Blogger of the Week: Graham Blackall of 'Glazed & Confused'
Photos courtesy of Graham Blackall
There’s a frenetic energy to the 20-year-old pop culture obsessive behind the baking blog Glazed & Confused, and it’s contagious. Since Graham Blackall started the blog in September of 2013, his fantastical recipes—dreamed up between (and sometimes during) his classes at New Orleans’s Loyola University—have made cameos on the websites of Food & Wine, The Huffington Post, and Thrillist, among others.
What’s captured their attention? Desserts such as Blackall’s Cap’n Crunch peanut butter cookies and his chocolate s’mores cake. Certainly no one can forget his fried chicken and waffles cake, which is actually made using pieces of chicken.
Glazed & Confused has a uniquely millennial bent: Sparkling amongst the sumptuous photography and whimsical recipes are—as the above photo hints—cheeky emojis and celebrity references. It’s no surprise, then, that Blackall’s writing style is less than conventional.
"I write very conversationally on my blog, and a lot of people have come at me for that," the Covington, La., native told us. "But I’m going to write ‘LOL’ and a million exclamation points because that’s how I text, and that’s how I talk. But I can write."
Here’s everything else to know about the man behind the blog.
Pistachio and rosewater cake, anyone?
1. Blackall’s obsession with dessert goes back to childhood.
"I was kind of the fat kid, I guess. I was crazy into sugar, and I used to always bake cake mixes and stuff. I grew up watching The Food Network everyday. Then, when I was 14, I really started baking from scratch. I got really into it. I take pride in creating things, and food is the medium for my creativity."
2. Baking trumps cooking in his book.
"I can’t cook. It’s terrible! I think I’m just a control freak and I just can’t handle the stress of putting, like, whatever into a dish, which you do with cooking. That’ll send me into a panic. I’m crazy OCD, and I like baking because it’s very precise.”
3. He thinks pretty desserts can be overrated.
"I can’t make things pretty. Like, I can’t ice a cake perfectly. But that’s never what I wanted to do—the way I bake is very Southern. More than anything, I just want it to taste good, and it’s a plus if it looks good, too. I’m never drawn to pretty cakes, because I don’t think they ever taste very good. All the effort goes into presentation.”
Blackall’s tempting chocolate s’mores cake.
4. He’s inspired both by sweet New Orleans traditions…
"I really like to explore the desserts of New Orleans because there are a lot that people don’t really think of, like pralines and Creole cream cheese (which tastes like cream cheese, but it’s a little tangier). I never make traditional bananas Foster; I do bananas Foster tiramisu with dark rum and banana liqueur. I did something on beignets, too, but I turned them into ice cream sandwiches with café au lait ice cream. Of course, I have a take on King Cake.
5. …and his favorite celebrities.
"I’ve always been super crazy into pop culture. When I was growing up, I would spend hours upon hours on Wikipedia, just researching pop stars’ careers. I think I just channeled that into my baking, because I want it to be fun. I haven’t done this yet, but I have an idea to do this thing called ‘Pop Stars.’ It would just be a bunch of popsicles. Like, Beyoncé would be some sort of alcoholic watermelon thing, or something cherry. I don’t know. I have a lot of ideas."
A Harry Styles-inspired banana cake.
6. He has zero apologies for his unique style.
"Look, I’m not an easy sell. I’m this 20-year-old gay kid from New Orleans. I’m making cakes for Harry Styles and talking about Beyoncé in all my blog posts. It’s not generally what’s going on in food blog world, and I was little apprehensive to put that out there. But then I was like, whatever. And people like it! A lot of other people are disgusted by my recipes, which is my favorite thing in the world. I love negative comments; I think they’re hilarious. These people are expending the energy just to get on the Internet to tell me about how much they hate something! To quote Taylor Swift, haters gonna hate.”
7. He has lofty aspirations.
"I want to work in food editorial. I’ve always wanted to do that, since I was 13. If I could be the editor-in-chief of Food & Wine in 20 years, that would be great. Big dreams.”
Other food bloggers that should be your radar:
The lovely Virginia couple behind “Brooklyn Supper”
"Grandbaby Cakes," who could eat gelato every day
Austin-based "Love & Lemons," whose spirit vegetable is leafy kale
Who’s your favorite food blogger? Tell us below!
