The familiar rituals of gathering ingredients, measuring, combining, and stirring or maybe kneading dough can be so soothing when you're feeling depressed and out of sorts. And you usually end up with something delicious to eat. Are you using baking as therapy? You're not the only one.
If you watched Season 9 of The Great British Bake Off, then you'll remember Kim-Joy, one of the most memorable contestants in the history of the show. Although she didn't take the top prize (that honor went to research scientist Rahul Mandal), she won viewers' hearts with her ultra-cute bakes, colorful outfits, and unbothered, optimistic personality.
Since her turn on the show, she has written a graphic novel and five cookbooks. She has also shared more of her life with us through social media, including the difficult parts, like her mental health. Her latest cookbook, Bake Joy: Easy and Imaginative Bakes To Bring You Happiness, is centered around a restorative approach to baking… one that focuses on reducing stress, celebrating difference, and unlocking creativity.
"Bake Joy: Easy and Imaginative Bakes To Bring You Happiness" presents a restorative approach to baking. Photo courtesy of Quadrille.
Evan Kleiman: Way back in December 2021, you shared something on Instagram that you described as a terrifyingly vulnerable post. It started out with, "This picture is of the antidepressant I take every day held in my anxiety-ridden, bitten figures." I know that you were inspired by another Bake Off contestant, Lottie Bedlow, who had posted about her struggles, but you were also inspired by your personal experiences. Can you tell us a bit about where you were then?
Kim-Joy: A lot of people ask me, "What got you started baking?" The only thing I can think of, because there's nobody in my family really who bakes or cooks massively, it was something that I just sort of picked up. I do think a lot of the reason why I got so into baking was I had very severe social anxiety and selective mutism when I was a child. I still consider myself very socially anxious but I hide it well.
Baking, I think, was an outlet. It's a small way to create something. It makes you feel like you're productive. You're creating something with your own hands — "Look, I can do this!" — and just makes you feel good about yourself. Also, it's probably my way of getting people to like me because anyone with social anxiety will know that the biggest fear is judgment of others and feeling that people don't like you for really weird reasons, even though you know they actually kind of do, or you're not sure.
Baking is something I can always come back to, and if you give a bake to somebody, it's just a nice little interaction. It makes them happy but I actually think it makes me happier because I get to make somebody else smile. It's just a joyous thing.
Kim-Joy distinguished herself from other contestants in the Great British Bake Off with her ultra-cute bakes. Photo by Ellis Parrinder.
I love what you say about baking in the introduction to Bake Joy. Would you read a part of it for us?
"Baking is a good opportunity to reconnect with how you're feeling. But baking joy isn't just about being happy and smiling whilst baking. Sometimes, it might be but so many of us bake when we're feeling down, and often only realize during or even afterwards that we're feeling that way. Sometimes, it's just about feeling that strange kind of joy that you get for embracing and acknowledging your sadness and showing compassion for yourself. Baking can also be an opportunity to reconnect with how you're feeling physically. And as adults, we make sure that children around us get enough rest and care, but as adults, we feel pressured to always be productive, so we neglect our own rest and relaxation, and we often see rest as something we can only have once we deserve it, when, in fact, rest is a need."
I love that so much. I understand that pandan cake was something of a turning point for you. When was that and why pandan cake?
I can't actually remember exactly how old I was. My mom is Malaysian Chinese, and she's got a book of Malaysian bakes and cakes. I was flicking through it and there's a recipe for pandan cake. But my love for pandan cake came from [when] I would go to Chinatown in London and see these green, cloud-like, fluffy sponges, and they're bright green. Then, I found that there's this book and there's a recipe, and I can make it myself, because I lived on the edge of London, so it's not something you can just grab every day. So I was like, I'm gonna make pandan cake.
It's actually quite a tricky recipe to make because it's a chiffon cake, so you've got to get the egg whites to the perfect consistency and fold it in but not fold it in too much otherwise you get it flatter. My attempts at pandan cake weren't the best but I just loved it. It was about the process and the memories. It doesn't matter if your bake's not entirely perfect.
When did cuteness start to be the focus of your bakes?
I think about a year before I applied for the Bake Off. I've always been into baking but when you're working full time, you don't have that much time. I was in shared houses all the time so you've got one cupboard in the kitchen, and it's hard to have much stuff to bake. But when I moved in with my partner, Nabil, I had my own kitchen. I was like, "Oh, this is amazing."
So I had a year before the Bake Off, and I just spent loads of time baking. I think, really, it's the Bake Off that brought out all the cuteness, and it's partly because the briefs that they give you are so bonkers. It's like, "Make a melting chocolate ball with a dessert hidden inside" or "Make a chandelier out of biscuits." I really enjoy the challenge of figuring out what design to do with that and I naturally lean toward cute stuff.
You've divided the book into three sections: Listen to Yourself, Embrace the Chaos, and Celebrate the Weirdness. Could you pick a recipe from each of those sections? Let's start with Listen to Yourself. Maybe something simple.
I love all the recipes so it's pretty hard to pick just one, but I just opened the page and I thought, this is the one — the Super Soft and Cozy Cinnamon Rolls with an Escapee Snail. It's just a cinnamon roll bake with cream cheese frosting on top but I was like, I want to make this fun. I always think about how to bring the bake alive and bring some character into it. So one of the cinnamon rolls is a snail, and you can make it because it's got the swirl already.
You add some toothpicks and mini-marshmallow eyes then sit it on top. Then, I've dragged a spoon or anything through the cream cheese frosting so it's like a snail trail, and it's running away from the rest of the cinnamon rolls.
I love it because I think if you're a cinnamon roll in a tray bake, you'd want to do that too. You'd just want to do your own thing, sometimes. It's hard to stand out. It's easier to sort of blend in with everyone else, and it's hard to be yourself. Also, because it's a snail, it's representative of how progress is progress, even if it's slow, even if you're just barely moving. So I feel like I relate to a snail.
Super-Soft and Cozy Cinnamon Rolls with Escapee Snail
Makes 12 rolls
Prep Time: 15 minutes • Cooking Time: 3 hours
These cinnamon rolls are the softest, fluffiest and tastiest ever! The secret is in the tangzhong method, which takes a few minutes longer but is so worth it for the softer dough it produces. These will fill your home with that familiar smell of freshly baked bread, but with an added layer of cinnamon coziness on top.
Ingredients
For the Thangzhong Paste
- 25g [2¾ Tbsp] strong white bread flour
For the Dough
- 160ml [²∕³ cup] whole milk (or use plant-based milk)
- 80g [ ∕³ cup] salted butter (or use vegan butter)
- 1 egg (or replace with 30ml/2 Tbsp vegetable oil and 15ml/1 Tbsp plant-based milk)
- finely grated zest of 1 orange
- 60g [5 Tbsp] caster [superfine] or granulated sugar
- 1 tsp salt 450g [3 cups] strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting
- 7g [2¼ tsp] instant fast action yeast
- neutral-tasting oil (such as sunflower or rapeseed oil), if needed, plus extra for oiling
For the Filling
- 80g [ ∕³ cup] salted butter (or use vegan butter)
- 130g [²∕³ cup] dark brown sugar (but light will work!)
- 2 Tbsp ground sweet Cinnamon
For the Cream Cheese Frosting
- 100g [scant ½ cup] full-fat cream cheese (or use vegan cream cheese)
- 45g [3½ Tbsp] salted butter (or use vegan butter) at room temperature, cubed
- 100g [¾ cup minus ½ Tbsp] icing [confectioners’] sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste or extract
- 25ml [scant 2 Tbsp] whole milk (or use plant-based milk)
For the Snail
- 2 white mini marshmallows (you can buy vegan ones)
- 2 toothpicks black edible ink pen (or black food dye)
Instructions
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First, make the tangzhong paste. Using a balloon whisk, mix the flour together with 100ml [7 Tbsp] water in a pan until smooth. Place the pan over a medium heat and stir constantly with a spatula until the mixture has thickened to a pudding-like consistency. Pour into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap (making sure it touches the surface of the tangzhong) and chill in the freezer for 10 minutes.
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Meanwhile, warm the milk for the dough in the microwave. It should be warm, not hot. Melt the butter in the microwave.
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Place the milk, butter, egg (or vegan substitute), orange zest, caster sugar, salt and chilled tangzhong in a large bowl and whisk briefly, then add the flour and yeast on top.
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To knead by hand, use a spoon to mix the wet and dry ingredients together until it forms a rough, shaggy ball of dough, then turn out on to a floured surface and knead until the dough is smooth and elastic. The dough will be sticky to start with, but avoid adding extra flour – it will become less sticky, particularly after its first rise. If needed, use a little oil to prevent it sticking. A dough scraper also helps to remove any dough that sticks to the work surface. Alternatively, if you’re lucky enough to have a stand mixer or bread machine, you can use this to knead the dough for 10 minutes.
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Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with lightly oiled plastic wrap and leave to rise at room temperature until doubled in size. The time it takes to rise depends on the ambient temperature and the warmth of your ingredients, but at a comfortable room temperature it should take around 2 hours.
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While it is rising, make the filling. Place the butter in a microwave-safe bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Microwave for 15–20 seconds until melted. Add the dark brown sugar and cinnamon, and stir with a balloon whisk to combine.
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Once the dough has risen, knock it back and turn out on to a lightly floured work surface. Roll out into a roughly 50 x 25cm [20 x 10in] rectangle, with the longer side facing you. You will find that the dough keeps trying to shrink back due to the gluten development. If you’re struggling to roll it out, just leave it for a few minutes to allow the gluten to relax, then return and roll it out further.
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Spread the cinnamon sugar filling evenly over the whole surface of the dough, then roll up the dough, starting from the longer edge, into a long sausage shape. Use a sharp knife and a sawing motion to cut this into 12 equal-sized pieces.
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Place the rolls, cut sides up, into a 25cm [10in] square glass oven-safe dish. There will be gaps between each roll, but when they rise these will close. Tip: OR do as we all do and use whatever trays you have around and fit them how you see fit!
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Loosely cover with a sheet of lightly oiled plastic wrap and leave to rise again until the rolls are doubled in size. Preheat the oven to 200°C fan [220°C/425°F/Gas mark 7] towards the end of the rise.
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Once risen, they’re ready to bake! Bake for around 20 minutes, or until golden on top. If the buns are getting too brown on top but the baking time isn’t up yet, cover them in foil to prevent them from browning further.
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While they bake, make the cream cheese frosting. Add the cream cheese (or vegan alternative), butter and icing sugar to a bowl and whisk using a balloon whisk or electric whisk until light in colour. Add the vanilla and milk, and mix again.
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Remove one roll and set aside, then spread the frosting on the cinnamon rolls in the dish while they’re still warm.
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You can either just eat the cinnamon roll you removed earlier, or you can turn it into a snail. Use a palette knife (or similar) to scrape off a ‘trail’ of frosting from the coated rolls. You will need to go over it a few times to get a clean effect. Place the removed cinnamon roll at the end of the snail trail. Stick the mini marshmallows on toothpicks and use an edible ink pen to draw on pupils. Poke the other end of the toothpicks into the roll to create your snail. You can spread a little leftover cream cheese on to the snail too.
I love that. In Bake Joy's Embrace the Chaos section, you seem like you're really pushing back against your own and society's perfectionist tendencies. And, of course, perfectionism can be tied to anxiety. So what is a good recipe when you're in that kind of mood?
I try to make the recipes in there ones where you kind of want those little bits of mistakes, almost, in your bake. I think bakes look the best when they're not totally perfect, when there's something a little bit askew. I like a lot of faces in my bakes. I think it's just fun. When the faces aren't perfect, you can really read a story and emotion in them.
The frog scones are great. Scones are super easy to make. The bit of chaos that you can embrace is that you never know how they're going to rise exactly in the oven, so you add little dough balls to form the eyes for the frogs and green egg wash, so they're green. Then, when they rise in the oven, you get that little crack in the scone that forms the mouth but you never know how that's gonna look until they come out of the oven. Some of them, they can be leaning massively one way or something, but as soon as you put the eyes on, they look amazing. I feel like they're everything I love about baking and baking for your own child.
Then there is the Celebrate the Weirdness section. I really love the Eyes On You Pineapple Upside Down Cake. Can you tell me about that? It was a cake that grew out of a brand, the canned pineapple brand.
Oh, did it?
Pineapple rings and red food dye are used to create this fun version of a pineapple upside cake. Photo by Ellis Parrinder.
‘Eyes On You’ Pineapple Upside-Down Cak
Serves 12
Quick and uncomplicated to make, yet beautifully soft and moist, and definitely possessing the ‘wow’ factor – this ticks ALL the boxes! Ideal for Halloween, but why limit it just to one day of the year? Enjoy this cake whenever you want.
Ingredients
For the caramel
- 70g [ ∕³ cup] soft brown sugar
- 70g [ ∕³ cup minus 1 tsp] salted butter, at room temperature, cubed
- 8 pineapple rings (from a tin [can])
For the sponge
- 150g [²∕³ cup] salted butter
- 150g [²∕³ cup] caster [superfine] or granulated sugar
- 150g [²∕³ cup] plain [allpurpose] flour (or use a gluten-free flour blend plus ¼ tsp xanthan gum; see page 8)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste or extract
- 3 medium eggs
- 1 Tbsp milk
To decorate
- large edible eyes
- red food dye
- red strawberry lace
- sweets
- worm-shaped sweets
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 160°C fan [180°C/350°F/Gas mark 4].
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Cream together the brown sugar and butter for the caramel until smooth and spreadable. Spread this paste around the base and sides of a 23cm [9in] cake tin.
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Arrange the pineapple slices on the base of the tin (on top of the paste).
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For the sponge, add all the ingredients to a mixing bowl and beat until combined. Transfer to the cake tin.
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Bake for 40 minutes, or until spongy on top and the cake has pulled away from the sides slightly.
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Run a knife around the circumference of the cake to ensure it’s not stuck to the tin. Place a serving plate on top of the tin, then flip so that the serving plate is now underneath. Carefully remove the cake tin to reveal your caramelized pineapple!
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Add edible eyes and use a paintbrush and red food dye mixed with a tiny bit of water to create vein-like lines on the pineapple rings. Add the sweets to create a spooky scene.
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Serve immediately, while still warm. It’s great on its own or with fresh cream or custard. If it doesn’t get eaten straight away, let it cool fully, then store in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 days, or in the fridge for 4 days.
Yeah, it represents such a time in American baking. I'm so interested to hear about your connection to it.
I think in the UK, it's got those retro vibes, as well. All the bakes in the book are easy to do but you can do twists on them to make them fun. For the pineapple upside down cake, the rings kind of look like eyes. When you turn it out, you flip the tin upside down, you lift the tin off the top, you see all the caramelized pineapple. Again, you never know exactly how that's going to look or turn out but it always turns out delicious. They look kind of like eyes, so I was like, this has got to be a Halloween bake. So it's a pineapple upside down cake and each pineapple ring is an eye. Then, you get red food dye and paint the pineapple rings so they're all bloodshot and gory. It's a fun one. You can't go wrong with it. Just get some red food dye out and some edible eye sprinkles. It's got the wow factor and it's delicious. Why have ordinary pineapple upside down cake when you can just have…
Bleary eyes.
Yeah.
It's such a lovely book and I think that your mental health message is so timely right now when so many of us are dealing with anxiety. Thank you so much, Kim-Joy.
Thanks, Evan.