“Are You Competitive?” – Rivera on Spring Baking Championship

After watching the previous season’s shows, Rivera went to New Orleans for the competition along with nine other contestants, including another Miamian, Tracey Marionneaux, who bakes at the Fontainebleau and owns her business, Sweet Revolution. The format is similar to other cooking shows: each episode, participants are given a challenge to bake a particular dish or dishes in a limited amount of time and present them to the judges. The lowest-scored contestant is voted off. The final three contestants duke it out at the final episode.

For this series, judged by Duff Goldman of Charm City Cakes, British baking host Lorraine Pascale and Nancy Fuller, owner of Ginsberg’s Foods, the overall theme was springtime, featuring seasonal fruits and vegetables, Easter and Mother’s Day.

Not Easy

Every day, nearly all chefs work under pressure in the kitchen, but this competition presented a whole new set of challenges.  

“It was hard,” says Rivera. “You don’t know the products, the kitchen, the ovens. It was so different from anything I’ve ever done.”

Working in front of cameras in a limited timeframe also took some getting used to: “You don’t work as clean,” she says.  

For Rivera, who studied pastry in her native Mexico City, her biggest challenge was doing American desserts like tiered cakes, baked donuts and pies. Known for her picture-perfect, jewel-toned entremets, she specializes in modern French pastry. “I do tarts, not pies,” she says. The days were long. Everyone was tired.

But the camaraderie developed among the competitors that helped ease the strain, she says, and they got together to socialize after work. “We were all there for the same reason and we supported each other,” she says. “Each contestant brought something to the table. We all have strengths.”