At Chronicle 19, we often celebrate the LGBTQ+ pioneers who fought for Pride, visibility and equal rights, from activists and political figures to those who challenged society’s expectations. But LGBTQ+ history isn’t only about protests, politics and historic milestones. It’s also hiding in the things we eat, wear, watch and use every day. Gay Did That! is our new series uncovering the surprising inventions, brilliant ideas and familiar creations that gay men have brought into our lives, often without most of us ever knowing who was behind them.
For the very first edition of Gay Did That!, we’re celebrating a beloved dessert that has delighted generations of cake lovers: the wonderfully light and fluffy chiffon cake. And the story behind its creation is just as delicious.
Imagine inventing one of the most famous cakes of the 20th century, keeping its recipe secret for two decades, and then watching it become a household favourite under the name of a woman who never existed. That’s essentially what happened to Harry Baker. And one detail most people don’t know? He was gay.
Our first stop is Hollywood, 1927.
Hollywood’s Best-Kept Secret
Harry Baker wasn’t a professional pastry chef. He was a former insurance salesman from Ohio who moved to Los Angeles in 1923 and began experimenting with baking. His ambition was to create a cake as light as angel food cake but as rich and moist as a traditional butter cake. After countless experiments, he found his secret ingredient: vegetable oil.
Combined with whipped egg whites, it produced something extraordinary. Chiffon cake was incredibly fluffy, beautifully moist and unlike the cakes Americans were accustomed to. Before long, Baker was supplying his creation to the legendary Brown Derby restaurant, a favourite among Hollywood celebrities. His cakes became enormously popular, particularly a grapefruit variation associated with gossip columnist Louella Parsons.
But Baker refused to share his recipe. He worked alone, kept visitors away from his kitchen and reportedly even concealed his empty oil containers so nobody could discover his secret. Hollywood loved his cake, but Harry wasn’t talking.
The Secret Behind the Baker
Baker was guarding more than a recipe. Research published by journalist Joseph Hart in 2007 revealed that Baker had left Ohio following an arrest connected to a sexual encounter with another man. His marriage ended, and he moved to California, where he established a new life. By 1930, Baker was sharing his Los Angeles home with a man known as Mac, who helped with his baking business and was understood by people around them to be his partner.
This was decades before Stonewall, when being openly gay could mean prosecution, disgrace or losing everything. Yet Baker had managed to create a successful business serving some of Hollywood’s most glamorous personalities. His cake was famous, while his sexuality remained largely hidden.
And Then Came Betty Crocker
In 1947, after approximately 20 years of secrecy, Baker finally sold his recipe to General Mills. The company launched chiffon cake nationwide in 1948, promoting it as the first genuinely new type of cake in a century. And the face of this baking revolution was none other than Betty Crocker.
Except Betty Crocker wasn’t a real woman. She was a fictional marketing personality created to embody the ideal American homemaker, and the irony is rather delicious. A revolutionary cake invented by a gay man whose private life defied the social expectations of his time became a household sensation through one of America’s most traditional symbols of domestic perfection.
Although Baker’s contribution wasn’t entirely erased, Betty Crocker ultimately became far more recognizable than the man behind the recipe.
A Little Slice of Gay History
Harry Baker died in 1974, aged 91, but his creation lives on. Chiffon cake remains popular around the world, inspiring countless variations from citrus and chocolate to coconut and pandan. His story has also resurfaced in LGBTQ+ culinary history, including John Birdsall’s 2025 book What Is Queer Food? How We Served a Revolution.
And that’s precisely what Gay Did That! is about. Not every contribution to gay history involved a protest, a rainbow flag or a political movement. Sometimes it involved a man in a Hollywood kitchen, a secret ingredient and a cake that changed baking forever.
So the next time you’re enjoying a beautifully fluffy slice of chiffon cake, remember Harry Baker. Gay did that!
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