A 1999 alum of the University of Mary Washington showed off her baking skills on Roku’s “The Great American Baking Show.”
When a senior at Mary Wash, Reyes’s sister became ill and she started to consider a career in healthcare. She later decided on dentistry and attended Columbia University at the same time she became interested in baking.
“I’ve always had a sweet tooth,” she told UMW. The show’s judges deemed her Georgia On My Mind sweet buns as “delicious” packed with peach jam, roasted pecans and a bourbon caramel sauce.
Reyes grew up in Georgia baking with her twin sister. In high school, her father’s job took the family to Washington, D.C. and Reyes’ college search came upon UMW in Fredericksburg.
“You can actually know everyone in your class, and the professors can get to know you,” she said of her UMW experience, then called Mary Washington College.
Her dental career in New York brought stress and a friend suggested Reyes watch “The Great British Baking Show” as a way to de-stress away from work.
When the baking contest came to the United States, Reyes applied to participate as a contestant by sending photos and a video, then baking a cranberry-apple caramel pie and attending a downtown audition.
She won a casting call via Zoom and a trial run in Los Angeles. She won a six-episode spot filmed in London.
After Cake Week and Cookie Week with her macadamia shortbread and her ginger cake, Reyes competed in Bread Week, during which she designed her own traditional treat that would be served at a Ukrainian wedding. Her three-tiered spice bread won her “star baker” status.
“I had no clue what to do, so I thought of what I do know how to do,” she said. “It’s easy to get frustrated when trying new things. My advice would be to not give up. No matter your goal, just keep working at it.”
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Rebecca Barnabi
