Micah Parsons, 12, of Stephenville is no stranger to baking. He loves to mix flavors, transform ingredients into culinary delights and give away baked goods to his family and friends.
He never dreamed that passion would lead him to become the Season 13 Kids Baking Champion on the hit Food Network show.
Parsons was recently awarded $25,000, a magazine article in Food Network Magazine and the ability to claim he is the best kid baker in the country through Food Network’s “Kids Baking Championship: Amazing Animals.”
Micah, along with his dad Dr. Matt Parsons, his mom Brittany Parsons and his sister Caylee Parsons, are fairly new to Erath County, relocating from Parker County in 2024.
Starting at a young age, Micah got much of his love and knowledge of baking from involvement in Parker County 4-H as a Clover kid, where his 4-H agent sparked his love for baking.
“I had 4-H cooking classes in Parker County so that really helped me grow as a baker,” Micah said. “The one I remember is I went to a cake decorating class and that helped me a lot.”
Next year, depending on schedules, Micah and his family plan on looking into joining food challenge for Erath County 4-H.
“I think his first knife (which was child appropriate) was in his stocking when he was 3 and he got a lot of baking things for Christmas that year,” his mom Brittany said. Micah also grew up baking with his mom, dad, aunt and sister, which helped develop his love further. The family makes Christmas treats together, a tradition that may be responsible for his love of sugar cookies.
“It’s delicious and it’s sugar,” he said about why he loves baking. He loves to make macarons - a French sandwich cookie requiring perfection in egg whites, temperatures and humidity to get them just right.
“It’s just so cool. It’s only a couple of ingredients but they turn into these beautiful, amazing and yummy cookies,” he said about macarons.
Appearing on the series was a dream come true for Micah since he grew up watching the show with his family, and loves animals - a perfect fit for the 2025 season which themed all ‘challenges’ about animals. His favorite animal? Horses of course, something he comes by naturally since his dad is an equine vet.
During the filming, Micah was praised for his Texan manners of shaking hands with the judges when he met them, having good sportsmanship with other competitors and being polite.
“The judges were so nice,” Micah said of Duff Goldman and Kardea Brown. “We all had a lot of fun together.”
“He did come out and say, ‘Mom, what if I go home?’ ‘I may not have another chance to give them a handshake,’” Brittany said. Due to his 4-H experience showing animals Micah is accustomed to showing respect to judges during competitions.
“We’ve never forced our kids to give hugs if they didn’t want to but we instilled in them even from a young age you can give anyone a handshake,” she said. “There is nothing wrong with a good handshake.”
His favorite challenge was the dessert imposter where competitors had to make desserts look like another food that would be tempting to their assigned animals. The contestants were shown how to use an airbrush by Judge and Cake Artist extraordinaire Duff Goldman before the challenge.
“It’s just so cool. It’s like a dessert but something totally different,” Micah said. Both he and his family were hoping if he made it to any episode it would be to the dessert imposter one.
“We’ve watched it since they were little bitty and they know dessert imposters, and it’s a big deal to make it to that episode,” Brittany said.
For his dessert imposter, Micah airbrushed cake and fondant to make it look like a piece of salmon. It was his first time using an airbrush, and he admitted it was fun.
“I actually just got an airbrushasacongratulations gift from my church [FBC Stephenville,]” he said, adding that he was going to make some airbrushed cupcakes for his pastor.
Making his way through the competition Micah learned more and more, and his decorating skills improved, he said. “It’s something I want to work on in the future, especially flowers.”
He also focused on challenging himself with flavors and other things he had never tried before. He said with each episode he felt like he put out the best cake or pastry he could have made.
“That’s all I wanted for him. Be proud of what you made, be proud of your attitude, life is good no matter what happens,” his mom said.
Since winning the competition Micah and several other contestants have stayed in touch and often bake together over Zoom since he and some of the other contestants are home schooled.
“We had a lot of fun together,” he said of himself and the other contestants who shared trips for ice cream and swimming in the hotel pool during filming.
Not being able to tell anyone he had won until the show aired was a challenge, especially where his grandparents were concerned.
“It made the reveal a lot more fun,” Micah said. Family and friends had a watch party when the show aired including large cakes that Micah baked - a vanilla cake with his praised peach pie filling, gluten/dairy free chocolate for his mom and sister and his finale cake, a Red Velvet cake with chocolate sandwich cookies mixed in the cream cheese filling.
“Everyone has been really supportive and it wasn’t about me winning; they were proud of me regardless,” Micah said.
Brittany said the family was shocked he was even on the show, much less chosen as the winner.
“It’s just like any sporting event. You go out, you do your best whether you win or lose,” she said. Brittany said they approached the competition as each episode being a gift given to them.
“We were super amazed at the talent and the kids,” she said. “Every episode was an opportunity to grow and have fun, so that’s what we did.”
Micah doesn’t spend all his time in the kitchen and recently received 3rd place in Robotics through 4-H at the State Fair, loves to play guitar and competes in Bible Drill at church. He also loves to ride and take care of horses.
Though he originally said he was taking his family to Australia and purchasing a horse he reconsidered what he was doing with the $25,000 prize money. First, he tithed to his church, then purchased a cruise to the Bahamas for next December for his sister and family, and bought himself a new guitar.
Though baking is definitely a passion for Micah, right now he still wants to follow in his dad’s footsteps and become a vet one day—just one that makes delicious treats for his family and friends.
Season 13 of Kids Baking Championship: Amazing Animals is available on MAX streaming service. Food Network’s Magazine article showcasing Micah is expected to publish this fall.