Delle Donne adds to popular “BakEDD,” “Salon Delle” series
Less than a month into her YouTube career, Washington Mystics star Elena Delle Donne is off to an auspicious start. She welcomed special guest and Frozen star Elsa for episode 2 of her cooking show, “BakEDD,” then hosted her first live show for episode 3. In between, she continued her work at her at-home salon, Salon Delle, by giving friend Kathy a makeover.
As Nothing But Nylon aptly commented on Twitter after Delle Donne’s YouTube debut, “Her YouTube game is still a rookie. Imagine what the career is going to look like .”
If you missed the first episode of BakEDD or the first two Salon Delle videos, you can read all about them here.
BakEDD, Episode 2
It’s hard to top Nestle Toll House cookies, the dessert Delle Donne baked in episode 1. Perhaps that was the reason she went with something completely different in episode 2: Olaf Jell-O treats, a Disney-inspired, no-bake dessert.
Olaf Jell-O treats are made by topping cups of blue Jell-O with miniature Olafs—the snowman in the movie Frozen—made out of marshmallows and icing. And don’t forget the miniature umbrellas to keep the sun at bay, which Delle Donne fashioned out of toothpicks and cupcake liners because she couldn’t find mini umbrellas at the grocery store.
Partway through the Jell-O prep, Elsa stopped by to supervise—and, of course, eat some marshmallows. She brought some snowflakes with her to make the kitchen “a little more magical” and periodically burst into song, which seemed to distract Delle Donne each time. After the Jell-O treats were finished, Elsa went to take a closer look. Referring to one marshmallow Olaf, she exclaimed, “He’s so cute!” and tilted the treat toward the camera to give viewers a better angle.
The episode concluded with a “Pardon the Interruption” segment featuring Elsa and her sister Anna dancing.
BakEDD, Episode 3
One week later, Delle Donne’s 32-minute live show produced two cream cheese crescent rolls and welcomed, on video, four different households of children baking in real time. Not bad for her first-ever live show—though there were also a few hiccups. These included some initial difficulties adding guests to the video feed and Delle Donne mistakenly saying to use granulated sugar instead of powdered sugar for the frosting.
Luckily, Delle Donne’s wife Amanda, who appeared on screen for the first time in the series, caught that slip of the tongue in time to save everyone’s frosting. Amanda also contributed the recipe, as it was one of her favorite childhood desserts. Elena clearly had fun making it, singing Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” as she used the mixer to beat the cream cheese and banging the cans of Pillsbury dough on the kitchen counter to get them to spring open.
Elena focused a lot of her attention during the live show on ensuring viewers could see the steps clearly, and it paid off. Her first guest, a girl in a full chef’s uniform to match Elena’s, was expertly arranging her dough, even faster than Elena. “I can’t believe you’re doing this all by yourself. I need Amanda’s help!” Elena told her.
Another young guest was asked what he thought of Elena’s chef’s outfit. He said he approved, and Elena joked that it could be her new warm-up outfit for Mystics games because she was getting hot wearing it in her kitchen. She pantomimed shooting a 3-pointer to test out the range of motion. “By the way, I made that shot that I just took,” she added. She also hinted that she might make an ice cream-based dessert in a future episode to help her stay cool.
After Elena took her crescent rolls out of the oven and added the frosting, she asked Kathy, who had been filming the video, to taste-test. Elena instructed Kathy to rate it on a scale from 1-11, to match Elena’s jersey number. I won’t spoil Kathy’s verdict, but it likely comes as no surprise to “Salon Delle” viewers that she told Elena, “This is much better than your hairstyling.”
Salon Delle: Makeup
“So, as you can see, both of us, it’s winter, we’ve been quarantined. We’re very pale. We’re going to fix this,” Elena declared to start her third “Salon Delle” episode.
This episode was a lesson in quick makeup application, as Elena gave Kathy a full face of makeup in less than two and a half minutes. One fan? Nanci Thibault, wife of Mystics general manager and head coach Mike Thibault. She commented on Instagram about her favorite part of the episode, when Delle Donne instructed Kathy to look up while keeping her eyes closed. Those instructions momentarily baffled them both but were apparently necessary to get the highlighter just right under Kathy’s eyes.
Perhaps remembering her previous visits to Salon Delle, Kathy seemed hesitant throughout the episode, asking Elena what was coming up next on multiple occasions, but she did allow Elena to finish the job. The result was a makeover that was not particularly edgy—no winged eyeliner or crazy colors—but would hardly be described as a “no-makeup” or natural look.
Delle Donne hasn’t dropped any hints on what could be next at Salon Delle, but if she keeps to her semi-regular schedule, another episode could be posted as early as Sunday. Before the coronavirus pandemic postponed the WNBA season, that was slated to be the final day of opening weekend. But, if we can’t have basketball, Delle Donne’s YouTube channel is a strong consolation prize.
Love our 24/7 women’s basketball coverage? Join our Patreon now and support this work, while getting extra goodies and subscriber-only content for yourself.