Page 16 - TORONTO NORTH LIFESTYLE Magazine July 2022

IS IT CAKE?
NETFLIX BAKER
April Julian
bites into a raw chicken wing. Only it’s not a chicken wing, it’s cake.
By Sabrina Nanji
Photo Credit : Annabis Photography
something like a Swiss roll cake. I never had one of those Easy Bake ovens as a kid-I was very jealous. So that was my alternative.
16 TORONTO NORTH Lifestyle JULY 2022
The rookie unconventional baker’s latest viral moment – a social media clip that feels playful and gross at the same time – is also a reflection of her journey to the final leg of the upcoming Netflix series, Is It Cake? Like her baking, Julian isn’t what she appears to be at first glimpse. By day, she’s the director of education for the Canadian Civil Liberties Association. By night, she throws on an apron and cooks up elaborate and whimsical confections. Herewith, we talk to Julian about how she got her start on the baking scene, what it’s like to compete on the international stage, and how she balances it all with a young family and the push for civil liberties.
Let’s start at the beginning. What’s your first memory of baking?
My very first memory is something that looks like baking [laughs]. I used to go into my mother's drawers in the kitchen and I’d pull out cake pans and I’d put towels inside and pretend I was baking
You’re the director of education for the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, and when you come home, you put on an apron and start baking. What was it like going from behind the scenes to the spotlight on international tv?
At the CCLA, I deliver our education programs in front of different audiences of learners. I’m pretty comfortable talking to a group of people. But the difference here of course is subject matter. It’s a lot more serious, talking about conflicts of rights and freedoms and then, you sort of switch modes and talk about, like: why did you decide to use modelling chocolate to make that. I’m pretty comfortable talking about both.
Who’s tougher: grade school kids or a tv panel of judges?
Kids can be mean [laughs] but the judges were actually pretty nice. Everybody on the show was really encouraging and wanted us to do well.