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At 22, Kildare baker Alice Kelly has grown a global audience from a tiny, renovated horsebox — and this month she marks another milestone with the publication of her first cookbook. Her social channels, led by @fromscratchbaker, now reach more than five million people and draw over 600 million video views annually.
From childhood kitchen to a viral bakery
Alice’s interest in baking began very young. She remembers learning to pipe and wear an apron as a child, and by primary school she was the one commandeering the family kitchen.
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Unable to afford a shopfront, she bought a dilapidated horsebox for around €590 and spent a summer refurbishing it. She recorded the process, posted the clips on TikTok and woke up to overnight attention — her first upload brought roughly 100,000 followers and 15 million views.
The exposure turned a private passion into work. Invitations followed, including an appearance serving customers at H&M’s College Green opening in Dublin. She left culinary college shortly before that event and took up waitressing to support her ambition to train as a baker.
Health struggles kept out of sight
Behind the carefully piped frosting and upbeat clips, Alice has faced persistent health challenges since her late teens. At 18 she underwent a lumpectomy after a breast tumour was found; tests later showed the growth returned but remained benign, and doctors opted not to remove it.
She has also been diagnosed with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (PoTS), adenomyosis and haemochromatosis. The latter requires fortnightly bloodletting and, she says, has involved fainting and exhaustion. Those conditions, she believes, explained symptoms that first emerged during her Leaving Cert years.
Alice says she gives the benign tumour a name — a way to keep perspective. She has spoken publicly about haemochromatosis, including at a European conference held at Trinity College Dublin, and wants to raise awareness of invisible illnesses without making her cookbook a medical memoir.
Baking as therapy and a public platform
For Alice, the kitchen has long been a refuge. When mental health deteriorated during her senior school years, baking provided a constant she could rely on. She completed her Leaving Cert remotely and later secured a place at pastry college.
Her recipes deliberately avoid diet talk. “I won’t discuss calorie counts or make anyone feel guilty for eating cake,” she says, framing cake as something for celebrations and togetherness rather than a metric to be judged.
Social media has not been uniformly kind. She still encounters criticism about her appearance and the visibility surgery can bring. Yet overall, Alice describes platforms as an outlet that allowed her to build a business and connect with people facing similar issues.
Looking ahead
Alice plans to graduate later this year and to keep expanding her business. The little horsebox that launched her career remains parked at home — a tangible reminder of how she began.
Her debut book, From Scratch: 80 Foolproof Recipes, collects everything from traybakes to showstopping celebration cakes. Priced at €35, it is in bookstores now.
“I’ve had a tough time but an amazing one too,” she says. “If life gives you lemons… make lemonade. Or lemon drizzle cake.”
