Season 11 of Halloween Baking Championship concluded on October 27 in what felt like a sugar-fueled horror film, with less screaming and a lot more frosting. Melanie Bjork-Jensen from West Jordan, Utah, walked away with the $25,000 prize money and the championship title after creating a cake that transformed her anxiety into pure sweetness.If her journey had a title on Halloween Baking Championship, it would be From Floor to Flour Power. She began the season lying on the ground in terror and concluded it the same way, only this time she was weeping happy tears (and maybe coated in icing). Her most recent creation, a chocolate-peanut butter masterpiece, forewent the traditional ghosts and fake blood in favour of something scarier: self-doubt. The judges didn’t just taste her cake, they felt it and probably wished they had one more slice.Off camera, Melanie works two full-time nursing jobs and has two children while moonlighting as a self-taught cake magician who learnt her trade on YouTube. She competed against qualified professionals and became victorious. The lesson of the story was that slaying Halloween doesn't require a culinary degree; all you need is coffee, mayhem, and a cake that strikes like a jump fright.What happened during the Halloween Baking Championship finale? View this post on Instagram Instagram PostThe season finale of Halloween Baking Championship narrowed the field to four talented bakers: Cory Jones, Melanie Bjork-Jensen, Alan Arras, and Oksana Shchelgachova. Each brought distinct skills and backgrounds to the final challenges. The ultimate test required contestants to craft elaborate cakes representing their worst fears. This personal approach pushed bakers beyond technical skill into emotional storytelling through dessert.The Utah-based nurse presented a chocolate peanut butter cake that judges praised for both flavor and meaning. She explained how self-doubt had crushed her spirit throughout life, making her feel deserving of hardships, including brain cancer and divorce.Pastry chef Zac Young delivered his critique with visible emotion."The stories that you've told us with your food have been incredible," he said.Elaborating:"It's just been incredible to watch, and even more incredible to eat."The cake itself on Halloween Baking Championship was one of Bjork-Jensen's most popular wedding cake recipes, demonstrating her professional capabilities despite lacking formal culinary training. Bjork-Jensen originally applied to the Halloween Baking Championship years earlier but withdrew during her divorce. Food Network retained her application and contacted her last year when the timing improved. View this post on Instagram Instagram Post"It was a way better time," she told Deseret News about the eventual filming schedule.Her nursing background, split between hospice and labor and delivery, gave her comfort with Halloween's macabre themes."I have too much of a stomach for the gore," she noted.Melanie discusses overcoming imposter syndrome View this post on Instagram Instagram PostMeeting professionally trained bakers on Halloween Baking Championship threw Melanie Bjork-Jensen into a spiral of self-doubt; she kept waiting for someone to figure out she didn’t belong. But that moment never came. Instead, the competition evolved into something far more personal, almost like accelerated therapy.Throughout the process, the single mom discovered that doing something just for herself was not selfish; rather, it was important. Her tattoo, which reminds her that she is worth the work required to be happy, has taken on new significance following her sweet success.Halloween Baking Championship is streaming now on Food Network and Discovery+.