Troy Pastry Chef Appears On Food Network Monday

TROY, MI — Troy resident and local pastry chef Jonathan Elias will appear on Food Network’s “Halloween Baking Championship” Monday night starting at 9 p.m. He will be competing for a $25,000 grand prize against seven other talented bakers from around the country.

Not bad for a guy whose culinary career started off on a whim in high school. Elias, who works part-time at Hyde Park Prime Steakhouse in Birmingham and full-time on his own “Pastry Guru” business, said the first cakes he ever baked were for his mother’s birthday and for a cousin.

“It started as a joke, really,” the 30-year-old Elias said. “But they came out so well, I said, ‘I’m really good at this.’ ”

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The Michigan native grew up in Sterling Heights and went to study his craft at Macomb Community College. He started the Pastry Guru about seven years ago and has since built the business up.

Elias primarily does custom wedding cakes. Over the years, his creations have been used by several Detroit Lions, including former wide receiver Nate Burelson and linebacker Steven Tulloch.

Owners of Hyde Park have been very supportive of Elias’ business. “They don’t clash at all,” he said of his two jobs. “I’m happy to be doing what I love.”

And, make no mistake, Halloween is another one of his passions. He turned his parents home into a haunted house in high school.

“I am a Halloween fanatic,” Elias said. “I’m in love with everything Halloween.”

Even with all of that zest for the holiday, landing a spot on the Food Network show wasn’t easy. Elias actually appeared on the network’s “Guy’s Grocery Games” in 2016. Producers remembered him and called him back to see if he’d be interested in appearing on Halloween Baking Championship.

He was, of course, and survived three Skype interviews as well as two more phone interviews before getting the nod. The baking contest, which runs for six episodes leading up to Halloween, was filmed in June.

Each episode breaks down into two rounds of difficult confectionary challenges, from trick-or-treat candy-filled cookies to scream puffs (a scary take on the traditional cream puff) and from glow-in-the-dark desserts to Jack-O-Lantern cakes.

Carla Hall, Lorraine Pascale and Zac Young act as judges for the competition. While Elias couldn’t reveal how he did, he said getting to know the other contestants, whom all bonded in quick order, was one of the coolest aspects of doing the show.

“We were all from very different backgrounds from other parts of the country,” Elias said.

There was a fair amount of pressure to come up with creative items. “It was a lot of fun to see what I could do.”

While he knows that just being on the show will bring exposure to Pastry Guru, that really wasn’t the point.

“It’s all about the experience,” Elias said. “To me, that’s more important.”

Photo courtesy of Food Network