MAKE IT CUTE

YouTube star Rachel Fong is using her internet fame for good—one cute confection at a time.

There’s no denying Rachel Fong has a lot on her plate. Not only does the 20-year-old YouTuber produce baking tutorials for her uber-popular Kawaii Sweet World channel, she’s also about to wrap up her freshman year at Stanford University. Oh, and did we mention she’s writing her first cookbook, dropping next summer?

“It’s a lot of work, but I never find myself procrastinating,” she says. “The motivation to work hard comes really easily if you’re passionate about what you do.”

Realizing the impact of her efforts is also another huge motivator. After launching her YouTube channel as a 12-year-old, she soon connected with a community of online creators and viewers. That allowed her to break out of her shell and express her love of all things kawaii, aka Japan’s culture of cute (think: Hello Kitty).

To date, Kawaii Sweet World has more than 1.1 million subscribers. And Rachel’s using that fame for a good cause, working as a #BakeAChange ambassador for She’s the First, an organization that fights for gender equality through education.

Rachel posts tutorials encouraging girls to host bake sales to raise money for the org’s scholarship fund, which supports girls in low-income countries who will be the first in their families to graduate from high school. “I love academics so much—and baking, too, of course. This is an amazing way to use the following I’ve built for something important to me,” she says.

Rachel also hopes to inspire girls to dream big, just like she did as a 12-year-old who simply loved to bake. “Back then, I thought a cookbook full of adorable and tasty recipes would be the coolest thing,” she says. “Now, I still can’t believe that I’m actually working on it.”

Marble-Glazed Chocolate Chip Doughnuts
"The chocolate chips make the doughnuts super fudgy!"

INGREDIENTS 
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder • 1 3/4 cups flour • 1 1/4 cups light brown sugar • 1 tsp baking soda • 1 tsp espresso powder • 1 tsp baking powder • 1/2 tsp salt • 1/2 cup chocolate chips • 3/4 cup milk • 2 eggs • 2 tsp vanilla extract • 2 tsp vinegar, white or cider • 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted • Silicone doughnut mold • Cooking spray • Piping bag • 1 1/2 packages CandiQuik • Gel food color

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Whisk together cocoa powder, flour, brown sugar, baking soda, espresso powder, baking powder, salt and chocolate chips in a large bowl.
2. In a separate bowl, combine milk, eggs, vanilla and vinegar. Pour into dry ingredients, then stir in butter.
3. Prep a silicone doughnut mold tray (find at craft stores) with cooking spray. Transfer batter to a piping bag, then pipe batter into each doughnut mold.
4. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, then let doughnuts cool completely. Gently remove from mold.
5. Melt CandiQuik in microwave at 30-second intervals until smooth. Dot food color on top, then use a toothpick to swirl the color around on the surface. Dip in half of cooled doughnut, and let set. Repeat for each doughnut, adding more coloring and swirling as needed.

Unicorn Macarons
"Macarons + unicorn = so trendy right now!"

INGREDIENTS
Macaron cookies 3 egg whites • 1/4 cup sugar • 1 cup almond flour • 2 cups powdered sugar • Piping bag • Parchment paper • Rainbow sprinkles • 1/4 tsp edible gold luster dust and food-safe paintbrush (find them at craft stores) • 2 to 3 drops clear vanilla extract • Black edible ink marker

Buttercream filling 1 cup softened butter • 3 cups powdered sugar • 1 tsp vanilla extract • 3 to 4 tbsp milk • Gel food color (pink, blue, and purple)

DIRECTIONS
Macaron cookies
1. Beat egg whites in a stand mixer until foamy. Slowly add in sugar, then mix for 6 to 8 minutes or until stiff peaks form.
2. In a separate bowl, sift together almond flour and powdered sugar. Whisk to combine.
3. Add half of dry ingredients to wet ingredients and fold in until halfway combined. Add remaining dry ingredients, then fold until batter drips off spatula slowly but continuously. 
4. Put batter into a piping bag and pipe unicorn-shaped macarons onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Add sprinkles to upper halves of half of macarons for mane. Tap baking sheet on counter to release any air bubbles, then let sit for 30 to 45 minutes or until “skin” forms on outside of macarons (they should not stick to your finger when lightly touched).
5. Preheat the oven to 300ºF while you wait for the “skin” to form. Bake for 14 to 16 minutes, or until macarons are firm on top. Cool completely.

Buttercream filling
1. Beat butter until smooth, then mix in powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time. Mix in vanilla extract, then add milk to reach desired consistency. Divide frosting among 3 bowls. Color 1 pink, 1 blue and 1 purple.
2. Scoop alternating colors of frosting into a piping bag. 

To assemble
1. Use the piping bag to pipe filling onto bottom of macaron shell and sandwich another macaron on top.
2. Mix together gold luster dust and clear vanilla extract with the paintbrush, then brush over the unicorn horn and center of ears. Draw on eyelashes with a black edible ink marker.

What's your favorite dessert? Sound off in the comments below!

by Sydney Adamson | 6/29/2018