Albertsons baker to get chance on ‘Cake Wars’ TV show
Shannon Scicli knows how to bake a cake and make it look good, too.
The 28-year-old — who just started working in the bakery at Albertsons grocery store on 10th Avenue South last month — has been invited to participate in the Food Network show “Cake Wars” later this year.
“I watch the Food Network religiously,” Scicli said.
The South Carolina transplant said she has dreams of one day running her own bakery, and perhaps this shot to create cakes with extravagant decorations on national television will help her toward that goal.
“I’m extremely nervous,” she said. “But I’m playing it off like everything is fine.”
Until that happens, though, she’s happy to work alongside four other full-time cake decorators in the bakery department at Albertsons where four of the five are five-star-rated cake decorators, manager Cheryl Larson said.
“It’s been great having Shannon,” Larson said. “She’s a great addition to my team.”
Larson said her staff has 10 years of experience up to 37 years. It takes about three years to get fully trained on creating and decorating cakes with different frostings, fondants and more.
People might think they need to go to a boutique pastry shop to get a fancy cake made with different textures and more. But the five women who bake and decorate cakes at Albertsons stack up with the best.
“If there is a girl here willing to try it, I’m all for it,” Larson said.
Valentine’s Day is their busiest time of the year. This week the crew was preparing to bake and decorate close to 3,200 cupcakes, and every day they are churning out custom orders as well as keeping a case full of cakes ready to go.
Scicli has made all sorts of cake creations since graduating from the Culinary Institute of Charleston and earning her associate degree in business management. She’s worked at a bakery in Charleston, on an Alaskan cruise ship, at Navy and Air Force bases and most recently at the Yellowstone Club in Big Sky.
She made cakes for Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner as well as Justin Timberlake.
A customer walked up to the bakery counter Tuesday morning at Albertsons, picked out a cake and asked for someone to write a good luck message on the cake. Without breaking a sweat, Scicli squeezed out a frosted message in perfect cursive penmanship atop the cake.
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Behind her, Stacy Williams was piping the edges of buttercream-frosted cakes in rapid fire succession.
“All of those take special handling,” Larson said.
Scicli said a passenger aboard the cruise ship she was working on this last summer encouraged her to try out for “Cake Wars.”
As she understands it, she’ll go to Burbank in May. The challenge will be working with a team to create and decorate the best cake. If she succeeds, she’ll get to go on to do more episodes.
“You have a one-in-a-billion shot,” Scicli said.
Reach Tribune Staff Writer Kristen Cates at 791-1463. Follow her on Twitter @GFTrib_KCates.