The heat is on for 11-year-old Arielle Yang from Sandy. She was chosen to participate in Food Network’s new season of Kids Baking Championship where young bakers face animal-inspired challenges as they compete for a sweet prize package that includes the title of Kids Baking Champion, $25,000 and a feature in Food Network Magazine.

Arielle is one of a dozen contestants from the U.S. and Canada who will use their creativity and baking skills to impress the judges and hosts, Duff Goldman and Kardea Brown. She said although the competition was awkward and intimidating at first, she soon jumped into the fun of the show.

“My favorite part was probably the friends I made,” Arielle said. “We had really good friendships. I think we became friends pretty quickly, because we already had something that we could bond over: baking.”

Arielle attends Waterford School and has been interested in baking for several years. She liked watching her mom, Grace Dong, when she made birthday cakes and cupcakes. That inspired her to explore different parts of baking and decorating.

“When I was 7 or 8, I was watching some YouTube videos of people piping flowers, and I got really interested in it,” Arielle said. “So one day I wanted to try it and I did. Even though they weren’t the best, they were kind of floppy, I liked baking a lot and started baking more and more.”

Kids Baking Championship challenges the contestants to create animal-themed treats, featuring everything from sea creatures to jungle dwellers to farm animals. Chicken the parrot and a cockatoo named Teva make an entrance in the first show that kicks-off the 10-episode season. 

The first test the kids faced was creating a tart with an animal texture like scales, feathers, fur or fins, plus they had to add an edible tail in a late-breaking twist. The final challenges include creating cookie animal houses with an edible water trough and baking zoo-inspired cakes. 

“Kids Baking Championship is a celebration of the amazing things kids can do in the kitchen, not only with their baking and decorating skills but also in how they support each other even while competing,” said Betsy Ayala, head of content at Warner Bros. Discovery. “With animals as the inspiration the creations are adorable, and the kids are exceptional in the most heartwarming way.”

Arielle learned several life lessons during the taping of the show that premieres on Monday, Jan. 6 on Food Network and streams on Max the following day.

“I think that my biggest lesson is that when things don’t go right, you need to find creative ways to fix it,” Arielle said. “When you’re working under pressure, you can make mistakes. When you make mistakes, you have to find a creative way to solve it and just not cry.”

Dong encouraged her daughter to submit an application to be on the show because she knew Arielle would be up to the challenge. She said she’s watched Arielle learn life skills that will help her in the future where she’d like to open her own bakery selling cakes, eclairs and macarons. 

“She’s always enjoyed baking,” Dong said. “For the last two or three years, she taught herself so much about baking and decorating. I was super impressed by what she’s made, especially for my birthday. I was really impressed by her ability to work under pressure. Even adults have problems working under pressure with a time limit.”

Arielle’s favorite animals are dogs and pandas, but she can’t say yet if she was able to incorporate those creatures into the baking competition. She hopes other kids will watch the show and be inspired to experiment with different types of baking and decorating. 

Follow Arielle’s journey on Kids Baking Championship at Foodnetwork.com. λ