Taylor Inouye, a 12-year-old from Kailua who started baking with her grandmother at age 5, will be one of nine contestants on the new season of “Kids Baking Championship” on the Food Network, premiering at 6 p.m. Monday.
Kids from age 10 to 13 will compete for seven weeks to make creative cakes and delectable desserts under the tutelage of celebrity hosts Valerie Bertinelli and Duff Goldman.
The show was the first competition Taylor had ever entered, she said in an email. “Watching the kids on the previous seasons was very inspiring and they also looked like they were having so much fun.”
The show’s grand prize is $25,000 and a feature in Food Network Magazine.
Amy Pottinger made it to the final three on “Food Network Star,” but not to the finale.
Pottinger, a self-taught cook who authors a blog called “Caviar and Crayons” from Hickam Air Force Base, was eliminated Sunday.
Pottinger was an also-ran on the show last season, but secured a new spot in this season’s run after a comeback competition in June.
Each episode, the contestants prepare at least one dish and make a how-to video. Judges Bobby Flay and Giada De Laurentiis noted that Pottinger was more relaxed on camera this season, and generally praised both her dishes and her video storytelling.
The remaining contestants will make a pilot of a proposed new show, for judging on Sunday’s finale. The show airs at 6 p.m. on the Food Network, repeating frequently.
SWEETHEAT A BOON TO PUFF PASTRY FANS
Eric Cosmos, a New York transplant, thought there might be people hankering for the baklava and spanakopita his Lithuanian grandmother taught him to make, and he was right. The two flaky Greek pastries sell the fastest at several Oahu farmers markets where Cosmos’ SweetHeat808 food stand also offers an array of Russian piroshki (meat hand pies) made with puff pastry.
He offers savory piroshki such as chicken, a portobello mushroom and feta cheese combo, and a pepperoni/Italian variation. His nontraditional sweet versions — such as a s’mores chocolate and marshmallow, or banana-coconut — vary from week to week. Piroshki prices are $4 for one generous square or $7 for two squares, with the price per piece going down with larger quantities. The baklava (right) and spanakopita are $5 for a large square.
Cosmos said he started baking at his grandmother’s side when he was 10, and still makes his phyllo dough by pounding and stretching it out the old-fashioned way — “I put my heart into it.”
His grandma was born in Greece, so her recipes were a fusion of Greek and Eastern European cuisine, which Cosmos got to indulge in for 15 years when she lived with his family in New York.
Two years ago he moved to Hawaii, and as a way to earn a living, started making hot sauce. But he found sales inconsistent and tried baked goods instead. He can also make gyros by advance request.
Find SweetHeat808 at these farmers markets:
>> Mililani Shopping Center: 3 to 7 p.m. Fridays
>> Kapolei High School: 3 to 6:30 p.m. Thursdays
>> Windward Mall: 2:30 to 7 p.m. Wednesdays and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sundays
>> Waianae Shopping Center: 8 a.m. to noon Saturdays
Email sweetheat808@gmail.com.
— Pat Gee, Star-Advertiser
