For baking enthusiast and Stanford sophomore Rachel Fong, it isn’t enough to whip up plain, ordinary desserts. Under her creative watch, a cake takes on the look of an adorable corgi or panda. A cupcake becomes a lovable unicorn. A brownie morphs into a penguin with a red bow tie. And frozen bananas become zoo animals.
At the age of 12, Fong launched a YouTube Channel dedicated to all things kawaii (the Japanese word for cute). Packed with crafting and baking tutorials, the channel has garnered more than 1.2 million subscribers.
Now Fong, a Piedmont native, has parlayed that social media success into a whimsical new cookbook — “Kawaii Sweet World: 75 Yummy Recipes for Baking That’s (Almost) Too Cute to Eat” ($24.99; Clarkson Potter). For Fong, who has “a big, unmanageable, insatiable and overenthusiastic sweet tooth,” it’s a passion project she completed while taking computer science and engineering courses at Stanford.
In addition to her culinary and scholarly pursuits, Fong is an ambassador of the #BakeAChange campaign run by She’s The First, a non-profit organization that fights gender inequality by supporting girls who will be the first in their families to graduate high school.
Fong is scheduled to participate in a “baking party” at Kepler’s Books in Menlo Park on Aug. 4 (4-6 p.m.). We recently caught up with the busy entrepreneur/student to chat about her latest endeavors.
Your first cookbook. Just how cool is that?
It’s surreal. It has been a dream of mine to have my own cookbook but I never thought it was possible. So it’s been crazy to see your dream come to life bit by bit. … It hasn’t fully set in.
Tell us what we’re getting with “Kawaii Sweet World.”
The idea was to share a lot of recipes for treats that taste as good as they look. Even if you didn’t want to decorate them, you still have some great recipes. But the decorating is achievable even for beginners. The book contains a lot of step-by-step photos.
Many people enjoy baking. But not everyone turns treats into cute, cartoon-like characters. How did you come to love the kawaii aesthetic?
I grew up a big fan of Hello Kitty. And when I was young, our family made a trip to Japantown in San Francisco and we came across stores with a full array of the style — plushies, purses, apparel, toys … It made a huge impression on me. I was mesmerized.
We’ve heard that your mom was a big inspiration.
She was. My mom loves arts and crafts and she always encouraged me to take advantage of my creative side and to appreciate that side of me. I started baking with her when I was 7 or 8 years old. It was just simple desserts at first — cupcakes and cookies. She taught me everything she knows about baking and crafting, and I was hooked.
So it sounds like mom deserves a cut of the cookbook’s proceeds.
(Laughing) Yeah, she probably does. But it’s not in the contract!
What’s the best thing about being a social media celebrity?
It’s funny. I don’t really think of myself as a celebrity. (The YouTube channel) grew so organically over time. I don’t think of my followers so much as fans, but as people who came along for the ride.
What’s best is connecting with so many people, and it’s cool that I’ve helped inspire some of them to take their education seriously. I’ve heard from a lot of girls who tell me that Stanford is their dream school and that they’re into computer science and engineering. That’s so gratifying.
You’re not exactly attending a kick-back college. How do you balance school with your other projects?
It’s just a lot of motivation and enthusiasm for what I’m doing. It also helps that I really care about my classes. I’ve gotten better at it, but I’m still learning to strike that perfect balance. Right now, it’s a lot of really running, really hard. But it’s worth it.
You’ve made more than 200 videos for your YouTube channel. Is your first one still posted?
Yes, it is. I debated taking it down because it’s kind of embarrassing — really low-quality. It makes me cringe. But I decided to leave it up because maybe others will see how I started and be inspired. It also serves to remind me just how far I’ve come.
Out of all the treats, what do you enjoy making the most?
Probably layer cakes. It’s a longer, multi-step process than a brownie or cookie. So you just immerse yourself in the baking, the decorating and the artistry. It’s fun to start out with a blank canvas and then try to turn it into a bunny, a panda or a corgi.
And what’s your favorite thing to eat?
I’m a sucker for anything chocolate.
Do people ever approach you and say: “Rachel, we love your treats, but they’re making me fat!”?
Ha! I’ve never heard anything that blunt, but maybe I will after the book has been out for a while. I just hope they think everything tastes good.
Contact Chuck Barney at cbarney@bayareanewsgroup.com. Follow him at Twitter.com/chuckbarney and Facebook.com/bayareanewsgroup.chuckbarney.
