Cake Byte: Sweet New Additions to the Seattle Bakery Scene

Sweetless in Seattle? Not on your life, jerk. Here's just a brief roundup of all of the sugary magic on the horizon:

Cupcake Royale: Seattle's first cupcake shop is opening their fourth retail location in Capitol Hill. Combined with the added deliciousness of Oddfellows' bakery case and the newly opened Molly Moon Ice Cream a block away, Cupcake Royale's entrance on the scene is really establishing Capitol Hill as a sweet mecca. Coming this summer; online at cupcakeroyale.com (you can also keep updated via their blog).

Curio Confections: When a Trophy Cupcakes alum branches out and opens a baking business, you know it's going to be good. No conflict of interest here--there are no cupcakes on the menu at this University District sweetshop, but plenty of pies both sweet and savory, fancy marshmallows, and even goats' milk caramels. Scheduled to open May 23; online at curioconfections.com.

Manderin Cookie Co.: A custom-order cookie bakery specializing in decadent cookies and bars. Bacon may have jumped the shark, but just try telling that to devotees of the Bean's Bacon Bar (a heart-attack inducing bar of deliciousness comprised of layers of chocolate, peanut butter, cayenne pepper, caramel, and bacon). They're working on placing the product in retail locations; in the meantime, they can be ordered online at manderincookieco.com.

Molly Moon Ice Cream: How did such a cold treat get so hot? Molly Moon is featured in Bon Appetit and all over on the interweb--and now, there's more sweetness to go around. Their second location is now open in Capitol Hill! Online at mollymoonicecream.com.

Old School Frozen Custard: Can you stand it? Yet another place to get a sweet fix on Capitol Hill! This is actually their second location (the first is in Bonney Lake, wherever that may be); they specialize in frozen custard (different than other ice creams you may have tasted--read about it here), and we're so happy that they're coming. Opening this summer; online at oldschoolfrozencustard.com.

Trophy Cupcakes: Martha Stewart's favorite cupcake shop in Seattle has multiplied: their second location will open in the University Village early this summer. Now, all they have to do is open a third location next door to the CakeSpy headquarters and the holy trinityof sweetness will be complete. Scheduled to open either late May or early June; online at trophycupcakes.com.

The Yellow Leaf Cupcake Co.: Seattle's newest cupcake shop, located in Belltown, will feature mostly cupcakes but a small array of morning pastries as well; though they will have coffee, fancy tea will be their beverage focus; they'll also have suggested "pairings" for tea and cupcakes. Wonder which tea would go with their much-anticipated signature Tomato Soup cupcake (AnTea Warhol perhaps)? Scheduled for a soft opening on May 15; online at theyellowleafcupcake.com.

Ready for some sweet gossip? In the Central District, a Japanese sweet shop is coming; also, we hear that there's a new gourmet ice cream truck coming later this summer to a neighborhood near you. More info as we receive it!

CakeSpy Undercover: Little T American Baker in Portland, OR

If there's anything we love, it's getting reader suggestions for bakeries we should visit.

So when CakeSpy reader Cynthia dropped by and visited the CakeSpy booth at Crafty Wonderland in Portland last weekend, Mr. Spy and I were delighted when she told us about one of her favorites: Little T American Baker. So delighted, in fact, that Mr. Spy went right on over to pick up some treats to sample.

Little T boasts an awesome pedigree: it was opened by Tim Healea of Pearl Bakery and Kenny & Zuke’s (both CS favorites!). It's a stylish little space, and while the service wasn't necessarily swift, it was friendly. 

We sampled their peanut cookie, a shortbread cookie shaped like a puzzle piece, and the lemon tart. 

Let's start with the cookies. First was the "peanut cookie"--not a "peanut butter cookie". And it seems that there is a difference--this cookie, which was fat and very buttery, didn't have a strong peanut butter taste throughout, but rather got its nuttiness from a generous smattering of whole peanuts throughout. It was pretty delightful.

The shortbread cookie, which Mr. Spy declined to share, was declared "very good". 

But oh, the lemon tart. Lemon tarts and bars can be tricky territory, often falling into the category of too eggy or too sweet. A well-balanced filling is hard to come by, but so wonderful when you find one. And Little T's lemon filling was perfect. Smooth and creamy, rich and yet still tasting of fresh citrus, it was perfectly complemented by a shortbread-y crust. Heaven!

Our most sincere thanks to Cynthia for introducing us to Little T American Baker.

Little T American Baker, 2600 SE Division, Portland OR (503) 238-3458; online at littletbaker.com.

Mommie Dearest: A Sweet Post-Mother's Day Treat

Mother's Day is over--and now, with a big sigh of relief, we can go back to blaming her for everything for another year.

But there's no need to invest in a Starlee Kine-esque stint at the Hoffman Institute to work out all those mommy issues--here's a far better (and more delicious) way to take out some of that aggression: by seriously crushing some Mother's Circus Animal Cookies (which we scored through our friends at FoodBuzz!) and making delicious truffles out of them.

This is a variation of the Oreo Truffle recipe made famous by Bakerella; in this version, simply substitute a bag of the (newly re-released!) Carnival Animals by Mother's Cookies.

Crush Your Mother's Cookies Truffles

• 1 package Mother's Cookies
  
• 1 8oz. package cream cheese (softened)
  
• confectioner's dark chocolate, melted
  

1. Coarsely cut about six or seven cookies into small chunks. They'll be jagged and messy but that's ok, they're for garnish. Reserve for later.

2. Crush remaining cookies and stir in softened cream cheese. Use the back of a large spoon to help mash the two together.

3. Roll the mixture into 1" balls and place on waxed paper covered cookie sheet.

4. You're supposed to melt chocolate as directed on the package and then dip balls into chocolate--but I'm lazy so I just poured it on top of each (which ended up giving them an extra chocolate "foot"--yum). Set aside on wax paper covered cookie sheet to dry. 

You can sprinkle the tops with the coarsely chopped cookies for decoration.

5. Once dry (if you can wait that long), refrigerate. Share with mom, if you dare.

Makes about 36 truffles.

Cake Byte: CakeSpy Cupcakes All Month Long at Trophy Cupcakes!

Trophy Cupcake Photos c/o Alana

What could possibly be more magical than a cupcake?

How about cupcakes with CakeSpy artwork printed on them?

These sweet little morsels will be available all month long at Trophy Cupcakes in celebration of the CakeSpy art show! Even if you missed the artist reception last week, the artwork (and cupcakes!) will be on show and for sale all month long.

(Note: CakeSpy art is also on show at Schmancy in Seattle too this month!)

Totally sweet!

Sugar Mama: An Ode to the Sweetest Mom Ever

People frequently ask me what inspired me to start CakeSpy.com. What in the world could have contributed to such a deep interest (bordering on obsession) in cake that someone would devote their life to eating, researching, writing about, and illustrating it?

Well, as they say, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree--or in this case, the crumb doesn't fall far from the cake.

That is to say--blame it on my mom. 

My mother, Margie Moore, is just about the coolest person there is. Growing up, for every birthday we had an amazing cake. None of this store-bought sheet cake business, no sir--we always had some sort of multi-tiered pink confection that put even wedding cakes to shame--like this one:

Of course, making cakes like this was a time consuming ordeal, and very trying on the rest of the family as we were unable to indulge right away. So to stave off our sticky fingers, she'd always make a little something extra with the leftover cake batter: a batch of festively frosted cupcakes:

...now, don't these look familiar? After all, they're the inspiration for a little cupcake character you've come to know and love.

But wait--there's more. My mom is not merely a sugar enabler--she's also a renowned children's book illustrator. And yes--cake and sweets often play a role in her illustrative work, in books such as Ruby Bakes a Cake, A Horse's Tale: A Colonial Williamsburg Adventure, Bear of My Heart and many more.



Happy Mother's Day to the sweetest mom, like, ever.

To check out Margie Moore's illustration work, visit margiemooreillustration.com; to buy original paintings or prints, visit her online shop. 

For Margie Moore's birthday cake recipe, click here.