Baking Tips from the ‘Mary Berry of Instagram: The Golden Rules

It’s been a decade since hobbyist baker Jane Dunn began her journey with a simple food blog. What started as a small passion project has blossomed into social media stardom, with her books soaring to bestseller lists.

Now dubbed the “Mary Berry of the Instagram age,” her debut book, Jane’s Patisserie, broke records by becoming the fastest-selling baking book of all time, with 44,000 copies sold in just three days. This was followed by other bestsellers and a social media following exceeding 2 million.

Dunn, 31, who idolized Dame Mary Berry and the Hairy Bikers growing up, finds her baking success surreal. "It was something I just started as a hobby and I can’t quite comprehend the fact that I’m still doing this 10 years on, with four books and millions of people following my journey."

Her journey brought newfound confidence, a stark contrast to her younger, shy self growing up near Portsmouth. Opting for catering college over university, she held a series of jobs while pursuing her love for baking in her free time.

"Both my parents were teachers, so I felt a little bit scared to be the one who didn’t want to go to university, but they were the most supportive they could have been."

She overtook her parents’ kitchen, using their cupboards for ingredients and testing recipes on family and friends. "They had a lot of cake to eat," she recalls.

It took two years for the food blog to gain traction and another two years before she could leave her other jobs. During this time, Dunn mastered SEO and other tech skills, leveraging platforms like TikTok and YouTube.

She returns to basics with her fourth book, Jane’s Patisserie: Easy Favourites. The book features sweet and savory bakes with quick hacks, and includes recipes like apple crumble cake, tiramisu cupcakes, and feta garlic muffins.

The blog, social media channels, and bestselling books have transformed her life. "It’s shown me that, as somebody who was quite shy, quite nervous, not really confident in what they were doing, if you love something, it’s 100 per cent worth following. It (baking) gave me so much more confidence."

Dunn was a judge on the Queen’s Jubilee Platinum Pudding competition alongside Monica Galetti and Dame Mary Berry. She’s also appeared on TV shows like James Martin’s Saturday Kitchen and ITV’s This Morning. Recalling her first TV experience, she said, "I was so nervous the first time I was on TV that my family could see me shaking while pouring sugar into a bowl."

“It’s very weird for me, as when I was a child I was terrified of everything, I had absolute stage fright, but I can now go and do that confidently.”

She avidly watches each new season of The Great British Bake Off. "I could never deal with the time constraint, the stress, how do they do it? I swear chocolate week is always the hottest week of the year, so it’s always going to melt, but it’s showing how you can still do something, and have fun with it, which is really important."

New recipes are tested on her boyfriend, a graphic designer, and her family and friends. She currently lives in the South of England with her dog and two cats, and works from a studio kitchen where she develops and photographs her recipes. Her team includes a social media assistant and a videographer, but Dunn manages everything else.

"I like discovering new trends. For example, all things pistachio seem to be really popular right now so we’ll try that if it’s what people want."

She credits the success of her blog and books to their simplicity. "I think my recipes are simple, they’re popular favourites, I’m trying to make it as accessible as possible. Everyone feels they are allowed to give it a go. It’s not intimidating. I only ever buy ingredients you can buy in a supermarket. You can make it if you have a mixer, or if you just have a bowl and a spoon."

When it comes to baking, Dunn offers crucial advice: "The best rule is to make sure you read the recipe at least twice and always weigh out your ingredients first."

She’s not afraid to admit mistakes. "I’m a regular person, I’ve dropped stuff as soon as it’s come out of the oven, I’ve forgotten to put sugar in before, because I didn’t read a recipe. But if anything fails, I try to make something else with it. So, if a cake is a bit dense I might dry it out a bit more and turn it into a biscuit, so I still get something out of it."

Dunn also shares practical kitchen hacks. "You can freeze leftovers for another day. Cakes freeze really well. I always wrap my cake in a double layer of cling film and then a layer of foil when I’m freezing it, then thaw it in the fridge. There’s no waste. I did a hack recently where you can make raw cookie dough, freeze it as raw and then if you have a craving you can just pop it in the oven frozen, add one or two minutes to the baking time and you can have a freshly baked cookie whenever you want."

She even offers tips for unconventional baking methods. "I recently made a pineapple upside-down cake in a cake tin on a barbecue with indirect heat—where your coals are one side and your food is the other side—and it was the perfect sponge. It requires a lid, and you’ll need heat deflectors if you have a gas barbecue, making sure the heat isn’t directly below the cake tin," she advises.

Dunn draws inspiration from others. "I’ve met Mary Berry on the Platinum Pudding competition and she was just so inspiring. She said you’ve got to cook what you want to eat and have fun with it. I don’t think everybody knows everything about cooking or baking and I think hearing tips and tricks from other people always benefit you to be open-minded."

Jane’s Patisserie: Easy Favourites by Jane Dunn is available now.

Source: PA Media