While he didn’t take home the top prize, The Travelling Bakery owner Michael Huehn is walking away from the Greatest Baker Challenge with something he said may be more valuable in the long term: new skills, new menu items, and a renewed sense of confidence as a self-taught baker.

Huehn, who lives near Avonlea and operates The Travelling Bakery with his wife Nicole, recently concluded his run in the international online competition tied to Bake from Scratch magazine. The contest, which was decided by public voting, drew thousands of entrants from across Canada and the United States.

In the end, Huehn walked away with an achievement he was proud of, even without a trophy.

“We finished fourth in the quarterfinals for our group, which puts us in the top one percent of everyone who entered. There must have been thousands of people involved, so I think that’s a pretty good achievement,” Huehn said.

Although the competition’s organizers did not disclose exact vote totals or regional breakdowns, Huehn said he was pleased to have advanced as far as he did.

Looking back, Huehn said the contest delivered exactly what he had hoped for: a push to try techniques and products he normally wouldn’t have had time to explore while juggling his pop-up bakery and seasonal work.

“It was great because it got me out of a box,” he said. “You get into a habit of doing the same things. Even though it’s not the same at every pop-up bakery because you rotate items, your whole repertoire is (typically) still the same.”

Huehn said the experience helped him expand beyond familiar staples, and he expects several of those new creations to become regular offerings moving forward.

Among the permanent additions, Huehn confirmed pavlovas will be one of the items carried forward, along with new cakes and cookies.

“Pavlova is definitely going to be one of them,” he said. “There are a couple of different kinds of cakes we’re going to be adding that we’ve never done before.”

Huehn said he hopes to host one more pop-up bakery before the season resumes at Long Creek Golf and Country Club near Avonlea.

“If I’m feeling up to it, we’re going to do one more pop-up bakery before we go back to Long Creek this season,” he said, adding the next event is expected to take place in Pangman in late March or early April.

For now, he said he is not accepting online orders, but expects to resume later in the season.

As the series of weekly voting rounds concluded, Huehn said he and Nicole mainly want to thank those who followed along and voted across the province, including residents in Moose Jaw, Avonlea, Pangman, and Munster.

“I just want to thank everybody that supported us in this endeavor,” he said. “It was very, very much appreciated … We really want to thank everybody that supported us with words of encouragement and their votes.”

For more information, visit the “Travelling Bakery” Facebook page.

Aaron Walker

Reporter

Moose Jaw Express