5 Baking Lessons We Learned From Taylor Swift

You already know Taylor Swift’s squad: Selena Gomez, Karlie Kloss, Lena Dunham. But let’s not forget about the most important members: flour, sugar, and butter. They knew her before she was famous, and they taught her everything she knows. And they continue to help her win friends and influence people, one cookie at a time.

When Taylor and Scottish DJ Calvin Harris celebrated their one-year anniversary this week, Calvin Snapchatted a distinctly homemade-looking chocolate cake. While I can’t say for certain that the cake was Taylor’s handiwork, it did inspire me to revisit Taylor’s five best baking moments… and the lessons we can learn from them:

Lesson #1: Embrace Americana.

I love a good croissant. I’ll never turn down a churro. But in a world obsessed with hunting down the next exotic pastry, bless Taylor for leveraging her all-American image and showing some love to the classics.

First she made apple pie.

Then she made chocolate chip cookies.

Then she made flag cake—twice, with the squad!—and gave a shout-out to the recipe’s creator, the inimitable Ina Garten.

Which brings me to lesson #2…

Lesson #2: Honor your mentors.

Ina then invited Taylor to spend a day cooking with her in the Hamptons, which is the actual definition of #squadgoals.

Lesson #3: Eat your humble pie.

When Taylor opened her NYC home to fans for 1989’s “Secret Session” preview events, she could have served the finest catered spread her new hometown could offer. Instead, she made cookies: chai sugar cookies with eggnog icing and copycat Thin Mints, to be exact. And—I mean this in a good way—they even look homemade. Because underneath the perfectly polished exterior, Taylor is one of us.

Lesson #4: Brunch is king.

If you haven’t brunched with someone, are you even really friends? The answer is no, and Taylor knows this, which is why she makes sure to bring doughnuts for her team and Instagram her buckwheat crepes at 1 P.M. Who knows or cares if Taylor made a single crêpe, then face-planted back into bed?

Lesson #5: Bake it forward.

Whether it’s a cake for Calvin, kookies with Karlie, or “pumpkin bread for everyone [she] knows,” Taylor knows everything tastes better shared.

You can be cook like Taylor Swift, too!