CakeBuds owner and ETSU alumnus Timmy Norman and partner Elizabeth Rowe won $10,000 on the “Back to the Future Cakes” episode of Food Network challenge.
Norman has always had an interest in baking and enjoyed watching baking shows, and his passion for cake decorating began to grow from watching televised cake competitions.
His passion for cake sculpting and design came from creating birthday cakes for his son, and once his business took off, he opened CakeBuds. He soon ventured into the realm of televised competitions.
“A few of my favorite cakes I have created are a sculpted Mustang cake for my son’s 10th birthday that was remote control, a Johnson City replica cake for the Sesquicentennial celebration, and my most recent favorite is a sculpted University of Tennessee mascot Smokey X cake,” said Norman.
His first appearance was on the Food Network show “Winner Cake All” alongside teammate Chris Roberts.
Then, he joined the team Ginger Snappers on Food Network’s Holiday Wars, where he met Rowe. Their team would go on to get second place.
Norman and Rowe appeared on Food Network Challenge on Jan. 20. The episode consisted two rounds: elimination and final cake design and build.
The elimination challenge was to recreate a gadget from the “Back to the Future” out of cake. Norman, Rowe and two other teams made a flux capacitor, and all three teams made it to the final build.
The final build required them to recreate a scene from one of the three movies and to make an element of the cake of hover. They decided to recreate the scene where the lightning strikes the clock tower and made their clouds hover.
“I was extremely excited going into Food Network Challenge,” said Norman. “I always wanted to compete on this show as it was the original show that fostered my love for cake decorating. I am still in complete shock that Elizabeth and I came out victorious.”
Norman’s Food Network success may continue. He can confirm that he will appear on upcoming Food Network programs, but he cannot yet confirm which shows or when.
