Raveena Oberoi’s high school dream of appearing on the Food Network came true in more ways than she could have imagined. After opening her own bakery, she competed on The Big Bake on the Food Network (and won), and today she returns as one of the judges on Wall of Bakers, a new baking competition series.
Her Early Love Affair With Baking
Raveena Oberoi’s love affair with baking first began when she was a little girl watching her mother and aunt in the kitchen. She found that she loved working with her hands, and that the act of baking was like a form of therapy for her.
“In high school, as an insecure, shy, awkward teen, I found therapy in the kitchen,” she says. “I was obsessed with Food Network shows and I wanted to try it myself.”
Oberoi taught herself the art of baking by watching her family and plenty of YouTube videos, and overtime, she realized how big of a part it was playing in her life.
“As I grew older, I realized how important the kitchen was to me, especially in times of immense struggle. I always turned to it, so that ‘why’ and that passion just kept brewing. So, it’s been really substantial for me in that way,” she says.
Baking Started as a Side Hustle While She Completed Her Degree
Fast forward to university, and baking was becoming a full-blown side hustle for Oberoi while completing her psychology degree.
“I remember one summer I did 10 or 12 weddings, and then the next summer I had booked 112,” she says. “I was like, ‘I can’t believe this is happening.’ My home kitchen took on a life of its own.”
After graduating, Oberoi worked as a full-time behavior interventionist with autistic children, while baking during nearly every moment of her spare time. Eventually, she decided she wanted to bake full-time as her career, so she headed to Paris to train as a pastry chef.
Upon her return, Oberoi opened the first location of her cake shop, Just Cakes Bake Shop in Surrey, British Columbia in 2017. She and the team later opened a second location in 2021.
Competing on The Big Bake in 2019
Oberoi’s career as a baker came full circle when she appeared on the Food Network competition baking show The Big Bake in 2019 — and won.
“It was absolutely crazy,” she says. “We were definitely the underdog and so there was a little bit of luck and perseverance on our side, but we pulled through and it was absolutely insane what that kind of exposure did for our business and my confidence overall.”
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Now, Oberoi is putting her wealth of knowledge and experience with baking to good use by appearing as a judge on the new Food Network show Wall of Bakers.
Wall of Bakers Is a Spin-off of Wall of Chefs
In Wall of Bakers, which is a spin-off of the Food Network’s hit show Wall of Chefs, Canada’s best pastry chefs come together to compete for a $10,000 cash prize. The contestants go head-to-head in front of a dozen of the country’s most accomplished pastry chefs like Jenna Hutchinson of Jenna Rae Cakes and Tara O’Brady, author of Seven Spoons, who judge the creations based on flavor, presentation, consistency and more.
“It’s a dream come true,” she says. “I never thought I’d have this opportunity — and to be on panel with other judges that I’ve looked up to and watched on the Food Network — is so surreal. I would like to consider myself sweet but discerning as a judge.”
Wall of Bakers Is Debuting in March
Oberoi says she’s looking forward to seeing how Wall of Bakers pans out when it premieres March 28th at 10 pm ET/PT on Food Network Canada. You can also stream Food Network Canada shows like Wall of Bakers, Big Food Bucket List and Wall of Chefs through STACKTV with Amazon Prime Video Channels, or with the Global TV app, live and on-demand.
Until then, she’s continuing to build her own business and advocating for ethical business practices in the food industry overall.
“Our industry gets a bad rep for not treating employees well, and I really want to change that and change the dialogue within the food industry as a whole,” she says.
More people advocating for change in the food industry: the Allium in Calgary is a game-changing restaurant that’s also a worker cooperative.
Lead image credit: In the new Food Network show Wall of Bakers, contestants go head-to-head in front of a dozen of the country’s most accomplished pastry chefs. Photo courtesy of Food Network Canada.
