Monroeville Boy Competing For Sweet Prize On Reality Baking Show
MONROEVILLE (KDKA) -- Frosting a cupcake is an art for one of America's youngest celebrity bakers.
Alex Portis, 12, of Monroeville, is one of 10 contestants on the Food Network's Kids Baking Championship.
"That moment was like the best time of my life," Alex says, as he and his mother, Audrey Portis, watch the first episode on the kitchen television.
He says classmates at Gateway Middle School keep asking who winds up winning the $25,000 prize.
"They always ask me, like, 'Alex who won the show?' and I say, I don't know."
"I know what happened. I'm sworn to secrecy," his mother adds.
The first episode task was to bake a pie. Alex says judges decide on "Presentation, taste, and like, does it remind you of a pie?"
If it looks like a cake, you're cooked. Despite studio lights and a time limit, the young baker stays cool.
"Just do what you normally do, don't act like there's anything else happening," he says, in a matter-of-fact manner.
"I was a nervous wreck," his mother admits.
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His peach pie puts him in the top three, of 10 contestants, in the first episode. But there's still a long way to go.
Back home, Audrey says her son makes kitchen work easier. Sort of.
"It makes it easier, so that I don't have to bake it. But I have to clean it up," she says.
After all, network stars don't do dishes.
