Under the pressure of a clock and with a camera operator peering over her shoulder, Kelsey Burack conquered three unique food baskets to win the title of Chopped Sweets’ champ.
Little did she know that her ability to think quickly on her feet and to repurpose her own baking skills would come in handy only a few short weeks after the watch party she held with family, friends and co-workers on March 9, 2020.
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“I was furloughed because of the pandemic,” said the 27-year-old Columbia County resident, who had been working as the pastry instructor at Helms College and the pastry chef for Edgar’s Hospitality when the pandemic struck.
Kelsey Burack operates Bottom Line Bakery and Cafe. Courtesy Kelsey Burack. 
Kelsey Burack creates custom cakes through Bottom Line Bakery and Cafe. Courtesy Kesley Burack
Over the past year, Burack has parlayed her many skills into her own bakery business, Bottom Line Bakery and Cafe, and is looking to open her own bakery food truck in the summer.
“I’ve wanted to do this since I was 12,” said Burack. “The only college I applied for was Johnson and Wales. I didn’t apply anywhere else.”
As a middle school student, she used her baking talents to raise money to buy toys for the children at the JMS Burn Center at Doctors Hospital, as well as helping a teacher whose daughter had muscular dystrophy and needed medical equipment, according to Burack’s website.
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After graduating from Johnson and Wales University, where she received two associate degrees and a bachelor’s degree, she continued her training in Europe.
She moved back to the states and landed a job at Daniel Boulud’s DBGB in Washington, D.C. She was named head pastry chef at the age of 23 and was nominated for a James Beard Rising Star Award in 2018.
Kelsey Burack has always dreamed of being a pastry chef. Courtesy Kelsey Burack. Baking has always brought Kelsey Burack joy. Courtesy Kelsey Burack.
But the fast-paced life took a toll on her.
“I was having a quarter-life crisis,” she said. “I was wondering ‘am I doing what I’m supposed to be doing?’”
By 2019, she was burned out and ready for a change. She returned to the area and landed a spot in the Food Network show at the beginning of August 2019.
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“It was really exciting. We filmed in October 2019,” she said.
A lot of what people see on camera is exactly as it takes place. They are given a basket of food and have to decide on the spot what they are going to do with it, and they are given a timer.
Burack said she had tried to prepare for the show beforehand, by researching other Chopped episodes and watching the dessert rounds. She had practice baskets, and friends even filmed her to add some pressure. Nothing was like the real experience, she said.
When the baskets were opened, Burack said she went through the file of recipes stored in her brain. All the time working in the fast-paced D.C. restaurant paid off as she could pull a recipe out in no-time flat.
One of the greatest challenges to filming the “Million Dollar Desserts” episode was the ever-present, invasive camera crew.
“There were 50 people working the cameras,” she said.
They often crowded behind her to get the shot. They were so close that she could feel the camera. She tried not to let it freak her out, she said.
One aspect of her win that came as a surprise was her ability to beat out older chefs with more experience.
“One of them worked for Omni Hotels,” she said.
The Food Network experience gave her a confidence boost.
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“It really validated to me that I was doing what I was meant to do,” she said.
To learn more about Burack’s bakery business, visit her website at bottomlinebakery.com.
Charmain Z. Brackett is the Features Editor for The Augusta Press. Reach her at charmain@theaugustapress.com.
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