The Truth About Team Sleigh What? From Holiday Wars: Season 3
If you're a fan of binge-watching cooking competitions on a quiet Friday night, you know that the holiday season brings some of the best and most festive culinary shows back to your TV. One of the most popular among Food Network fans? "Holiday Wars," which returned on Sunday, November 7 for Season 3. Every week, the teams of bakers are challenged to dream up over-the-top Christmas creations made of cake and icing, and turn them into a reality. Their goal is to out-perform other teams and wow host Maneet Chauhan (who you likely know from "Chopped") as well as judges Shinmin Li and Aarti Sequeira.
This season, there are nine teams competing for the title of best bakers and vying for the $25,000 prize. One of those trios is Team Sleigh What?, which consists of three female bakers: Indira Cristin, Alene Paulk, and Megan Savely (via Food Network). Here's what you might not have known about the members of Team Sleigh What? and how they got started in the biz.
The team includes the show's only vegan baker
What makes Team Sleigh What? so unique is that one of its members is the only vegan baker on this season of the show. Indira Cristin runs Bettersweet Vegan Bakery in Miami, Florida (as seen on Instagram). Despite the fact that she was paired with two non-vegans, Indira has so far inspired the team to create a vegan bourbon sponge cake for one of the competitions. "It was a challenge within a challenge," Indira explained in an interview with VegNews. "I wanted to include a vegan recipe, especially being the only vegan chef in the competition. I knew that by creating this recipe, we would delight the judges, which was exactly what happened."
The other two members of Team Sleigh What? aren't without their own accolades, either. Alene Paulk is a well-known cake artist from Atlanta who's been a guest judge on Food Network's "Buddy vs. Duff" (via Seoul Chronicle), while Megan Savely manages a bakery and bistro in Richland, Washington and previously appeared on the "Christmas Cookie Challenge" (via NBC Right Now). Stay tuned to this season of "Holiday Wars" to see how Team Sleigh What? fares out.