Mystic Baker Wins 'Best Baker In America' TV Competition

MYSTIC, CT — Adam Young, owner of Sift Bake Shop in downtown Mystic, battled for baking supremacy on television Monday and won the title of "Best Baker in America."

Young competed in the Food Network competition and took home a grand prize of $25,000 after consistently wowing the judges with his delectable tasting and astonishingly presented desserts.

Young was one of nine chefs competing for the prize over the course of the show, facing off against two other remaining chefs to pull off the final big win Monday.

The final competition was twofold, during which competitors first were given 90 minutes to create six mini sachertortes, a chocolate and apricot torte comprised of two layers of very dense chocolate cake with apricot jam in between, with a decorative element.

They were also given the following guidelines:

• each sachertorte should have a delicious, well-balanced chocolate flavor
• the chocolate cake should be moist and rich
• the icing should be smooth and glossy
• the apricot jam should have the perfect consistency

For his dish, Young created a sachetore with apricot jam, milk chocolate lavender ganache and chocolate curls.

The judges were quick to note that the addition of lavender was a risky move, because if not used properly it could leave a chef's dessert tasting like soap. To combat this, Young used fresh instead of dry lavender due to its more subtle taste.

Though worried about cutting his time close, Young glazed like the wind and was able to complete six delightful looking cakes for the judges, who complimented his nice balance of chocolate, apricot and the risky lavender flavor.

“It’s a different dessert for me," judge Marcela Valladolid told Young. "I’ve never had these combinations together and I think you made it work.”

Young was ultimately able to win the first round, which was taken into consideration when judged on his final cake.

For the aforementioned all-important final dish, the chefs were tasked with creating an "ultimate chocolate cake" in six hours.

These supreme cakes had to feature three different types of chocolate and three different types of bonbons, include elaborate chocolate decorations and also add a featured flavor: caramel.

Though he remained cool and worked fast, Young still felt some pressure.

“I don’t know that my wife would necessarily agree that this cake is as important as our wedding cake," Young said, "but I’d say it’s a close second.”

Through six hours of fast yet precise work, he was ultimately able to deliver a towering high passion fruit caramel chocolate cake, which one judge remarked looked like the best work Young had done in the competition. This seemed to be confirmed after the judges tasted it.

“You were able to balance so many different flavors without one of them overpowering the other," Valladolidsaid, "and that to me is a success.”

Though his competitors fought hard and brought some impressive dishes before the judges, Young ultimately was crowned the winner.

“Every single challenge I just delivered the heat and brought as much integrity, flavor, texture and technique into those desserts as I possibly could," Young said. “It feels pretty awesome to be the Best Baker in America!”

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