Punk Rock Pastries owner wins Halloween Baking Championship
Posted November 1, 2023 7:08 am.
Last Updated November 6, 2023 8:06 am.
The owner of a Burnaby bakery says she’s overwhelmed and still in shock after she was crowned the winner of this year’s Halloween Baking Championship on the Food Network.
Hollie Fraser, who owns Punk Rock Pastries, was the only Canadian contestant on the show, and won $25,000 in the bake-off.
“Been an absolute wild ride. I never thought this would ever happen. Like, I’ve won one competition on Food Network, I never thought I’d be a two-time Food Network competiton winner. It’s just been absolutely crazy, the amount of support I’ve gotten, the amount of messages, phone calls,” an elated Fraser told CityNews Tuesday, a day after her win was broadcast on TV.
“It’s mind-blowing. It’s just — wow!”
Fraser created a series of gruesome, creepy-crawly cakes and treats on the show over the last couple of months. She says they have gained quite some attention on social media, adding her win has helped increase sales at Punk Rock Pastries.
“I am so overwhelmed right now,” she said, with a laugh.
Her success on the show isn’t the only thing that has helped her shop. Fraser says business has tripled since she started on the show — and that came at a critical time.
“We got to the point where we actually had to hire people because we couldn’t keep up, and it’s amazing because we were at the point in the summer where we thought we were going to close down,” Fraser explained.
“So, being able for this to come out and to be able to kind of save our bakery, it’s amazing.”
The popularity of Punk Rock Bakery in the wake of Fraser’s time on the show is evident.
In an Instagram post, the bakery said it would be closed Nov. 1 because “we have nothing left to sell!!”
Fraser is no stranger to pushing the boundaries on her baking. Punk Rock Pastries is known for its sometimes-provocative treats, with the business asked last year to reportedly post disclaimer on social media about some of its more “adult” items.
But Fraser says her experience creating unique pastries helped her in the competition.
“I was just like, I’m just going to go on there and do what I always do. I’m just going to be myself, go crazy, and show them what I’ve got. As soon as we found out the theme, I was like, this is going to be fun,” she recalled of the last episode.
“We didn’t know what we were getting ourselves into, we didn’t know what we had to make, we didn’t know what was going to happen with each challenge. It was crazy. And you have to think on your feet really, really fast about what you want to do, and how you want to incorporate flavours. Being able to do Halloween every day kind of gave me a leg up on the other competitors because half of them don’t do Halloween every day. The few that do have never done competitions before.”
For anyone taking inspiration from Fraser and wanting to try their hand at baking spooky treats, she recommends taking an art class. But more than anything else, Fraser encourages bakers to “keep going” and try and try again.
When it comes to her winnings, Fraser says she plans to bring her dad over to Canada from Australia for a visit next year.
“So that he can come bake with me because he was the one that got me started — he was a baker,” Fraser said.
The rest of the money, she says, will go back to Punk Rock Pastries.
