Monty Brinton/CBS

Pickens resident Francine Bryson, pictured above with host Jeff Foxworthy, has been chosen as one of 10 amateur bakers vying for $250,000 and a cookbook contract on “The American Baking Competition,” premiering May 29 on CBS.

PICKENS — Pickens resident Francine Bryson has spent countless hours baking in the kitchen, baking her specialty pies, cakes and quiches.

Now she has the chance to turn all that hard work into a quarter of a million dollars and her own cookbook.

Bryson has been chosen as one of 10 contestants who will compete in a brand-new CBS reality series set to premiere tonight (May 29) at 8 p.m.

“The American Baking Competition,” based on the international hit “The Great British Bake Off,” will pit 10 amateur bakers from around the country in a weekly competition that will ultimately award one winner with a $250,000 grand prize and a publishing contract with Simon & Schuster to publish a cookbook.

Bryson was one of the 10 contestants chosen for the show, which will air for seven weeks and is hosted by comedian Jeff Foxworthy, after a nationwide search at local casting bake-offs. Judges for the show will be accomplished chef Marcela Valladolid and star baker Paul Hollywood, also a judge on the British series.

The six female and four male home bakers have varied lives and jobs, including a firefighter, photographer, homemaker, attorney, advertiser, home health care provider, college student, retiree, project manager and a baking enthusiast trying to go pro.

Each week, the program will feature the contestants competing in three unique challenges — “Signature Bake,” “Technical Bake” and “Showstopper Bake.”  The contestant who out-bakes the rest is that week’s “Star Baker,” while the one whose creations fail to impress is eliminated.

The final challenge will be between the three remaining contestants, one of whom will go on to be crowned the best amateur baker in America and win the $250,000 grand prize.