Baking gives food contestant a positive focus

RaChelle Hubsmith moved to Cache Valley 11 years ago and participated in her first formal baking event in June 2016, when she auditioned for the Great Holiday Baking Show.

RaChelle Hubsmith, a real estate appraiser for Cache County, is also an award-winning baker. She has competed three times at the World Food Championships.

RaChelle Hubsmith enjoys making custom cakes. Cake decorating gives her a chance to express her creative and artistic side.

After a long day at the office, she spends her spare time cooking and entering food contests. She said it is therapeutic to be in her kitchen.

Recently, Hubsmith was a finalist in a breadmaking contest and will travel to Manhattan, KS in June as a finalist at 2019 National Festival of Breads, sponsored by Red Star Yeast®, King Arthur Flour® and Kansas Wheat.

The 41-year-old entered her own special bread recipe, Chai Ube Rosette Rolls, using a sweet potato from Philippines. She found the potato in a Clearfield Filipino food store. The potatoes are beautiful with bright purple color, she said.

Last July, the mother of three won the Bo Jackson All-American Burger Battle with her Grilled Cheese Bacon Burger creation. Bo Jackson was an athlete who excelled in both professional baseball and football and has a line of beef products.

That burger win qualified her for her third trip to the World Food Championships last year, where the competition was stiff and the awards are big. Hubsmith went up against 1,500 chefs and home cooks for a share of a $300,000 prize and a crown.

The Tremonton native moved to Cache Valley 11 years ago and participated in her first formal baking event in June 2016, when she auditioned for the Great Holiday Baking Show.

She said she started entering contests as a distraction for some weighty issues she was dealing with.

“It just came into my life when I was going through some trials and struggles,” she said. “The cooking contests brought some positivity and a new focus into my life.”

Hubsmith said the experience has taught her some valuable lessons.

This Father’s Day cake was one of RaChelle Hubsmith’s creations. She competed in the 2018 World Food Championship last fall.

“I think all of us have issues of one kind or another,” Hubsmith said. “We all need to change our focus from our hardships to other things that bring us happiness and confidence.”

She really enjoys making custom cakes. Cake decorating gives her a chance to express her creative and artistic side.

“A large part of food competition is presentation, “Hubsmith said. “I’ve felt like being artistic helps.”

I had to audition for the television show and had to develop skills that would help me with interviews,” Hubsmith said. “It is something that took me awhile to get comfortable doing.”

Hubsmith earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Information Systems from Utah State University.

The food contest journey has taken her to places and put her in touch with some well-known and fun people.

She has pictures of herself with Bo Jackson, Nancy Judd, Taylor Hicks, and Kelsey Nixon.

Most recently, Hubsmith was invited to be a contestant on a new show with host Kelsey Nixon. It’s a BYU food and game show called “Dinner Takes All.”

RaChelle Hubsmith an award-winning baker recently appeared in a television segment “Studio 5 with Brooke Walker.” Walker is the host and executive producer of Studio 5.

“They already shot the episode, it will be on 7 p.m. on a Wednesday night,” she said. “I don’t have a date when it airs.”

She was recently on the TV show “State Plate” with Taylor Hicks. It aired back in December on INSP TV.

She has also been on television food segments and videos for local companies that deal in food. Hubsmith has made appearances in Salt Lake home and garden shows doing cooking demonstrations.

“I am still trying to figure out what I want to do when I grow up,” she said. “But truly my dream would be to become a full-time brand ambassador for a food company.”

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