RAVENSWOOD — Sandy Hunter might be the Food Network's next baking champ.
Or not.
Hunter, who works at Sweet Sensations in Ravenswood, is one of eight contestants competing in the cable channel's "Spring Baking Championship," which premiered at 8 p.m. Sunday.
Hunter in action on the set of the "Spring Baking Championship." Food Network
How she fares over the course of six episodes, shot in Los Angeles earlier this year, is a tightly kept secret, one that Hunter is bursting to share.
(UPDATE: Hunter is safely through to the second round, having survived elimination in Episode One.)
"I went through this epic adventure and I couldn't tell anybody," said the 30-year-old.
Though she may know the outcome of the series, Hunter has yet to see herself on camera and has no idea what sort of edit she received from producers.
She'll find out at the same time as the rest of America, having booked the Black Rock Pub & Kitchen for a viewing party Sunday, where she'll be surrounded by family and friends for moral support.
"I've seen the commercial and that's about it," she said. "But how the heck are they gong to turn me into a villain? I was just genuine and I worked hard. I think they're going to make me this weird, urban funky chic."
(UPDATE: "Sandy is a trip, right?" judge Duff Goldman, @Duff_Goldman, live-Tweeted during Sunday's broadcast.)
Patience is key to being a good baker, Hunter said. DNAinfo/Patty Wetli
A friend's previous experience on a reality show prepared Hunter for what to expect once she arrived in L.A.
"I had an idea going into it how closed off I was going to be from the world," she said.
Though the days were long and contestants were given zero rehearsal time on set before the cameras started rolling, Hunter said she instantly felt at home
"I loved the whole hub-bub," she said. "I was totally cool and comfortable with everything."
Not even the pressure-cooker environment, designed to make for good TV but not necessarily good pastries, threw her for a loop.
"It's all about what you know and how to apply it in the situation you're in and the challenge you're given," she said.
Hunter takes part in a challenge on the Food Network's "Spring Baking Championship." Food Network
Her obsession with Alton Brown's cookbooks and their emphasis on food science — "I can read them cover to cover" — gave Hunter the confidence to take risks during challenges rather than play things safe.
"If you know the science behind food you can experiment. It helped a lot on the show," she said.
Sandy Hunter is ready for her close-up on the Food Network's "Spring Baking Championship." DNAinfo/Patty Wetli
With her blue/green hair, matching glasses and outsized personality, Hunter seems tailor-made for television.
"I'm very aware of the fact that I'm a cartoon character," said the Schaumburg native who now makes her home in Albany Park.
In fact, Hunter has a background in the theater, having studied set design and acting at Columbia College.
So what pushed her into baking?
"I didn't want to be a bartender anymore," Hunter said.
Though neither of her parents displayed much talent in the kitchen, Hunter's paternal grandmother owned a bakery in Elk Grove that went out of business around the time grocery stores introduced their own pastry departments.
"I always had an interest in cooking," said Hunter. "My grandmother would have these elaborately huge meals where everybody left with bags of food."
It wasn't until college though that she began acting on that interest.
Her best friend at Columbia came from the kind of family where beef bourguinon for dinner was not only the norm, but the sort of meal Hunter's friend would casually replicate in their dorm's spartan kitchen.
"She's the one who made me realize anyone could do these things," Hunter said.
Hunter's background in theatrical set design comes in handy for cake decorating. DNAinfo/Patty Wetli
Following her bartending epiphany, Hunter enrolled at the Cooking and Hospitality Institute of Chicago, specializing in pastry. An internship in the Art Institute's kitchen turned into a full-time job and from there Hunter landed at Sweet Sensations, 1918 W. Montrose Ave., four years ago.
"I wanted to work in a bakery where I could put my time and love and emotion into my food," Hunter said.
"I love working with the people who come in," she said. "That's the one thing that makes this so special — the people."
Hunter came to Sweet Sensations from the Art Institute of Chicago because she wanted to put "time, love and emotion" into her baking. DNAinfo/Patty Wetli
Hunter was in the midst of a shift at Sweet Sensations last December when the bakery's phone rang.
She answered the call and on the other end of the line was a Food Network representative who, impressed with Sweet Sensations' glowing Yelp! reviews, wondered if anyone there would be interested in trying out for the spring baking show.
"I was like, 'Excuse me, what? Seriously?'" Hunter recalled. "They were like, 'No, this is not a prank.'"
Having long harbored a "far-fetched dream" of hosting her own cooking show, Hunter jumped at the chance to toss her hat into the ring, which could have been awkward had Sweet Sensations owner Sharin Nathan wanted to grab the spotlight herself.
No worries there, the relationship between the two remains smooth as butter.
Though Nathan understands the appeal of baking shows — "For people who bake at home, TV takes it to such a different level. It shows how it's elevated and what can be done." — becoming a television personality is not on her bucket list.
Hunter likes to keep her pastries "honest," without a lot of bells and whistles. DNAinfo/Patty Wetli
"I'm totally OK with it. It's really not my thing, I don't need to be the face of the bakery," Nathan said.
"I'm so excited for Sandy. Better her than me. I'd be very nervous."
The one hitch: As Hunter advanced through the application process — which involved Skype interviews, filling out a mountain of paperwork and creating an audition video on 24 hours notice in the middle of the Christmas rush — Nathan was faced with the prospect of having to run a two-person operation solo for however many weeks Hunter lasted in the competition. (And how many weeks was that? No one's talking.)
"I was like, 'OK, I'll make it happen,'" Nathan said.
Then producers moved up the filming schedule to February, meaning Hunter would be out of pocket during one of the bakery's busiest seasons — Valentine's Day.
All of the contestants were on edge during the show's Valentine's taping, imagining the chaos taking place in their kitchens back home, Hunter said.
On her end, Nathan got slammed with a last-minute request for 300 cupcakes.
"I thought, 'If I have to sleep here, I'll get this order done,'" Nathan said.
Sharin Nathan, owner of Sweet Sensations, and Sandy Hunter are a dynamic baking duo in the kitchen. DNAinfo/Patty Wetli
Nathan's nerves of steel are one of the traits Hunter admires most about her boss, who she's convinced is actually Wonder Woman.
"Whenever I think I'm doing too much ... I see how Sharin owns everything and I'm inspired," Hunter said. "She just rocks it out."
If Hunter's television exposure lures more customers to Sweet Sensations, there will be a lot more rocking it out on the part of both bakers.
"That'll be fantastic," Nathan said.
Already they're planning on featuring Hunter's Food Network creations at the bakery, rolled out weekly to coincide with each pastry's appearance on the show, for however many weeks Hunter advances.
Every wonder why a little cupcake costs so much? Your answer: labor plus ingredients. DNAinfo/Patty Wetli
Whether or not she's crowned the spring baking champ and nabs the $50,000 grand prize, Hunter said she's already gained so much from appearing on the show.
Not least are the friends she make among her fellow contestants, all of whom have remained in touch.
"I'm very blessed to have met this awesome group of people," Hunter said.
Hunter, center, with her fellow competitors on the set of the "Spring Baking Championship." Food Network
The show also fell into her lap during a particularly difficult personal time, lifting her up at a low point.
"It all happened during a big transition in my life. I had just separated from my husband and for the first time in 10 years, I was on my own," Hunter said.
"I learned it was OK to have my own goals. It's OK for me to want weird hair," she said.
"The show really backed up the fact, 'Go do you.'"
"Spring Baking Championship" airs at 8 p.m. Sundays on the Food Network. The host is Bobby Deen (son of Paula Deen and a cook and television personality in his own right). Judges are Duff Goldman of "Ace of Cakes" fame; Nancy Fuller, host of "Farmhouse Rules"; and Lorraine Pascale, cookbook author and the host of a number of food shows on the BBC.
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