Meet the Competitors of 'Kids Baking Championship: Amazing Animals'

Kids Baking Championship: Amazing Animals premieres Monday January 6, 2025 at 8|7c on Food Network. This season, 12 young bakers will compete in a series of critter- and creature-inspired challenges for a chance to win $25,000; a feature in Food Network Magazine; and the coveted title of Kids Baking Champion. Pastry chef Duff Goldman (Duff: Ace of Taste) and chef and caterer Kardea Brown (Delicious Miss Brown) will guide the budding bakers along the way, hosting the show and judging the creations that arise during each episode. Ahead, meet the competitors of Kids Baking Championship: Amazing Animals.

Carly Van Pelt joins Kids Baking Championship: Amazing Animals from Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. "I love baking because it's really fun to make something you know someone else will really enjoy," she said. "And this is the perfect season to be on because I love animals. I actually make dog treats."

Ellvie Smith is from Attalla, Alabama. "I started making all my own cakes [when] I was six, and I've always preferred watching Food Network over cartoons," said Ellvie. "It just kind of escalated from there."

Aria Karayil joins Kids Baking Championship: Amazing Animals from Danville, California. The 11-year-old baker started her hobby when she was seven years old. "My family is from Southern India and in India, coconut goes in most of our foods, so my inspiration is to use some of my culture's food," she revealed.

Ella Hayek joins the competition from Ann Arbor, Michigan. "I've been baking since I was six years old, and I've been inspired to bake by my grandma, who owns a bunch of different restaurants," the 10-year-old shared.

"I have a baking business and it's called Noah's Bakeshop Oak," said Noah Azeez of Toronto, Canada. "One time, someone ordered 75 mini cupcakes and I made them in less than three hours. It was like the longest three hours but the most fun three hours of my life."

Carter Siporin joins Kids Baking Championship: Amazing Animals from Perkasie, Pennsylvania. "I am homeschooled," he shared. "I love being homeschooled because there's a lot of time for baking."

"I'm a very competitive person," said Jack Whalen of West Richland, Washington. "When I'm not baking, I'm swimming competitively; I'm playing chess. As a baker, if there's one thing I struggle with, it's probably making things look exactly perfect. I am a perfectionist."

Piper Lowe joins the competition from Kansas City, Kansas. "I have a baking business called Piper's Pastries and Sweet Treats," Piper said. "I sell mostly local and if I got $25,000, I would buy a food truck to sell my pastries out of and I would buy mini highland cows, which are super fluffy."

Arielle Yang is from Sandy, Utah. Her interest in baking began at a young age while observing her mom bake birthday cakes and cupcakes, and then later, after watching videos online of people piping flowers, she was inspired to try it herself. “It sparked an interest in baking that I never felt before and I just continued to bake.”

Pierce Sario joins Kids Baking Championship: Amazing Animals from Atlanta. "When I get older, I want to be a famous pastry chef who lives in Paris, that sells French pastries and pies," he said. "My favorite thing to make is definitely pie."

Micah Parsons joins Kids Baking Championship: Amazing Animals from Stephenville, Texas. The reason he started baking? "I live on 150 acres of farm, and my chickens lay so many eggs, I had to do something with them. That something was baking," he revealed. "I love baking and I just love animals."