Jasmin Bell got the call at work: Le Reve Bakery in the Queen Anne neighborhood of Seattle, where she currently leads the team as head pastry chef. The producers at the popular Food Network TV show "Chopped" had gotten word of her skills and wanted her to apply.
The University of Arizona grad had moved to Seattle from Tucson about three years ago to further her career. The spunky petite 27-year old says she's wanted to be a chef since the age of 5, and crafts artistic pastries inspired by her time as a 3-D sculpture student in the College of Fine Arts. She got her start doing pastries at Canyon Ranch while she was a senior at Mountain View High School. Along the way she's started her own company Bell's Pastries, and baked at The Lodge at Ventana Canyon.
Bell will make her television debut on a new segment called "Chopped Desserts" Thursday night, where she'll go up against pastry chefs from Florida and Chicago. (Bell says that if the episode does well, it could become its own spinoff show.) If you've never seen the show, here's the concept: Four contestants have to create a unique dish using items inside a mystery basket. A panel of judges eliminates one contestant each round, until only one remains. The winner takes home $10,000.
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For the first round of the show, which was actually taped several months back, Bell had to make a chocolate creation with Mississippi Mud pie, maraschino cherries, Brie cheese, and Pringles. For another round contestants were presented a basket with rice, oranges, avocado and almond flour.
"I can't tell you how far I get, but let's just say, I do really well," she said.
You can check out the show on the Food Network this Thursday night at 6 p.m. Arizona time. Or stream it on Amazon.com. Follow Jasmin's future adventures on Instagram at Jasminbell_pastrychef or on Facebook at Jasmin Bell.
