Ocala chef finalist in ‘Summer Baking Championship’

Host Jesse Palmer interacts with Contestant Yohann Le Bescond, as seen on Summer Baking Championship. Photo courtesy Food Network.

World Equestrian Center Executive Pastry Chef Yohann Le Bescond is pre-heating for the Food Network’s “Summer Baking Championship” final episode on Monday, June 26, and will vie for a 25,000 grand prize.

Le Bescond, a resident of Ocala originally from Brittany, France, continued his winning streak after another third competition-round win on the Monday, June 19, Barbie-themed episode. The penultimate episode had the chefs creating Barbie accessory-inspired pink treats that look like plastic pretend desserts that 7-year-olds would feed their dolls.

For the Pre-Heat challenge, the bakers had to make a Barbie-inspired pink dessert using a pink ingredient they chose at random. Chef Yohann picked guava, which he admitted to loathing, and that lack of love didn’t help him in that round. He didn’t wow the judges but, just as in recent episodes, he was just warming up to a big win in the episode’s Final Heat. Judges Damaris Phillips, Duff Goldman and Carla Hall swooned over Le Bescond’s lemon blueberry cake with lemon blueberry jam and strawberry milk pastry cream.

Chef Yohann Le Bescond at work during the Summer Baking Championship. Photo courtesy Food Network.

Joining Le Bescond in the competition series finale will be fellow finalists Alyssa Alcantara and Zoe Peckich. During that episode, the pâtissiers will have to make three different amusement park treats and a July 4th parade float cake with sparklers.

To learn more about the ‘Summer Baking Championship,’ visit foodnetwork.com. Follow Chef Yohann on Instagram at instagram.com/yohannlebescond.