From Coleraine to Great British Bake Off: NI man Iain Ross, aka TikTok star Thug Loaf, shows his skills on nation's screens
Coleraine man Iain Ross is to see if he can stand the heat in the nation’s favourite kitchen – Great British Bake Off.
He’s one of 12 hopefuls newly announced for the 16th season of the hit show, yet he’s no stranger to being a small screen star, having already earned an enviable following on TikTok and Instagram for his skills with an oven.
Under the name ‘Thug Loaf’ – a spin on a common phrase in 1990s gangsta rap, ‘thug life’ – Iain’s earned almost half a million followers on TikTok and almost a quarter of a million on Instagram with his bread art.
He uses blends of food colouring as paint to recreate famous album covers and band logos on loaves of bread and other food, with one chart-topper being a burrito bearing the faces of the band Queen, which he dubbed ‘Bohemian Wrapsody’, that has picked up 6.9m views on TikTok.
Other hits include the logo of goth-rockers Bauhaus on a mushroom and ground beef bao bun, called ‘Baohaus’, and ‘Freak On A Quiche’ – the cover of nu-metal band Korn’s single ‘Freak On A Leash’ on, of course, a quiche.
He’s also recreated the cover of techno legend Aphex Twin’s album ‘Selected Ambient Works 85-92’ in pizza form, as well as a dessert shaped like the logo of rappers the Wu-Tang Clan – called ‘Wu-Tang Flan’.
By day a software engineer, 29-year-old Iain now lives in Belfast with his partner Dervla, and used to be a powerlifting influencer before he swapped pumping iron for spreading dough.
A statement from the Bake Off organisers said: “The self-proclaimed “Yeastie Boy” mixes his love of live music with sourdough, immortalising album cover art on the crusts of his loaves
“He blends classic flavours with a creative twist, often using fermented fruits and vegetables to enhance the depth and complexity of his flavours. If an ingredient can be pickled, aged, or cultured, he’s eager to give it a try.”
He’s currently gagged from speaking to the press until the show airs, but in an interview with Mashed last year he revealed some of the secrets of his social media success.
Initially starting a personal Instagram account in 2019 to track the growth of his skills, within a couple of years he decided to tie his love of music in with his passion for baking – and interest soared.
“I started posting videos of me making bread on TikTok, using music that people didn't normally expect from a baking account; a lot of underground music I was into at the time,” he said.
“I cut up a little stencil of one of my favourite artist’s logos and dusted flour over it on my dough to reveal the design. It all just snowballed from there.”
For each creation, he uses a hybrid yeasted and sourdough recipe that means he can get the bread as flat as possible with few cracks, making it the ideal canvas.
“Ideally I'd love to do 100% sourdough, but the problem with 100% sourdough is it causes lots of blisters when baked and can make the art less defined,” he revealed.