'Cake Wars: Christmas'

Sugar artist Candy Repsher Knappenberger will be competing next month on the Food Network's "Cake Wars: Christmas," where she will be vying for a $50,000 grand prize.

It's a dream come true for the Lehighton woman, who several years ago set a Food Network competition as one of her goals.

The show will air at 9 p.m. Nov. 9.

Knappenberger has always had an artistic bent. After graduating from Lehighton Area High School, she went on to study at the Art Institute of Philadelphia. When she returned home, she took a job working at Bill's Bakery in Lehighton, where she taught herself to decorate sheet cakes with buttercream roses and make cake drawings.

When the bakery closed, she began driving a school bus and her fledgling talent took a back seat to raising a family.

About 14 years ago the spark reignited when she made a birthday cake for her youngest daughter. A friend at the party asked if she'd make a cake for her daughter's birthday. Things picked up from there, and after a few years, Knappenberger wanted to spread her creative wings, first with books on cake decorating, and then with classes, many taught by faces familiar to viewers of the Food Network's cake competition shows.

She also got involved with ICES, the International Cake Exploration Societé, and is currently in charge of social media for the organization.

Knappenberger began competing in cake competitions in 2006, and in her first competition won the Decorators' Choice Award.

She's continued to build her skills and expand her resume since then.

We'll just have to wait until November to see how far she will take it on national television.

"Cake Wars: Christmas"

According to a release from the Food Network, seven teams consisting of a cake artist, sugar sculptor and master food carver will go head-to-head in the ultimate sugar-packed competition trying to outdo each other with their outrageous holiday cake displays.

Over the course of the six one-hour episodes, hosted by Jonathan Bennett, the teams will battle it out in two rounds of challenges to design over-the-top cake confections. First, in the Stocking Stuffer Challenge, it is a race against the clock to create an edible Christmas-themed cake. One team will earn a vital advantage in Santa's Mega Challenge, in which the teams must create an eye-popping, larger-than-life masterful cake display.

Holiday crafter extraordinaire Charles Phoenix and renowned pastry chef Sherry Yard, as well as special guest judges, will decide who will win the grand prize.

"Viewers loved the sugar rush of 'Cake Wars,' so we wanted to make a bigger, more spectacular edition celebrating the most wonderful time of the year. These talented teams of food artists ring in the holidays in the most extraordinary way - crafting cake, sugar and edibles into sensational holiday-themed creations that will absolutely blow your mind," said Bob Tuschman, general manager and senior vice president of the Food Network.

Fans can visit FoodNetwork.com/CakeWars for photos of the festive creations from the show and watch behind-the-scenes videos featuring Bennett and the judges. They can also join the conversation on Twitter using #CakeWars.

The first episode, "Ultimate Christmas Lights," kicks off with the Stocking Stuffer Challenge, where teams must construct a cake based on the "Frozen" character Olaf. Chris Buck, co-director of the movie, will help decide who gets a special advantage in Santa's Mega Challenge, where the teams must create an eye-popping, delicious and edible display of ultimate Christmas lights.

At the end of the battle, one team will be eliminated.

Future challenges include "Who's Coming Down the Chimney?" "Santa's New Ride," "Holiday Song," "Charlie Brown Celebrates" and "Ultimate Gingerbread House."