Meet the Bakers Competing on Great Chocolate Showdown

Posted by Lydia Hrycko on December 5, 2019

Ten home bakers go head-to-head in the indulgent world of chocolate, vying to be crowned the ultimate chocolate master. Who will taste sweet victory and who will melt under the pressure? Watch Great Chocolate Showdown every Tuesday at 9ep starting February 4th to find out!

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Andrew Keen from Falls Church, VA

Andrew works full-time in financial sales, but races home in the evenings to bake. As an avid whiskey and bourbon connoisseur, Andrew has recently discovered just how well whiskey pairs with desserts and has brought two of his passions together: baking and bourbon. Andrew meticulously chips away at his favourite recipes, making small personal adjustments along the way, until he has finally created the perfect dessert. In the kitchen, he is process-oriented and disciplined — he has mastered buttercream, chocolate cakes and cookies and is best known for his crème brûlée.
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Casey Hallen from New York City, NY

Casey’s early memories of the kitchen are box mixes and easy bake treats. She furthered her skills in middle school by learning to bake in home economics class. For years, she considered opening a bakery under the name ‘Ugly Bakes’ because her baked goods tasted great, but looked awful. Fortunately, with a lot of practice and YouTube tutorials, she’s been able to bring a professional and refined flair to her baked goods. Now as a teacher, Casey is known for her chocolate chip cookies. Growing up, she struggled with anxiety. She found cookies made everyone happy to see her, so she established ‘Cookie Mondays’ at school to make Mondays more bearable. Now, her friendliness and charm attracts others. Casey is passionate about art and that brings a colourful, whimsical touch to all her desserts.
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Craig Taylor from Vancouver, BC

Craig has been in the casino industry for more than 25 years, working his way up from dealer, to pit boss, to management consultant. After his father fell ill, Craig left Las Vegas to be closer to his family in Vancouver. He took up baking as a way to cope and fully immersed himself in it. Baking is now his greatest passion. Deciding to stay with his mother in Vancouver, Craig continues most of his casino work online. One day may find him creating game logic so developers can build new games, the next he may be working on advertising promotions. Through it all, Craig still finds the time to bake almost every day. He loves sharing his desserts with family and friends, but really enjoys surprising his barber or the building manager with some sweet treats.
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Fadi Odeh from Dallas, TX

Fadi started cooking at a young age with his mother and grandmother, but baking didn’t really come into his life seriously until four years ago when it allowed Fadi to reconnect with his mother and his sister after he came out as gay. After Fadi’s sister passed away from cancer at 36, he took it upon himself to live out her dream of combining baking with humanitarianism. As someone who is a long-time sufferer of anxiety and depression, being in the kitchen is a place where he can relax from his everyday job as a lawyer. He has lived all over the U.S., the Middle East and Europe and he loves merging Middle Eastern flavours with chocolate. Fadi’s long-term goal is to merge his law and human rights background with baking. He would love to open a community space and bakery where groups can meet, work and receive pro bono legal advice while eating delicious treats.
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Katie Rotchin from Montreal, QC

Katie began her baking career two years ago by watching TV baking shows, YouTube and Instagram. Now she bakes three times a week, trying a new recipe each time. Katie uses baking as a form of communication and brings baked goods to her boyfriend’s family, who don’t speak English, as a way to show that she cares. Katie is in her last year studying linguistics and anthropology at McGill University. She schedules her classes in the morning so that she can bake in the afternoon. Her most decadent chocolate creation was a chocolate Guinness beer cake that she sculpted for her boyfriend’s birthday.
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Kathy Choffe from Aurora, ON

Kathy works as a human resources professional in the banking industry and spends every day at work trying to prevent people from taking risks. Ironically, baking became her creative outlet because what excites her the most in baking is taking risks. Kathy wants to stun people as a self-taught home baker that can create jaw-dropping cakes, pastries and breads. Kathy is confident with her piping skills and overall aesthetic — she loves tempering chocolate to elevate her bakes. If a recipe scares her, the recipe goes on her list of things she must tackle and successfully achieve. Kathy learned to bake from her Mom who taught her two very important lessons that she follows to this day: always use butter and real vanilla extract.
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Renu Mathew from Olds, AB

Renu is an artist and a self-proclaimed chocolate goddess. By day, she teaches arts and ceramics to high school students, but by night, she applies her attention to detail and creative flair to delicious treats. Renu approaches chocolate with the same care as her clay work. Always the perfectionist, she can’t rest until her chocolate desserts look absolutely perfect. Baking is a family affair for Renu. Her culinary inspiration was her mother, who she watched bake as a child. Her parents would host an annual charity event, baking numerous desserts. Since her mother passed away, Renu’s father still participates at these annual bakes in memory of his wife and Renu continues this tradition at yearly school fundraisers, where her cakes always garner the highest bids.
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T Lawrence-Simon from Somerville, MA

“T the Amazing” spends most of his time up in the air. As a professional circus performer and coach, he’s in the studio training all day, then teaches silks, trapeze, duo trapeze and aerial hoop to recreational students at night. T has only been baking for a year, but when he decides to do something, he embraces it fully. T’s love of baking started with macarons, but he has since branched out into all types of treats.T isn't afraid of trying something outstanding and innovative and loves to explore and play with new techniques and presentation ideas. T has absolutely zero fear of going big, bold and making a loud statement to stay in the spotlight.
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Trinity Andrew from Los Angeles, CA

Trinity is very new to baking. Her first attempt at a professional cake was in March for her birthday. She immediately fell in love and has never felt more passionate about anything. Her first memory of baking was at six years old, at an orphanage on Valentine's Day. The staff arranged for all the kids to make heart-shaped sugar cookies with sprinkles and it was the first time she felt true happiness and comfort. Trinity currently bartends in Los Angeles and brings her cocktail expertise to her baking. Trinity gets bored easily, so she strives to do things outside of her comfort zone… and what’s more of a challenge than competing in a chocolate competition show with less than a year of experience?
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Venessa Liang from Saskatoon, SK

Venessa is best known for her extravagant cake art. She grew up in her family’s restaurant but her mother never let her help out in the kitchen. When she finally started baking on her own, she began experimenting with any recipe she could find. Baking is Venessa’s creative outlet, her best therapist and what she’s known for amongst her family and friends. Working as an oncology pharmacist, she bakes to alleviate the stress of her job and brings sweets to her co-workers on weeks that are extra difficult. Her obsession with chocolate comes from her mother-in-law, who is from Belgium. They often make chocolates together during the holiday season. Someday, when Venessa is retired, she plans to bake all day long for charity.
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