The holidays are just around the corner. That means it’s time for cookies, cakes and sweet treats galore. But it’s also time to cheer on Milwaukee's hometown baking champ, Kimberly (Hall) Adams, who will compete in the Food Network’s most magical holiday baking competition yet: “Harry Potter: Wizards of Baking.”
The new show – which blends legendary storytelling with fantastical edible creations inspired by the Harry Potter series – will air on Thursday, Nov. 14 at 7 p.m. CST on both the Food Network and Max. Local fans are invited to attend a watch party with Adams on Nov. 14 beginning at 7 p.m. at Reign Event Lounge, 231 E. Buffalo St. in The Historic Third Ward.
Hosted by James and Oliver Phelps (Fred and George Weasley), the six-episode season will also feature culinary judges Carla Hall and Jozef Youssef, along with special guests Warwick Davis (Professor Flitwick), Evanna Lynch (Luna Lovegood) and Bonnie Wright (Ginny Weasley).
The competing teams include:
- Kimberly Adams(Milwaukee, WI) and Ashley Cardona (Charleston, SC)
- Lisa Altfest (Orange County, CA) and Mitzi Reyes (Los Angeles, CA)
- Hemu Basumatary (Katy, TX) and Riccardo Menicucci (Los Angeles, CA)
- Zoe Burmester (Brooklyn, NY) and Jordan Pilarski (Ojai, CA)
- Jess Lewis (Washington, DC) and Jamie Louks (Seattle, WA)
- Kayla Giddings (Lafayette, LA) and Yohann Le Bescond (Ocala, FL)
- Juan Gutierrez (Chicago, IL) and Elizabeth Rowe (Dallas, TX)
- Michael Russ II (Modesto, CA) and Conner Strackman (Smithville, TX)
- Christopher Teixeira (Chicago, IL) and Miko Uy (Astoria, NY)
The biggest challenge ever
The show marks the ninth Food Network baking competition for Adams, who also owns Signature Sweets, 3801 N. Oakland Ave. in Shorewood.
She’s baked her way through shows including "Cupcake Wars," "Sugar Dome," "Macy's Thanksgiving Cake Spectacular," "Holiday Wars" and "Halloween Wars" (twice) and served as a judge on “Buddy & Duff”.
Most recently, she won “The Big Bake: Holiday” (2022) alongside friend and teammate Hemu Basumatary, a talented cake artist who Adams will be competing against on “Harry Potter: Wizards of Baking”.
For that reason, among others, Adams says the show was among the most challenging she’s competed in so far.
“The audition process was insane,” she says. “Normally a producer will reach out and you might have one or two Zoom interviews. But for this one, there was a Zoom interview and then they flew us out to Los Angeles for an in-person audition. We had to bring a dessert with us and create an additional dessert from scratch while we were there.”
She says the competition, overall, required her to use far more of her skills, including the newly acquired knowledge she’s gained since going back to school at MATC to earn her degree in Pastry Arts.
“I consider myself a lifetime learner,” she says. “And I knew I wanted to have the background behind me before I got into teaching. All of that knowledge came in handy. Normally I’m cake all day, but this time the challenges required me to apply my full range of pastry knowledge as well.”
Adams says she also took the opportunity to bone up on her Harry Potter trivia.
“I’m definitely a fan, but my sister is a fanatic. I started rewatching all the movies when they reached out to me for the audition process. But she’s read all the books, so I got all of my inside info from her.”
What to expect
During the first episode, the Phelps brothers will welcome the nine teams of pastry chefs and cake artists to Warner Bros. Leavesden Studios, home to the iconic sets of the Harry Potter films. From there, they will assign the very first challenge: the creation of an edible showpiece that’s at least two feet tall, includes one magical effect and tells the story of the teammates’ shared love for Harry Potter.
According to Adams, she and Cardona immediately saw eye-to-eye on the theme they would use for their first collaboration.
“We had to capture what inspired us most,” says Adams. “And what I can tell you is that it pertains to our love for baking and cooking, the science behind it and our ability to add and subtract ingredients to create different things.”
Following the inaugural challenge, Hall and Youssef will decide which bakers earn a ticket to board the Hogwarts Express train to the next challenge.
The show will showcase a variety of iconic locales, many filmed on the original sets where Harry Potter’s journey was brought to life on screen. In fact, contestants will have the remarkable opportunity to present their edible creations in locations including Platform 9 ¾, The Great Hall, Gringotts Wizarding Bank, Diagon Alley, the Forbidden Forest and more.
The team that wins the competition will be awarded the first-ever Wizards of Baking Cup and will have the opportunity to appear in a new Harry Potter cookbook.
As a passionate champion of the local dining scene, Lori has reimagined the restaurant critic's role into that of a trusted dining concierge, guiding food lovers to delightful culinary discoveries and memorable experiences.
Lori is an avid cook whose accrual of condiments and spices is rivaled only by her cookbook collection. Her passion for the culinary industry was birthed while balancing A&W root beer mugs as a teenage carhop, fed by insatiable curiosity and fueled by the people whose stories entwine with every dish. Lori is the author of two books: the "Wisconsin Field to Fork" cookbook and "Milwaukee Food". Her work has garnered journalism awards from entities including the Milwaukee Press Club. In 2024, Lori was honored with a "Top 20 Women in Hospitality to Watch" award by the Wisconsin Restaurant Association.
When she’s not eating, photographing food, writing or planning for TV and radio spots, you’ll find Lori seeking out adventures with her husband Paul, traveling, cooking, reading, learning, snuggling with her cats and looking for ways to make a difference.
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