Food Network is premiering season 11 of the Kids Baking Championship this Monday, December 26, at 8 pm ET. The new season will bring in 12 contestants aged between 8 and 13, who will compete against each other based on their baking and entrepreneurship skills to win $25,000.
Like all previous seasons, Kids Baking Championship season 11 will be hosted and judged by Valerie Bertinelli and Duff Goldman. The duo will wear dramatic costumes based on themes of the challenges and teach the kids the basic entrepreneurship skills required to run a cooking-related business.
They will also judge the baking skills of the contestants and eliminate one chef each week on the same basis.
Valerie Bertinelli and Duff Goldman return to judge and host the Kids Baking Championship
Duff Goldman
Born in Detroit, Michigan, Duff Goldman began cooking at the tender age of four after watching Chef Friedman Paul on TV. Duff got his first job at a bagel store when he was just 14 years old and then worked at a McDonald's.
The founder of Charm City Cakes, Goldman graduated from Sandwich High School in 1993 and then attended the University of Maryland. He also holds a cooking degree from the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone. He has worked under many famous chefs and in many exclusive restaurants like French Laundry and Vail Cascade Hotel.
Currently, his bakery serves cakes all across the USA and makes cakes for esteemed personalities like Barack Obama and Sir Roger Moore. The restaurant was also featured in the cooking show Ace of Cakes. Another branch of Charm City Cakes was recently opened in Los Angeles.
Goldman also judges the Holiday Baking Championship, Spring Baking Championship on Food Network, and Kids Baking Championship. He has written three cookbooks: Super Good Baking for Kids, Duff Bakes: Think and Bake Like a Pro at Home, and Ace of Cakes: Inside the World of Charm City Cakes.
Valerie Bertinelli
Born in 1960 in Wilmington, Valerie Bertinelli went to the Granada Hills High School and graduated from the Tami Lynn School of Artists. Her acting career began in 1975 when Tami Lynn helped her land a role in One Day at a Time. Her acting as Barbara Cooper on the show made her a household name until 1984 when the series ended.
Bertinelli has also been featured in three films, Number One with a Bullet, C.H.O.M.P.S., Ordinary Heroes, and comedy series like Sydney and Cafe Americain. Valerie began hosting cooking shows like Valerie's Home Cooking and Kids Baking Championship in 2015, where she used to prepare easy homemade recipes for friends and family. She also hosted Family Restaurant Rivals and Family Food Showdown in 2019.
She is the author of five books, which include One Dish at a Time, Enough Already, Valerie's Home Cooking, Finding It and Losing It. Bertinelli is a two-time Daytime Emmy Award winner and has won two Golden Globe Awards. She was previously nominated for the Young Artist Awards and Screen Actors Guild Awards.
Watch fresh episodes of the Kids Baking Championship every Monday on Food Network at 8 pm ET, starting on December 26. Fans can also watch the episodes on Food Network's website one day after the television premiere.