An Indianapolis baker is featured on a new 'Nailed It' challenge on Netflix

Sometimes the results of those TV cooking competition shows can have implications for Indy-area Hoosiers that extend beyond watching on the sofa.

Such is the case when a local contestant appears and ups their culinary game, then offers tastes of the influences from the competition.

We saw that when Fishers resident Kelsey Murphy took the “MasterChef” title and opened a counter-service restaurant at Fishers Test Kitchen. And then again when The Block Bistro & Grill brought to its menu a flavor that had done well during its participation on “The Great Food Truck Race.”

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Now, with the release of the new season of “Nailed It!,” we get a sample of what baker Cura Johnson of Indianapolis picked up when rising to the occasion on Netflix baking competition series.

The owner of CJ Sweets, Johnson is one of 10 contestants featured this season, taped last year in Los Angeles, California.

Johnson, who lives in the Eagle Creek neighborhood, caught the baking bug in 2010 when she participated in a cupcake challenge at her church. She had a Minions characters theme.

“After that, I just fell in love with it. So I started baking and just started learning and reading, and watching different videos and learning how to do the icing," said Johnson, who decided to make a business of it in 2017. “My cupcakes have come a long way.”

'It was something totally new for me'

Although the show focuses on amateur bakers — an engineer, a data scientist, a retired bookkeeper and a customer service rep are among this season’s contestants — Johnson was among a few of the challengers that operated their own baking-related businesses.

Her CJ Sweets specializes in cupcakes, cookies and dipped strawberries. She primarily sells at festivals and farmers markets, where her lemon and strawberry cheesecake cupcake are popular sellers.

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“I feel like I really don’t do cakes, so it was something totally new for me because I mostly do cupcakes and cookies,” she said.

Johnson, who works in order control at a Plainfield fulfillment center, applied for the show figuring it would allow her to learn from pastry chefs and possibly win money to open her own shop.

“I’m trying to get my bakery café off the ground. I need to learn some stuff that I can use in that shop. I need to win so that I can have a good down payment,” Johnson, 47, said on the show.

A fond(ant) farewell to 'Nailed It!'

The season, dubbed “The Big Baking Challenge,” is hosted by comedian Nicole Byer and pastry chef Jacques Torres and has a $100,000 grand prize. The least-improved baker is eliminated at the end of each of the episodes.

Johnson drew first blood in the contest this season, winning the very first challenge that had the contestants stacking a crumb-coated cake.

Fondant, though, was her downfall. She was eliminated in the third episode on a challenge that required her to make a cake with the sculptable icing.

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“Fondant is not my friend right now. But I’m not going to give up. I’m going to keep trying,” Johnson said. “I don’t know what may happen in the future. I may decide to go into cakes. I’m not 100% sure. But it’s something that I would like to learn how to do.”

On her way out of the competition, Johnson got to grab baking tins, flavoring and a mixer as part of the pantry raid consolation that comes with being eliminated.

She’s putting those to use.

Next week, attendees of an Urban League entrepreneur and small business fair will be among the first to sample the new recipe for her lemon cupcake that was born from her “Nailed It” experience. She’s adding a lemon curd that she learned to make on the show, jazzing up the lemon cake and lemon frosted treat.

“I had heard of it and I like it but had never made it before," she said. "I’m going to give that a try and see how that goes over.”

Try CJ Sweets at the Indy Urban League Entrepreneur & Small Business Fair

What: CJ Sweets, cjsweets17.com, will be exhibiting at 4th Annual Entrepreneur & Small Business Fair. The fair, hosted by the Urban League's Entrepreneurship Center and its partners, gives residents the chance to learn more about and shop from local businesses and enjoy music from a live DJ and refreshments from food trucks.

When: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Aug. 26.

Where: 777 Indiana Ave. Free parking will be available.

More: The event is free to the public. Visit indplsul.org/entrepreneurship-small-business-information for more information or to learn how to volunteer.

Contact IndyStar reporter Cheryl V. Jackson at cheryl.jackson@indystar.com or 317-444-6264. Follow her on Twitter: @cherylvjackson.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Netflix's 'Nailed It' show contestant owns CJ Sweets in Indianapolis