Life is sweet for local KC baker competing on Food Network

Courtesy Sara Siegele

Sara Siegele, owner and operator of Fountain City Sweets has recently participated in the 7th season of Food Network’s Christmas Cookie Challenge. Siegele is Kansas City through and through, and we here at The Pitch are stoked to have her representing.

After the birth of her first child in 2017, Siegele began to feel slightly lost in motherhood and decided to begin picking up hobbies. Not long after, she got into cookie decorating.

“When I started decorating cookies, a passion was lit inside me. It’s the perfect combination of the things that drive me; using my creativity, showing my love through food, making people happy, the challenge of creating unique pieces of edible art that speak to others, and of course, sweets. Who doesn’t love sweets,” says Siegele.

Sara’s custom cookies. // Sara Siegele

Operating within the walls of her home, She founded Fountain City Sweets, specializing in custom-made cookie orders for any occasion. Weddings, birthdays, holidays, and anything else you can think of, Siegele has you covered.

But that’s not everything the baker has going for her. Recently, Siegle participated in The Food Network’s 7th Christmas Cookie Challenge. The season, which is already ongoing, will feature Siegele in its upcoming episode on the 21st.

“I got this email from the Food Network, and I originally thought it was spam. Like it was some sort of hoax someone was pulling to get money from me. But it really was a casting associate and they liked what I was doing with my social media and asked me to audition,” says Siegele. 

She began practicing tirelessly, focusing her efforts on just about anything and everything the network could throw at her during her audition process, which was around 4 months long. 

“They want to know that you can make more than just a basic sugar cookie and that you can work with a variety of ingredients. They want you to be able to make good combinations. And that wasn’t something I had a ton of experience with. I had to learn pretty quickly, and it was something that always scared me in the past. But under pressure, I had to figure it out.” 

Even through the arduous audition process, Siegele still had fun and said her experience on the show was just as much so. 

Union Station reimagined .// Sara Siegele

Although her screen time is over, Siegele is only continuing to master her craft as she recently competed in the local Holidays in Crestwood gingerbread house competition. The competition benefits the Children’s Protection Centers of KC, and Siegele displayed her biggest project to date, recreating Union Station as a candy factory. 

Siegele will also be selling holiday cookies at the NextHomie Holiday Boutique this Thursday, Dec. 7th at Knights of Columbus Hall.

The event takes place from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. and is in support of Eden Village and the Johnson County Christmas Bureau. It is her only holiday event this year, and since she is booked for custom orders through Jan, it would be a great opportunity to get your Christmas cookie fix.