Lino Lakes woman competing in Greatest Baker online competition

LINO LAKES, Minn. (FOX 9) - One of Chelle Schmidt's creative confections may look like a tray of sushi but there is nothing fishy about how she is putting her baking skills to the test.

"There aren't very many competitions around us so this is my way of trying to expand my business and go to the next step," Schmidt told FOX 9.

Baking has been Schmidt's obsession since she was 2 years old, and she went on to become classically trained in French pastries.

About 4.5 years ago, she started Sweet Infusion Bakery out of her own kitchen, where she specializes in custom cakes, which can take her hours to create.

"It’s something I always wanted to do since I was little. I have worked under many different people, learning techniques, how to do it faster. It was time to go out on my own," Schmidt said.

It looks like some sushi but its cake. (FOX 9)

Now Schmidt is hoping to take the cake as part of the Greatest Baker contest, where she has a chance to win $10,000, a feature in Bake From Scratch magazine and meet TV personality Buddy Valastro, also known as the Cake Boss.

So far, Schmidt has made it through four rounds of online voting to land in the quarterfinals and she is currently in third place. 

But she needs more votes to get to first place by Thursday night to move to the next round.

"It would mean getting the exposure I need to grow. It would mean getting prize money I need to buy commercial equipment with – possibly get a commercial kitchen," said Schmidt.

Schmidt says expressing herself through the culinary arts is her life's passion, but being able to grow her business would be icing on the cake.

"It is very exciting; it's fun. I've never imagined being on the news because of it. So it’s been a lot of great experiences with this," said Schmidt.