Tribute to The Queen of All Daring Bakers, Lis

It’s been years since I did a Daring Baker’s challenge, but for a brief, short time, I was active with the group. I had all but forgotten about my stint with the Bakers until I saw a post on Facebook about one of the co-founders, Lisa Cifelli of The Daring Bakers, passing away suddenly and it made me think of all the last-minute, scramble-to-write-a-blog-post, so-I-could-hit-the-publish-button, just in time for the deadline back when I started this blog. And though I did not know Lis well, I remember her encouragement of all the bakers who were trying their hardest to make some pretty difficult (and ultimately rewarding recipes).

When I first started blogging I didn’t know what I was doing (though, to be fair, I still don’t know what I’m doing, I’ve just learned to hide my ignorance better). Then I stumbled upon Daring Bakers. Here was a community of bakers that all set out to create the same recipe and post about it once a month at the same time. I was astonished at the support, diversity and wealth of information that was in the community and I joined for a few rounds. And, truth be told, it was good excuse for me to make some desserts that I have always wanted to make but never got around to making. Panna cotta, donuts, a biscuit joconde imprime, British steamed pudding and my crowning achievement of a croquembouche all came from the Daring Baker’s challenge before I finally dropped off from the group, too busy with my own projects.

My first days of blogging are nostalgically tied to the Daring Bakers and, as a result to Lisa Cifelli as well. There are number of bloggers out there that are writing tributes to Lis and publishing it today. Follow the hashtag #tributetolis and #daringbakers on various social media outlets to read the impact Lis had on us all. The food blogging community lost a friend with her passing away and the universe is ever so slightly colder because of it. Rest in peace Lis. You’ll be missed.