The Livy Method Podcast - Baking Is Not the Enemy with Colin Asuncion

Episode Date: September 8, 2026

Food is not the enemy. Baking is not the enemy. Our relationship with food is usually the problem.Colin Asuncion, Great Canadian Baking Show finalist and judge on the new Halloween Bakeshop, joins Gina for an honest conversation about baking without the guilt. His advice for anyone who loves to bake but doesn't want to eat the whole tray: make the batch, have one, give the rest away. They also cover the ingredient swaps that genuinely work and the ones that ruin a bake, why almond-flour desserts beat most gluten-free flour substitutes, how to freeze baked goods so they actually keep and the pantry staples that let you make almost anything.Halloween Bake Shop premieres September 13 on Flavor Network and Stack TV.Where to find Colin: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/colinasuncionTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@colinasuncionThis podcast aligns with Sep 8th of our Summer Club, members can find video in our Livy Method app or Summer Club Community Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/livymethodspring20 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I'm going to be honest with you, this podcast is unapologetically a hot mess because that is what midlife feels like sometimes. Why, though? And how do we make it better? Do we all just need facelifts and g-lp-ones? I mean, let's talk about it. No bullshit, no wellness wankery here because we're trying to make real change and change is hard. But we're in this together. Welcome to the Living Method podcast.

If you're looking to lose weight and you want to keep it off, you have got to check out the Living Method. Next live session starts September 14th. Better than ever, easy to follow. We have the most incredible community, and it works. Head over to liby method.com to sign out today. Welcome to the Living Method, my friend. How are you? I'm great.

How are you, Gina? Good. I say, my friend, because we need to reconnect with our love of food around here. So you are going live in our weight loss and maintenance. programs, people are trying to eat healthy and make change. But gosh, food plays such a huge role in our lives. And one of the things we kind of don't talk about and shy away from is baking. I think there's good reason for that. I think there's this sort of, especially in the health and wellness space, there's this stigma associated with baking that isn't necessarily

warranted. I think there's this oversimplification that one thing or one area of food or one area of life is like the enemy. Yeah. In fact, it's not that at all. It's more holistic. It's more about your relationship with food, your relationship with baking, your relationship with cooking and just the way that you nourish your body. So yeah, it's a complicated mindset.

Well, and you know this because you were a finalist on season three of the great Canadian baking show. You're also the host of Halloween Bake Shop and Holiday Bake Shop. the Halloween Bake Shop is actually airing next week, September 13th. So where did your love? Let's get to know a little bit about you. Where did your love of baking start? So, oh my goodness.

It started where I think many people's love of baking begins in the kitchen with my family, with my mom in particular. She was such an incredible baker, still is, although she hasn't really done it a lot recently because I've taken on the role of the family baker. But yeah, my mom would bake all these amazing things. when I was a kid. And then my older sister, Denise, was a big baker in her 20s. And then I just became interested in it in my 20s.

And it grew and grew and grew. And then auditions for the Great Canadian Baking Show were released. And I thought, why not? Let's try this. And then I tried it. I did exceptionally well, which was a huge surprise to myself, honestly. And then now I've been working in food media for a number of years. and like you said, I'm the newest judge on Halloween Bake Shop,

which is coming up to Sunday on Flavor Network. And so it's like a whole circle moment where I started baking at home and then I grew to compete on a baking show. And now I'm a judge on a baking show, which is so exciting. And it's of such a thrill. Well, congrats. You can tell you just love it. I do.

What's your favorite thing to bake? Like what's your, what's the specialty? to you. What's like the call in special that you like bring or like share? I would say so there's a couple things. There's if I want to go like cheap and cheerful, quick and easy, it's my chocolate toffee cookies. They're like a huge hit. They're so simple. It's like a very classic toll house chocolate chip cookie dough, but with chopped chocolate, two different types of chocolate, sea salt, some toffee. It's a crowd pleaser. But then if I want to go more fancy, then I'll do a chocolate tart. which is, it was actually the, um, the bake that I made that got me on the great Canadian

baking show back in 2019. So it's very special to me. It's an Anna Olson recipe that I've adapted and, uh, yeah, those are two things that I love to make. Whenever you talk about baking, like, what's the response that you get? Are people like, oh, you know, I love baking, but I can't eat it or is there kind of like this thing around baking that you noticed being in this space? So I've noticed a few things. A lot of people will say, I love it. I love it. to cook, but I can't bake because they think that there's this huge difference in skills. And there really isn't. I do think baking is a little bit more precise and it's a little bit more like the science behind baking is so precise. And if you get certain things wrong,

things can really fall flat. And so there is that sort of fear of the skill. But then also some people say, you know, I'm watching my figure. I'm watching how I eat. I'm watching my my healthy lifestyle. And so I'm not sure if baking is for me. And that makes me a little sad because I think like, like I alluded to earlier, it's not like this whole area of food is the enemy. It's the way that we approach it and it's the way that we incorporate baking and desserts and and baked goods into our lives that can help us enjoy it without feeling guilty. Yeah, it's a complicated relationship because one, we love baking and then we love sharing, our baking, but it's, yeah, I think we've just complicated all of it.

Yes, 100%. And I do think, not to jump the gun, one thing that I love to do is I love sharing my baking. I love to bake things, have a taste, and then give it all away, which is a way that helps me, you know, enjoy the craft, enjoy consuming it, but then it's not like I'm eating 24 cookies myself. You know, I'm sharing them with my loved ones. And then, you know, you share the joy, share the experience. And that's one way to, you know, engage in the hobby, engage in the craft without overindulging. Well, that's actually a really great tip because a couple of our members were asking, like, one, how do I make something that's so delicious, enjoy a piece of it and then not eat the rest of it? Yeah. I do think like what I do is I'll make a batch of cookie dough. I'll make some of them. I'll eat one or two.

my partner will have one or two. And then I will just give the rest away. It's such a nice thing to do for people. And also, because I am a baker and because I work in food media, people come to expect that from me. Wherever I go, they're like, well, where's our cookies? Where's our tart? And I'm like, bro, it's 8 o'clock on a Wednesday.

I don't know where your cookies are. But sometimes I will have some in tow like your show. So that's helpful. Well, even today I was like, did he bake anything? And I'm going to be baking later today because I'm seeing some friends this week. And so I need to prepare some cookie dough for them because, like I said, they've come to expect it. Here's a comment from Trudy. I love making butter tarts.

But that's a bad thing for me as I also love eating butter tarts. I think, Trudy, this sums up with this conversation. How do we get past this, Colin? The thing is, it's not like any one thing is bad for you. you. I mean, it's all about balance and moderation and all those buzzwords that we hear in the wellness space. But so, and you said it's Trudy. Trudy, I would say, make a batch, eat one, give the rest away. I mean, it's such an oversimplification, but I really do think you can delight your coworkers, your friends and family with a whole bunch of them. Or one nice thing

that I like to do is if I make a bunch of things and I don't necessarily want to share them, but I don't want to eat them right away. I'll freeze them. So I'll have like a little bit here and there for myself so I can help moderate my intake. Well, I love the giveaway. It's a great way to get to know your neighbors. I find since the pandemic, like I haven't even like,

when I first moved into my neighborhood, we were like, oh, hi. Well, after the pandemic, well, I still haven't got together with their neighbors. But speaking of freezing, how long do baked goods last in the freezer? So it depends. If something is very solid. So something like a cookie or an unfrosted cake. So something that's like mostly like dry.

Okay. It lasts up to three months. If it's wrapped really tightly and really well sealed, if something has something like a butter cream or like any sort of liquid or gel type filling or like a moose, that's going to last a little less long. So like maybe a month to two months. But if you seal things really, really well, wrap them in aluminum foil and then also plastic wrap, they can last maybe a little bit.

longer. I love a double wrap, by the way. So I'll wrap things in plastic wrap, then foil, and then I might put them in a zip top bag as well, just to really ensure that no air gets in, because that's what's going to give you that weird freezer burn flavor. Yes. He'll seal, seal, seal as much as possible. In the aluminum foil. Because that helps also combat against moisture and also like huge drops in temperature. So that will help you as well. Or huge things in temperature. Yeah, because we also have like, we have a lot of single members around. You know,

or maybe their kids have moved out of the house or whatnot. They're like, I love baking, but like I have all this extra food around me. So I love the idea of

freezing. I force feed myself because I don't want to waste the deliciousness that has been made. Yeah, this fear, we're dealing with a bunch of food waste issues.

Yeah. Which are very real that, you know, generationally have been passed down for some people. They don't want to waste anything. Yeah. I'm that way too,

where sometimes, and this is terrible. I'll be making a cake or making something. And I'll think, I just spent all this time and money making this thing. I don't want to waste any of it. So I will just eat the extra couple bites. And, you know, sometimes I think that's okay.

You know, food waste is a terrible thing, especially in our society. Like, you see these videos and these images of restaurants and bakeries just throwing things away. Yeah. That are really good to eat. So, listen, if it's a matter of, of, oh, I need to finish this extra bite of cookies that I don't waste it. That's one thing.

But then if you made a whole batch of cookies or a whole cake and you don't want to eat it all and you're considering throwing it all away, just make some friends, reach out to some family, give it to them. I'm sure there will be so many people who'd be so happy to receive homemade baked goods. Yeah, even if they don't eat it, I'd be really happy if someone made me. I'd be like, amazing. Thank you. Yeah, 100%. Are there any, do you have any? Do you have any? secret swaps for making something healthier, like your constant go-to? So there are a couple things. The main thing I think is swapping like levels of fat of dairy.

So if something calls for like cream, maybe I'll try using whole milk or something calls for full milk. Maybe I'll try using skin milk. Or if something calls for like full fat, sour cream, I might swap that with like Greek yogurt. So it's higher protein, but it's still rich in cream. me, things like that. And then also, there is something to be said about taking away some things. So lowering the sugar just a bit. Limiting the amount of inclusion. So like if something calls for like two cups of chocolate chips, maybe it's just one cup or a cup and a half just to sort of curb that a little bit without pricing flavor and the structural integrity of the bake. You know, sometimes you can't necessarily take everything away because then your cookie won't bake

You know, but there are a couple swaps. And I do find in particular that sour cream and yogurt one is a great one. Okay. And what about flowers? Like what about switching things out? Like almond flour is different than regular flour because it's just almonds. Like what's your favorite healthy flowers? And where's the limit on when you can swap those out?

So swapping flowers is very tricky because that's when you really get into the science and you can really affect the structural integrity of your bake. But, you know, I sometimes go to that classic whole wheat flour. You know, if you're making a cookie, maybe you do half whole wheat flour and half all-purpose flour to get that whole grain nutrient into your bake. It's not going to help a huge amount. It's not going to transform a cake into a protein bar, you know, but it is something that you can do to make something a little bit more nourishing and a little bit more of a whole food, if that makes. Well, when you are baking, are you thinking about the nutrient value of baking or you're just like, fuck it, I'm just making whatever it's going to taste delicious. It depends. So if I want to, let's say I need a treat at home, but I'm also watching my weight or, you know, for whatever reason I'm trying to consume less calories. I won't do like a layer cake with buttercream. I'll do like a snack cake or like a banana loaf, something like that that isn't smeared with like creams and frostings. So I'm still having a treat, but it's just not. not as indulgent.

I guess there's a middle ground. I'm like an all or nothing. I'm like super sweet treat or like taste like cardboard because it's healthy. There's middle ground. I used to be that way as well where I'm like, you know what? It's dessert. Let's just have dessert. But then, oh, wait, I weigh a lot more than I used to.

So now sometimes I'll think, okay, I don't need the thing that's covered in French buttercream. maybe I just need a slice of banana cake. Maybe I just need a cookie, you know, and it really does satisfy that, that sweet craving that I often have. Are you, are you adding protein powders to your banana breads or your cookies or anything? I don't. Just because protein powder is already so heavily processed, and I really think that that can

affect the science of your baking. I have had some of those things. I've had, like, those, like, date and nutballs that are made with, protein powder. That's like a raw thing. Like it's literally just like a blended number of ingredients. Then you sort of form it into a ball. That's fine. But I, you know, listen, I'm classic. I just drink my protein shakes. I'll have a slice of cake and then I'll have a protein. And those are my macros for the day, you know? So I, and you know, maybe that's my biggest advice. You know, have the slice of cake and then have something healthy aside from the cake. You know,

instead of making the cake something that it's not. Yeah, oh, that's a good tip, rather than making it something that it's not. Are there any ingredients, though, that you do add in to boost nutritional value at all? Sometimes I'll add, like, nuts, seeds, and fruit a lot of the things. So, like, you know, pumpkin seeds are really, really nutritionally valuable. And sometimes, muffing with those. Or cheese seeds, hemp seeds, things like that to really add just a little bit of boost of nutrition and fiber. and they also add a lot of flavor and texture.

So for sure. And also fruit. I love to bake with fruit. I think we don't bake with fruit enough. I love throwing some blueberries and things, throwing some dried cranberries. Again, some fiber. Yes, they have a lot of sugar,

but then you can say, hey, I had a serving of fruit today because of my cooking or whatever it was. Yeah. What's your favorite thing to bake? Like, are you baking muffins or are you always making cookies? In terms of the category, I'm so, because I've baked so many different things,

things and so many things are so incredibly complicated. My true favorite things are the most simple things. And so really just a chocolate chunk cookie. It's so simple. Anybody can do it. You don't need any specialty equipment, but it makes everybody happy. And like, I'll always reach for a cookie. Yeah. Yeah. Cookies do make people. Cookies do make people happy. My son recently got into baking these cookies, but he's got to mix them. Then they got to go in the fridge and we're all sitting there. We're waiting for them. Like, I'm like, what are you going to bake those fucking cookies? Right. This is why I always say bake as much or make as much cookie dough as possible and then freeze it. Freeze them in different batches so that whenever you want a cookie, just grab it out

of the freezer, let it thaw for a bit, and then you've got cookies in a couple hours instead of waiting a day and a half. Yeah. What's your favorite substitute for sugar? Is there like an actual substitute for sugar? I, so I don't really like to substitute sugar, if I'm honest. I mean, sometimes I will, I have done bakes where you've swapped some of the sugar and the oil for apple sauce. Yeah, I've heard that. When you're making something that's a vegan, I actually find that is very helpful because it does add some sweetness and moisture, which is really nice. And it helps with the structural integrity of a bake.

So yeah, maybe apple sauce is one of my favorite swaps, but it can't swap for all of the sugar. Yeah. I do like alternative sugars, like instead of dusting something with icing sugar, maybe I'll do a drink. drizzle of honey or maybe I'll like maple syrup, but that's really more for flavor. Yeah. What do you like, is it like, what about artificial sweeteners? Okay, so I don't bake with artificial sweeteners, but I do consume them in the form of, you know, diet sodas.

And I just got on to one of my new friends got me onto sugar-free vanilla syrup in my coffee because I'm normally a black coffee kind of guy. Yeah. Just that little extra. I'm like, ooh, maybe. I have been missing sweetness in my coffee, but not in my baking. I don't have enough to the sweetness of my baking. What about maple syrup? Because I always think, oh, maple syrup's healthier than sugar. I can add that to my baking. But it's just, when you talk chemistry

and baking, can we actually do that? I mean, sometimes I'll swap maple syrup for a little bit of the sugar just for the flavor. So like, for example, in, what is it? Is it my pumpkin cake? It's something fall related, it calls for, like, we'll call it like a cup and a half of sugar, I'll replace a quarter cup of the sugar with a quarter cup of maple syrup. Because it's liquid, though, it does react differently. So that's why you can't swap it all one for one usually. But if something calls for like honey, you could totally do maple syrup. You want to stay in the same category of format.

So if it's a granulated sugar, you want to stay with something that's granulated. If it's a liquid sugar, you can swap that for maple syrup. syrup. Oh, that's a great tip. What about people who can't do wheat and gluten-free? What's the best alternative to flowers? So I love almond flour-based desserts and bakes. So like macaroons, amoretti, and those are all gluten-free by design. I don't, I haven't met a dessert that's been made with like one of these, I'm going to call them newfangled gluten-free flowers. I've never met one that I've loved, but I have met a lot of sort of traditionally gluten-free desserts that are incredible.

And they haven't been tweaked too much. So like cassava cake, which is really common in Caribbean and Southeast Asian cooking or Ameri. So like Italian cookies that are almond flour-based. Like those gluten-free desserts are so delicious. And they've been around for like tens, if not hundreds of years. So go to those recipes. Yeah, that makes sense.

So rather than try to make something gluten-free, actually stick with the gluten-free recipes that actually already. Yeah. It's been tried, tested, and true for so long. And it will help you explore something new that you might not have otherwise discovered. So someone is just, they want to get into baking. I've tried my hand at sourdough bread. I'm still six months later, still working on it.

But what are some staples when it comes to like you must keep in your pantry 101 baking? Okay. This is so timely because. I spent the summer out of town and I had to sort of rebuild my pantry for three months. And I was like, what are my staples? So this is such a timely question. So you need flour. You need sugar. You need butter. You need oil. Okay. Then you need some other sciencey things. So you need leavening agents. Baking soda, baking powder. And then in your fridge, you're going to want some dairy. So maybe dairy milk or almond milk or oat milk, whatever you prefer.

Okay. From there, you can do so many things. Oh, and brown sugar. I don't know if I mentioned that. From there, you can do so many things. You can do cookies. You can do cakes. You can do scones.

So many things that you don't even need specialty equipment for. But if you keep those staples in your pantry at all times, then you can shop for the additional things. Like, oh, I'll need chocolate. I'll need cocoa. I'll need flavoring. I need some eggs, you know. But if you have those staples, you're really, really well set up.

Do you prefer, do you switch out regular sugar for brown sugar? Yeah, sometimes I do. Sometimes I do because it gives more of a richer caramel-y flavor. It does affect the way that it affects the structure of some bake. So I won't always do a one for one. But it adds a little jena sequo sometimes. I love it. Do you have a book out yet?

I, so it's so interesting that you say that because I know that your book is coming up very soon. So I'm working on a cookbook with a collaborator, Brian Francis. It's called The Remix. It is a baking cookbook where we reimagine retro recipes to make them up-to-date, more interesting, a little bit, sometimes more healthy. Okay. And that will be out, I mean, well into the future. Right now we're aiming for fall 2028, but we have signed with a publisher. We're so excited.

And yeah, I've been recipe testing like crazy. Oh, good for you. okay, you'll have to let us know when it comes out. Before we go and I want to talk about your new upcoming show, can baking be a healthy part of your life? I think definitely. Because it's the way that you approach baking. It's the way that you,

it's the way that you reframe your relationship with food. Food is not bad. Baking is not bad. Right. A relationship with food can be unhealthy. And I think that's what we need to work on. But, you know, if you love a craft and you love a craft and you love a category of food and you want to engage in it, I think that's a beautiful thing. So yes,

it can absolutely be part of a healthy life if you approach it in a healthy way. Has it always been a healthy part of your life? Have you ever struggled with you? You know, I think it actually weirdly has always been a healthy part of my life because I love it so much, but I also pride myself on having a lot of balance in my life. So yeah, I love making cookies, but I also love going to the gym. So it has really helped me. And I also love eating other things that are a little bit more healthy than a cookie. So balance has really helped me. And I would preach that to anyone, you know, try to exercise balance and then you can enjoy so many different things in your life. What's your favorite food? Oh, my favorite food? Hmm. That's such a

good question. I want to say, oh, oh, that's easy. Movie theater popcorn. I don't think so long. I can eat movie theater popcorn for the rest of my life. We've had all the nutritional benefits of other food categories. Love it. Cineplex has gotten thousands of my dollars. Well, it's popcorn high in fiber. It's good for you. Okay.

Baking is enjoyable and fun. Yes, that's how it should be. That's exactly how it should be. Okay, tell us about your new show coming up. Yes. Yeah. So it's Halloween Bake Shop. It's on Flavor Network and you can stream it on Stack TV. I'm the newest judge alongside host Lauren Ash and my co-judge Kareem Kueh. So we are judging eight bakers from across North America. And they're making the most incredible Halloween themed bakes for seven episodes. It premieres on Sunday. I'm so excited for everybody to see it. We, you know, it's in the can. We wrapped it already. But I haven't even seen the first episode. So I can't wait to. see what the editors have put together. But it's an incredibly fun show.

We wear these crazy costumes. The bakers are so talented. It's like everything you could want out of a Halloween-themed baking competition show. September 13. Well, it's one way to get excited about baking when you see what can be done. What's the most craziest thing you've ever seen when it comes to baking? Okay, so it was, oh my gosh, I've seen so many amazing things, particularly on show. It was like the show that I just judged and the show that I was a competitor on. I saw someone

make this sculpture of a statue out of cream puffs and cake and cookies. And it was one of the most breathtaking things I've ever seen in my life. They did it in four hours because that was part of the challenge on the show. It was, it was unbelievable. It's so incredible to see what food artists can make with, you know, some simple ingredients and their imagination. And they really are artists, these bakers. Like it's just, it's so inspiring. I love it. Okay.

Words of wisdom for our members who are joining us live or listening after the fact when it comes to baking. What do you want people to know? I want people to know that, again, food is not the enemy. I think we need to embrace food because it's meant to be nourishing and it's meant to, it's meant for enjoyment, you know, nourish our bodies, but we also nourish our bodies. but we also nourish our souls and our hearts with the things that we consume. So always think about that when you're eating anything. If you're not enjoying it, why are you eating it?

And then also, if you love to do something, don't feel guilty about it if it's not hurting anybody. You know, if you want to just bake the cookies. And then eat some cookies, give some away, do whatever you want. You know, live your life. It's not that serious. Maybe that's my main advice. Eat the cookies and then freeze them. And double wrap.

And double wrap. You can follow Colin Ascuncian on Instagram and TikTok. His new show, Halloween Bake Shop, airs on the Flavor Network and Stack TV starting September 13th, which is next Sunday. And then we start our program on the 14th. Colin, what a treat. What a treat. Thank you so much for having me. This has been such a blast.

What a great way to start my day. Just screaming about cookies. I love it. Please let us know when that book is out because we'll be the first ones to buy it. Thanks, everyone joining us live or listening out for the fact. Thanks, Colin. I appreciate you. Thank you so much. Have a great day, everybody. You too.