12-year-old South Bay girl competes on Food Network's 'Kids Baking Championship'
SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- A 12-year-old girl from San Jose decided to pick up baking as a new hobby amid the coronavirus pandemic. Now, she's baking her way to the top as a contestant on the Food Network's "Kid Baking Championship."
"When I really started was when corona hit. I really just needed to find a passion and a hobby since all my sports are pretty much postponed," said Bella Luu, contestant on the show. "I baked a lot! I baked two times a day and I was absolutely obsessed with it."
Luu found comfort in filling her time with baking and learned how to bake by watching videos on YouTube.
"It's a way to kind of vent. You can just focus into one thing and that's really like my way of spacing out," said Luu. "I just put my soul and heart into YouTube and kind of just learned a bunch of different things."
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Luu's go-to desserts are cakes, cupcakes and macarons. Her family members were her loyal taste testers as she learned her way around the kitchen. She noticed her new talents when family and friends would request desserts for special occasions.
"I wasn't even thinking about starting a business and I just kept getting orders," said Luu. "I realized that people actually do want my baked goods. My thing is making people happy, putting work into a piece and I love that aspect of it."
Her family started watching baking shows on the Food Network a few years ago and Luu was thrilled when she saw kids competing on the "Kids Baking Championship."
"When I saw these kids baking, I was like, Oh my god. These kids are absolutely prodigies," said Luu. "Like, how do people do this? That just made me want to learn it more, too."
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Luu was looking for recipes when she stumbled upon a link looking for young bakers for season nine of Food Network's "Kids Baking Championship."
"I told my parents and was like, I want to do this, said Luu. "I actually got the call back the next day which is really exciting. When I got there, I was like, they picked such a good cast because we are so tight-knit. I am so excited to have friends that are interested in what I like to do."
If Luu wins, she hopes to spend her prize money on a small puppy, like her sister. In the future, she hopes to open a business in the food industry.
Bella Luu will be competing for $25,000 prize on season nine of the Food Network's "Kid Baking Championship" on Monday nights at 9 p.m.
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