Cake podcast serves up sweet slice of history

A pineapple glut in the 1960s helped create one of the nation’s first food influencers according to a new podcast series from State Library of Queensland.

Home economist and “one woman branding machine” Ruby Borrowdale was engaged by Brisbane’s Golden Circle cannery to write a cookbook to address the oversupply. The Golden Circle Tropical Recipe Book went on to became one of the state’s most influential cookbooks, made the Sunshine State synonymous with the tropical fruit and secured Borrowdale’s status as one of Queensland’s earliest celebrity chefs.

Cake: the podcast, presented by award-winning producer Kaitlyn Sawrey (Science vs, Who is Daniel Johns?), explores the fascinating role these sweet treats have played in Queensland’s history and identity.

Over 7 episodes we meet Queenslanders making (and baking) it big on the world stage and explore some of the food traditions of the world’s oldest cultures.

Podcast highlights:

• The Emerald mum who turned a baking side-hustle into an international success story.
• The Brisbane baker who created a life-sized Chevrolet Camaro cake (with working lights).
• Edible art, sensory dolls and mindful baking classes raising awareness for mental health.
• International pâtissier and Dessert Masters star, Adriano Zumbo, opens up about the highs and lows of celebrity baking.
• The unique buttercream developed for the Queensland climate.
• The mother of 10 who drove Defiance Flour Mills from a small Toowoomba business to a global food company.

Episodes 1 and 2 are now available at slq.qld.gov.au/cake or wherever you get your podcasts, with episodes 3-7 released weekly from 22 November.

State Librarian and CEO Vicki McDonald AM said: “This entertaining podcast series will whisk you away to a place of sweet nostalgia just in time for Christmas. Along with contemporary interviews it uncovers fascinating historical stories about our earliest bakers. And we try and solve the origin of the lamington once and for all.”