Food Network’s Spring Baking Champion is from New Jersey

The Food Network just crowned its Spring Baking Champion last night and she's from New Jersey. So exciting.

Jaleesa Mason is a pastry chef from Bloomfield and has a pastry shop with her husband in Little Falls called Mo & Jay Pastry. She just walked away with the champion title and $25,000. Wow.

NJ.com reported on her back story, and it's kind of a crazy one. When she got the invitation to compete on the show, via DM on Instagram from a recruiter for the Food Network, she had just had a baby.

At first she thought it was spam but, they were persistent. When she realized the offer was legit she didn't think she could do it because her baby was only 11 weeks old (a little girl named Olive).

Can you imagine as a brand new mom packing up and going to Tennessee to compete on an intense baking reality show? I couldn't. But, after some encouragement from her husband that's exactly what she did and she kicked butt.

Mason filmed the 10 week series last July and it wasn't always easy. In fact, she almost gave up. I'm so happy she didn't. She was pumping milk for her new baby daughter and competing at the same time. Amazing.

It must have been hard to keep the secret that she had won from everyone, including her husband, for months, but she did.

For more on Jaleesa's inspirational story, click here.

The Food Network is on our TV quite a bit. My husband likes to cook (much more than I do, lol) so he loves getting new ideas. We both enjoy the competition shows so when we saw a pastry chef from New Jersey, we were hooked.

We're so happy for you, Jaleesa. Can't wait to visit your pastry shop.