University of Minnesota students are bringing a little sweetness to campus in the form of a new baking group.
Cleverly named Oven Lovin, the group aims to create a community gathered around a love of baking and give people a taste of their recipes through social media. This group stands out from other campus cooking clubs because it desires to not only create culinary works, but to share their creations with others, teaching viewers how to bake on their own.
“We aim to spread the joy of baking, because baking is not only a skill, but also a positive attitude toward life,” the club’s GopherLink page states.
Summer Song, the club’s president, said after discovering an absence of any other cooking clubs dedicated to baking, she took matters into her own hands and founded Oven Lovin.
“One day when I woke up I thought, ‘I like baking, so there must be someone else who likes it,’” she said.
The group plans to create baking videos and share them on YouTube. The videos will be concise and visually interesting, similar to BuzzFeed’s Tasty videos, according to Eric May, a fourth-year student and YouTube executive for the club. May said they chose this type of video because of its quick and interesting format for college students.
The Oven Lovin club not only provides members with resources to enjoy the baking process with others, but also allows students a place to bake free of charge.
First-year student April Dexter, who works at a coffee and bake shop in Northeast Minneapolis, said she became involved with the club because of her interest and experience. Dexter, who is also the event coordinator for Oven Lovin, said the club hopes to host a cookie or cupcake decoration competition in April, the proceeds of which will go to charity. In addition, the club plans to host monthly bake sales beginning in March.
Nancy Thao, a third-year University student, is one of the club’s newest members and said she joined the club in an effort to make more time for baking, a hobby she has always enjoyed.
“I … want to learn how to bake more recipes and just have a fun time with everyone in the club,” Thao said.
Because the organization is still gaining traction at the University, its leaders said they haven’t decided on what recipes to produce yet or who will be producing them on camera.
The club met for the first time last week, with approximately 14 students turning out for the event. According to Song, meetings are held bi-weekly and baking and filming is done during the weekend.
The club’s first video is set to be filmed on Feb. 23.
