Tonight: Palo Alto watch party for ‘Best Baker in America’ finale

Think it’s easy to create a 12-layer cake? To re-imagine a classic pastry like an eclair? To bake an over-the-top cake that would be worthy of a royal baby celebration?

Eric Keppler, the executive pastry chef at the Four Seasons Hotel Silicon Valley, has made it through several challenging rounds of the “Best Baker in America” competition — and right into tonight’s finale.

So the East Palo Alto hotel is hosting a watch party for fans of Keppler’s amazing desserts. The event will start at 5:30 p.m., with the Food Network finale airing at 6 p.m. here (via an East Coast feed) for party-goers. (For home viewers, the West Coast version will air at 9 p.m.)

Keppler, who is known for his outrageous holiday dessert displays and for bestowing names on his desserts. will go up against two other finalists, Jeffrey De Leon of Los Angeles and Joshua Livsey of Boston.

Although Keppler’s been at the Peninsula hotel since 2011, his fan base stretches throughout the Bay Area. A Hayward resident, he previously worked as a pastry chef in San Francisco for Austrian pastry chef Gerhard Michler, then became executive pastry chef for La Patisserie in Cupertino

The event is free. If you’d like to attend, RSVP by phoning the hotel restaurant, Quattro, at 650-470-2889.

Details: 2050 University Ave., East Palo Alto, just off Highway 101.