The 21-year-old is the youngest contestant on the show, and will compete for $100,000 among other prizes.
Peter Grey, 21, of East Longmeadow; a contestant on season 3 of the TLC series "Next Great Baker."
East Longmeadow’s Peter Gray thinks he can take the cake on TLC's "Next Great Baker" as he competes for the ultimate title and chance of a lifetime.
The show, which airs Nov. 26 at 9 p.m., features 13 contestants, including the 21-year-old East Longmeadow native.
“I’ve been really baking all my life, but in the fourth grade for an oral presentation I started my small business called Pete’s Sweets. We had to do a little four-minute anything we wanted, and since I love making things at home I decided to do it on making chocolate,” said Gray.
After Gray's early confectionery success, Pete’s Sweets Candies & Baked Goods continued to grow, making money before he could vote.
“From there I went on to selling chocolate bars in high school. People were spending money on chocolate and not on their school lunch,” Gray said.
After graduating from East Longmeadow High School in 2010, Gray enrolled in the New England Culinary Institute in Montpelier, Vermont. He finished his program but will be officially graduating this summer, he said. It was there that he learned about "Next Great Baker."
“It actually fell into my lap, believe it or not. I had a teacher at my culinary school who recommended it to me. He said that I was really outgoing and since I love to make baked goods it would be a perfect fit for me,” said Gray.
The winning prize is $100,000, a feature in Redbook magazine, and a chance to work at Carlo’s Bakery of the hit show “Cake Boss.”
But the process of auditioning to get onto the show was no piece of cake.
“The audition process was so nerve racking, there were so many steps. It was like, take pictures then wait a week, then after the written auditions was a video audition, then an in-person audition, waiting months in between so it was definitely a long process but worth it in the end,” Gray said.
Competing on the show, as well as being the youngest contestant, presented a new set of challenges.
“I’m a confident person but when I got onto the show, being the youngest person there, people have been baking longer than I’ve been alive,” said Gray. “It’s hard for me as a young person to boss around someone older than I am. To get to the confidence level to say ‘I know what I’m doing’ has been difficult.”
Each round of competition consists of a Baker's Challenge, followed by an Elimination Challenge. In the Baker's Challenge each contestant must bake or decorate a cake. The Elimination Challenge consists of cake decorating for a client, sometimes a celebrity, said Gray.
While the road has not always been easy for Gray, the experience of competing on Next Great Baker has produced many favorable outcomes, including a self-published 60-page cookbook.
“I’m so excited to really share my recipes with everyone. It’s quite exciting to do. I did that when I came back and anything I made on the show for a bakers challenge is in the cookbook. I included almost every recipe,” Gray said.
Gray doesn’t have a commercial store to visit but he has a website dedicated to Pete’s Sweets, and a mouth-watering list of cakes and baked goods to order.
“I make cakes for friends and family at home, but I go to commercial kitchens around to bake other things (such as orders). If someone wants me to come in and do a baking class I do that too,” said Gray.
And while he can bake just about any kind of cake you can think of, he sticks with a more modest option for his own birthday.
“My favorite cake is vanilla cake with chocolate frosting. They don’t sell it at any bakery, it’s so weird. It’s always vanilla cake with vanilla frosting, or chocolate with chocolate,” Gray said.
Although Gray operates Pete’s Sweets, he doesn’t consider it a business per se. “I don’t have really a business, it’s just a hobby with a name. I’m looking for a baking job somewhere cake decorating but I haven’t found it yet. So if anyone’s looking…”
Since Gray doesn’t have a commercial store to visit, he can be found selling confections as well as his cookbook in local craft fairs coming up. A listing of his events and menu items can be found on his website.
“If you would have asked me this time last year what I would be doing I would never say this,” Gray said.
Gray will be hosting an official viewing party at Spoleto’s Restaurant at 84 Center Square in East Longmeadow. The party will be on Nov. 26 during the airing of the show.
“I’m going to be hopefully making a cake and there’s going to be hors d'oeuvres. It’s going to be fun. Everyone there will be watching it with me for the first time,” said Gray.
Tickets can be purchased by calling (413) 265-6297, but space is limited. Tickets are $10 each, and all proceeds will go to the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts.