Napa Valley Pastry Chef To Compete On Food Network TV Show

NAPA VALLEY, CA — A St. Helena resident and instructor at Napa Valley College, The Culinary Institute of America at Copia and Santa Rosa Junior College, is going from the Zoom screen to the TV screen.

Derek Corsino, who also teaches Culinary Arts at Healdsburg High School through the school's Career Technical Education partnership with SRJC, is one of 11 bakers featured on Season 7 of Food Network's "Spring Baking Championship."

The winner will get the $25,000 grand prize, the title of Spring Baking Champion, and a spot in Food Network Magazine.

The hit culinary competition premieres with a special two-hour, supersize episode at 9 p.m. Monday on Food Network.

Viewers can also stream the series on discovery+, where new episodes become available weekly beginning Feb. 22.

Host Ali Khan will present the 11 competitors from across the country with spring-themed baking challenges; In order to win, bakers must show off their superb baking skills each episode over two rounds, including a pre-heat test which gives a baker an advantage during the main heat.

Through 10 episodes the competitors must prove they can create and elevate tasty springtime desserts to impress judges Kardea Brown, Nancy Fuller and Duff Goldman to make it to the finale and kick off their spring in the sweetest way.

"With last season having the series’ highest ratings, it is clear viewers can’t get enough of Spring Baking Championship which features incredible baked masterpieces," said Courtney White, President, Food Network. "With ten episodes of action-packed artistry and challenges, fans are in for a treat with a new season of edible, spring-themed creations that celebrate the change of seasons."

Three-Time Food Network Competitor

This marks the third time Corsino, an accomplished pastry chef who graduated from The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, has competed on Food Network.

Before he became a culinary arts instructor, Corsino went into business as a master cake designer in the Hudson Valley of upstate New York.

He landed his first teaching passion at Stratford University in Northern Virginia, where for three years he imparted his baking and pastry knowledge to up-and-coming pastry chefs.

After relocating to the San Francisco Bay Area, Corsino has worked for several learning institutions. In addition to teaching Culinary Arts at Healdsburg High School, he's an adjunct baking and pastry professor at SRJC and Napa Valley College and an instructor at The Culinary Institute of America at Copia in Napa.