2023 Hudson Valley Gingerbread Competition

Audrey Billups is the Executive Pastry Chef at Mohonk Mountain House and has more than 15 years of experience in baking and pastry operations.  Before returning to Mohonk in January 2017, Billups served as the pastry chef at Topping Rose House in Bridgehampton, New York where she artfully prepared bread, breakfast pastries, desserts, ice cream, sorbets, and mignardise for the seasonal restaurant. Prior to her role at Topping Rose House, Billups was the pastry sous chef at Ai Fiori, a one Michelin-starred and New York Times three-star restaurant and Marea, a two Michelin-starred and New York Times three-star restaurant, in New York City. Early in her career, Billups served as an assistant pastry chef at Mohonk Mountain House before moving to California to work as the pastry chef de partie at Addison at The Grand Del Mar in San Diego.

Chitra Agrawal is the Founder & CEO of Brooklyn Delhi, an Indian-American food brand inspired by her heritage. Chitra started Brooklyn Delhi to expand the conversation around South Asian food and culture in America. She has specialized in teaching, serving and writing about vegetarian food rooted in her family’s recipes from India for over a decade. Chitra is the author of Vibrant India: Fresh Vegetarian Recipes from Bangalore to Brooklyn (Penguin, 2017).  Her work has been featured in dozens of publications including the New York Times, Saveur, Food & Wine, and beyond.

While studying marketing in college, Amber of SweetAmbs Cookies realized that her true passion was decorating cakes and cookies – a profession where she could combine her artistic skills with her love for baking. She went on to obtain a degree in Baking and Pastry Arts from The Culinary Institute of America and now teaches others how to decorate cookies on their own through her mesmerizing video tutorials. Amber was named one of Forbes’s top influencers in food and is the author of two books, Cookie Art and Cookie Canvas.

A cookbook author, recipe developer, cooking instructor, and events planner, Rebecca is the creative force behind the Upstate Table, a culinary studio in Kingston, NY that hosts cooking/baking workshops and events. She has a deep passion for connecting people—to information, food, ideas, and each other.
The Upstate Table is a culmination of Rebecca’s 22 years of experience at stellar companies like Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia and Conde Nast.
Rebecca is an enthusiastic baker, and designs and sells wedding cakes, too. She studied culinary nutrition at The Natural Gourmet Institute (now a part of the Institute for Culinary Education), has taught in top cooking schools, contributes to national publications, and has appeared on national television shows like Good Morning America and NBC’s Emmy award-winning Naturally Danny Seo. She has written and co-/ghost written eight cookbooks, including the most recent, The Complete Vegan (Clarkson Potter, 2019).

Gina is a self taught chef/baker. Her passion for cooking and cake decorating brought her to start The Cake Artist Cafe in 2011. She is now a private chef and enjoys catering intimate dinner parties. She is super excited to be invited back as a judge for this year’s Gingerbread Competition.