Who Is B. Dylan Hollis? Everything to Know About the Time100 Vintage Baking Star
By Alexander Ross
When Hollis announced his debut book, Baking Yesteryear: The Best Recipes from the 1900s to the 1980s, traditional publishing houses took notice. The book organized a century of domestic baking decade by decade, curating both the triumphs (like 1930s Chocolate Potato Cake and 1970s Avocado Bread) and the notorious culinary disasters (such as 1950s Spaghetti Rings in Jell-O). It became an unprecedented pre-order juggernaut, spending weeks at the top of national non-fiction lists upon its July 2023 release.
The book succeeded where many influencer products fail because it was meticulously practical. Hollis tested every entry multiple times in his home kitchen, standardizing antique measurements like "a knob of butter" or "a teacup of sweet milk" for modern bakers. Readers received a functioning historical artifact filled with original photography, contextual historical essays, and humorous sidebars. It confirmed that his following was not merely passive viewers scrolling short-form video feeds, but active home bakers eager to recreate obsolete desserts in their own kitchens.
Alexander Ross has covered the video game industry for a decade, writing deep dives on game design, esports tournaments, VR developments, and gaming culture.
