About Willow Bird Baking

About Willow Bird Baking

Willow Bird Baking is the chronicle of the kitchen experiments, successes, failures, discoveries, messes, miracles, and musings of a determined upstart of a baker. It was founded on the belief that the best way to learn to make beautiful, delicious food is to try making beautiful, delicious food. You can do it.

Perusing photos of other people’s kitchen achievements is entertaining, but accomplishing things in your own kitchen that you never thought possible is life changing. My goal at Willow Bird Baking is to shower you with recipes that are fancy, adorable, sophisticated, tasty, and impressive, but also achievable for the home cook — and then get you in the kitchen! When you pull your first pan of homemade croissants out of the oven or set your gorgeous croquembouche on the dessert table, you’ll have gained a measure of kitchen confidence as well as an exhilarating experience. In this spirit, I hope you’ll join in the adventure.

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About Julie

When I was a little girl, I was in charge of the rice pilaf. I come from a family passionate about food: my grandma made the biscuits and gravy, my dad made the chicken and dumplings, and my mom made anything and everything, with a flourish of buttercream on top. My parents blazed a trail of fried chicken, homemade macaroni, and angel biscuits from their beginnings in the Midwest to my current home in the South (Charlotte, North Carolina).

That’s where I come from, and this is who I am: a believer, first and foremost, saved by grace. A writer in love with monumental, stirring images. And not least, a wrangler of ingredients and kitchen utensils. I love the challenge of a new recipe, and I love the community created by baking, sharing, eating, and communicating about food. I’ve got a warm space in my heart dedicated to impressing the people I love with something that tastes amazing.


About Byrd

Willow Bird Baking is named after someone very dear to my heart. On April 12, 2008, I drove to Dreamweaver Farms, the home of Carolina Poodle Rescue in Spartanburg, SC. Dozens of beautiful, healthy poodles were playing and milling about in the kennel — all except one, whose eyes were locked on mine from the moment I stepped in the door. I looked at her little face and knew that this was the puppy God had made for me.

Byrd dressed for Halloween as a popular euphemism.

Since then, little Byrd has been a devoted and loving companion, a sweet sister to my handsome turtle, a giver of sloppy kisses, a pillow warmer, a fervent fetcher, and the best cookin’ buddy anyone can ask for. See if you can catch her in the background of some of my photos sleeping on the back of the couch or pining for a bit of cupcake!


About YOU!

I want to get to know you as readers, bakers, and bloggers. As you find recipes or techniques here that you enjoy, I’d love to hear from you. Please leave me a comment with your thoughts or send a picture for me to post below! Also, feel free to repost recipes you find on this site; just notify me and give proper attribution. Can’t wait to hear from you!

Reader Photos:

Cindy Barnes used her leftover Peach Cobbler Cupcake batter to make a yummy breakfast, but it looks like Parasaurolophus might get to it first!



Amber made some Blueberry Lemon Cheesecake Cupcakes to eat with her mom, and here they are fresh out of the oven! She says, “I think I love you! The cupcakes turned out awesome! I used Lactaid milk with lemon juice instead of buttermilk, and added an extra teaspoon of lemon zest to the batter. The cupcakes turned out light and fluffy with just the right amount of sweetness.“



Ashlyn whipped up some Plum and Cream Mini Tortes, but opted for peaches instead of plums and allspice instead of cinnamon. She says, “These are some of the tastiest things ever and so simple to make.”



Jaime baked Jack-O’-Lantern Whoopie Pies and said the “recipe was so awesome, I still have people asking me to make them again for our gatherings.” Looks like Frankenstein’s monster approves!



Robin baked Taco Stuffed Crescent Rolls and simply stated, “They were AWESOME.”



Robin O. made a gorgeous Lemon Triumph Cake and said, “I was so proud of myself for making this . . . this lemon cake is definitely going into my ‘hall of fame.'”



Troy sent in a photo of a Chocolate Peanut Butter Bliss Cheesecake his friend Alex had baked and said, “Needless to say…you have a fan.“



Victoria baked a Caramel Fudge Brownie Cheesecake and says “it went down ammmazingly!!! Everyone loved it!!! They would not stop asking about what was in it, saying it was the best thing they had tasted!!“



Emma baked Lemon Burst Fairycakes. A fellow science nerd, she decorated them with “worms with GFP motor neurons or ventral cords, mutant coiling worms, and of course some flowers for the top.” She adds, “Thanks so much for reminding me how much fun it is to experiment with food and bring people together to enjoy it!”



Erin baked Ferrero Rocher Cupcakes. She said, “Thanks for your Ferrero Rocher recipe! The chocolate frosting is, indeed, AMAZING.” She already has plans to use it with other desserts as well!



Helen baked a red velvet cheesecake. She said, “Thanks again for a very do-able recipe!“



Trudy baked a birthday cake cheesecake for her boyfriend. She said, “The cake turned out great! My boyfriend loved it and it was officially the best cheesecake ever.“



Cathy from So Much CaKe made Maple Bacon Doughnuts for her husband. She said, “They were quite amazing, the birthday boy/man loved them!! So did my Dad…he wants some for his birthday now. 🙂 Thanks again!“

All photos and words on this site are the work of Julie Ruble unless otherwise noted, and they represent a lot of hard work. Please do not use any photos or text from Willow Bird Baking without first contacting juruble ‘at’ gmail ‘dot’ com and receiving written permission.

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