There's no doubt Blayre Wright is a great baker. In fact, some might say the owner of Flouretta Sweet in Manheim is scary good. So good, in fact, that she won Food Network's "Halloween Baking Championship" on Oct. 31.

"I was over-the-moon proud," Wright said of winning the competition that pitted her against 11 other bakers in a series of challenges. "I certainly did not walk into this experience expecting to get as far as I did, let alone win the entire competition." Instead, Wright noted, she concentrated on doing her best. "My goal from the start was to prove to my clients, community, family, friends and myself that I was well-rounded and could do more than cakes, and I really feel like I did that."

A 2009 graduate of Hempfield High School, Wright grew up in Landisville but attended church at Salem United Methodist Church in Manheim for most of her childhood. She and her husband moved to Manheim in 2019. Wright also graduated from The Culinary Institute of America with a bachelor's degree in baking and pastry arts management. Her business, Flouretta Sweet, has been open for five years. It's named after her grandmothers - Flora and Loretta. Wright specializes in whimsically modern wedding cakes and miniature desserts, created in a private studio attached to her home. Her clientele is primarily engaged couples, and she also offers private baking lessons.

Food Network associates reached out to Wright after seeing her work on Instagram, and they invited the baker to try out for the show. Her audition included several rounds of interviews as well as the creation and presentation of dessert items. "I was thrilled when I received the call to be on the show," she said.

Although Wright had participated in cake decorating competitions in the past, she had never been on TV, and the show was her first time competing in a multi-episode, multi-challenge competition. She said her favorite part of the show, which filmed in Tennessee over a few weeks this past spring, was meeting her castmates. "You would think that being on a competition show, people would be very cutthroat," she remarked. "Instead, the cast was extremely supportive of each other. We became a family." The hardest part of the competition, she said, was managing the pressure and stress. "Competing took a lot of mental stamina, both in the kitchen and offscreen too," she stated, noting that most of the competitors also own businesses, so they had to focus for the show and make sure things were running smoothly back home.

Of the challenges she faced and the creations she made on the show, Wright said her favorite was a black wedding cake she made for the finale. "Wedding cakes are my thing, and I love making spooky, moody cakes, so this was right up my alley," she recalled.

When she's not baking, Wright enjoys shopping, eating baked goods she didn't have to make and playing with her cats, Poppy and Persimmon. She also loves to take trips to Disney, adding, "I'm a huge Disney parks nerd."

As she demonstrated on the "Halloween Baking Championship," Wright is a natural in the kitchen. "I love that baking requires attention to detail, but can also provide an extremely freeing, creative outlet," she said. "And you end up with a delicious treat at the end of the process ... hopefully!"