Seven years ago, Karen Belton was window shopping for birthday cakes for her three-year-old daughter, but most were too expensive. With the tips and tricks she learned watching the Food Network, she decided to take the task on herself. Then the network came calling.
When Belton strolled into Chuck E. Cheese carrying a Minnie Mouse cake that could easily pass as a professionally crafted dessert, people started pulling her aside, asking where she bought the cake. “From there, I started selling cakes on Craigslist, and then I got a job offer for a cake decorating position in Orange County,” Belton said during a recent phone interview.
Belton worked at Rockwell’s Bakery, where she sharpened her skills, but now runs Belton Desserts out of her home when she’s not working full-time at a senior center in Riverside. She specializes mainly in custom cakes but also puts together dessert tables and sells cupcakes and cake pops. During the holiday season, she bakes mini apple and mixed berry pies that fly off the shelves.
Last year, Belton was featured in a ShoutoutSoCal article, which included photos of her elaborate gingerbread recreation of Riverside’s Mission Inn, Unicorn birthday desserts and Halloween cupcakes. The Food Network casting recruiters happened upon the story and emailed Belton to ask if she’d compete in season 11 of “Holiday Baking Championship,” which is currently airing and streaming on Max, Discovery+ and other premium subscriptions. While cleaning out her inbox, she shrugged off the offer.
“I thought it was spam and almost deleted it,” she said.
As an introvert, Belton was terrified of being on television, so she was initially resistant to the idea, but then the pastry chef had a near-death experience.
During one of the hot, sweltering summer days in the Inland Empire, she was sunbathing by the pool and stayed in the sun a bit too long. When she went to shower, she blacked out, hitting her head on the corner of a bench in her shower. She woke up with no recollection of what had happened, got out of the shower, and was rushed to the hospital to get stitches. After the incident, her family encouraged her to take the casting call and showcase her skills to television audiences.
“Doing something like that competition was really outside of my comfort zone,” she said. But after the accident, she was determined to go for it and quell her fears.
Belton said it was still a battle to get through the show, saying she often hyperventilated, but that while the process was nerve-wracking, she still had a lot of fun. One of the more challenging parts of the competition was cooking under a time constraint, a concept that felt daunting.
“Time is your worst enemy on the show,” she said. “The time they say on TV is the time they give you. In normal life, you take forever to do something. You have your process; getting things done can take a couple of days. You have to get it done on TV in two and a half hours, and it’s a crazy rush. By the time you’re done, you can’t remember what you made or how you made it.”
Every week, when a new episode airs, Belton’s husband cooks dinner for her and the girls, and they sit and watch the show together. She said she enjoys watching their reactions and also getting to process the bakers’ creations that she had forgotten about when being in the midst of the competition. For Belton, going from a fan of the show to a baker in the mix, was a full-circle moment.
“I’m proud to be on the show because I’d seen those shows for so many years,” she said. “To see myself on it and know that I was there and competing against these amazing bakers was something I couldn’t wrap my mind around. I felt like it wasn’t real. It was like a dream come true.”
“Holiday Baking Championship” is currently airing on the Food Network, streaming on Max and Discovery+ and available through other premium subscriptions.
