Because I love to bake—and because of a new baking-themed, queer-inclusive picture book out recently—here’s a tasty roundup of the many LGBTQ-inclusive kids’ books with baking themes, plus a look at the connections between baking and LGBTQ rights!
Flour Power
Anti-LGBTQ bakers have sometimes tried to refuse making cakes for weddings of same-sex couples or for other LGBTQ events, most notably in an incident that led to the 2018 U.S. Supreme Court case Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, which was unfortunately a victory for the baker, though on narrow technical grounds. Other bakers, however, have have wielded their whisks in support of LGBTQ equality, making free cakes for couples experiencing discrimination and signing a “friend of the court” brief in support of the couple in the Masterpiece case, as I explained in a 2017 post. General Mills’ Betty Crocker brand in 2013 even donated cakes to the first three same-sex couples to marry legally in Minnesota.
King Arthur Baking, where I spent a delightful week this spring at a bread baking class, has donated to and raised awareness for The Trevor Project and OutRight Vermont, which both help queer youth. And when the company posted a Happy Pride message on Instagram this year and a commenter asked, “What does this have to do with baking products?” the company’s response was immediate and clear:
As a baking company that’s made spreading joy and building community a central part of who we are, it’s important to us that people who’ve historically struggled to find safety and acceptance know that our kitchen is place where they’re valued and loved. Doing so contributes to a healthier, more accepting, and more rich community from which we all benefit.
Individual bakeries, too, like Chicago’s Jennivee’s Bakery, founded by baker and Filipina trans woman Jenne Vailoces, help provide jobs and support for LGBTQ people and those of other marginalized identities. [Update, 6/12/2022: A North Carolina baker is making “Please Say Gay” cakes to protest his state’s pending curriculum censorship bill, reports LGBTQ Nation, with a percentage of sales going to the LGBTQ Center in Durham.] None of these mentions is a paid promotion; I’m just trying to show some love for these LGBTQ-supportive businesses.
Additionally, a quick online search of “lgbtq bake sale” shows just how many LGBTQ organizations around the country rely on our sweet teeth and carb cravings to help fund their work. It’s no wonder rainbow-hued recipes for Pride abound.
The connection between baking and LGBTQ rights goes way back. In 1974, several lesbian mothers and friends in Seattle founded the Lesbian Mothers’ National Defense Fund to help lesbians fighting with ex-husbands for custody of their children. The organization’s newsletter was called “Mom’s Apple Pie.” The name was then used as the title of a 2006 documentary, Mom’s Apple Pie: The Heart of the Lesbian Mothers’ Custody Movement.
As that name indicates, and as the books below show, baking can connote both special occasions and everyday moments of home and family. We bake for those we love (including ourselves), and baking is often bound up with family holidays and traditions. It’s no wonder baking has become a theme in LGBTQ-inclusive kids’ stories as in so many other kids’ books. Take a moment, too, to appreciate that there are now so many LGBTQ-inclusive kids’ books that we can find specialty themes like this in them! Enjoy these titles with a baked treat of your choice!
Picture Books and Early Readers
Cinderelliot: A Scruptious Fairytale, by Mark Ceilley and Rachel Smoka-Richardson, illustrated by Stephanie Laberis (Running Press Kids). In this new and tasty riff on the classic story, Cinderelliot is a young man who loves to bake, but must rely on the help of his fairy godfather (in a purple plaid suit and pink shirt) to fend off his evil stepsiblings and win the heart of the pastry-loving prince.
Two Grooms on a Cake: The Story of America’s First Gay Wedding, by Rob Sanders, illustrated by Robbie Cathro (Little Bee). The story of the first same-sex couple in the U.S. to legally wed—back in 1971—told entertainingly by the two groom figurines on their wedding cake.
The Bread Pet: A Sourdough Story, by Kate DePalma, illustrated by Nelleke Verhoeff (Barefoot Books). The whimsical tale of a girl and an out-of-control sourdough starter left by her uncle (who could be read as gay). She happens to have two moms (and one has a more masculine gender expression), but this is incidental to the tale. Similarly, the girl also has cochlear implants, but they are not part of the story; they’re just part of the girl’s life that we seen in the illustrations.
Every Cake Has a Story, by Christina Tosi, illustrated by Emily Balsley (Dial). “Everything was the same in Samesville,” begins this tale by Christina Tosi, two-time James Beard Award-winning chef and owner of bakery chain Milk Bar. An overall-clad girl named Sammi wishes for change, then gathers her friends (including some who seem gender creative or nonbinary) to help make a magical cake celebrating individuality.
Going Up! by Sherry J. Lee and illustrated by Charlene Chua (Kids Can Press). A girl named Sophie and her dad have been invited to a birthday party at the top of their apartment building in this fun book about community. Sophie and her dad first bake homemade cookies, then get on the elevator and ride to the top, stopping at each floor to take on new passengers that reflect their diverse community, including a two-woman couple, a child who reads as a boy and is wearing a tutu, and several others who could be read as queer (as well as diverse in racial/ethnic identities).
Cookies and Cake & The Families We Make, by Jennifer Egan and illustrated by Robin Gulak (Laredo Publishing). A slightly older work (2011), this is a celebration of many types of families, including ones with same-sex parents, using the metaphor of the different cakes and cookies we can bake. The rhymes are occasionally a little awkward, but the intent is good and the metaphor apt.
Baking with Dad, by Aurora Cacciapuoti (Child’s Play). I’m including this book about a girl making a cake with her dad even though it’s not entirely clear if the man they’re making it for is her other dad or another male relative or friend. If it speaks to you and your family, though, then enjoy it!
Narwhal Adventure (Mermicorn Island #2), by Jason June and illustrated by Lisa Manuzak Wiley (Scholastic). In this second volume of an early chapter book series about Lucky, a half-mermaid, half-unicorn mermicorn, Lucky is excited to be helping his friend Ruby enter a baking competition. Their new friend Nelia the Narwhal wants to help, too. An accident with a magic seashell might lead to disaster, however, unless the three of them and two other friends can find a clever solution.
Kids’ Cookbooks
[Updated: Added these two after the original post.] Bake, Make & Learn to Cook: Fun and Healthy Recipes for Young Cooks, by David Atherton and illustrated by Rachel Stubbs. Atherton, 2019 winner of The Great British Bake Off (or The Great British Baking Show, as it’s known in the U.S.), shares his culinary talents and sense of fun with younger readers. Here are Banana Bear Pancakes, Magic Tomato Sauce, Piggy Buns, Octo-Pizzas, Snaky Breadsticks, Mega-Chocolatey Cake, Heart-Stopper Scones, and more. Each recipe is presented in simple steps for young cooks (though adult guidance may still sometimes be needed), aided by delightful drawings. One of the families drawn throughout the pages includes two dads, a lovely bit of incidental inclusion in this book by a gay author. The second volume, Bake, Make & Learn to Cook Vegetarian: Healthy and Green Recipes for Young Cooks, offers equally delicious entrees, snacks, desserts, and more, including a “showstopper” cake that happens to be depicted with LGBTQ and trans Pride flags on top.
Middle-Grade Books
Summer of a Thousand Pies, by Margaret Dilloway (Balzer + Bray). Twelve-year-old Cady has been in and out of foster care until she is sent to live with her gruff Aunt Shell and Shell’s partner Suzanne. Slowly, she begins to feel at home, and she and Shell bond over a love of The Great British Bake Off. She even sets a personal goal of baking 1000 pies for Shell’s pie shop. When she finds out that the shop is failing, however, she commits to saving the first place that’s ever given her stability. She enlists the help of her new friend Jay, whose family is undocumented and surviving largely because of the employment Shell’s shop provides. While the story involves some difficult subjects, it ultimate offers readers a sweet, well-baked story of friendship and personal growth.
My Mixed-Up Berry Blue Summer, by Jennifer Gennari (HMH Books for Young Readers). A coming-of-age story about a girl living in Vermont with her moms during the state’s fight for civil unions. Gennari avoids preachiness, however, by making civil unions only one of the many issues that the girl must grapple with during her summer (a pie-baking contest among them), and by showing the diversity of opinions on the matter within the community, within families, and even within individuals.
Young Adult
I don’t usually review YA books (and they’re not in my database), but I’d be remiss if I didn’t at least mention a few queer YA books with baking themes:
Cub, by Paul Coccia (Orca; Bookshop; Amazon). A high-interest book for teens at a low reading level, about a gay 17-year-old baker whose friends sign him up for a cooking competition, where he catches the eye of a celebrity chef whose intentions may not be honorable.
The Heartbreak Bakery, by A. R. Capetta (Candlewick; Bookshop; Amazon). Agender teen baker Syd, who works at the Proud Muffin, a queer bakery and community space in Austin, discovers that a batch of post-breakup brownies magically breaks up anyone who eats them. Can Syd fix things—and maybe even find love along the way? (Bonus points for the great bakery name.)
Café Con Lychee, by Emery Lee (Quill Tree; Bookshop; Amazon). Theo Mori and Gabriel Moreno have always been at odds, stemming from their parents’ rival businesses—an Asian American café and a Puerto Rican bakery. When a new fusion café threatens both shops, they must work together to save them in this enemies-to-lovers tale.
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