My Interview with Joy The Baker
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If you ever search Google for the top 50 food bloggers of the world, among those names you will find Joy The Baker. A Southern California based blog ” powered by WordPress, an unbelievable amount of granulated sugar, and a sometimes unreasonable desire to share with you all of her kitchen happenings”
Ms. Joy Wilson started her baking blog a little over two years ago, when she discovered the world of food blogging, and decided she wanted to join the community, and share her love of food with the rest of the world. And in that short amount of time, she has been named one Eight of the very best Food blogs by Forbes, The Best Baking Blog by Food Buzz, she has been nominated for Best Food Blog by the 2010 Bloggies, and named one of the 50 Best Food Blogs in the World. She has had numerous giveaways all of which have brought in thousands of entrants, and with the help of a few friends started an event company called On The Lamb Food and Beverage.
She’s entertaining,funny,smart,creative,dedicated, and inspiring. To me she’s my mentor, whom I aspire to be like someday.Joy the Baker’s blog, her love of food, and the fact that she has been enamored with cooking since she was a child like me, was a huge inspiration for me to start my cooking blog.
Recently, she and her gal pals, from On the Lamb Food and Beverage, hosted a cooking demonstration at Surfas here in sunny Los Angeles California. And I being a huge Joy the Baker fanatic had to go.
So I got all dressed up, and my mom and I headed on down to Surfas to meet Joy. When we got there the place was packed, the parking lot was packed, it was all packed, there was standing room only, and I got there just in time to watch the gals of On the Lamb whip up fabulous mini Strawberry Banana Cream pies for the crowd.
When it was over I walked up to the ladies of On the Lamb, and asked to speak to Joy, and right when she walked over to me I started crying, I was so happy to finally meet her. Through my tears I asked her if I could interview her for my blog, and she said yes, just email her and we’ll get started.
So I week or so passed by, and I didn’t email her, (I just didn’t know what to say), and then, she emailed me, to see if I still wanted to do the interview. WELL OF COURSE!! I got right on it, sent her the questions, she answered them back, and here I am sharing my interview with Joy the baker with you!
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How, and when did you get a passion for baking?
My passion for baking came from my passion for eating sweet things. My parents weren’t the kind of folks who would buy a package of Oreos or doughnuts for the house, so if I wanted something to satisfy my sweet tooth, I had to learn now to bake it myself.
With the gift of making such incredible edibles, how do you stay so fit?
I think the trick is that I don’t eat all of the baked goods that I make. I sure do eat plenty… but I mix that in with going for hikes around Los Angeles, going for runs in my neighborhood, and eating lots of kale. I like kale almost as much as I like cookies. Strange but true.
Do you ever stay awake in the middle of the night, thinking about the next masterpiece you want to create?
I stay awake at night dreaming up my next baked goods. I daydream about what I’m going to do with the pound of butter in my fridge. Yes. I’m always thinking about baked goods. It’s sort of an obsession.
If you were on Iron Chef America, and the main ingredients were lemons and ricotta cheese, name 2 things you would make.
With lemon and ricotta I’d make fluffy lemon zest ricotta pancakes with a lemon glaze and I’d love to make ravioli from scratch with lemon and ricotta, black pepper and sage. Yum!
Are there any trends you see in the baking business? If so please share!
What’s popular in the baking world right now? Cupcakes. Red Velvet anything and Macarons. I think these three things are sort of on their way out. What’s next is hard to say… maybe doughnuts will be the next big trend. I’d like that a lot.
What is the number one thing every baker should have in their kitchen?
Every baker should have a great spatula and a great whisk. With these two things and a mixing bowl… it won’t really matter if you have a fancy electric mixer or not.
You inspire me, who or what inspires you( for baking)?
I’m inspired by the seasons that bring an abundance of fresh fruit and vegetables to my local farmer’s market. I’m inspired by amazing pastry chefs like Sherry Yard. I’m inspired by going down to my local bakery to taste test some treats. I’m inspired by my chef friends who area always playing with flavors and combinations. There is inspiration everywhere!
What do you enjoy most about baking?
I think that baking is super relaxing. I love that I can quietly mix together a few ingredients, heat them, and then end up with something delicious and beautiful. It’s the ultimate rewarding relaxation to me.
As a baker, what food did you have the hardest time getting right?
I’m still working on my roast chicken skills. I haven’t perfected it yet. I think that’ll take a lot of time and practice and chicken.
What advice would you give to amateurs like me to stay motivated?
If you can dream it up, try to cook it up. Always just try… and then try again.
As a child did you cook with your father?
As a child I cooked with my father a lot. My Dad is a great home cook. He loves it. Most of what I know about baking I learned from baking with him for years and years. We still love to bake together. It’s our favorite thing to do.
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Well Yall, that’s it. It was so much fun. I learned so much about Ms. Joy! Like we both share a love for kale, and the best advice for a rookie cook is if you can dream it you can cook it up!Thank you so much Ms. Joy, for letting me interview you, oh and if you ever need a recipe or any tips for roast chicken, just let me know, I had to make 6 for thanksgiving when I was 13!
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Hi Shauniece – What a great interview with Joy! You asked so many thoughtful questions. I wish I had known you would be there… I would have come and said hello! I was only able to stay for half the presentation though, but maybe I’ll run into you in Surfas sometime! You should definitely try to make the Strawberry Banana Cream Pie. It’s easier than it looks! Thanks for visiting my site!