Kitchen Cupboards #6: Katie Olsen, Katiebird Bakes
The lawyer by day, baker by night who produces beautiful, accessible bakes from her Chicago apartment.
Welcome to Kitchen Cupboards, a monthly ingredient column where, rather than exploring some of my favourite ingredients, I’m taking a peek into some of my favourite food writer, creators and producers kitchen cupboards to talk about which ingredients shape their everyday cooking.
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As I have previously mentioned, I am not a natural baker. I’m a cook who you literally have to present a paid commission to to make me bake, nine times out of ten. But this does not mean I don’t have a constant fascination with the ingredients bakers keep in their kitchen cupboards, because, probably, the relative lack of time I spend baking means I’m not as discerning in this area as I am in others. And, as I have also previously mentioned, I don’t just love working in food because I get to cook and write every day: I love it because of the food community, the other brilliant food people I get to work with every day. And today I want to, if you’re not already acquainted, introduce you to someone I’ve been working with on the social media side of things for a couple of years whose tempting photography, accessible recipes and friendly style make her content a simple joy to work with.
Katie Olsen is the lawyer by day, baker by night who channels her extra-curricular creativity into producing delicious bakes for her website Katiebird Bakes from her downtown Chicago apartment. From her Small Batch One Banana Muffins, her Small Batch Loaf Pan Brownies to her Single Layer Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Ganache her recipes are for those of us who want something special and something from scratch without all the bells and whistles you’ll find in your average viral Instagram post, fitting baking in around 9-5 jobs and otherwise busy lifestyles.
Aside from on her blog, you can find Katie on producing beautiful recipe videos on Instagram, and over on Pinterest. Now, shall we take a look at what she deems essential to her compact bakers kitchen?