A local small-business startup proprietor got a shot to showcase her cooking skills on a national television program.
Teresa Brock, a Mount Hope resident, put her baking skills to good use along with her cousin, who is a food business professional, on a new baking competition show aired on Discovery Family Channel.
Brock and her cousin Kareem Queeman, a professional baker who owns a Washington D.C. business called Mr. Bake Sweets, appeared on Discovery’s ‘Bake It Like Buddy’ a weekly cooking competition show featuring ‘Cake Boss’ Buddy Valastro.
Brock appeared on a Thanksgiving-themed episode that originally aired on Saturday, November 17 called ‘Topsy Turvy Thanksgiving Cakes.’
The duo competed against another team of cousins, baking a Topsy Turvy Thanksgiving three-layer cake, with one layer of sweet potato cake and two tiers of chocolate.
“It was very natural, like we were at home in our own kitchen cooking together,” said Brock about the adventure, adding that she and her cousin often cook together when she hosts family events during holidays at her borough home.
They ended up winning the competition, and took home a cash prize and baking products.
“Winning was a beautiful feeling,” said “At first being on television and being chosen by the production company out of so many applicants, and then to win, was just an amazing feeling.”
The duo used a family recipe that was honed at home for one of the layers of the cake.
The sweet potato portion of the their winning multi-layer Topsy Turvey Thanksgiving cake was based on a recipe for sweet potato pie that her late aunt Janet used to bake, and it was incorporated and adapted for use on the show, said Brock.
Brock said her favorite restaurants in the borough are Giovanni’s on the Grand Concourse, as well as a number of City Island eateries including Crab Shanty and Sammy’s.
Brock, who works at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority as a token booth clerk, is the founder of a small Bronx start-up called Made Just 4 You where she provides food treats, decorations and party favors for the local community, she said.
“I am hoping to develop this business and eventually make it more of a full-time endeavor,” said the budding entrepreneur.
She said she hopes that her television appearance will be a boost to her business, which she said she has been working on for several years.
“In the next year or so, it is my hope you will see a party favor store with my name on it,” said Brock. “God willing, that is my goal.”
To learn more about Made Just 4 You, email Madej
You can also connect with Made Just 4 You on Facebook, Etsy, and on Instagram.
