Local Pastry Shop Alum Makes Food TV Debut

Lasheeda Perry's been competing in cooking contests since she was twelve "and I've never lost" she tells the audience of the Food Network's Sweet Genius cooking contest show.

Perry, who was a pastry extern at before moving on to be a pastry chef at the Four Seasons in Philadelphia put her record on the line and her skills to the test on national TV Thursday night.

One of her nicknames is "smiles" and that's evident in the postings Sweet Jazmines put on the shop's Facebook page announcing her appearance.

Round One: Chocolate

The first contest required the four contestants to work with chocolate, plantains, pink flamingos and pink lemonade. Ok, the flamingos were there to inspire the contestants and not actually be in the chocolate desserts.

After 40 minutes of racing around the kitchen with dramatic music playing to add to the drama, Lasheeda Perry made a "liquid white chocolate pink lemonade mousse and a chocolate crunch" in which Chef, Host & Judge Ron Ben-Israel thought he couldn't taste the lemonade and that the plantains were a little off.

It was good enough to get Perry into the next round.

Round Two: The Candy Test

The ingredients were colorful "fruit chews" candies and for inspiration: a Rubik’s Cube.  Perry's plan was turn them into three flavors of jellies and chocolate clusters. When the Host/Judge added a twist by requiring goat's milk to be incorporated into a recipe, Perry rolled with the twist and turned it into truffles. The milk was still a little runny when the clock ran out.

More dramatic music, 50 minutes and a cliff-hanging commercial break later, the candy competition was over and Perry's creations were enough to win her a slot in the next round.

Round Three: Cakes

The ingredients were: canned jackfruit (the two finalists hadn't heard of it, either), galangal (a look alike for ginger root), inspired by Buckingham Palace. Perry's plan was to make a miniature stacked wedding cake covered in a custard frosting.

Even more dramatic music building to an orchestral crescendo and Perry is smiling, telling the audience "I'm looking down at this cake and I'm thinking this is worth ten thousand dollars!"

In the final round Perry was up against a classmate from Johnson and Wales where she was the first in her family to go to college.

With ten thousand dollars on the line, it came down to the ruling by Host Ron Ben-Israel who declared Perry's creation the "perfect cake to serve at tea time in the palace."

It was another win in Perry's undefeated record. It was also worth $10,000.

"Winning the $10,000 is going to open a lot of doors for me," Perry tells the audience." At the end of the show she thanked her family, friend and mentors (which include Sweet Jazmines in Berwyn) and saying the victory shows "all of the hard work they put into me is paying off."

Clearly her mentors and friends at Sweet Jazmines have a lot to smile about too. Just look at the pastry shop's Facebook posting.