"CAKE WARS" RETURNS WITH A FRESHLY BAKED NEW SEASON OF THE SWEETEST CAKE COMPETITION ON TELEVISION

New Season Premieres Monday, June 6th at 9pm ET/PT on Food Network

New York - May 12, 2016 - Cake Wars returns to Food Network on Monday, June 6th at 9:00pm ET/PT with freshly baked new episodes, where four bakers vie for the opportunity to display their extraordinary cake creations at a big event, and for the grand prize of $10,000! In each of the 13 hour-long episodes, host Jonathan Bennett tests the talents and imagination of the contestants in two rounds of specially-themed challenges, where they must race against time to design mind-blowing cakes that will impress with their taste and presentation. Only one winner will take the cake in this sweet competition!

Episodes include:

Premiering Monday, June 6th at 9pm "Captain America" - SEASON PREMIERE! Bakers, assemble! Cake Wars takes on one of the greatest heroes in comic book history, Captain America! Only one of four talented bakers will take their incredible cake creation to a party celebrating the super-soldier hero's 75th birthday and take home $10,000. Stephen Wacker, VP of Animation at Marvel, joins judges Ron Ben-Israel and Waylynn Lucas as a guest judge to help decide.

Premiering Monday, June 13th at 9pm "SpongeBob" Get ready for SpongeBob, Gary and tons of underwater fun as four incredible bakers battle to have their amazing cake as the centerpiece of a party celebrating SpongeBob SquarePants. Some will sink, some will swim, but only one talented cake artist will take home $10,000. Tom Kenny, the voice of SpongeBob himself, serves as guest judge alongside judges Ron Ben-Israel and Waylynn Lucas.

Premiering Monday, June 20th at 9pm "Charlie Brown's All-Stars" Charlie Brown, Snoopy and the whole Peanuts gang are headed to Cake Wars to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the iconic special Charlie Brown's All-Stars! Four bakers swing for the fences as they compete to impress guest judge Lindsey Schulz, granddaughter of Peanuts creator Charles Schulz, who joins judges Ron Ben-Israel and Waylynn Lucas. Who will strike out, and who will win $10,000?

Premiering Monday, June 27th at 9pm "How To Train Your Dragon" It's time for a fire-breathing adventure as four talented breakers unleash their inner dragons and compete to have their amazing cake creations at the center of a party celebrating How to Train Your Dragon. Art Brown and Doug Sloan, executive producers of Dragons: Race to the Edge, join judges Ron Ben-Israel and Waylynn Lucas to help choose who will win $10,000 and who will go the way of the Vikings!

Premiering Monday, July 4th at 9pm "Emoji" It's the most expressive episode of Cake Wars ever, as four talented cake artists compete to take their cake creation to a party celebrating everyone's favorite little icons, Emoji! Who will earn a smiley-face, and who will earn a frowny-face? Judges Ron Ben-Israel and Waylynn Lucas, along with guest judge Gideon Maheux, co-founder of Iconfactory, will decide which baker will take home $10,000.

Premiering Monday, July 11th at 9pm "Cobra's Curse" Hold onto your seats and brace yourself for a hair-raising ancient Egyptian adventure, as four bakers battle to have their cake creation as the centerpiece of a party celebrating the grand opening of Busch Gardens Tampa Bay's newest thrill ride, Cobra's Curse! Brian Morrow, Corporate Vice President of Theme Park Experience, joins Ron Ben-Israel and Waylynn Lucas to help crown the $10,000 winner.

Premiering Monday, July 18th at 9pm "Garfield" The one and only Garfield brings his birthday smile & big appetite to Cake Wars! Four incredible cake artists compete to have their creations at the center of a party celebrating the lasagna-obsessed cat, as well as take home $10,000. Judges Florian Bellanger, Waylynn Lucas and guest judge Greg Berger, the voice of Odie on The Garfield Show, decide who wins.

Premiering Monday, July 25th at 9pm "Beauty & The Beast" Be our guest as Cake Wars celebrates a tale as old as time. Judge Paige O'Hara, the voice of Belle in Beauty & The Beast, joins Ron Ben-Israel and Waylynn Lucas to choose which of the four bakers will display their cake at a party celebrating the 25th anniversary of the iconic film and take home $10,000.

Premiering Monday, August 1st at 9pm "Halo" Get ready for the biggest battle the gaming world has ever seen, as four incredible bakers create action-packed cakes celebrating one of the biggest video games in the world, Halo! Ron Ben-Israel, Waylynn Lucas and Larry "Major Nelson" Hyrb, Microsoft's Emmy-winning Director of Programming, pick the cake creation will blast off to the Halo World Championship and take home $10,000.

Premiering Monday, August 8th at 9pm "Madeline" The bravest little red-head is coming from Paris to you in the cakes of your dreams, as Cake Wars celebrates Madeline! Four amazing cake artists battle to have their cake at the center of a party celebrating the popular character. Guest judge Kate Clark, founder of Yottoy, along with Ron Ben-Israel and Waylynn Lucas choose who will journey home with $10,000!

Premiering Monday, August 15th at 9pm "Jelly Belly" It's the most colorful and flavor-filled Cake Wars battle ever, as guest judge Lisa Rowland Basher, CEO of Jelly Belly, joins Ron Ben-Israel, Waylynn Lucas to pick the top cake and winner of the $10,000 grand prize.

Premiering Monday, August 22nd at 9pm "Paddington" Paddington the Bear is onto his next adventure, bringing his old hat and suitcase to visit Cake Wars! Ron Ben-Israel, Waylynn Lucas, along with RW Alley, the illustrator of Paddington, will pick the cake that will star at the 90th anniversary party, and the winner of $10,000.

Premiering Monday, August 29th at 9pm "Where's Waldo"- SEASON FINALE! Grab your walking sticks and red-and-white striped shirts, and get ready for a globe-trotting adventure as Cake Wars takes on Where's Waldo. Florian Bellanger, Waylynn Lucas and guest judge Brian Robinson, head of creative design & development for Dreamworks Animation will decide who wins the $10,000 and the chance to have their cake that will star at a party celebrating everyone's favorite hard-to-find traveler.

Fans can check out the images and recipes of the winning cakes, hilarious behind-the-scenes videos of Jonathan Bennett with the judges on set and more at FoodNetwork.com/CakeWars. Also, they can weigh in on their favorite designs on Twitter using #CakeWars.

Cake Wars is produced by Super Delicious Productions.

# # #

FOOD NETWORK (www.foodnetwork.com) is a unique lifestyle network, website and magazine that connects viewers to the power and joy of food. The network strives to be viewers' best friend in food and is committed to leading by teaching, inspiring, empowering and entertaining through its talent and expertise. Food Network is distributed to more than 100 million U.S. households and up to 35 million unique web users monthly. Since launching in 2009, Food Network Magazine's rate base has grown 13 times and is now the third largest monthly magazine on the newsstand, with over 12.4 million readers. Headquartered in New York, Food Network has a growing international presence with programming in more than 150 countries, including 24-hour networks in the United Kingdom, Asia, and the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region. Scripps Networks Interactive (NASDAQ: SNI), which also owns and operates Cooking Channel (www.cookingchanneltv.com), HGTV (www.hgtv.com), DIY Network (www.diynetwork.com), Travel Channel (www.travelchannel.com) and Great American Country (www.gactv.com), is the manager and general partner.