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Cake Job: Fr. Kyle Schnippel, Jessie Salzbrun On ABC's 'Great American Baking Show'

Fr. Kyle Schnippel, pastor of St. John Neumann and Corpus Christi Catholic parishes, competes on ABC's "Great American Baking Show" starting Thursday, Dec. 7.
ABC Television
Fr. Kyle Schnippel, pastor of St. John Neumann and Corpus Christi Catholic parishes, competes on ABC's "Great American Baking Show" starting Thursday, Dec. 7.

Give us this day our daily cake, pies and pastries?

Father Kyle Schnippel, pastor of St. John Neumann and Corpus Christi parishes in suburban Cincinnati, will be one of 10 contestants on ABC's "Great American Baking Show" (9-11 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 7, Channel 9, ABC).

Cincinnati also will be represented by Jessie Deye Salzbrun, product chief at the Family Tech software company which makes apps to enhance and organize family life.

Jessie Salzbrun
Credit ABC Television
Jessie Salzbrun

The third season premieres Thursday on ABC with a new title (it was previously called the "Great Holiday Baking Show") and new hosts, Ayesha Curry ("Ayesha's Home Kitchen," "Rachael Ray") and Anthony "Spice" Adams ("Ballers"). Award-winning pastry chef Johnny Iuzzini returns as judge with cookbook author and baker Paul Hollywood.

Each two-hour show includes six baking challenges. Thursday's episode is called "Cake and Morning Treats Week." The series continues 9-11 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 14, with "Dessert and Cookie Week." The bake-off concludes Dec. 21 with "French Week and The Finals," when the winner named "America's Best Amateur Baker."

Father Schnippel, former director of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati vocations office, often posts pictures of his kitchen creations on Instagram, according to the Catholic Telegraph.  He plans viewing parties at his churches.

Salzbrun made the desserts for her wedding reception earlier this year. She worked for Kroger, 84.51 and  Batterii before joining Family Tech in May.  Salzbrun earned a bachelor's degree in molecular biology from the University of Cincinnati and worked at the UC Genome Research Institute for a year. She also founded the Cincinnati Gild Collective in 2015.

The three-week, six-hour reality show was filmed earlier this year in England. The show is based on the hit U.K series, "The Great British Bake-Off."

the 10 "Great American Baking Show" contestants
Credit ABC Television
the 10 "Great American Baking Show" contestants

The other contestants are:

Molly Brodak, Atlanta, GA; Nick Bryan, Los Angeles, Calif.; Hector De Haro, Glendale, Calif.; JC Greg, Kansas City, MO; Vallery Lomas, New York, NY; Antwine Love, Charlotte, NC; Cindy Malinak, Medway, Mass.; and Bryan McKinnon, Alpine, Utah.

The "Great American Baking Show" follows ABC's "Shrek the Halls" (8 p.m., Channel 9, ABC) Thursday. Here's a link to my 2017 Holiday Program Guide listing specials through Christmas.

Copyright 2021 91.7 WVXU. To see more, visit .

John Kiesewetter joined the WVXU news team as a TV/Media blogger on July 1 2015, after nearly 30 years covering local and national broadcasting for The Cincinnati Enquirer. He’ll be posting news about Greater Cincinnati TV, radio and movies; updating your favorite former local TV/radio personalities or stars who grew up here; and breaking news about national TV, radio and media trends. You’ll also learn about Cincinnati’s rich broadcasting history.