baking with the stars

Take a delicious trip down memory lane with nostalgic recipes inspired by beloved stars, classic television, movies, music, and memories.

I've written a lot over the years about table fellowship—the beautiful things that happen when people gather around food. We eat, laugh, tell stories, and linger long after the plates should probably have been cleared.

For this particular table, though, I thought we'd leave a few extra chairs open. Because if we're going to bake our way down memory lane, there are some old friends I'd dearly love to invite.

The Stars Have Always Had a Seat at My Table

I grew up in a family where entertainment was simply part of life. There was theater, singing, dancing, country music, movies, and plenty of television. My dad wrote country-western songs and dreamed of Nashville, and when I was a freshman in college, our family moved to Los Angeles so he could pursue another dream—the movie business.

Eventually, I became a writer and director myself. I spent years writing stories, directing plays, decorating cakes, and dreaming up imaginary worlds where readers could step inside and play along. So perhaps it was inevitable that sooner or later, some of those stars would follow me into the kitchen.

The funny thing is, the more I worked on this collection, the more I realized I wasn't simply gathering recipes inspired by famous people. I was having a reunion of sorts. One name would lead to a recipe, the recipe would lead to a memory, and suddenly I was zipping backward through my own life—sixth grade, high school, family television nights, years spent writing novels, directing plays, decorating cakes, and raising a family.

Apparently I've been baking with the stars for a very long time. I just never thought to call it that.

So, pull up a chair. Elvis is coming. So are Lucy, Dolly, Aunt Bee, Minnie Pearl, Frank and Dean, the Golden Girls, and quite a few others.

And we're going to need dessert.

Elvis Presley: Peanut Butter, Bananas, and the Astrodome

Elvis gets a particularly good chair at my table because I actually saw him perform. I was in the sixth grade when I saw Elvis at the Houston Astrodome, and all these years later, his music can still take me back to that little girl sitting in that enormous stadium. (Gosh, I miss those days. . .and I miss Astroworld, our amazing amusement park!)

Of course, Elvis also gives us one of the most recognizable food combinations in pop culture: peanut butter and bananas. As luck would have it, I've got just the thing.

My Chunky Peanut Butter Banana Bread is sweet, nutty, homey, and perfect for our little trip down memory lane.

Get the Recipe: Chunky Peanut Butter Banana Bread

It's funny how that happens. A recipe can take you to a place, but sometimes it takes you to an age. For me, Elvis can still take me straight back to sixth grade.

Lucille Ball: I've Been Lucy in the Kitchen

Long before I ever dreamed of writing about food, I was a Lucy fan. In fact, my favorite book when I was in high school wasn't a novel at all. It was a nonfiction book about I Love Lucy and the people who made it. I loved that whole wonderful world.

And somewhere along the way, I've had plenty of Lucy moments of my own in the kitchen. Cakes collapse. Dough rises more enthusiastically than anticipated. Things spill, stick, crack, and occasionally emerge from the oven looking nothing whatsoever like the picture in your head.

Lucy would understand.

That's why my Simple Sandwich Loaf gets the Lucy spot at this table. If you remember her famous encounter with an overly enthusiastic loaf of bread, you'll understand immediately.

Mine is considerably better behaved.

Get the Recipe: Simple Sandwich Loaf

Dolly Parton: The Woman Who Started This Latest Adventure

Dolly has practically taken up residence in my kitchen lately. What started with a copycat version of the famous Dollywood Cinnamon Bread sent me down one delicious rabbit trail after another.

Before long I was baking more recipes inspired by Dolly, thinking about Southern food traditions, and rediscovering just how much fun it is to connect food with the people, places, and stories we love. In many ways, Dolly helped spark the idea behind this whole nostalgic adventure.

So naturally, she's bringing the cinnamon bread.

My Dollywood Cinnamon Bread is warm, buttery, cinnamon-sugary, and gloriously messy—the sort of bread that makes people hover around the kitchen waiting for permission to pull off another piece.

Get the Recipe: Dollywood Cinnamon Bread Copycat Recipe

Come on in, Dolly. We saved you a chair.

Be sure to check out my growing collection of dolly recipes, including:

Aunt Bee: There's Always Pie in Mayberry

Some television characters become so familiar that you almost forget you've never actually met them. That's Aunt Bee for me.

My dad came from the sort of little town that always felt a lot like Mayberry. I understand that world—the familiar faces, small-town rhythms, neighbors who know everybody else's business, and women who would never dream of letting you leave the house without feeding you something.

So Aunt Bee doesn't feel terribly fictional to me. I feel like I've known women like her all my life.

And if we're setting a table for Aunt Bee, surely we need pie. My Easy Apple Pie with Homemade Crust feels right at home here: simple, familiar, and the sort of dessert that looks as though it ought to be cooling somewhere near an open kitchen window.

Recipe: Easy Apple Pie with Homemade Crust

Minnie Pearl: Straight from the Cookbook

Oh, Minnie. We definitely saved you a seat.

I grew up watching Hee Haw, and I honestly can't imagine my dad willingly missing an episode. Minnie Pearl and that whole wonderfully silly world were simply part of the background music of my childhood.

But this time I've got more than a memory. I own an old copy of Minnie Pearl Cooks, complete with a worn cover and an inscription inside. It's exactly the sort of treasure that makes a nostalgia-loving baker ridiculously happy.

Inside are recipes with names like Spoon Bread, Pecan Finger Cookies, Quick Butterscotch Brownies, and Yum-Yum Cake. I'm planning to choose one and bake it for myself because there's something wonderful about taking an old recipe from an old cookbook and bringing it back to life in a modern kitchen.

In the meantime, I baked up a batch of Minnie's Pearl's Old-Fashioned Banana Nut Loaf and enjoyed it very much!

Get the Minnie Pearl Old-Fashioned Banana Nut Loaf Recipes

I suspect my dad would get a kick out of this whole thing.

Loretta Lynn: That Chocolate Pie

If you've seen Coal Miner's Daughter, you may already know why there's a chocolate pie sitting in Loretta Lynn's place at our table.

There's a memorable scene involving a chocolate pie, a little too much salt, and the young man who bids on it anyway. It's one of those funny, sweet little food moments that can stick with you long after you've forgotten half the details of a movie.

Fortunately, I promise not to sabotage mine.

My Easy Chocolate Pie from Scratch is rich, creamy, old-fashioned, and I'll be keeping a close eye on that salt shaker.

Get the Recipe: Easy Chocolate Pie from Scratch

Frank Sinatra & Dean Martin: Now That's Amore

If you've read my Bella books, you knew these two were coming.

Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin wandered through that series for fourteen books, accompanied by a whole lot of Italian food, family, laughter, music, and general chaos. I kept that particular schtick going for so long that I'm fairly certain some of my longtime readers would stage a revolt if I set a Baking with the Stars table and failed to save seats for Frank and Dean.

Fortunately, feeding them won't be a problem.

I've got Italian Cream Cake, Tiramisu, and Italian Wedding Cookies, which means we're going to need a bigger dessert table. And really, isn't that exactly what Bella's family would have done?

Get the Recipe: Italian Cream Cake
Get the Recipe: Tiramisu
Get the Recipe: Italian Wedding Cookies

Somewhere in the distance, I can practically hear Dean singing.

Oh, and check out the Weddings by Bella series!

The Golden Girls: Meet Me at the Cheesecake

Some problems require professional advice. Others require three good friends, a kitchen table, and a cheesecake.

If you watched The Golden Girls, you know exactly what I mean. So many conversations happened around that kitchen table that cheesecake became practically another member of the cast.

Maybe that's one reason those scenes still feel so comforting. It was table fellowship, Golden Girls style. Pull up a chair, cut another slice, tell us what's wrong, and we'll figure this out together.

Fortunately, I happen to have cheesecake.

Actually, I have Golden Girls recipes, so apparently we're going to be in Miami for a while.

Get the Recipe: Golden Girls Cheesecake Cookies

Get the Recipe: Coconut Golden Girls

Get the Recipe: Chocolate Golden Girls

But my Golden Girls baking connection goes beyond cheesecake. Years ago, someone asked me to make a cake that looked like Sophia's famous purse.

Yes, really.

And because apparently I've never known when to say no to an interesting cake challenge, I made it. I even still have the picture to prove it.

Looking at that picture now makes me laugh, because it's further evidence that I've been baking with the stars for years. I just didn't know I was doing it.

Bing Crosby & Bob Hope: Pick a Side

Bing Crosby and Bob Hope aren't merely old Hollywood names to me. Years ago, I wrote a novel called Picture Perfect, and the family in that story had an annual Christmas tradition built around the two stars.

They divided the room right down the middle. Bing's side celebrated all things Irish, while Bob's side celebrated all things British. The music, clothing, decorations, and foods reflected whichever side you chose.

When the book released, I decided we should have the party ourselves.

We held a virtual Bing-and-Bob party, and over 120 people joined in. Readers picked sides and brought pictures of Irish and British foods, clothing, favorite songs, movie memories, stories, and all sorts of contributions. For a little while, the imaginary party I'd written about became a real gathering.

Apparently inviting people into imaginary worlds has been one of my favorite things to do for a very long time.

Celtic Foods Bing Would Love

Soda Bread

Irish Apple Cake

British Foods Bob Would Enjoy

Strawberry Lemon Creme Scones

Lemon Blueberry Scones

Sourdough English Muffins

So tell me: Would you have been Team Bing or Team Bob?

Audrey Hepburn: Flourless Chocolate Cake

Audrey Hepburn and chocolate cake seem almost too good to be true in the same sentence, but she was known for loving chocolate, and a dark flourless chocolate cake is associated with her.

As luck would have it, I have a dark flourless chocolate cake recipe.

Apparently Audrey and I have more in common than I realized. Although, judging by the photographic evidence, she and I may have approached the phrase "I love chocolate cake" somewhat differently.

Perhaps I need more flourless cake in my life. 😂

There's something wonderfully Audrey about this dessert, though. It's elegant without being fussy, intensely chocolatey, and doesn't need layers of decoration to make an impression. It simply shows up looking fabulous.

Get the Recipe: Gluten-Free Flourless Chocolate Cake

Lisa Douglas: Perhaps We Should Make the Hotcakes

If you watched Green Acres, you probably already know why I'm volunteering to handle breakfast.

Lisa Douglas and the kitchen had an interesting relationship, which is precisely why she belongs at this table. Some of our favorite television food memories aren't about magnificent meals. They're about magnificent disasters.

So let's give Lisa the morning off.

I'll make my Fluffy Pancakes from Scratch, we'll call them hotcakes for the occasion, and everybody wins.

Get the Recipe: Fluffy Pancakes from Scratch

Granny: Pass the Biscuits

The Beverly Hillbillies belonged to an era when television families became part of our own family routines. We knew their houses, their quirks, and their favorite sayings, and week after week we dropped in for another visit.

For Granny, I want biscuits on this table. Not fancy biscuits. Not precious little things arranged with tweezers. I want warm, old-fashioned biscuits that somebody splits open while they're still steaming.

Get the Recipe: Two-Ingredient Biscuits

Dick Van Dyke: It May Look Like a Walnut

If you grew up watching The Dick Van Dyke Show, you probably already know exactly why there's a walnut cake at this particular table.

One of the show's most unforgettable episodes was “It May Look Like a Walnut.” After Rob watches a creepy science-fiction movie about an alien from the planet Twilo, his ordinary world begins to look suspiciously like the movie. Walnuts are everywhere. People are behaving strangely. There are missing thumbs involved. And then comes the moment fans still remember more than sixty years later: Laura opens the closet door and comes sliding out on a mountain of walnuts.

It's wonderfully weird, completely ridiculous, and classic Dick Van Dyke Show. In fact, the episode was conceived as a parody of The Twilight Zone, with Danny Thomas appearing as the mysterious Kolak.

So when I started matching some of my recipes with the stars and shows I grew up loving, there was really only one possible dessert for Dick Van Dyke.

Walnut cake. Of course.

Thankfully, mine comes with brown butter and maple glaze—and, as far as I know, poses absolutely no threat to your thumbs.

Get the Recipe: Brown Butter Walnut Cake with Maple Glaze

More Than a Recipe Roundup

I have a feeling this guest list isn't finished yet.

There are more singers, actors, television characters, movie scenes, old cookbooks, favorite foods, and memories waiting to be discovered. And that's half the fun of a collection like this.

The more I've worked on this collection, the less it has felt like a recipe roundup and the more it has felt like a reunion.

Elvis took me back to sixth grade. Lucy carried me into high school. Minnie put me in front of the television with my dad. Frank and Dean led me back through fourteen books' worth of Bella adventures. Bing and Bob reminded me of a crazy online party where over 120 readers stepped into one of my imaginary worlds. The Golden Girls reminded me of the years when someone could call and ask me to turn a wicker purse into a cake—and apparently I would say yes.

And Dolly? Well, Dolly helped send me down this particular road in the first place.

That's what I love about food and memory. A smell, a flavor, an old recipe, or even the name of a dessert can suddenly open a door you didn't know was there. You walk through it, and for just a moment you're somewhere else.

Or maybe you're someone else—an earlier version of yourself you haven't visited in a while.

Who Would You Invite to the Table?

I've pulled up chairs for people who made me laugh, sing, dream, write, bake, and remember. But I'm betting you've got a guest list of your own.

Maybe Elvis takes you somewhere. Maybe you grew up watching Lucy or Hee Haw. Perhaps you spent Saturday nights with a television family that felt a little like your own, or there's a movie you've seen so many times you could practically walk onto the set.

And maybe there's a food that takes you right there.

That's the magic of this whole thing. We start with my memories, but somewhere along the way, I hope you bump into some of yours.

So pull up a chair and stay awhile.

There's always room for one more at the table.

Thanks for Stopping By!

If you make any of these fun recipes and enjoy them, please leave a comment or review. And if you have other ideas for star-inspired baking, let me know! Before you go, be sure to pin some photos to your Pinterest boards!

Janice Thompson is a professional baker, cake designer, and author with over 20 years of experience creating unique cakes and desserts. She’s the creator of Out of the Box Baking, where she shares her favorite doctored cake mix recipes, tutorials, and baking tips. Learn more →

Baking with the Stars: Sweet Recipes Inspired by the Stars and Characters We Love