Get To Know Your BFBA Finalists: Best Cooking, Baking and Desserts, and Group Blogs

A self-taught photographer and cook from Oklahoma, Kate is a strong believer in eating as close to the source as possible. She documents her fresh, vegetarian cooking on her beautifully designed blog, which is full of whole food recipes.

With a passion for visual art and food, Alaina views her kitchen as another canvas to experiment and create something beautiful with, and we think this is clear in every creative and thoughtful dish she shares on her blog.

A combination of mouthwatering photography and equally delicious recipes, this blog originally began in 2005 as a simple recipe file. Since then, it’s organically evolved into something much more: a detailed chronicle of blogger Tara’s life, chock full of stories of family and food.

Navigating the kitchen for the first time in your early 20’s can present something of a challenge. Enter Big Girls, Small Kitchen, where Cara and Phoebe share a treasure trove of user-friendly tips, advice, and recipes that won’t break the bank. We especially love their menu and party guides.

What we eat depends not only on our mood and current cravings, but is largely determined by the seasons and available produce. Kimberly’s blog chronicles these changing seasons as she shows us how to make the most of each harvest, from black grapes in September to tarragon in July.

Russell’s a self-described “delicious-obsessed foodie” who collects photographs, recipes, and videos in his aptly-titled blog. His recipes always come with an intriguing story, and we’re big fans of his clever instructional photo guides.

From baking techniques to the history and science behind it all, Joe’s helpful site is one of our favorite destinations for all endeavours flour-related. His detailed tutorials cover everything from the basic, to the more esoteric, think pumpernickel flour and the egg foam method.

Though limited by her shoebox-sized urban kitchen, Lillie somehow whips up an amazing array of buttery baked goods, sans stand mixer and rolling pin. From salted caramel pies to boozy macaroons, we can’t help but crave the spoils of her Brooklyn kitchen.

We all know that baking does not always result in beautiful successes. We love that Julie is honest about it all, sharing her triumphs and failures with equal candor on her blog, she inspires us to keep baking.

Heather turns out some impossibly perfect-seeming desserts, but her extensive tutorials and step-by-step instructions are so carefully explained that even the most beginner of bakers can follow them. We love her whimsical flair with the finishing touches of each dessert.

22-year-old Emma’s great loves are literature and baking. After a stint at Oxford, she enrolled at London’s Le Cordon Bleu, where she studied patisserie. A stellar recipe for pears in chocolate is her signature post, but we’re equally enamored with her elaborate layer cakes and quintessentially British puddings.

With restaurant reviews, chef interviews, recipes, and so much more, Honest Cooking has quickly become a tour de force in the blog world. The secret to their success? Original content sourced from over 200 notable bloggers, photographers, writers, and chefs.

This site commands a legion of loyal readers, and we think it’s easy to see why. A DIY food hub of sorts, all are welcome to share their from-scratch adventures, with recipes and stories spanning everything from canning, to meat curing, foraging, and more.

At Culinate, they’re asking some incredibly relevant questions about where food comes from, who produces it, and what the adage ‘you are what you eat’ really means. Through a combination of articles, cooking tips, recipes, podcasts, and much more, the goal of this group blog is to foster a lively conversation about food, in all its aspects.

This Brooklyn-centered group blog covers all things local, sustainable, artisanal, and traditional in one of the city’s tastiest boroughs. We love the curated neighborhood food guides, and the useful database of chalkboard specials.

For sisters Yvette and Veronica and their mother Evangelina, cooking together is a means of preserving and honoring the traditions of their Mexican heritage. We love the family recipes and memories they share together on their blog, which they’re working on turning into a cookbook.

The sophisticated website for this Toronto-based magazine is an artfully assembled selection of videos, snapshots, restaurant reviews, and more in that sweet spot where food meets culture that can occupy us for hours.