Jessica Colvin's kids might be more excited than she is come Monday, when the Southlake resident appears on Food Network's "Spring Baking Championship." Before the show airs, we caught up with the single mom and self-taught baker to talk about her fight for the title.
Q. What made you decide to join the show?
A. Actually, I didn’t. My best friend, Taylor, sent in an application without me knowing. So one day, I got a call from a Food Network producer to start my interview process for the “Spring Baking Championship.” I seriously was like, "Um, what?" So thanks to her, I was on the show, but I never would have done that. It’s super out of my comfort zone, so she’s to be blamed.
Q. How does your family feel about you being on TV?
A. Oh my gosh — of course my family’s proud, but my kids are like, to anybody who will listen, "My mom’s going to be on TV," because they think it’s the coolest thing ever. Also, I obviously talked a lot about being a single mom, so I sent in pictures of them to the show because they flash your picture when they give your bio. So they’re like, "I’m going to be on TV." They each think that it’s cool. They cannot wait to see it.
Q. Do your kids like to bake?
A. Oh yeah. My daughter is like, "Mom, when is the 'Kids Baking Championship' because I need to be on that?" She’s 8, so she’s all about it. My son is always wanting to help, even though he’s not as much help as he is trouble. But that’s OK — he’s cute, so he’s allowed to help. But yeah, he’s 4, so he also likes to be the taste tester. That’s his favorite job.
Q. How did it feel baking on set in front of a camera?
A. I was super nervous to film. It was like, way not something I ever thought I could do. I was the only home baker on the show. Everyone else was professionally trained and worked at amazing bakeries and hotels and whatever. I was extremely nervous, but it was a lot of fun, and I’m excited for people to see it.
Q. What were your goals when you started the competition?
A. I didn’t really have any expectations. Of course, I wanted to do my best. I hoped that I would be able to finish all of the competitions in the time limit ... So my goal was to be able to finish and execute my dishes, but really I was just excited to be there and just proud of myself for getting there. I really had no expectations of what was going to happen.
Q. How'd you fall in love with baking?
A. Having a family that’s always been baking, it peaked my interest, obviously. Our way of showing love to somebody is to make them something in your kitchen and give it to them ... But also, I’ve always been into art. I went to art school for a year before I had my daughter, so I feel like it’s sort of my way of being artistic. Fortunately, you get to make something that you get to eat after, which is just a bonus.
Q. Speaking of your passion for art, how does that translate to baking?
A. I paint a lot. That’s why I do a lot of watercolor cakes. [It's] just a super cool way of putting art onto a cake. I’m inspired by nature and [I] just like art. My kids and I took a lot of time at art museums, so things that don’t necessarily have to do with food inspire me to make different cakes.
Q. What's your motivation to keep on baking?
A. Well, first off, I just love sweets. I have the biggest sweet tooth. It’s a problem. I love that I get to be like, "Oh, I want to eat a cake," and then I can make it. But also I think it’s just really cool to be a part of something special, like on a celebration day on your wedding, on your birthday, on your anniversary. It’s cool to be a small part of that with cakes.
The episode airs Monday at 8 p.m. on Food Network.