Show Notes
Today’s guest is Julie McAllister, a Charleston-based baker known for her hyperrealistic cakes. Julie transforms cake, fondant, and modeling chocolate into lifelike creations—from magnolias and oysters to designer handbags and Charleston architecture. She has also been a contestant on Netflix’s “Is It Cake?” and Food Network’s “Holiday Wars.”
Julie joins host Jessie Sheehan to talk about her baking journey, from childhood cake mixes to discovering her love of decorating in grad school after a memorable Christmas tree cake attempt. She shares how she taught herself how to decorate cakes from cookbooks, her early days juggling a 4 a.m. bakery shift with a full-time job, and how she built a business focused on hyperrealistic cakes.
They also dive into Julie’s signature work, from groom’s cakes to custom creations, and she walks Jessie through some of her most memorable designs, including a handbag cake for her Reese Witherspoon and a citrus topiary cake made of mini cakes.
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More on Julie: Instagram, website More on Jessie: Instagram, “Salty, Cheesy, Herby, Crispy Snackable Bakes” cookbook
More from She's My Cherry Pie
Today’s guest is Erin Jeanne McDowell. Erin is a baker, food stylist, teacher, and video host. She’s also the author of four baking books, including her brand-new “Bake Anything: Essential Recipes and Techniques to Build On for Endless Possibilities.”
Today’s guests are Claudia Fleming and Melissa Clark. Claudia is a legendary, award-winning New York City pastry chef and the executive culinary director at Daily Provisions. Melissa is a beloved home cook, author, New York Times Food reporter, and New York Times Cooking contributor.
Today’s guest is Anna Gordon. Anna is a pastry chef and the founder and CEO of The Good Batch Bakery in Brooklyn. Anna started The Good Batch in 2010, selling hand-pressed stroopwafels at the Brooklyn Flea, and later opened her brick-and-mortar bakery in Clinton Hill in 2014. She joins Jessie to talk about discovering her love of baking as a kid, learning through curiosity and experimentation, and growing The Good Batch from a market stand into a beloved Brooklyn bakery.
Today’s guest is Ruby Bhogal, baker, recipe developer, and cookbook author based in England. Ruby was a finalist on “The Great British Bake Off” in 2018, and she’s the author of “One Bake, Two Ways.” Her brand-new book, “Around the World in 80 Cakes,” is out this Tuesday in the U.S.
Today’s episode is a special live taping of She’s My Cherry Pie from Cherry Bombe House in New York City’s Meatpacking District. Host Jessie Sheehan sits down with Dona Murad of Librae and Lucie Franc de Ferriere of From Lucie to talk about their beloved New York City bakeries and their beautiful cookbooks—Dona’s “Librae: Third-culture Recipes from a Cult New York Bakery,” and Lucie’s “Cake From Lucie: Recipes and Techniques from the French Countryside to New York City.”