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Kelowna baker goes national with spooky cake

Local cake maker Kathie Dionne will be featured on The Big Bake: Halloween on the Food Network

A Kelowna baker has taken her talents to the national stage for everyone to see later in the month.

Kathie Dionne, the owner of Kakes by Kathie, is a self-taught baker and cake decorator. Locally, sheѻýs known for her elaborate and delicious cakes and cupcakes.

Dionne and her cakes have been featured many times in various wedding magazines and sites throughout the country, but this is the first time sheѻýs showing off on TV.

She said she had been contacted by the Food Network to participate in their shows several times but she had always refused.

ѻýTheyѻýve been asking me for years to participate, but Iѻýve always run into challenges before,ѻý she said.

ѻýTypically, they want to film during wedding season which isnѻýt feasible for meѻý and then (the shows are) usually for teams of three, and I am Kakes by Kathie. Iѻým a one-girl operation, so thatѻýs always been a challenge.ѻý

But this time, something was different: the network told her that they wanted to film a Halloween segment in January, meaning she would avoid the wedding season.

ѻýAt that point, I just had to plan out and find a team.ѻý

That is when her two friends came onto the scene. She said she called a baker friend, Joanne and cake decorator Kaleena.

Together, they became Team For Goodness Cakes, competing in The Big Bake: Halloween.

She said finally getting to go was a good experience in its own way, but the fact that it was during the height of the pandemic also made it feel different.

ѻýAnytime they werenѻýt filming, everybody was in full protective gearѻý it was almost like you were walking into a space scene, it was a little surreal,ѻý she said.

ѻýBut even on set, the judges normally would come right up to check your work, but they were keeping their six feet.ѻý

She canѻýt quite say what the outcome of the competition was for her until the episode airs, but Dionne is happy and proud of how she and her friends performed.

Most of all, she said sheѻýs grateful for the chance to take her talent to a national show and put Kelownaѻýs cake scene on the map.

The Big Bake: Halloween runs from now until October. The episode featuring Dionne will air sometime later in the month.

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twila.amato@blackpress.ca

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Twila Amato

About the Author: Twila Amato

Twila was a radio reporter based in northern Vancouver Island. She won the Jack Webster Student Journalism Award while at BCIT and received a degree in ancient and modern Greek history from McGill University.
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