The winner of Halloween Baking Championship showed us how to make a spooky, show-stopping dessert

SALT LAKE CITY — This Halloween dessert is out of this world. A pumpkin pie base, blonde chocolate mousse, pretzel crunch, Swiss meringue buttercream — and that's not even the final touch. The topping is a Halloween-worthy candy slime. It's a show-stopping treat that only the best could create, and that's exactly who showed us how to make it. Melanie Bjork-Jensen is this season's winner of Halloween Baking Championship on Food Network! She shared how to make an ectoplasm-inspired dessert.

Bjork-Jensen is a registered nurse and self-taught baker. “I taught myself on YouTube,” Bjork-Jensen said. “I learned how to make wedding cakes on YouTube, and that’s how I paid to be a nurse.” She explained the challenge behind this bright green, slime-y ectoplasm-inspired dessert. “We were supposed to show the transition between life and death,” Bjork-Jensen said. “I didn’t want to mock grandma by turning her into an éclair. So, I made Ghostbusters.” Bjork-Jensen's slime topping is made from apple juice concentrate, lemon juice concentrate, sugar, salt and eggs. “With the pumpkin pie and the blonde chocolate, we’ve kind of got sweet and kind of a richer flavor,” she explained. “And then you need something acidic to not make it gross.” Despite being the only non-professionally trained baker among the final four contestants, Bjork-Jensen took home the top prize. “Every single person was more qualified to be there,” she said. “And the fact that I won is surprising to all of us, including me. I went right on the floor into the fetal position as soon as they said it.”

You can follow Melanie Bjork-Jensen on Instagram, @cake_by_melanie.