Gone are the days of complex baking cookbooks and inaccessible recipes. The past five years have seen a massive increase in the self-made baking blogger, releasing easy, contemporary, and innovative recipes for all online. They now occupy a space that used to be inhabited only by top pastry chefs and the formally trained. Not only do we look to baking bloggers to review and recommend the best baking ingredients, but we also turn to them for recipes on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and now buy their published cookbooks.

The most notable baking bloggers of this year include Becky Excell of glutenfreecuppatea and Jane Dunn of Jane’s Patisserie, both publishing at least one cookbook this year. But why have they been so successful and achieved greatness so quickly? The answer: Social Media. These days social media allows such influencers to grow their presence and reach rapidly. They become part of an existing online community by sharing something that people are always interested in – food.

Overall, we’re inherently interested in food, we equate food with love because food is the earliest and most profound connection with our caregivers. Of course, posting an ‘Instagrammable’ plate of food immediately boosts your cool factor, but psychologically having a baking or cookery passion makes you seem more wholesome and put together. Combine that with a strong social media presence and you have instant success.

Baking bloggers are also very quick to capitalise on the latest foodie trends and make them their own. Enter ‘Kinder Bueno Cookie Pie’ into Google and you’ll be inundated with recipe after recipe and of course, you’ll see notable published baking bloggers hopping onto the half cookie-half pie trend. They’re also responsible for new hybrid bakes like Brookies (half cookie, half brownie) and other such indulgent bakes which break away from the traditional and conservative bakes we’ve seen in the past.

These incredible baking bloggers are being bold by taking risks, breaking the rules, and creating a fantasy like feeling within us all, making it possible to create overly indulgent bakes at home that quite honestly, taste GREAT. These bloggers are so influential that they even impact what’s being stocked in cafés and bakeries across the country. Crumbs and Doilies and Blondies Kitchen for example have all clocked-onto the latest baking trends thanks to the extra noise being made by these baking bloggers. These bakeries make sure their latest indulgent and innovative bake is communicated on all their social media channels, tagging the trendiest baking blogger at that time. So, we can certainly expect to see more contemporary bakes that followers are asking for and the latest trends to go instantly viral, especially with the backing of a published baking blogger.

It also seems that people prefer taking food advice from bloggers rather than professionals, as many baking blogs have a relaxed and inviting feel; it’s as though your friend is sharing the best cake shop recommendation or recipe with you. On the other hand, seeing a chef on TV can sometimes feel impersonal. They are professionals who are teaching you how to do something. Food bloggers and baking bloggers are more accessible through social media and how they showcase themselves makes you want to emulate them; they are truly creative and make it all look effortless.

As a result, it can be said that baking bloggers are the new influence brokers of the food industry. Traditional media channels are not as approachable, or personality-driven as social media audiences would like, and notable patisseries and bakeries understand this by using bloggers to promote their products. They invite bloggers to review their establishments and to the launch of their newest products. And, when it comes to commissioning a book, having an existing audience who are willing to purchase is a great incentive to publishers. Social media baking bloggers who bring the guarantee of success can make their passion for food and all their baked goodies profitable. And so, the rise of the published baking blogger continues…

If you follow a baking blogger, we’d love to know who. Tweet us or DM us @jellybeanagency! And if you don’t follow me already, you can check me out on Instagram @nikibakes_uk_