The bustling bakery in Burnaby, Punk Rock Pastries, takes Halloween to unparalleled levels every year. Its legendary owner, Hollie Fraser, delights in the macabre. From brain cupcakes to anatomical hearts, severed fingers and more, Fraser’s creations are steeped in gore and eeriness. As she says with a hint of glee, “We have limbs everywhere. And a lot of blood, it’s super fun!”
This year, Halloween is more than just frightful pastries. Fraser touts the occasion as an extra special celebration. She’s been sitting on a secret of monstrous proportions for six arduously silent months. Happily, she announces, “I have been holding the biggest secret, and it’s been so difficult not to share that I have been crowned the winner of the Halloween Baking Championship on the Food Network. It’s a mind-blowing and astoundingly amazing.”
Port Moody resident Fraser was the only Canadian to participate in the ninth season of the Halloween-special of the Food Network show. She was one of 13 competitors testing their sinister culinary skills to create deliciously terrifying Halloween treats. Fraser opined, “Halloween is what I do. To be able to bring my expertise into the competition gave me an edge. From the outset, I aimed to awe the judges.”
And awe she did. Fraser made history on the show, becoming the undisputed winner in a final showdown, held in Los Angeles this past April. Once the episode aired on the brink of Halloween, on October 30, the secret was finally out in the open.
The multitalented baker confessed, “I’m not one for keeping secrets, so holding on to this news was torturous. Faking a loss fooled everyone, even myself. So when I watched the final episode, I was flabbergasted to realize – hey, I did win!”
Fraser walked away from the baking showdown with a hefty prize of $25,000 USD. However, the title of Halloween Baking Champion holds a far greater value for her. Recognized worldwide, she reflects on her newfound fame, “To have achieved this is phenomenal. The response, the visitors streaming into the bakery simply to congratulate me, is overwhelming.”
Fraser carries the symbol of her triumph on her forearm – a tattoo of the name of the championship host, John Hanson, paying off a bet the two had made on set.
This isn’t Fraser’s first culinary laurel, however. She was part of the victorious team of The Big Bake Halloween in 2019. Doubling down on her Food Network successes, Fraser shares her ambition of a potential solo show quite candidly.
In the meantime, she has returned to her base of operations at her Hastings street shop, where Halloween spells pandemonium with customers lining up around the block. Fraser added, “There is no other bakery in Vancouver that delivers what we do.”
Indeed, there are few establishments that can pride themselves with a Halloween baking champion behind the oven. Punk Rock Pastries now stands undeniably unique with Fraser’s latest triumph.
