Meet the baker behind the beautiful pies of Instagram

Internet fame can be overwhelming and fickle, as Lauren Ko is discovering. Ko is the baker who has quickly developed a huge following – over 100,000 people follow lokokitchen on Instagram – over her intricately decorated pies. Even though most of the comments she has received are positive, a few people have sent her hate mail. 

In Ko’s interview with Munchies, we learn a lot about the pie-making sensation. She hasn’t been baking long, only for just over a year. Her inspiration was a fancy pie she saw on Pinterest. She wondered if she could make something like that, and the result was, as the saying goes, Instagram-worthy. Ko doesn’t sell her gorgeous pies, and she works a regular day job as an Executive Assistant.

In case you’re wondering, yes, she does make her own pie crust. Her favorite is Stella Parks’ old-fashioned flaky pie dough. Even though the intricate designs on her pies make them seem too pretty to eat, Ko definitely makes them to be enjoyed for their flavor as much as their aesthetics.”Well, if it’s food, flavor is really important. It’s meant to be eaten,” she says. “I don’t like to waste food. I would hate to spend all this time and make something that’s inedible, as much as I enjoy the process of actual baking.”

It’s good that she enjoys the process, because some of her creations take five hours or more to make, start to finish. Some of that time is when the dough and pie are chilling in the refrigerator, so it’s not all hands-on time, she notes. But the pies are definitely a labor of love.

Those who can only view the pies from afar via the internet don’t have the luxury of eating them, but they are inspirational to many people. A few folks, however, have posted negative comments and Ko has even received hate mail. Some people don’t believe that she actually makes the pies herself, and others chastise her for not often showing the post-baking results. Ko brushes off this criticism. “There are definitely people with negative things to say, but, hey-I’m just baking pies,” she says. “There must be more important things for people to be fighting for, right?”

Hat tip to EYB Member sir_ken_g for alerting us to this interview.