Halloween is a big deal at Punk Rock Pastries in Burnaby.
Owner Hollie Fraser loves all things horror and gore. “We make brain cupcakes, we make anatomical hearts, severed fingers, we have limbs everywhere. And a lot of blood, it’s super fun!”
This Halloween, the team at Punk Rock can finally celebrate something that Fraser has had to keep quiet for six months.
“I have been holding the biggest secret, and it’s been so hard not to say that I have been crowned the winner of the Halloween Baking Championship on the Food Network,” said Fraser, adding, “It’s mind-blowing and amazing.”
Fraser, who lives in Port Moody, was the sole Canadian on the ninth season of the Food Network show, where 13 competitors battled it out to make the tastiest — and goriest — Halloween treats.
“I do Halloween all day, every day. It’s what I do,” said Fraser. “For me to already have that edge and go into the competition, I kind of had a leg up on everyone else. And I went into the first episode and showed them what I could do, and kind of just wowed the judges.”
Fraser set the series record for most competition wins, and was crowned the winner in the finale that was recorded in Los Angeles back in April. Once that episode aired on October 30, the news was out.
“I don’t like secrets, so having this secret was so hard, and not being able to tell everyone was horrible. So when everyone found it was, oh my God! Because I just told everyone I lost. It’s the only way I got through the secret. I kind of convinced myself I lost, so when I saw it last night it was, oh, hey I did win!”
Fraser won $25,000 USD, but for her, the title of Halloween Baking Champion is priceless.
“For me to be able to do that, to have this for my bakery….we are going worldwide. “It’s crazy to see the number of people who have come in just to say I’m watching you on TV,” said Fraser.
And the newly crowned champion has a permanent reminder of her big win on her forearm.
“So John Hanson was the host of the Halloween Baking Championship, and we made a bet on set that if I did win I would get his name tattooed on my arm. So I did!”
Fraser was also part of a team that won The Big Bake Halloween in 2019.
“To be able to win two Food Network competitions is insane. I’m hoping Food Network kind of sees this and is like, okay, we need some new blood. Maybe we can bring on Hollie for her own show.”
For now, she’s back to baking at her Hastings street shop.
“Halloween is our busiest time of year, it gets a little bit crazy, we usually have a line up that goes around the corner, it’s crazy,” said Fraser. “The stuff that we make, there’s no other bakery in Vancouver that does what we do.”
And there’s no other bakery that can boast its owner is a Halloween baking champion.
