With the holiday season upon us, here are six of our favourite local bakers who serve up a dollop of inspiration on the regular. Not only are their drool-worthy recipes tried and true, but you can go beyond social media with online classes, newsletters, cookbooks and even pop-up bake sales.

Lyndsay Sung (@cococakeland)


Lyndsay Sung is the self-taught wizard behind Coco Cake Land, a dreamy award-winning blog with recipes, tricks, tips, and sprinkles of joy along the way. From whipping up buttercream made using aquafaba (the gloopy liquid from canned chickpeas) to building well-structured cakes using the chemical reaction between vinegar and baking soda, the Vancouver-based author’s second cookbook, Plantcakes: Fancy + Everyday Vegan Cakes for Everyone, makes egg- and dairy-free baking a piece of cake.

Saïd M’Dahoma (@thepastrynerd)


Calgary resident Saïd M’Dahoma is a neuroscientist turned bonafide pastry nerd. While the art of French pâtisserie can be intimidating, the charming French-Comorian baker breaks recipes and techniques down into bite-sized pieces. From multi-coloured macarons and flaky croissants to mirror-glazed mousse cakes, the idea is to take you inside the mind of a pastry chef with easy-to-follow instructional videos teaching the “hows” and “whys.” If you prefer to get hands-on in real-time, book onto one of his virtual masterclasses instead.

Tara O’Brady (@taraobrady)

 

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Ontario-based food writer Tara O’Brady is the bestselling author of Seven Spoons: My Favorite Recipes for Any and Every Day, a resident judge on The Food Network Canada’s Wall of Bakers, the cultural consultant for CBC’s hit series Run the Burbs, and quite possibly the queen of chocolate chip cookies. Sign up for her gorgeous newsletter for tried-and-tested recipes, all shot and styled by O’Brady.

Julie Van Rosendaal (@dinnerwithjulie)


With a whopping thirteen cookbooks under her belt, we can assure you that Julie Van Rosendaal’s doable and delicious recipes work. Whether you’re in the mood for crisp-but-chewy cocoa-swirled meringues, golden-coloured galettes or stellar cinnamon buns (including a mega share-size variation), beyond social media, the food columnist at CBC Radio and The Globe and Mail is always sharing new content. And remember when our butter wasn’t as soft as it used to be during the pandemic? It was Van Rosendaal’s detectivelike reporting that cracked the Buttergate case (and it spread everywhere).

Lauren Tjoe (@lauren_makes_and_bakes)


Even though Lauren Tjoe fondly recalls baking alongside her mother and grandmother as a kid, she abandoned the hobby entirely when she discovered she was gluten- and dairy-intolerant. Once COVID-19 hit, not only did she learn how to adapt recipes using sight, touch and smell rather than taste, but the University of British Columbia student became The Great Canadian Baking Show champion in 2022.”I would describe my baking as being like your grandma’s but better,” says Tjoe cheekily. The rising star now hosts pop-up bake sales around Vancouver and Toronto via TJOEY’s.

Yunhyeon (“Gloria”) Jang (@gloriajkitchen)

 

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After completing her culinary and pastry training in South Korea, Gloria Jang moved to Canada in 2012. But it wasn’t until last December that she started dabbling in content creation. Now, with close to a million Instagram followers, it’s safe to say her cinematic aesthetic, which uses cute props and tight hand crops, has found a sweet spot on the app. Standout recipes include the chocolate eye bun, black forest cake and beignets.

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