Food Network Feature · Reggie’s Team
The Halloween Wars story.
A behind-the-scenes look at the sugar artistry, structural engineering, and TV-ready teamwork that put Reggie’s team on Food Network, and brought a little of his mom Shuga’s magic to a national stage.
Food Network Featured
WXYZ Channel 7
Auburn Hills MI
Family Owned
1
Food Network Debut
3
Team Members
100%
Scratch-Baked
0
Shortcuts Taken
The Journey
From sketches to screams.
Halloween Wars isn’t just a cake show, it’s a gauntlet. We blended sugar artistry, structural engineering, and fast-paced teamwork to deliver TV-ready pieces under the clock. Reggie brought the sensibility Shuga taught him; the team brought the hands to pull it off.
- Hand-piped textures, airbrush fades, and sculpted sugar elements
- Rapid prototyping from pencil to palette, buttercream to fondant
- Food-safe internal structure and transport planning
- Made in Auburn Hills. Baked the Shuga-Me way.
Signature Pieces
Hero shots worthy of prime time.
The pieces that got held up for the cameras.
Behind the Scenes
Prep, practice, and pure adrenaline.
The part of TV the cameras don’t slow down for.
Airbrushing gradients
Sculpting the figure
The octopus showpiece
Team Squad Ghouls
How It Was Made
Five steps. Eight hours. One shot.
TV moves fast. Here’s how Reggie’s team kept flavor, form, and fear factor aligned.
1
Concept Sprint
Narrative boards and quick silhouettes. Decide what story the cake is telling before the first crumb.
2
Flavor Lock
Layers, fillings, and a timing map. Because “looks great” doesn’t matter if the judges spit it out.
3
Structure Build
Food-safe cores and balance points. Tall pieces need engineering, not wishful thinking.
4
Surface Magic
Textures, paints, metallics, and sugar effects. Where the camera magic actually happens.
5
Showtime
Assembly, finish, transport, and reveal. The six seconds the whole week was building toward.
The Team
Meet Team Squad Ghouls.
None of this happens alone. On Halloween Wars Season 12, Team Squad Ghouls carried Shuga-Me, and Shuga herself, onto a national stage with every piece.
- Baker & Team Lead · Reggie Harris
- Sugar Artist · Hannah Smith
- Pumpkin Carver · Jannet Michael
- Team · Squad Ghouls, lime green
Meet the Season 12 teams on Food Network. Halloween Wars is a trademark of Food Network. Images and references shown here are for portfolio and educational purposes only.
For Shuga
A national stage. A family bakery.
Reggie started Shuga-Me in honor of his mom, Dorothy ‘Shuga-Me’ Smith. Halloween Wars was about making her proud on a bigger stage than she ever got to see.
Your Event
Want something this dramatic for your event?
We’ll tailor flavors, finishes, and structure to your theme and guest count, whether it’s a birthday, a wedding, or something nobody’s seen before.