KATY, TX (Covering Katy News) - Food Network star Hemlata Basumatary of Katy, is returning to TV, bringing her cake-baking and decorating skills to audiences in the US and Canada. She is known as Hemu Basu on TV.
The show is titled The Big Bake - Holiday - Naughty or Nice. It airs December 12 at 10 p.m. Central on Food Network. The program will also air in Canada on December 18 at 7 p.m. Central.
“We flew to Canada this year in March for five days and filmed the episode,” Hemu said.
She's not allowed to say who won, until all of the episodes have aired.
Food Network
Hemu Basu center with Joel Gonzalez and Kim Hall
“I was invited to participate in this show last year,” Hemu said. “The next step was making a dream team, and I found very good teammates, Kimberly Hall, and Joel Gonzalez.”
Professional baking teams must design and decorate a grand-scale holiday-themed cake in each episode. Themes include the Santa Clause Parade, Elves on the Loose, The Nutcracker Ballet, and Naughty or Nice.
Who gets the goods and who gets a lump of coal? Only Santa decides who’s Naughty or Nice. The teams must be on their best baking behavior as they create a cake inspired by Santa's famous list.
In each episode, the team with the most spectacular cake wins a $10,000 prize. There are three teams.
Brad Smith returns as host alongside judges Eddie Jackson, Ron Ben-Israel, and Danni Rose.
Hemu leads her team made up of Joel, a pastry chef specializing in chocolate and sugar sculpting, and a 3D modeling expert who designs cakes for the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks.
Texan Lilian Halabi leads one of the other teams. She is from Harker Heights, a small community between Austin and Waco, where she owns Lily’s Cakes.
Hemu has won many national and international cake competitions. She owns Hemu’s Sweet Sensations in Katy and specializes in creating cakes with incredible detail.
In 2020 Hemu also competed on Food Network's Halloween Wars.
Last summer Hemu competed on the Netflix program Is it Cake? Read our story on that competition.
Food Network
Food Network
The judges and the host.