Alumna to compete on “Food Network Challenge,” November 13

Waxahachie, TX – November 8, 2011 – Southwestern Assemblies of God University (SAGU) alumna Wendy Weixel Collinsworth will appear on the Food Network Channel’s “Food Network Challenge” on Sunday, November 13, 2011.

The Food Network Challenge: A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving Cakes will air at 7 p.m. CST/8 p.m. EST. During the episode, cake designers will make Charlie Brown inspired cakes to celebrate the season. According to the Food Network website, there will be a “special surprise in store for the competitors that will make this holiday unforgettable."

Collinsworth was encouraged to start a website for her business, Haute Cakes and Cookies, after treating friends and family members to her cakes. She created the website and began earning a supplemental income while her husband Todd Collinsworth (SAGU alumnus ‘97-’98) worked as the Student Pastor for LifeChurch.tv’s Fort Worth campus.

Haute Cakes and Cookies was established in 2008 in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. She has over 25 years of pastry art expertise, starting out as an apprentice of her mother who was a pastry chef and a culinary arts instructor. Collinsworth heard of the Food Network Challenge auditions through a friend and fellow cake artist who had competed on the show 4 times prior. She submitted photos of her cakes to master sugar artist Kerry Vincent’s fan page and was contacted by a Food Network producer soon after. After a three-month audition process, Collinsworth was selected to compete on the show.

Collinsworth charges SAGU students to “never put God in a box – to never put a limit on what God can do. When God gives you big dreams, don’t try to make them small and insignificant.”

Collinsworth graduated from SAGU in 1996 with her bachelor’s degree in Pastoral Counseling with a minor in Business. She was highly involved in on-campus activities, including Campus Days and the Remnant Players.

Collinsworth credits Professor LeRoy Bartel as her favorite SAGU professor. In his Biblical Preaching course, he “opened her eyes” to a new way of studying the Bible through exegetical exploration. 

For more information on Wendy Collinsworth’s business, visit www.hautecakesandcookies.com.

Southwestern Assemblies of God University (SAGU) is a private, Christian university located 30 minutes south of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex in Waxahachie, Texas. The University was established in 1927, and now offers more than 60 associate, bachelor’s or master’s degrees on campus or online. More information is available at www.sagu.edu or by calling 1-888-YES-SAGU.