Local wins Food Network competition; opens bakery in Waveland

In addition to celebrating her big win on the Food Networks Halloween Baking Championship, Waveland resident Renee Loranger last week opened Sugar Pop Baking Co.

The California native moved to Waveland in 2000.

Loranger said baking wasnt her first choice of career.

I actually wanted to be an actress, she said. But I kind of fell into the job of baking and I just really liked it and picked it up really fast. It was a way for me to still be artistic. So I stuck with it and mostly self-taught. If I want to learn it, I look it up and figure out how to do it.

Loranger said she began baking in California at grocery stores. When she moved to Waveland, she started working at Casino Magic now Hollywood Casino and built its baking program.

After Hurricane Katrina, the bakery program was closed and Loranger returned as a restaurant manager.

However, in 2010, the program was reinstated and Loranger worked as a pastry chef and then promoted to executive pastry chef in 2012.

Loranger described working at the casino as hectic.

Its very busy and very fast-paced, she said. The grocery store was, too, and its good practice for this (Sugar Pop).

For season six of Food Networks Halloween Baking Competition, Loranger said, she kept an eye on the networks casting program.

She won second place that year.

For the seventh season, Loranger said, the network asked her back.

She said that she always wanted to be featured on one of the Food Networks baking shows.

Id love to host my own show, Loranger said. I love being on camera and I do not mind being the center of attention.

The series has a pre-heat and main heat phase, the thriller challenge and the killer challenge, Loranger said.

For the thriller challenge, participants made a smaller treat, she said. For the killer challenge, it was something larger.

A participant was eliminated each week, she said, by the judges who are Carla Hall, Zac Young, and Stephanie Boswell. John Henson is the host.

The first time Loranger appeared on the show, she took home second place.

During her last appearance, she took home the $25,000 prize.

For the final challenge, participants were tasked with making a 24-inch stacked, tiered cake in five hours, she said.

The flavor Loranger chose was devils food cake with a sour cherry filling, hazelnut buttercream, and a hazelnut crunch.

The show was based on camp killer films from the 1980s, she said. The designs of the cakes were meant to take a look inside the mind of the killers.

They had to tell that story as you looked at the cake, Loranger said. And it had to have a brain on top, an exposed brain on top.

Lorangers cake took home the $25,000 grand prize, which gave her the jumpstart she needed to open her own bakery.

Loranger said she always wanted to branch out on her own and do my own thing.

When COVID-19 began, Loranger said, she was laid off from her job at the casino.

So theres just no other time to do it, she said. I had to figure it out. So, I was baking at home for quite a while.

But after she saw the location, she thought it would be a good idea to utilize the kitchen and space inside Wavelands LiLi Stahler-Murphy Ground Zero Hurricane Museum, located at 335 Coleman Ave.

I just love this building, she said.Its got so much history. Everybody that comes in, they remember being here and watching somebody on the stage or being on the stage themselves or they know somebody that came here and went to the school.

Loranger opened the bakerys doors on Oct. 25 and she said she hopes that it will help bring more traffic to the area.

I really hope that it brings more business to Coleman Avenue, Loranger said. I think that Coleman really needs to be brought back to life and I hope to be a part of that.

Sugar Pops menu includes a variety of daily baked fresh items such as muffins, turnovers, danish, cookies, cakes, cupcakes, eclairs, and more. There is also a pastry of the day as well as packaged items for the holiday.

She said some of the current customer favorite selections include the orange cranberry muffins, the cinnamon pecan muffins, the danish, and her winning devils food cake.

Right now, the bakerys hours are Monday through Saturday from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Lorangers husband Darren also helps out at the bakery. The pair have a son and a daughter.

Loranger said she does take special orders such as cakes and cookies. People can order online or order in-person at the bakery, she said.

Learn more through Facebook at Sugar Pop Baking Co. and http://www.sugarpopbakingco.com.

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Local wins Food Network competition; opens bakery in Waveland