Sweet Victory
by Samantha Taylor
In the Fall 2018 issue of J Life, we published the uplifting story of Katherine Sprung. A graduate of Jewish Academy of Orlando, Winter Park High School, and the University of Central Florida, Katherine went on to start her very own, successful marshmallow and confections shop – called Squish Marshmallows – in New York City. Recently, the creative baker, who has no formal culinary training, competed on the show Chopped Sweets (a spinoff of the famous cooking show Chopped, but with a sugary twist).
Spoiler alert – she won!
“Being on the show was amazing, crazy, surreal, and stressful,” says Katherine. “I’ve watched so many episodes over the years, and then to be able to set foot on the set as a competitor myself was pretty wild.”
The aftermath has been nothing short of remarkable.
“It was an incredible experience meeting fellow competitors and the production crew,” she says. “It was such a unique experience to get handed a mystery basket of ingredients that you somehow turn into a composed dessert for the judges!”
The show was filmed six months ago, but Katherine wasn’t allowed to tell anyone about the results. Being the smart cookie she is, she didn’t tell too many people that she was even competing, so keeping the secret wasn’t as hard as it could have been.
“Now that it’s out there, it’s fun to talk about the experience,” she explains. “I’ve found that lots of people have a ton of questions and are so curious about the behind-the-scenes.”
For now, Katherine will continue to create in her kitchen, even though her store is closed to the public due to COVID-19. She and her team are focused on online orders and special pick-up requests. She’s also launched live, virtual marshmallow-making sessions on a new online platform designed for live instruction. Katherine hopes to add more classes in the near future.
It would seem that whether in person or on television, Katherine has mastered the art of taking several mystery ingredients and turning them into something pretty sweet.