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BROOKFIELD -- Two local women competed in "The Greatest Baker 2023" national competition, one placing second and the other placing fifth last week.
The competition is run by Buddy Valastro, also known as the "Cake Boss," who has partnered with Bake from Scratch magazine and the Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation, which helps fight childhood cancer.
Competitor Alisha Davis, who placed second, is the owner of Sweet Tooth to Go in Brookfield.
Davis said she has made it through the first phase of the competition.
"Last night (Thursday) was the (final) night for group votes," she said. "They had us in groups of 20 to start with."
Although Davis didn't make it into the quarterfinals, she earned and opportunity to continue in the competition.
"Anyone who finished second will have a chance to compete in the wildcard (round)," Davis said. "If I win this wildcard round, I'll go to the quarterfinals. (After that) they'll have a emifinals round then a finals round."
The award for winning the finals is $10,000, a meeting with Buddy Valastro and a magazine spread in Baked from Scratch magazine.
Davis said she also has the opportunity to compete in the critic's choice award part of the competition as a second-place competitor.
The award for winning the critic's choice is a magazine spread in Baked from Scratch magazine.
Davis said she is glad that she's made it this far.
"It's very exciting because last night was like a roller coaster," she said. "Within the last second, the other girl bumped back up and put me into second place so it's nice to have a second chance."
She said she originally learned of the competition on Facebook.
"I'm on different groups on Facebook, and it kept coming across my news feed and my friends were sending it (to me) so I was like, 'Why not give it a try?'" Davis said. "I vlog to a lot of baking groups on Facebook and it (the link to "The Greatest Baker" page) came into my news feed."
She said voters get one free vote per day and money from any other votes will go to the Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation.
Catherine Hodge, who placed fifth, didn't have a second chance to advance to the next round.
Hodge, owner of Cathy's Cakes, also in Brookfield, couldn't be reached.
Davis has the link to vote on her Sweet Tooth to Go Facebook page.
Voting for the wild card round ended at 10 p.m. Sunday. Davis received enough votes to advance to the quarterfinals, according her social media page.
Davis said the competition, which started in November, will continue throughout January.