Shinmin Li

Born

1985-08-09

Birthplace

United States

Biography

Shinmin Li is a cake artist and television judge best known for her long run on Food Network's Halloween Wars. She holds a degree in art and studied at Le Cordon Bleu in Sydney, Australia. In 2005, Li founded I Dream of Cake, a custom cake studio in San Francisco's North Beach neighborhood known for its fashion-inspired designs. She treated each commission as a piece of edible art, and the studio's gallery-style space won two American Institute of Architects (AIA) awards. In 2010, she appeared as a guest judge on Top Chef: Just Desserts. The following year she joined Halloween Wars as a judge when the series premiered, and she has remained on its judging panel every season since. She was also a judge on Holiday Wars from its first season in 2018 and on the 2019 special Cookie Wars. She has been a guest judge on Best Baker in America and on The Ultimate Baking Championship, including its 2026 season finale. Away from television, Li co-founded Kora, an app that connects home cooks with people looking for home-cooked meals.