Better Than Grandma’s — with Justin Ellen of Everything Just Baked
In Episode 141 of the Kitchen Confidante Podcast, Liren Baker talks with Justin Ellen of Everything Just Baked about what he learned from his grandmothers, some of his favorite baking tips and techniques, and how that little boy with the KitchenAid mixer grew into the accomplished baker he is today, and how it all inspired his cookbook, Better Than Grandma’s.
On the podcast, I recently chatted with Justin Ellen, the baker and cake artist behind Everything Just Baked. His love of baking started at a remarkable age — when he was just ten years old, he asked for a KitchenAid mixer, and that early passion has taken him from nostalgic homemade desserts to show-stopping custom cakes for celebrities and major brands. What I love about Justin’s story is that underneath all the creativity and technique, there’s a real love of family and the memories that food can create.
His new cookbook Better than Grandma’s is filled with nostalgic cakes and desserts inspired by the kind of baking that brings people together — banana pudding, apple fritters, baked Alaska, and more. The book is also a tribute to Justin’s three grandmothers who each played an important role in his life and love for baking.
In this episode, we talk about what he learned from his grandmothers, some of his favorite baking tips and techniques, and how that little boy with the KitchenAid mixer grew into the accomplished baker he is today.
Listen to the full episode or keep reading for some of the highlights from our conversation.
How Did You Get Started Baking?
My grandma makes everything from scratch, so I started baking cookies with her when I was around seven. I’d have fun, make a little mess, and eat everything in sight. That’s where my love for baking began.
Later, I’d watch YouTube videos of cake decorating. My grandma never really made cakes, but something about them fascinated me. A cake can become anything — tiered, sculpted, whatever you can imagine. That creative possibility hooked me. I’m not artistic at all and I can’t draw, but I’d go into the kitchen and attempt any kind of cake anyway.
Honestly, my first cakes were ugly, leaning, messy, and just not great. But I kept practicing. My sister encouraged me to start posting them on Instagram, and over time people started noticing — and the cakes got better. That’s how Everything Just Baked came to be. I just stayed consistent, gained followers, and the orders came in. Eventually I was on Is It Cake? on Netflix. These days I don’t sell cakes anymore; the business has grown into online media, and I am very excited to launch my debut cookbook.
And I still have that first mixer. It works perfectly, and I use it at least once a week.
“Cake is such a great way to bring joy to someone and make them feel really seen. A custom cake made just for you — knowing someone spent hours in the kitchen making something with their hands — that feels really special.”
Justin Ellen
That’s a big part of why I started my nonprofit, We Bake a Change. Custom cakes are a luxury, and they’re expensive. But everyone deserves to have that moment of joy and receive something crafted specifically for them. I want to give more people that opportunity, because spreading joy is really all I want to do.
Tell Us More About Your Book, Better Than Grandma’s
I got really lucky to have three grandmothers, and all three are still with us today. The book is dedicated to them.
My nana — my mom’s mom — is the one on the cover. She taught me to bake and started it all: my love of baking and creativity. My grandma, my dad’s mom, taught me the confidence to own a room. And my great-grandmother on my dad’s side taught me to always find joy in things and share that joy with others.
I come from a teasing, joking, competitive family, so the title is a fun nod to that. It’s a baking book, but really it’s a book about love. Every recipe in the book is tied to a specific family memory. For example, my nana would host all the cousins at her house each year to decorate sugar cookies for the holidays, so that’s where the sugar cookie recipe in the book comes from.
My whole family was involved in making the book, too. The photoshoots, recipe testing, helping me write — everyone showed up for me. It was a family project built on love, and my hope is that other families will use these recipes to bake together too.
“My nana had her favorite cookbooks, and the pages were all worn and well-loved — some were even missing their covers. I hope my book gets used like that by other families.”
To this day, my nana is my biggest cheerleader, and she’s so proud of this book.
My goal with the book is to make baking accessible. For example, I always tell people that cakes need oil for moisture and butter for flavor — any good cake recipe needs both, and that way you’ll never end up with something dry or bland. Baking from scratch can feel intimidating, especially if you grew up on box mixes, so I wanted to break it down and make it simple. I even included QR codes linking to video tutorials, because some people learn better by watching than by reading.
I also scattered Grandma’s tips throughout the book. My grandma takes vanilla very seriously — she’ll use a tablespoon where a recipe calls for a teaspoon. I use vanilla bean paste myself, and it takes any recipe to another level. And the pans you choose matter far more than people realize. My grandma has one specific pan she swears by for the perfect cookie. These little things get overlooked, but they change everything.
Better Than Grandmas, by Justin Ellen (Rolling Pin Press, 2026).
Learn more
Listen to the full podcast episode with Justin. You can follow him on Instagram, @everythingjustbaked, and learn more on his website, everythingjustbaked.com.
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