How to Cook That

How To Cook That was founded by Ann Reardon in 2011. Prior to becoming a YouTube personality, Reardon worked as a qualified food scientist and dietitian.[5] She left the field of food to work with youth in a low socioeconomic area in Western Australia.[2] She self-catered for various events. During that time, Reardon taught many of the young people how to cook in her own kitchen.[5]

In 2009, Reardon moved to Sydney, Australia, with her family and initially launched How To Cook That as a website that contained both video recipes and an online shop.[2] The site was launched after she had her third son as something to keep her mind active during night feeds.[2] Reardon wrote a single recipe post each week and made occasional videos to complement the recipes.[2] The videos were too large for the site so she uploaded them to YouTube and embedded them into the website.[2] As the popularity of the videos grew, Reardon started uploading them more frequently.

YouTube views started in the thousands and grew to millions, attracting media attention.[4] In 2013, Reardon was contacted by the BBC to produce a cake for the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who. She made a chocolate Dalek cake that was later featured on the BBC as well as Variety.[4] The same year, Reardon signed an agreement with DECA, a YouTube multi-channel network based in the United States.[4] Reardon also began a brand partnership in December 2013, using appliances by Breville who supplied her with products for giveaways.[6]

Subscriber numbers grew rapidly with the increased media attention and by February 2014 the channel had 450,000 subscribers and averaged 3.7 million video views per month, making it Australia's most popular YouTube baking channel and the third most popular worldwide.[4] By August of that same year, it had over 770,000 subscribers and received more than 5.3 million video views for the month.[2] At the end of 2014, the channel surpassed 1,000,000 subscribers, with over 100 million views in total, and was featured in Tubefilter News. By February 2015, the channel was attracting 14 million views in a single month.[5]

Recipes on How To Cook That feature mainly desserts, including cakes decorated as cartoon characters, social media logos, and giant classic candy bars.[5] Some of the most popular include a 5 lb Snickers bar, an Instagram cake,[2] and a giant KitKat chocolate.[7] The Instagram cake was featured in The Huffington Post as well as over 500 websites.[4][8] The recipe for an Avengers cake was featured in an article on CNET[9] and Reardon also developed a recipe for a YouTube cake.[10] The website sells its own products, including cake templates.[4]

She also built a fully functioning dolls' house kitchen and used it to bake miniature cakes [11] Her miniature baking includes making tiny eggs using sodium alginate. [12]

She makes very creative content, including sculpting full size heads from chocolate, following a Bob Ross painting tutorial in cake and ganache,[13] and making recipes from a 200-year-old cook book.[14]

In addition to the website and YouTube channel, Reardon released a mobile app called Surprise Cakes in the Apple Store and on Google Play. It is considered the world's first augmented reality app for cakes and was inspired by a gaming app.[15] The app allows users to make a cake come to life with 3D moving dragons, unicorns, rainbows and fireworks.[16]

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• How To Cook That YouTube channel