Joy Wilson - Joy the Baker Cookbook: 100 Simple and Comforting Recipes

joy the baker kitchen tips

from a sometimes messy, sometimes understocked, mostly delicious kitchen

pancakes pancakes pancakes

and other lesser breakfast items

i need a hug or a brownie. maybe both

super comfort, straight from the oven to your aching heart

oh, happy day!

recipes to celebrate, from sheet cake to malted milkshakes

i think i just ate chocolate for dinner

dont worry, your secret is safe with me

have dessert, will travel

the best desserts to take to a party, ship to a friend, or sell at a bake sale

Hey Dad, the phone call started, can I have Aunt DeDes pound cake recipe? I want to put it on my blog.

Whats a blog? my dad replied.

Its an Internet thing, Dad. I dunno, Ill tell you later, I said, trying to stay on topic.

Well, if I give you the recipe, will you bring some of the cake over later? Dad is a negotiator.

Sure. But only if I can bring over a few loads of dirty laundry, too. Im a negotiator also.

Deal, Dad said.

I spent most of 2008 waking up at 3:30 in the morning. I use the term in the morning loosely, as that hour is actually the middle of the night. Id shuffle into my chef coat, wiggle into my kitchen clogs, and make my way to my job as a baker.

I should tell you now that being a baker is not glamorous. Id wear my hair in a bun, and invariably find it dusted with flour by the end of the day, my mascara would sometimes singe my eyes shut if I poked my head too far into the oven, and I cant even count the number of scars I have from burning myself on hot pans.

I should also tell you that being a baker in those early-morning hours has been the most joyous and satisfying career. There was always a warm cookie to sneak off the speed rack, a fresh doughnut to taste test, and a kitchen full of surly baker people to pass the hours with. Cupcakes are boxed up for parties. Fresh scones are paired with black coffee; muffins are bought, shared, and enjoyed. Being a baker was entirely satisfying.

I didnt just fall into a baking career. Ive been baking with my father and aunt since I was old enough to stand on a stool in the kitchen. My dad had me helping him roll out pie crusts just as soon as my little fingers could help him hold the rolling mat. My aunt DeDe, who was blinded by a brain tumor, also taught me what was what in the kitchen. From spice cakes to tea cookies, I learned to get the feel for baked goods, moving beyond the actual recipe. My mom, the cake decorator, taught me how to make a perfectly spreadable frosting and how to take cakes from good to great, with pink borders and sugar flowers. Surrounded by all of that love, support, flour, and butter, its no wonder I became a baker.

I should be honest: Im not a classically trained pastry chef. Im a self-taught, family-taught, and taste-bud-taught baker, and truly passion driven. Ultimately, I really like cakes and cookies, so I taught myself how to make them.

Can I tell you a secret? I faked my way into those bakery jobs. Its not that I couldnt do them, its just that I didnt have the specific culinary school experience most bakeries require. Instead of fluffing my rsum or lying about culinary school, I would simply bring a fresh batch of chocolate chip cookies or a big box of brownies with chocolate buttercream frosting to the interview. It was always better to show off my skill rather than just talk about it. The trick worked, and I found myself on the early-morning baking shift before I knew it.

Joy the Baker, the blog, was born in early 2008. I borrowed a camera and a computer, and had a friend teach me how to use them. In its early stages, Joy the Baker was a less than graceful place for awkward food photography, personal over-sharing, and recipesalways recipes. Three months in, I marveled at the thirty-two readers Id amassed. A year later, I was humbled by the one thousand people that would visit the site daily. Today, Im in awe of the community that Joy the Baker has brought together. There are people in the world that are just as crazy as I am about butter, sugar, and flour. Thank heavens! Its amazing what food and photography can inspire.

I approach baking in a nonconventional way. When I decide to bake something, I think not about the actual item that I want to bake, but how Im feeling and what I want to re-create: an occasion, a person, a season. Its the emotion rather than the actual item that inspires something beautiful and delicious. People connect with the mood more than the food.

Almost everyone loves dessert. People are just looking for an excuse to eat cake for breakfast. If you have the power to coax something beautifully sweet out of your kitchen, its as though you have a magic wand in your hands. With a recipe and a mixing bowl, I promise that you will have the power to delight your daughter with birthday cupcakes, sway your husband with chocolate chip cookies, and surprise your coworkers with homemade coffee cake. Theres an undeniable satisfaction in putting a sweet treat in someones hand and enjoying the resulting ear-to-ear grin.

This cookbook is your magic wand. All of these treats are meant to be sharedunless of course youre feeling greedy, which I also totally understand and sometimes support.

Each recipe in this book is meant to be approachable, comforting, and, of course, delicious. I approach my kitchen with a lighthearted spirit, and I want everything that comes out of it to feel free of pretension or complication. These recipes aim to be fun to make and a joy to eat.

I encourage you to use this book to celebrate life and love. Theyre both made better with sugar, butter, and cream. Theres an undeniable connection between sweet treats and smiles; I hope this cookbook inspires both.