Baking sensation Rachel Fong has grown a massive following online, thanks to her Kawaii desserts that are almost too cute to eat. A YouTuber and blogger, Fong launched her YouTube channel, Kawaii Sweet World, by the age of 12, originally focusing on polymer clay charm tutorials before switching to baking.
What began as a hobby gained traction fast and Fong now has some 1 million subscribers who follow her recipes or simply admire her craft.
“It’s amazing to see how many people love to bake and craft kawaii things,” she reflected once in an interview with Sweety High. “My favorite part of social media is when my subscribers share photos of treats they’ve recreated from my videos. I love that they’re able to have that experience of baking something cute and tasty, and I’m so glad they enjoy my videos.”
A creative at heart, Fong remembers taking to baking when she was just a child. “I’ve always had a sweet tooth, so I loved baking with my mom when I was younger,” she recalled. “She taught me all her favorite recipes, and then I started finding new recipes to make online. We had a new dessert every week in the house. My favorite recipe to make when I was younger was my mom’s chocolate chip cookies—probably because it made a huge batch that I could snack on for the whole week.”
Fong’s love of baking paid off when she signed a cookbook deal with Penguin Random House in 2017, and published her first book Kawaii Sweet World: 75 Yummy Recipes for Baking That’s (Almost) Too Cute to Eat in July 2019.
Her tip for other aspiring bakers: if at first you don’t succeed… “Don’t be discouraged by a failed bake! It’s happened to me more times than I can count, and I’ve just learned to let it go and eat the leftovers,” says Fong.
