
decision I ever made,” she says.
nearly two decades—nine of those years Shop was first created in Highland Village, but after seven years, they had outgrown the space. Cara moved her bakery to
Flower Mound, where it still remains at
6100 Long Prairie Road. “We have now been serving our community and the
DFW metroplex for almost 10 years,” Cara
says. “The kitchen is my happy place — the bakery kitchen. I never bake at home!” The Flour Shop is a full-service bakery
the Top 5 in her group, where she placed
any sweet tooth. During normal business
third. “It’s voted on by the people in our
community, by my family, my friends, and of course, our Flour Shop Addicts. That
makes even getting to this point, winning,” says Cara.
38 | LANTANA LIVING | DECEMBER 2020
She’s a winner in our book.
up baking. With her mom as her role
respective groups. After making it to the
Top 10, Cara went on to secure her spot in
The community has spoken, year after year. Cara is one of the more popular and successful bakers in North Texas, seeing that The Flour Shop has won “Best of Denton County” for nine straight years.
with a wide array of desserts to satisfy
operations, they are able to offer summer
camps, birthday parties, cookie decorating classes, ladies’ nights, and many more fun events. Their menu is made from scratch and is baked fresh daily.
www.LantanaLiving.com
