Smokey Hill High School alumna wins Food Network’s ‘Ultimate Baking Championship’
May 12, 2026, 6:16 PM | Updated: May 13, 2026, 11:42 am
Smoky Hill High School is celebrating one of its own! Molly Coen, a 2014 graduate, won Food Network’s “The Ultimate Baking Championship” and its $50,000 grand prize.
Coen beat 15 top pastry chefs over nine episodes, topping an all-California finale against Florencia Breda and Clement Le Deore. Her winning theme? Rock ‘n’ roll after party, and she nailed it with her winning dish being a decadent chocolate stout cake.
After graduating from Smoky Hill, Coen launched her career as a pastry intern at the Four Seasons Denver in 2015. She graduated from Johnson & Wales in 2018.
She now serves as pastry chef at Carmel Valley Ranch in California, where desserts inspired by her championship creations will be on the menu all summer.
Her new colleagues didn’t find out until the first and last episodes aired on TV.
Congratulations, Molly! Way to make Colorado proud.
Read more about Molly’s big win here.
Who Won ‘Ultimate Baking Championship’? Season 1 Winner Revealed! [Spoiler]
