lovely little inspiration: molly yeh of my name is yeh & a few yummy cake recipes

Molly Yeh

Molly Yeh of My Name is Yeh

Hey! Today’s ‘lovely little inspiration‘ is all about the lovely Molly Yeh!

I first stumbled upon Molly’s stunning photographs in 2013, while perusing dessert recipes on Pinterest. This cake, in particular, caught my eye… I clicked the image and have been a huge fan of Molly (& her gorgeous edible creations) ever since. If you haven’t yet visited her incredible inter web space, you’re missing out. I mean – her site has a theme song. A theme song, people! It’s amazing (both the blog and the song, just to be clear).

Molly was kind enough to answer the seven interview questions below, and I can’t thank her enough. (Also: I reached out to Sarah Kieffer this past fall, not yet aware that she was in the middle of writing a cookbook, and the same thing just happened with Molly Yeh. What are the odds of that? The two bloggers I selected, out of the thousands upon thousands in the world, happen to be among the busiest. So again – Thank you, thank you for taking time out of your schedule to compose responses, Molly! You’re awesome.)


lovely little inspiration:

molly yeh of my name is yeh

1) When and why did you begin blogging? Was there something or someone in particular that inspired you?

I’ve kept diaries and scrapbooks since the day I could write, I have a big stack of them that date back to my early years (when I probably just wrote about boys and dumb things). I started my blog in 2009 as a natural extension of that and I’ve been going ever since.

2) The cakes you create are so, so stunning! How long have you been baking & assembling them, and do you have any tips for novice bakers?

Thank you! I think the first real cake I made was my sister’s wedding cake: http://mynameisyeh.com/mynameisyeh/4/my-first-wedding-cake?rq=my%20first%20wedding%20cake.

6 layer for for 15 people! There were lots of leftovers. I really learned how to assemble a cake when I moved to North Dakota and worked in our town bakery, that’s what really inspired me to keep going with the cakes. For novice bakers, I would say to get the right tools (a turn table, cardboard cake boards, offset spatula, bench scraper) and then read/watch as many tutorials as you can. Also, frosting frozen cakes is way easier than frosting room temperature cakes. When your layers have cooled, wrap them in plastic wrap and stick them in the freezer for at least a few hours before frosting.

And then keep a bunch of sprinkles on hand so that you can cover the entire cake in them, just in case you have any frosting failures 🙂

By Molly Yeh

By Molly Yeh

3) Do you have a favorite recipe? If so, what is it?

My family makes an almond cake every year for Valentine’s day, and it’s really the only recipe that we make every single year at the same time. We’re not allowed to make it any other time! The smell always makes me nostalgic, and it’s always served with fresh whipped cream. It is so good. (recipe: http://mynameisyeh.com/mynameisyeh/2015/2/valentines-day-almond-cake)

 4) How do you typically prepare for a food photo-shoot?

First, I pray to the weather gods that it will be cloudy (“deliciously cloudy”) because that is my favorite light to shoot in. Sometimes I try to coordinate shoots with the weather forecast but that doesn’t always workout. I get a handful of recipes ready and tested and then usually about one day a week I have my assistant, Kristin, come in and she does most of the prep while I do the shooting, and we crank out as many things as we can before the sun goes down. Shoot days are stressful! But fun. And in the end we have a lot of food to eat, so that’s a good reward!

5) What are your favorite food blogs, and which do you derive the most inspiration from?

Ahhh, too many!

By Molly Yeh

By Molly Yeh

6) A few just-for-fun questions! What is your favorite… color? book? movie? ingredient to cook or bake with? thing about percussion?

Green, oof I don’t know, the Back to the Future trilogy, marzipan and tahini, all the fun music I get to play and all of the fun people I get to play it with!

7) What advice would you give to someone just beginning their a) photography and b) baking journeys?

Read as many things as you can (a photography book that I love is Helen Dujardin’s Plate to Pixel), look at photos you love and pinpoint what you love about them, find a mentor who won’t mind if you ask him/her a million zillion questions, google all of the baking techniques, read all of the baking books, and practice practice practice!


Now, here are a few more yummy cake recipes – most are Molly’s, but the far less spectacular ones are my own. ♥

I hope you all enjoyed today’s post! (Oh, and you must check out Molly’s travel photos, too. Lucerne, La Jolla [I live – near-  here and haven’t captured shots this fab!]), and Salzburg + Hallstatt are faves of mine.)

Sending ♥s!

– Abby

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6 comments on “lovely little inspiration: molly yeh of my name is yeh & a few yummy cake recipes”

  1. this is so great!!! Molly is so super awesome–I mean….A THEME SONG??!

  2. Her cakes are the prettiest, I just loved this read! 🙂

  3. I loved this post! Great job Abby! And her cakes are so gorgeous!