Victoria Jeker of Sweet Somethings Desserts in Wilmington./Photo by Meg Ryan
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If you choose indulge your sweet tooth in one of Netflix’s baking competitions shows, you might have seen a familiar face recently. Victoria Jeker of Sweet Somethings Desserts in Wilmington appears on the most recent season of the subscription service’s show “Sugar Rush,” which was released in late July.
The premise of the competition series is centered around time. Four baking duos are given three hours to complete one round of cupcakes and a second round of confections. A duo is eliminated after each round. Whatever time they have left after the first two rounds is added to an additional three hours for round three: cakes.
Jeker and her friend/baking partner, Ali Albini, appear in episode four of the show titled “All Things Chocolate,” where they (spoiler alert) win the competition and walk away with $10,000. The Wilmington pastry chef and shop manager recently sat down with us to talk about her experience on the show and what’s next.
Editor’s Note: This Q&A has been edited for clarity and conciseness.
Delaware Today: Tell us how you ended up becoming a contestant on Netflix’s “Sugar Rush”?
VJ: I had a producer contact me through Instagram. He saw my stuff and asked me if I would be interested in competing. I said, ‘yeah, absolutely.’
DT: And your friend competed with you?
VJ: Yes. They asked me if I had a partner in mind, and it had to be somebody I had worked with previously. And my best friend (Ali Albini), we worked together at Bredenbeck’s [Bakery & Ice Cream Parlor] in Chestnut Hill. So, I hung up with him and I called her right away and asked if she would be interested. And little, slight hesitation, but she gave in and said yes.
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Sweet Somethings is located on North Union Street in Wilmington./Photo by Meg Ryan - Partner Content -
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DT: How did being on the show work?
VJ: Everything was a surprise. We didn’t know anything going in. We found out what our theme was when we got there. They would tell us what theme the cupcake round was and the confection round was and we had to come up with stuff on the fly.
DT: The theme was “all things chocolate,” so what recipes did you and Albini come up with?
VJ: For the cupcakes, we did a chocolate cupcake with blackberry sage compote in the center and a chocolate whipped cream cheese icing on top with a blackberry and gold leaf on it. The second round, we had to use blonde chocolate or ruby chocolate, so we used both and we made a ruby chocolate Greek frozen yogurt and a blonde chocolate ganache to pour over the top, which the judges loved and we won best dessert that round. [For the final cake round], we had to make a cake that was our interpretation of a chocolate fantasy land. Since we are hikers and always out in the woods and super outdoorsy, we decided to do a three-tiered magical forest with candy pieces and a chocolate waterfall and mushrooms and everything had to be made out of chocolate.
DT: What was the biggest challenge competing on the show?
VJ: The time definitely was insane. The first round I was in charge of mixing and baking cupcakes. Once the time started, you kind of just lose all sense of what you’re supposed to do. So, I had a little trouble getting it mixed and whatnot. When we baked them, they didn’t bake properly and that was super stressful. I thought it was going to be my fault that we got kicked off, but we weren’t the worst. Once we got through the first round, it all went smoothly.
DT: Did having the film crew change any part of your baking process?
VJ: Not for us. It was like they weren’t even there.
DT: How has work and life changed since the show?
It’s been great for the shop because people come in. I had my first fan come in on Saturday, a little girl. It’s funny, I see people come in and you can tell they’ve watched the show, you can tell the people who haven’t watched the show when they come in. And the little girl asked for a picture with me. It’s weird but it’s really cool.
DT: Would you do a baking competition show again?
VJ: It depends what it is. I would love for “Sugar Rush” to do a champions episode or season. That would be great, I’d definitely go back for that.
More information:
Sweet Somethings Desserts
1006 N. Union St., Wilmington • 655-7211
