One woman in the US is making waves online with her crazy, intricate, too-gorgeous-to-eat pies. Meet Lauren Ko: an executive assistant to the chancellor at Seattle Colleges who took up baking with zero professional pastry-making experience.
This 30-year-old launched an Instagram account (@lokokitchen) in August to showcase her pies, sharing photos of her amazing creations along with funny, food-related captions. And in just 4 months, she has already garnered over 93,000 followers, with each post getting tens of thousands of likes.
With having a full-time job, Ko usually bakes on weekends and week nights after work. She credits her interest to coming from a family that loves to eat, with many phenomenal and inspiring home cooks.
“I have a lot of memories growing up of being in the kitchen and baking with my mom or watching my grandmother cook. I do really enjoy cooking and baking, so have continued to do it on my own since," she said in a recent Mashable article.
Speaking to Buzzfeed News, Ko briefly talked about her process, saying, “I usually have some nebulous idea in my head for design and then just improvise as I go along, depending on how well the dough or fruit cooperates with my vision. My final products are generally happy accidents, which is why I'm especially stunned by the feedback.”
According to Mic.com, Ko started out using frozen pie crusts from the supermarket, but now takes the time to make her own. With each stunning sculpted pie, she often plays with geometric shapes and colorful ingredients, creating elaborate crusts that can take up to five hours to make.
“I baked my first pie a little over a year ago when I saw some really beautiful images on Pinterest and was curious if I could do it, too,” she said. “I do try really hard to produce original designs. Fancy pies are totally having a moment and there are real food legends making amazing stuff, but I haven’t really seen anyone create the kind of geometric designs that I do until now.”
