B. Dylan Hollis

Last updated

B. Dylan Hollis
Born
Benjamin Dylan Hollis

(1995-09-07) September 7, 1995 (age 29)
Paget Parish, Bermuda
Occupation(s)Social media personality, baker, social media comedian
Years active2020–present
Known for TikTok videos about unconventional vintage American recipes with an off-kilter humour.
TikTok information
Page
Followers10.2 million
Likes265.3 million
Last updated: December 12, 2024
YouTube information
Channel
Subscribers2.27 million [1]
(December 12, 2024)
Total views507,258,451 [1]
(December 12, 2024)

Benjamin Dylan Hollis, better known as B. Dylan Hollis, (born September 7, [2] 1995) [3] is a Bermudian-American social media personality and baker. He is best known for his TikTok videos where he makes, samples, and comments on unusual vintage American recipes. He has over ten million followers on the platform as of October 2024, [4] as well as over two million subscribers on YouTube. [5] Hollis has appeared on Good Morning America and The Kelly Clarkson Show .

Contents

His first cookbook, Baking Yesteryear, from Penguin Random House, became one of the most pre-ordered books in the history of its publisher, surpassed only by the memoirs of Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, and Prince Harry. [6] Released in July 2023, it debuted at #1 on The New York Times Best Sellers list and remained on the list for an additional fourteen weeks. [7] [8]

Early life

Hollis grew up in St. George's, Bermuda [9] [3] [4] [10] and attended Warwick Academy. [9] In 2014, he moved to Laramie, Wyoming to attend University of Wyoming, where his longstanding fascination with mid–20th-century American culture led him to study 1940s big band jazz, as well as purchase and daily-drive a 1963 Cadillac Series 62, which he named "Ernest". [9] [3] [4] [10] He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Music in 2021. [11]

Career

Hollis began using TikTok in April 2020 to pass time during the COVID-19 pandemic. [9] [3] [4] [10] He initially made short humorous TikTok videos about jazz and his life in Wyoming. [3] [10]

Having little baking experience before the pandemic, [3] [10] Hollis was inspired after finding in his vintage collection a 1915 recipe for a "pork cake", a fruitcake with ground pork in it, which he found "ridiculous" and decided to film himself preparing. [4] [10] [12] The video, in which Hollis describes the dish as tasting like "a good question mark", was viewed over a million times as of June 2022. [3] [10] Another video on Depression-era peanut butter bread received almost 34 million views. [3] By April 2021, Hollis had over two million followers on the app [13] and over 37 million likes, [9] and he was ranked seventh worldwide for influencer growth on TikTok. [9] As of February 2023, he had 9.7 million followers. [4] Besides TikTok, Hollis also has substantial following on Tumblr, entering the site's top 20 list of web celebrities in April 2022. [10] His videos are often downloaded from TikTok and re-uploaded to Tumblr. [10] He also had 1.1 million YouTube subscribers and 396,000 Instagram followers as of May 2022. [5] [14]

Hollis's videos use recipes from 20th-century vintage cookbooks, typically spanning from the late 1800s to the 1960s. The recipes in his videos span from 1865 at the oldest to 2001 at the newest, [3] [13] however the recipes he touches on are typically from the Great Depression. [4] Recipes highlighted in his videos have included cassava pie, [9] peanut butter bread, [3] [4] [10] [15] [12] tuna salad Jell-O, [3] [16] [10] a mock apple pie, [3] [16] a SpaghettiOs Jell-O ring, [3] chocolate potato cake, [4] [13] a water pie, [4] [13] [10] [17] [5] a jellied meatloaf, [4] [5] "magic mayo", [16] the aforementioned pork cake, [3] [10] and potato doughnuts. [10] Videos typically cover the preparation, cooking, and tasting of each recipe within one minute. [10] Hollis chooses recipes based on whether they meet his "three Ws" criteria: "wild, wacky, and wonderful". [4] He has also said he is cautious of trying certain recipes to avoid cultural appropriation. [10] Hollis's videos sometimes also include discussions of his upbringing in Bermuda and clips of him performing jazz piano. [9]

Hollis has been noted for his animated personality and slapstick humor in videos; [3] Eater described his persona as "alternating between droll quips and cartoonish overacting" and "[feeling] like a Marx Brothers film on 2x speed", [10] while The Food Channel wrote that he "combines the zinging one-liners of Rodney Dangerfield with the oddball charisma of Ed Grimley (Martin Short circa 1984) or Pee-Wee Herman (Paul Reubens circa 1983)". [5] Hollis cites radio programming of the 1930s and 1940s as influencing his on-camera persona. [10] [15]

Hollis appeared on The Kelly Clarkson Show in October 2022, where he baked pork cake alongside host Kelly Clarkson and guests Jay Leno and Ayo Edebiri. [4] [18] In a May 2021 New York Times column, comedian John Hodgman mentioned watching Hollis's videos, particularly noting his tuna Jell-O salad and chocolate mayonnaise cake videos. [19]

In June 2022, Hollis announced he would be writing a cookbook, Baking Yesteryear. The book's 101 recipes, spanning from the 1900s to the 1980s, include some of the highest-rated recipes from his videos, including but not limited to cornflake macaroons, ANZAC biscuits, Ricciarelli, and the homebake version of Buster Bars popularised in the 80's by the release of the Dairy Queen ice-cream bar of the same name. The book was released on July 25, 2023 via Penguin Random House. [4] [14] [20]

Personal life

Hollis has a collection of over 340 vintage cookbooks, which fans often contribute to. [3] [10]

Hollis is gay, having come out in 2019, and often makes humorous references to it in his videos. [12] He told PinkNews that he had difficulty expressing his sexuality growing up, due to hostile attitudes in Bermuda, and that his TikToks are "my way of sharing myself to what I assume are accepting people, and it’s proven to be that way – and it’s made me feel a whole lot better about myself." [12]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pie</span> Baked, filled pastry

A pie is a baked dish which is usually made of a pastry dough casing that contains a filling of various sweet or savoury ingredients. Sweet pies may be filled with fruit, nuts, fruit preserves, brown sugar, sweetened vegetables, or with thicker fillings based on eggs and dairy. Savoury pies may be filled with meat, eggs and cheese or a mixture of meat and vegetables.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cheesecake</span> Cheese-based dessert

Cheesecake is a dessert made with a soft fresh cheese, eggs, and sugar. It may have a crust or base made from crushed cookies, graham crackers, pastry, or sometimes sponge cake. Cheesecake may be baked or unbaked, and is usually served chilled.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bundt cake</span> Donut-shaped cake

A Bundt cake is a cake that is baked in a Bundt pan, shaping it into a distinctive donut shape. The shape is inspired by a traditional European cake known as Gugelhupf, but Bundt cakes are not generally associated with any single recipe. The style of mold in North America was popularized in the 1950s and 1960s, after cookware manufacturer Nordic Ware trademarked the name "Bundt" and began producing Bundt pans from cast aluminum. Publicity from Pillsbury saw the cakes gain widespread popularity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carrot cake</span> Sweet cake with carrot as an ingredient

Carrot cake is cake that contains carrots mixed into the batter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Streuselkuchen</span> Crumbly, yeasty cake

Streuselkuchen, also known in English-speaking countries as crumb cake, is a cake made of yeast dough covered with a sweet crumb topping referred to as streusel. The main ingredients for the crumbs are sugar, butter, and flour, which are mixed at a 1:1:2 ratio. The recipe allegedly originated in the region of Silesia, and is popular in German and Polish cuisines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christina Tosi</span> American chef, author and TV personality

Christina Tosi is an American chef and cookbook author. She is founder and co-owner with Momofuku of Milk Bar and serves as its chef and chief executive officer. Food & Wine magazine included her in their 2014 list of "Most Innovative Women in Food and Drink".

Xavier Di Petta is an Australian-American internet entrepreneur, music producer, and internet personality. He is currently "Australia's most followed TikToker" with over twenty-million followers. Di Petta has been featured in The Times' 'Top 25 Under 20' and 'The 15 Smartest Teens on the Planet'. Di Petta has amassed followings that exceed 100 million across various social networks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baked by Melissa</span> American chain of bakeries

Baked by Melissa is a chain of bakeries founded by Melissa Ben-Ishay in 2008, specializing in "bite-size" miniature cupcakes. As of 2024, Baked by Melissa has 14 locations in the New York City metropolitan area and Boston.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tabitha Brown (actress)</span> American actress and internet celebrity (born 1979)

Tabitha Bonita Brown is an American actress, Emmy winning host, social media personality, entrepreneur, & author. She creates online video content incorporating veganism, humor and motivational speaking. Brown has over 5 million followers on TikTok and over 4.2 million followers on Instagram as of March 2023. She has been described by HuffPost as "America's Mom" and her content has been characterized by critics as being "comforting" and "calming". She is the host of the Food Network’s first plant-based cooking competition It’s CompliPlated and host of the Emmy winning YouTube children’s show Tab Time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eloise Head</span> British social media personality

Eloise Head is a British social media personality and Sunday Times best selling cookbook author.

TikTok food trends are specific food recipes and food-related fads on the social media platform TikTok. This content amassed popularity in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, given that many were inclined to eat at home while simultaneously turning to social media as a form of entertainment. While some TikTok users share their diets and recipes, others expand their brand or image on TikTok through step-by-step videos of easy and popular recipes. Users often refer to food-related content as "FoodTok."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Khaby Lame</span> Senegalese-Italian influencer (born 2000)

Khabane "Khaby" Lame is a Senegalese-Italian influencer. He is known for his TikTok videos, in which he silently mocks overly complicated "life hack" videos. As of 2024, he is the most-followed user on TikTok. In 2022, he was listed in Fortune's 40 Under 40 and Forbes' 30 Under 30. He also served as a juror on the 2023 edition of the television show Italia's Got Talent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dump cake</span> American dessert, similar to a cobbler

A dump cake is an American dessert similar to a cobbler but with a cake-like topping. It is so named because it is prepared by "dumping" ingredients into a cake pan without mixing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nick DiGiovanni</span> American celebrity chef and internet personality

Nicholas Channing DiGiovanni is an American celebrity chef and influencer. DiGiovanni has over 40 million followers across his social media accounts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Water pie</span> Dessert with translucent custard filling

Water pie is a type of pie with a translucent custard filling made primarily from water, along with sugar, flour, butter and sometimes vanilla extract. The recipe originated during the Great Depression and experienced a revival during the 2020s amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic impact.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dylan Mulvaney</span> American social media personality (born 1996)

Dylan Mulvaney is an American social media personality known for detailing her gender transition in daily videos published on TikTok since early 2022. Before coming out as a transgender woman and launching her internet career, Mulvaney performed as a stage actor in Old Globe Theatre, Off-Broadway, and Broadway productions. She gained a higher profile on social media platforms after her interview with U.S. president Joe Biden at the White House, during which they spoke about transgender rights. After Bud Light sent a beer can to Mulvaney for an Instagram promotion in 2023, American conservatives led a boycott of the brand.

Watergate cake is a pistachio cake popular in the U.S. which shares its name with the Watergate scandal of the 1970s, although the name's origin is not clear. The cake pre-dates Watergate salad, a dessert made with similar ingredients including pistachio pudding.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lynja</span> American online celebrity chef (1956–2024)

Lynn T. Yamada Davis, better known by her online cooking videos as Lynja, was an American online celebrity chef who was known for her viral TikTok and YouTube Shorts videos. Praised for her quick-styled editing and references to popular internet memes, "Cooking with Lynja" accumulated over 13.6 million subscribers on YouTube as of November 29, 2024 and over 21.8 million followers on TikTok as of June 27, 2024.

Harry Daniels is an American social media personality and singer. He found success online starting in 2022 for TikTok videos of him singing poorly to celebrities, which have been described by some critics as cringeworthy and awkward. He was signed to United Talent Agency in 2024.

References

  1. 1 2 "About B. Dylan Hollis". YouTube.
  2. ↑ B. Dylan Hollis [@bdylanhollis] (September 7, 2021). "Another year down! It's been a fortunate one beyond my belief –and I've so many kind friends, family, & fans to thank for it :)" . Retrieved May 30, 2023– via Instagram.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Eng, Jess (November 30, 2022). "TikTok's B. Dylan Hollis gives wacky vintage cookbook recipes new life". The Washington Post . Retrieved December 4, 2022.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 "Would you eat these vintage recipes?". BBC Food . February 2023. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Cury, James Oliver (May 11, 2022). "Food TikTokers You Should Know: The Crazy Comedian Vintage Recipe Tester". The Food Channel . Retrieved May 17, 2023.
  6. ↑ Priya, Krishna. "How TikTok is Reshaping the American Cookbook". The New York Times. New York Times. Retrieved October 30, 2024.
  7. ↑ "The New York Times –Books –Best Sellers –Advice, How-To & Miscellaneous Books". The New York Times. August 13, 2023. ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on January 27, 2024. Retrieved August 6, 2023.
  8. ↑ "The New York Times –Books –Best Sellers –Advice, How-To & Miscellaneous Books". The New York Times. January 7, 2024. ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on January 15, 2024. Retrieved December 12, 2024.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Finighan, Gareth (March 29, 2021). "Bermudian's TikTok posts on island life attract millions of views". The Royal Gazette . Retrieved December 4, 2022.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Broderick, Ryan (June 6, 2022). "Meet the TikToker Going Viral by Baking His Way Through Great Depression-Era Cookbooks". Eater . Retrieved May 17, 2023.
  11. ↑ "University of Wyoming Fall and Summer Semester Graduates: Resident". University of Wyoming. Retrieved October 30, 2024.
  12. 1 2 3 4 Baska, Maggie (July 23, 2022). "Gay TikTok star tries wacky and ridiculous baking recipes – and it's hilarious". PinkNews . Retrieved May 17, 2023.
  13. 1 2 3 4 Staff (April 6, 2021). "This TikToker attempts to make vintage recipes from centuries ago". In The Know. Retrieved December 4, 2022.
  14. 1 2 Perchikoff, Sarah (February 14, 2023). "Tik Tok creator B. Dylan Hollis has new cookbook coming soon". Guilty Eats. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
  15. 1 2 MacPherson, Adrianna (June 13, 2022). "The Baker Who's Captivated TikTok With His Depression-Era Recipes". Mashed. Static Media . Retrieved May 17, 2023.
  16. 1 2 3 Brinkley-Badgett, Constance (August 13, 2021). "This guy tests weird old recipes so you don't have to". Mediafeed. Retrieved December 4, 2022.
  17. ↑ Farris, Valerio (August 20, 2021). "Water Pie Was a Depression-Era Treat—Why Are People Into It Now?". Food52 . Retrieved May 17, 2023.
  18. ↑ "Video: Dylan Hollis On Kelly Clarkson Show". Bernews . October 15, 2022. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
  19. ↑ Hodgman, John (May 20, 2021). "Judge John Hodgman on Fearing the Bundt Cake". The New York Times . ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved May 17, 2023.
  20. ↑ "Baking Yesteryear by B. Dylan Hollis: 9780744080049". Penguin Random House . Retrieved July 25, 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.