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<\/a><\/p>\nThe goodies are all made with butter rather than oil or lard, and she takes particular pride in her decorating skills.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome customers come to me with photographs they want replicated. Or I can run with a theme. The sky is the limit. And I can create any color,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Hannah participated in \u201cBaker\u2019s Dozen\u201d as a contestant for Episode 6. The format starts out with 13 amateur and professional bakers tasked with conjuring up confections based on certain themes. Filmed on a posh ranch in the Los Angeles area, the victor of the show\u2019s three elimination rounds goes home with $5,000 and a golden rolling pin.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe winner wasn\u2019t me. But I made it to the final round when there were only three of us left,\u201d she cheerfully noted.<\/p>\n
Hannah proved her baking prowess throughout the entire episode nonetheless.<\/p>\n
In the first round she decorated a giant pre-made donut with a \u201cbeautiful diva\u201d sporting big curls, gold lips, hoop earrings, and a flower in hair. The image was meant to resemble jazz legend Billie Holiday.<\/p>\n
For round two, the contestants were asked to produce 13 identical desserts of any kind. Now as one of only five competitors remaining, Hannah cranked out cacao cupcakes filled with bourbon-chantilly cream and topped with spiced-pecan brittle.<\/p>\n
The final showdown called for a breakfast-theme dessert. Hannah gave it her all with a four-layer cinnamon-roll cake made with brioche and sided with chocolate-covered bacon. On top was a Thai confection known as thong yip, which looks like an egg yolk. Hannah set the delicately crafted orb into a cloud of meringue.<\/p>\n
But a trio of judges gave the win to a \u201cself-taught professional baker\u201d named Nicole, who created a French toast casserole layered with peanut butter cream and raspberries.<\/p>\n
Hannah was hardly discouraged, and she is grateful for the national publicity.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt hasn\u2019t trickled into massive orders yet, but it\u2019s given my business a boost on social media so far,\u201d she said, noting that all eight episodes of the show are available for the long run on Hulu.<\/p>\n
In addition, she has achieved local name recognition through Grossmont College, where she teaches for its culinary arts program on Saturdays. She holds an Associate\u2019s Degree in Culinary Arts from Grossmont, and a Bachelor\u2019s in theater, art and dance from California State at Los Angeles.<\/p>\n Her baking history dates back to when she made sweet potato pies and hot-water corn bread with her grandmother when growing up in Bakersfield, California.<\/p>\n \u201cBaked goods just make me happy. It\u2019s the smell and nostalgia of them. Something as simple as chocolate chip cookies can bring back a lot of good memories.\u201d<\/p>\n That love of sweets, she recalls, is what drove her into starting Choice Confections \u2014 not to mention the urging of friends and family members who raved about her desserts along the way. So with only a small KitchenAid mixer and humble packaging supplies from Michaels Arts & Craft store, she went into business. Today she fulfills a steady stream of customized orders for weddings, birthdays, gender-reveal parties, and more.<\/p>\n \u201cI now have more cupcake tins than clothes. And I have bigger Kitchen Aid mixer now.\u201d<\/p>\n As for baking again on television under bright lights and time clocks, she quipped: \u201cIdeally I\u2019d like to someday get my own show \u2014 somewhere, somehow,\u201d<\/p>\n Hanna can be reached through her web site at: www.choice-confections.com<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n