2 minute read
The Greatest Baker Competition
GREATEST THE Baker
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C O M P E T I T I O N
by Jade Kensington | photos courtesy of Cara Vasquez
Local 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 winner was chosen through a public voting system. Supporters were allotted 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 respective groups. After making it to the Top 10, Cara went on to secure her spot in the Top 5 in her group, where she placed 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. Like many professional bakers, Cara grew up baking. With her mom as her role model who cooked and baked everything from scratch, Cara’s growing interest led her to enroll in culinary school upon graduating high school. “It was the best decision I ever made,” she says.
Cara has been baking professionally for nearly two decades—nine of those years have been in her own bakery. The Flour 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 with a wide array of desserts to satisfy any sweet tooth. During normal business 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. 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.
She’s a winner in our book.
