Barbara Sullivan of Barb’s Cakes came in second in TLC’s Ultimate Cake Off in an episode that aired Monday, April 12.

The competition was to see who could present the best cake at a ceremony honoring heroes of the Los Angeles Fire Department.

Sullivan’s theme for her cake was “Unsung Heroes Honoring Two Los Angeles Firefighters,” and she depicted a life-size firefighter in a yellow suit sitting on the ground with his arm around a 4 ½-foot smoldering building with a life-size flag. The firefighter also had a small Dalmatian puppy with a wagging tail.

The entire cake weighed more than 800 pounds.

For help and accuracy, Sullivan met with Alabaster’s firefighters prior to the event and used three assistants during the competition.

Sullivan also won a skills challenge during the competition where she built the best flames out of fondant and placed them on a cake.

Because of her skills challenge victory, Sullivan, who represented the green team, got to choose another team to sit out for 30 minutes.

She chose the blue team, who she said proposed the biggest threat.

“This is a competition the last time I checked; you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do,” Sullivan said.

However, the leader of the yellow team won the second skills challenge and picked Sullivan to sit out for 30 minutes as a result of her comment about the blue team being the biggest threat.

When asked about her 30-minute timeout, Sullivan said she wasn’t worried and was re-energizing, and she said it with a smile.

“If I don’t smile, I’m gonna cry,” Sullivan said with a laugh.

Sullivan said filming for the show lasted 19 hours for the nine-hour competition, although the program airs for just hour.

The program aired at 8 p.m., and a host of family and friends hosted a viewing party at First Baptist Church of Alabaster for Sullivan and her family: husband, Cliff, and son, Nic.

The party lasted from 7-9 p.m., and was hosted by friends and local businesses.

Sullivan, who said “I’m known as the butter cream queen in Alabama” during the airing of the show, even made a few cakes for the party in Alabaster: a chocolate cake and a white cake with almond flavoring and butter cream frosting.

“We still feel like winners even though we didn’t get the $10,000,” Sullivan said.