CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Chicago pastry chef James Cox tried for years to land a spot on one of television’s spookiest baking competitions — Food Network’s “Halloween Baking Championship.” He applied six times. On each occasion, he was rejected.
After the last rejection, Cox gave himself a break from applying. He wanted to take three years to build a solid foundation at Sugar Daddy, the bakery he and his partner Rayann Ibasco opened in 2021 in Lake View East. Then he would give it another shot. At least, that was the plan.
“You never know when the fates are going to be like, ‘Yup, it’s your time to go,’” he said.
Ahead of the show’s eighth season, which premiered on Sept. 11, 2023, a “Halloween Baking Championship” casting director found Sugar Daddy’s Instagram and asked if they could speak to Cox about applying for the show.
Cox took it as a cue to try again. This time, he was successful.
For those who haven’t seen it, “Halloween Baking Championship” challenges 12 bakers to create the creepiest, most artistic and most delicious desserts each episode. Judges Stephanie Boswell, Carla Hall and Zac Young then send one or two bakers home every week. As the field has been whittled down, Cox has proven to be among the show’s top performers and has made some incredibly memorable dishes.
As for the ones he’s most proud of, Cox said his favorite flavor profile was with his spinning carousel cake, which he made with ube, coconut and pandan buttercream. His favorites to decorate, though, were a black velvet “franken-cake” — in which bakers had to design cakes that resembled realistic body parts — and a Charlotte Royale cake decorated as an alien head.
Cox said being able to put together a winning dessert on the fly all comes back to the basics.
“It’s kind of like building a skyscraper,” he said. “You can’t have the height and all that without a good, solid foundation and the foundation is understanding all of the recipes that are being used within the challenges or within the dessert itself.”
Take the Charlotte Royale cake, for example.
“You’ve got a sponge cake, a jam filling; you’ve got the mousse or gelatin filling and the cookie base,” he said. “And understanding how each of those work with each other and the purpose of the recipes that create the Charlotte Royale … by understanding that, you understand the expectations of a good, solid foundation. You’re going to have a good, solid end result.”
Cox’s own experience with baking dates back to when he was 12. Growing up in a military family that moved all over every two to four years, Cox said he quickly developed a love for home cooked meals.
But it was at the Palms Casino in Las Vegas, where his family lived while he was in school, that Cox found a passion for baking.
“They had a large pastry display of everything from homemade chocolates to confectionaries, danishes, croissants, cake slices, cupcakes, high-end petit fours,” he said. “I looked at it all, [and] I was like, ‘That’s what I want to do.’”
Cox informed his family that he made it onto “Halloween Baking Championship” about one week before it aired. He said his parents have been the most thrilled for him, especially because they know that running his own bakery and doing competitions is something he’s always wanted to do.
“They’re like, ‘You’re going after what you wanted,’ and I think, for them, the fact that I’m following my dreams is what they’re most excited and proud of,” he said.
So far, Cox has impressed the judges, but they aren’t alone. Back at Sugar Daddy, Chicagoans have taken notice.
“We’ve definitely gotten a lot more walk-ins that are coming into the shop, but the part that’s been really interesting are people who are … driving out from the suburbs just to come to the shop,” he said.
Unsurprisingly, Cox said they’re getting a lot more requests for custom cakes and catering orders, as well as lots of questions regarding when he’ll bring some of what he made on the show into the bakery.
He did say Sugar Daddy will be selling specials throughout the rest of October based on a few of his memorable bakes from the show. Among them: “shrunken head” pies, which will be sold the weekend of Oct. 13; and “bloody” doughnuts, which will be sold at the end of the month.
Over the weekend of Oct. 20, Cox said Sugar Daddy will be celebrating its two-year anniversary, a milestone they reached earlier this month.
Halloween Baking Championship airs every Monday night, with the 2023 finale scheduled for Oct. 30.
Listen to our new podcast Looped In: Chicago
Listen to WBBM Newsradio now on Audacy!
Sign up and follow WBBM Newsradio
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram