CakeSpy at the Renegade Craft Fair in Austin this Weekend!

Time to freak out, Austin. CakeSpy's a-comin!

And I'm not coming alone. I'm bringing hundreds of cards, t-shirts, onesies, bookmarks, copies of my book, CakeSpy Presents Sweet Treats for a Sugar-Filled Life, and a bunch of mugs and tote bags. And I want to sell it all to you. 

All you have to do is come to my booth at the Renegade Craft Fair! 

As it's listed on their site:

Get ready, Austin, the 3rd Annual Renegade Craft Fair is coming your way May 19+20, 2012 from 11am-7pm at the Palmer Events Center. Look forward to hundreds of today’s brightest + best indie makers from the Lone Star State and beyond, as well as hands-on workshops, music, food, booze + more. There’s no better way to spend a weekend!

For more details and directions, visit the Renegade Craft Fair website. And please, leave comments telling me what bakeries I should visit. 

Leftover Pie Parfait for Serious Eats

Leftover pie. It's not a common occurrence—who leaves pie uneaten, after all? But it has happened, maybe even in your own fridge: that one final slice, left to linger, and maybe getting a little dry around the edges.

But what to do? Do you just choke down the past-its-prime slice? Do you douse it in whipped cream, hoping to make it taste better?

No. What you do is salvage that slice by making it a pretty Pie Parfait. By choosing an assortment of ice cream and toppings which complement your pie, you can bring new life to a dying dessert. In fact, slightly stale pie will work best as its texture will hold up better against the ice cream, and it will better absorb the flavors of the additions.

The composition of your parfait is your own adventure. The basic rule is that you want to choose an ice cream, a topping, and a sauce which act either in harmony or in unison with your pie flavor. For instance, you could compose a harmonious concoction by pairing a slightly tart apple pie with cinnamon ice cream, graham cracker crumbles, and caramel sauce; or, you could go matchy-matchy and pair a slice of grasshopper pie with mint chocolate chip ice cream, thin mints, and chocolate sauce.

Plus, it's fun. Who wouldn't like to trick out their pie and eat it in a pretty cup? It's the perfect way to eat your leftover dessert.

For the full scoop, visit Serious Eats!

Cake Byte: Kumquat Cupcakery Classes

I don't know about you, but even though I'm not in NYC, I am nonethless absolutely inspired by these cupcakes and the concepts of these upcoming classes put on by Kumquat Cupcakery. Perhaps you, too, will be inspired by the flavor combinations--or if you're in NYC, you're lucky enough to sign up!

Here's the scoop on the upcoming classes:

Baking With Seasonal Fruit: There’s nothing quite as delicious as the first fruits of summer.  This two hour class led by Keavy will teach you how to make Kumquat Cupcakery’s secret cupcake batter along with our prize winning classic frosting recipe.  Complimentary coffee and champagne will be offered during the class as an added bonus!  You will leave with 24 mini cupcakes, printed recipes, and a warm and fuzzy feeling inside.

Menu:
-Strawberry & Rubarb Cupcakes topped with a fresh strawberry
-Rich Chocolate Cupcakes with Lavender Frosting

May 27th, 2-4 p.m.; $50; to sign up, click here.

Baking With Booze:  Do you like cupcakes?  Do you like booze?  Then this class is for you!  Keavy will not only teach you how to make our top secret cupcake recipe, but will have complimentary coffee & champagne to warm your soul while doing so. You will leave with 24 mini cupcakes, printed recipes, and a warm and fuzzy feeling inside. 

Menu:

- Lime & Cilantro Cupcakes doused in tequila topped with tequila frosting and, of course, a bit of lime salt.  

- Chocolate cherry cupcakes topped with rich chocolate frosting and a homemade cherry port sauce. 

June 3, 2-4 p.m; $50; to sign up, click here.

For more inspiration, visit kumquatcupcakery.com.

Sprinkles, Jimmies, Hundreds-and-Thousands

Good morning, sweeties. You know what? Today is a fantastic day: I just clicked "save" on the file which contains the first draft of my second book. OMG! I'm going to look it over one more time before sending to my editor, but in the meantime, I am going to share some important information with you. The most important information: the difference between sprinkles, jimmies, and hundreds-and-thousands.

They're bright and colorful. They're sometimes rainbow, sometimes chocolate. They're sugary. But what do you call those tiny bits of confectionary which add a delightful crunch and festive flair to desserts ranging from ice cream cones to doughnuts to birthday cakes?

Well, that depends on where you are, geographically. 

Sprinkles is the term favored in most of the United States, and is actually quite broad: it is used to not only to refer to those tiny cylinders of garnishing magic, but is also used to refer to sanding sugar, nonpareils, and even draguees (those little silver balls that will break your teeth on cakes!). 

Jimmies is a term with a fun story: legend holds that the Just Born Candy Company in Pennsylvania (producer of PEEPS candy) began producing sprinkles in the 1930s and, since a gentleman named Jimmy ran the sprinkles machine, the product was named after its maker. While the product in question was specifically chocolate sprinkles (also the best kind to make trompe l'oeil caviar, btw), usage seems to have spread to multicolored sprinkles as well. This term is most commonly used in Pennsylvania, and the northeast United States.

Hundreds-and-Thousands is the term favored in England as well as countries which speak British English; this term seems to refer specifically to the tiny, round type of nonpareil sprinkles (the type pictured at the top of the post). It is also the most adorable term, in my opinion.

There you go. Just a brief primer. Cue the "the more you know" music, and let a rainbow of sprinkes--or is that jimmies--wash over everything!

Baker's Dozen: A Batch of Sweet Links

Source: iheartnaptime.net via Cake on Pinterest

Look at these sweet Jell-o cookies!

An egg-cellent chance to win some dough. Enter your favorite sweet (or savory) in Eggland's "Your Best Recipe" contest!

Sweet tourism: the top 5 bakeries in Jerusalem.

Smooth things over: icing smoother. 

I want a pretzel cookie from Sigmund Pretzel. 

Magical princess cupcakes!

5 Things that Ought to Be Put in Mainstream Ice Cream.

Mac Attack! Delicious Macarons as discovered by The Nibble.

Now open in Seattle: Crumble & Flake Patisserie!

Cherries Jubilee is made with kirsch. What is kirsch?

Speaking of Cherries Jubilee...Cherries Jubilee Ice Cream Pie!

What happened at the candy show in Chicago?

I need everything in this store, in my home.

Don't perdu this pain: delicious French Toast. 

I want to eat it: Key Lime Pie Cake.

How To Make Edible Rock Candy Jewelry

This necklace is not only delightful, it is delicious.CakeSpy Note: This tutorial is provided courtesy Cake Gumshoe Jasmin, a suspected sweet genius who, among other things, has invented cupcake-stuffed strawberries. Check out her work at 1 Fine Cookie!

It’s fashionable, pretty, tastes good, affordable and easy to make. What’s not to like about 1 Fine Cookie’s rock candy jewelry?

These precious “stones” are made with unique flavors, such as marshmallow, peanut butter and more. The flavor is up to your preference!

Make these for ladies’ night, showers, bachelorette weekends, birthday parties, with the kids, or for Mother’s or Valentine’s day. The possibilities are endless!

The bare-bones basics are listed below; for a more detailed tutorial, visit 1 Fine Cookie.

Ingredients and Tools:

• clothes pin
• large glass container
• ribbon
• sugar
• optional but recommended: Torani syrups.
• optional: food coloring

 Process shot!

How to make it happen

1. Cook about one part water to three parts sugar. One necklace will be about 1 cup water, as a reference point.

2. Once the sugar has completely dissolved and simmered, turn off heat and cool. Mix in any food coloring, and a few drizzles of your choice Torani syrup for flavor. 

3. Soak middle of ribbon (about 2 feet or more) in the sugar water mixture, then coat in sugar overnight until dry.

4. Place middle of ribbon inside of sugar water, which has been poured into a large glass container. Use clothespins to clip the ribbons and prevent from falling in.

Allow to grow! Move necklaces around a little every day to prevent it from sticking to the sides. While factors will play into how long this will take, including the size of your piece, the humidity, et cetera, you're basically looking at 1-4 weeks.

Cakespy has written permission to feature the recipe, writing and photos of 1 Fine Cookie. Be polite: if you would like to share as well, please visit the website for policies first.

Pike Place Market Inspired Honey Cream Biscuits Recipe

On the list of Things I Love To Eat, biscuits rank very high. So when I received a review copy of Pike Place Market Recipes: 130 Delicious Ways to Bring Home Seattle's Famous Market by Jess Thomson (who also co-wrote the Top Pot Doughnuts cookbook) and saw that it included a biscuit recipe, I knew I had to try it. The headnote drew me in:

"If you can get past the allure of Moon Valley Organics's honey-scented skincare products at its Pike Place Market Day Stall, you'll also find delicious honey, harvested in Washington's Cascade Mountains. Use it to make these biscuits, which are perfect for breakfast, served straight from the oven. Spread them with butter and--what else?--a little more honey.

Decadent cream biscuits, redolent of honey and topped with more honey? Done and done. Here's the recipe!

The book is well worth a look even if you're not from Seattle, btw--it's full of fantastic recipes, and wonderful stories about the famed and storied market. Oh, and the fishmonger on the right side of the cover, above? I have totally illustrated him in cupcake form. I'm totally not kidding. Someone asked me to do a custom piece once and asked me to use that guy as a picture reference because she had a crush on him. He's the tattooed cupcake, below.

Honey Cream Biscuits

Makes 8

• 3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
• 3/4 cup (1.5 sticks) cold unsalted butter
• 1 cup plus 1 to 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• 1/4 cup high quality honey
• 1 tablespoon melted butter

also suggested: more honey and butter, for serving; or, do as I did, and add a big spoonful of brown sugar melted in butter.

Procedure

1. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
2. Whisk the flour, salt, and baking powder together in a mixing bowl. Cut the cold butter into 1/2-inch chunks, and using a large fork or pastry cutter, mix the butter into the flour mix until the butter resembles small peas. Add 1 cup of the cream and the honey, drizzling the honey evenly over the entire mixture, and mix well with a fork until no dry spots remain.
3. Knead the dough a few times in the bowl to help it hold together (add the extra cream if needed). Turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll it to an 8-inch circle, about 1/2 inch thick. Using a 3-inch biscuit cutter or drinking glass or similarly sized cookie cutter, cut out biscuits, re-rolling so you can use the scraps for more biscuits. 
4. Invert the biscuits onto the prepared sheet so that the smooth side is up (that way, they'll rise up, not out), brush with the melted butter, and bake for 12-15 minutes, until puffed and golden. Let cool for 5 minutes on the sheet, then serve warm, with butter and honey.

Sweet Art: CakeSpy and Rampage Toys Show at CakeSpy Shop

Are you ready for some totally sweet and awesome art, friends?

Well, get ready. Because CakeSpy and Rampage Toys are collaborating again, with the best art show ever at CakeSpy Shop! Here's the shop release on it:

Last year, we hosted a show featuring paintings and toys from Seattle based character designer Jon Malmstedt - RAMPAGE TOYS! Jon is known for his cupcake monsters running through towns destroying all that they find, flying to space, and traveling undersea. You may have heard, but our founder, Ms. CakeSpy, is pretty well-known for her OWN cupcake-themed artwork, so obviously, a collaboration was bound to happen! Come and see all of their AWESOME collaborative works for yourself Thursday, May 10th from 5-8pm--you can expect tattooed unicorns, dinosaurs chasing treats, and more!

Here are the details:

Opening reception: Thursday, May 10th, 5-8 p.m. Facebook event page here.

Location: CakeSpy Shop, 415 East Pine Street, Seattle WA 98122

Don't panic if you can't make the opening; the art will be up all month, and very soon the art and prints will be available at CakeSpyShop.com. 

Cake Byte: Bake Sale at CakeSpy Shop on May 19th

One Wild Strawberry and Bake It in a Cake are teaming up with the CakeSpy Shop to host a spring bake sale and benefit for Teen Feed! 

On Saturday, May 19th, starting at 2 pm, bring some cash or a couple pairs of clean, new socks down to the CakeSpy Shop on Capitol Hill in exchange for a sweet treat. 

One Wild Strawberry will be offering up an array of tasty (and adorable) cake pops, and Bake It in a Cake will have dozens of stuffed cupcakes filled with things like lemon bars, cherry pies, brownies, and more.

And while you fill your belly with goodness, you're also helping a really great Seattle-based organization called Teen Feed.

Teen Feed provides dinner for homeless youth in the University District every night of the year, averaging about 40-50 teens and young adults each night. And because the Northwest is so wet this time of year, Teen Feed also likes to supply visitors with a fresh, clean pair of socks. Even small things can make a huge difference.

So grab some socks and come have some cake! The bake sale starts at 2 pm and goes until the goodies are all gone (or 5 pm--whichever comes first).

Learn more about Teen Feed at www.teenfeed.org.

And here's even more info:

One Wild Strawberry: www.onewildstrawberry.com
Bake It in a Cake: www.bakeitinacake.com
CakeSpy Shop: www.cakespyshop.com

Cream of the Crop: Coconut Cream Whoopie Pies Recipe for Serious Eats

Guess what? Tomorrow (May 8) is National Coconut Cream Pie Day.

Clearly, this is an appropriate occasion to eat your weight in coconut cream pie. But why stop there? Why can't whoopie pies come to the party, too?

True: traditional whoopie pies are not pie at all—rather, they are cake-like cookies with frosting sandwiched in between. But in the case of the Coconut Cream Whoopie Pie, you can have your cake and eat your pie, too. The rich filling is sort of like a mix between coconut frosting and cream pie filling.

Moreover, these sweet sandwiches are like eating the delicious intersection between sugar cookies, coconut cake, and coconut cream pie in one delectable form—that is to say, an absolutely appropriate food to celebrate this red-letter calendar day.

For the full entry and recipe, visit Serious Eats!