Taylor Pusha rises through Food Network ranks
by Jazmine Otey
From her parents’ old basement, 12-year-old Taylor Pusha moves around in her personal kitchen gathering materials to prepare yet another cake. The ambitious young girl paid for the installment herself with money she raised from her business “Taylor’s Cakes and Creations,” where she sells a variety of uniquely designed cakes and desserts. From an alligator sculpted cake built from scratch to a cake built to mimic a hefty portion of cheesy, beef nachos, Pusha epitomizes creativity, diligence, and ambition.
Eventually she decided to take her talent a step further by submitting an application to the Food Network’s “Kid Baking Championship,” one of her favorite shows. On February 18th, she was 1 of 9 kids selected for the show. She states that a couple thousand total applications were submitted from around the nation!
“I thought maybe I could be on there because I love to bake, I love competition and I love to kick people’s butts,” (competively speaking) Pusha said. When she was selected Pusha and her family couldn’t believe it. “I know the exact day,” Pusha said. “I’m never gonna forget that day.”
The young chef has been cooking since she was four or five years old but didn’t begin to take it seriously until she was eight. During the holidays, she studied her mom while she cooked, paying close attention to each step. One year she decided it was time to try preparing a cake on her own. Her specialties are now vanilla and lemon pound cake.
“We can just leave her in the kitchen,” said her father, Rev. Lee Pusha. “It’s gonna be a mess but when she’s done, it’s gonna be right.”
Taylor also took inspiration from her older sister, 20, Chloe Pusha. Before Chloe went off to college at UVA, she made and sold pound cakes using their great grandma’s family recipe. When Chloe left she handed the business over to Taylor who aspires to go to culinary school and also study engineering. In the future, she sees herself in LA cooking with some of the best chefs and bakers.
“I would be a professional baker with a really professional youtube channel,” she said. “LA is where most of the business is. You can really get your name out there and I feel that would be one of the best places to move.”
Taylor can be seen Mondays at 9 p.m. on the Food Network (check your local listings).
