SAN ANTONIO — One local baker isn't just serving sweet treats, but he's taking home a sweet victory this Halloween!
Manny Martinez, who owns "The Grim Bakers" in San Antonio, was named the winner of the 2024 Halloween Baking Championship on the Food Network Monday night.
Martinez was one of four finalists competing for the big prize and is taking home $25,000 dollars.
Martinez says he's using the prize money to put a down payment on a house he is buying.
This is not the first time someone from our city has won big on the Food Network.
11-year-old Lila Smethurst, a student at Tex Hill Middle School in the NEISD, was crowned the new Kids Baking Champion on the Food Network in February.
As the winner of the Kids Baking Champion title, Lila won $25,000 and a feature in Food Network Magazine.
And in December of 2023, Ashley Landerman, who co-owns 2Tarts Bakery at 139 North Castell Avenue in New Braunfels, outlasted 11 other competitors to claim the title of Holiday Baking Champion from the Food Network.
Along with the title, Landerman brings home a hefty prize of $25,000.
This is the second title for the New Braunfels woman, who previously won Food Network’s Christmas Cookie Challenge in 2019, bringing home a $10,000 prize with that title.
A big congratulations to Manny Martinez from all of us at KENS 5.