Too many people have told me, "I'm just not a natural baker," or "I can barely make boxed brownies" or "I'm too scared to bake from scratch". I know why baking is intimidating. I know how many things can go wrong because, as a self-taught baker, they've all gone wrong for me. And many people just aren't taught the basics of baking. To me, this craft is less about skill and talent (though they help) and more about patience, knowledge, the right tools, and a strict adherence to directions.
I think anyone with even the slightest desire to mix, scoop, slice, frost, etc. should have the confidence to do it. That's why my blog publishes thorough, detailed recipes: so that even the greenest bakers can make something really special. I want the tips and videos I share here and on social media to help home bakers level up in the kitchen — even if they're still on level 1.
My approach to baking is elevated, but approachable. I try to avoid using ingredients that will simply collect dust in your pantry after you've used them once. But I also believe that knowing how to spot quality ingredients (which doesn't always mean pricey) is half the battle when it comes to making delicious-tasting-and-looking food. So please, stop wasting your money, food, and time. There are millions, maybe billions, of recipes out there. With the cake, cookies, and beyond you'll find here, you can be confident you're choosing a good one!
It is the mission of easygayoven to cure the fear of baking.
what we do here
Ages 0-18 for me were spent in a suburb of Columbus, Ohio called Powell, receiving a good, old-fashioned raising in community theaters, taekwondo dojos, and choir rehearsals.
Like a lot of bakers, my origin story starts with me, sitting on the counter, watching my mom make elaborate birthday cakes in the shape of aliens or battlefields with toy soldiers. I would wait impatiently for her to sneak me the dregs of buttercream, cookie dough or cake batter on beaters. I was the kid at the annual family cookie day who took decorating *way* too seriously, slowing down production for the hundreds of cookies that were to be sent out as gifts.
About halfway through high school, I received a fire engine red KitchenAid stand mixer, which is still sitting just feet away from me in my Brooklyn, New York apartment. This began a new era of my baking journey. I would spend entire summers on the couch (whoops) watching the Food Network, mainly Barefoot Contessa. I started indiscriminately scraping the internet for cupcake recipes, pop-tart recipes, cake pop recipes. And I made them. And I didn't follow the directions. And I screwed them up. And for a while, my family and friends ate some pretty gnarly bakes.
I brought the stand mixer to my first college apartment and from there, my baking habit spiraled out to making banana bread weekly, trolling the internet for the best Levain chocolate chip walnut cookie copycat recipe, gifting Ina Garten's famous chocolate cake for my friends' birthdays.
When I graduated with my magazine journalism degree from Syracuse University (they no longer offer that major) I bounced around working at the absolute bottom levels of entertainment news sites. This work made me progressively more depressed and anxious, so I dove into baking again, taking on projects like macarons, layer cakes, buttercream flowers, babka, croissants! It was an escape that helped me through one of the worst years of my life — and this was *before the pandemic*!
When I started posting photos and videos of my bakes on Instagram, I was surprised at how many friends were really invested in what I was making. A couple folks said I should start a separate account for baking, and then more folks, and and after a conversation with some friends on what to call it, the handle @easygayoven was officially squatted upon. In July of 2019, this blog published its first post.
After a few years of working my full-time job as a social media editor at TED Talks, while also working on easygayoven nights and weekends, I left the corporate world at the end of 2021. Since then, I've been working on this blog and building a community of bakers on Instagram and TikTok, and it's been scary, exciting, frustrating, and freeing. And I'm glad you're here so we can find out together where this train is going!
More about me...
