01-04-2025
A ninth-grader dreamed of a mixer — and the baking community delivered
This is why I like a
When I posted a note on Instagram (@sheryljulian) telling the
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Then the meanies came in swinging. Here's the
A simple Lemon Olive Oil Loaf Cake (see recipe) is one that novice bakers can make in a bowl without a mixer.
Sheryl Julian for the Boston Globe
Nonsense, says Suzanne Lombardi, a professional baker who has only ever used a KitchenAid. Lombardi is the founder of
At one of her first professional kitchen jobs, there were 20-quart and 60-quart mixers, but also a 5-quart they could move around easily. That's when she got the idea that she wanted one.
Lombardi is self-taught. When she was coming up, 'there was no internet, so you couldn't just Google something or watch it on YouTube.' She wants to pass on some things to help the young baker. Her list of essential books and equipment (see related story) is short, and includes mastering simple techniques for cookies, loaf cakes, bars. That will dictate what size pans you need.
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Miller (
Her advice for novice bakers: 'Go to trusted sources. There are so many recipes on the internet, but if you're starting out, you don't know if you have a good recipe or a bad recipe.' She offers a simple Lemon Olive Oil Loaf Cake (see recipe) that novice bakers can make in a bowl without a mixer.
Laura Raposa of
Bakers she follows include Joy Wilson (
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At her Foodsmith shop, Raposa has hired many young bakers in the decade she's been in business. Everyone in her shop must use a scale, rather than measuring cups, for its precision.
Hanna Feldman, who writes the typefoodie blog, had a KitchenAid mixer she wasn't using and donated it to a 14-year-old girl who is teaching herself to bake.
Sheryl Julian
You'll find both cups and weights on the popular blog,
By day, she works in the pharmaceutical industry. In her sideline, she doesn't market herself as a low-carb or low-sugar recipe creator. If a cookie is diabetic-friendly, she says, it's because she knows what's in it.
Feldman got her first KitchenAid mixer as a college graduation gift from her sisters. It's part of the Artisan series, a 5-quart tilt-head stand mixer. When she moved to various apartments with roommates, she didn't want anything to happen to it, so it stayed in the box for years.
Once she got married and was in an apartment with her husband, Jake Feldman (her mother-in-law is
We met for coffee and moved the box from her car to mine. 'It's been sitting in my office for two or three years,' she says. 'I didn't want to sell it. I thought it would find its way somewhere.'
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It's going to the 9th-grade girl who wished on a star.
Could she get by with a bowl and a spoon? She's doing that now. Is an expensive, second-hand stand mixer necessary to make simple cakes and cookies? Of course not.
But I don't agree with those who say she shouldn't have it. 'Everyone should support a youth's interest,' someone wrote on the Threads post. 'It's for the good of the village. I wish ppl would figure that out.'
Sheryl Julian can be reached at
