52 Weeks, 52 Sweets

Vedika Luthra was born in India, raised in Poland, and then moved to the Netherlands, where she is currently pursuing postgraduate studies. Her unique background has shaped her experiences in the kitchen. Passionate about food from an early age, Vedika started her food blog Hot Chocolate Hits when she was fourteen. With dedication, Hot Chocolate Hits amassed a following, hungry for recipes such as mango cheesecake and chocolate chip cookie lava cakes. In 2015, her recipe for no-bake Oreo bars was one of the first videos on their “Sweeten” page to go viral, amassing 36 million views in the first year. She has since combined her passion for photography, video, and baking into an inviting and popular channel, Hot Chocolate Hits. In addition to her passion for food and photography, Vedika also enjoys writing and has written about food for several publications including Food52 and Spoon University.

Gemma Stafford was born in a small town in the southeast of Ireland, and her passion for baking drove her to train as a professional chef before studying with legendary chef Darina Allen at the world-renowned Ballymaloe cookery school in County Cork. After that, she used her new skills and a passport to travel the globe. She has worked as a personal chef in Italy and on the slopes in Australia. Working in bakeries and a Michelin-Starred restaurant in San Francisco, she gained more knowledge and drive to open her own catering business for top tech companies, specializing in over-the-top breakfast creations. Now, along with her co-creator and husband Kevin, she is pursuing her lifelong dream of teaching people her trade and sharing her culinary adventures and Bold Baking secrets with other Bold Bakers everywhere. They currently live with their son, George, and dog, Waffles, in Santa Monica, CA.