Hometown Halloween Hero

As her expertly crafted and creepy confections wowed the judges each Monday night, it a became a running joke on Food Network’s “Halloween Baking Championship” that Lyndsy McDonald was a “serial killer” in the kitchen.

And true to that punch line, the über-talented McDonald ultimately slayed.

With her hometown fans cheering her to the finale, the Ritz-Carlton Sarasota’s executive pastry chef earned the $25,000 prize and did what her all of longtime fans expected: She showed the entire world her artistic culinary mastery.

“Being on that show really pulled out that fire that got me into this industry to begin with,” McDonald says. “Doing something like that reminds you very quickly why you do this and why you love it.”

McDonald has displayed her love of the industry since locals got to know her as the owner/ artiste at Pastries By Design in downtown Lakewood Ranch. The Johnson & Wales graduate and mother of three then joined the Ritz-Carlton four years ago, during which time her winter gingerbread creations—from a working edible carousel to a giant pirate ship—have left hotel lobby gazers gape-jawed.

It surprised no one, then, when the three Food Network judges applauded McDonald’s Halloween-themed desserts that featured sugary spiders, clowns, haunted pumpkin patches, goblins, and gory nightmare scenes. McDonald whipped up each treat under the pressure of a ticking clock in an 85° kitchen that nearly melted her ingredients. (The sweat was carefully edited out for TV, she jokes.)

“Competing was stressful but, in the same respect, I work at the Ritz. We don’t tell people no, ever. If anybody in the hotel says ‘I’d really like to have this,’ we’ll bend over backwards to make it happen. So it was kind of like a Tuesday for me,” McDonald says. “And I’m a mom of three who’s a chef. It’s par for the course.”

Before McDonald had even agreed to fly to New Orleans for the show, the Ritz-Carlton marketing team had emailed her repeatedly about auditioning. The filming of six episodes took a couple of weeks, wrapped up in June, and aired from late September to late October. While in New Orleans, McDonald and the seven other Season 4 contestants left their hotel during their off-time, wandered around the city, and ate beignets.

Back in Sarasota, McDonald’s team of 12 at the Ritz held down the fort, and she Face- Timed with her kids every night while they were at their grandma’s. The show introduced McDonald to some of her now-closest friends; she and the other contestants still talk every day on a group chat.

“The experience pushed me. It pushed me harder than I’d been pushed in a long time. I used to sit on my couch and watch those shows and say, ‘I could do that.’ But when you’re standing there, it is 10 times harder than you give it credit for,” McDonald says. “It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. It was such a great challenge for me.”

> The Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota: 1111 Ritz Carlton Dr, Sarasota, 941-309-2000; ritzcarlton.com