Cake Byte: Enter Iron Cupcake and Win Cakespy Prizes!

Wanna win Cakespy gear?

You can put yourself in the running by joining Iron Cupcake, a unique new baking competition!

All you have to do to enter is the following:

Send an email to Sandy Ploy the organizer, at IronCupcakeEarth@wi.rr.com with the following information:

Name
City, State, Country
Blog Address
Flickr Name
Who referred you?

For more info, visit mkecupcakequeen.blogspot.com!

Birthday Cake Poll: The Winners!

The Birthday Cake poll is closed! The response was staggering: between comment and email entries, there were 401 entrants in all. Wow! 

But before getting to the winners, we have to say that it turns out we won big too: we were surprised with a Cakespy anniversary / birthday present for Head Spy Jessie--cupcakes by Naomi Henderson featuring Cakespy artwork (pictured top)! Though she's in Australia and we weren't able to taste them, this sweetness transcends all geographic challenges! (To learn more about Naomi's work, read our interview with her!).

Also, calling all Cake Gumshoes in the Seattle area--if you're around on August 23rd, join us from 6-9 p.m. at Cupcake Royale in Ballard (the home of the giant cupcake pictured above) for an open house celebration for the Cakespy Anniversary and Head Spy Jessie's birthday! Did we mention they'll be debuting a new cupcake flavor for the occasion?

But seriously--enough suspense. Who won the prizes? Here are the names we chose at random:

Winner 1 was Elizabeth from MA, who won the mini original Soothsayer Cupcake Painting. The future is sure to be bright for her if she gets her wish next birthday: either German Chocolate or Red Velvet cake! Hey, why not both!?

Winner 2 was Janis from WA, who won the Hipster Baked Goods t-shirt! The tee will keep her sweet and fashionable as she continues to grow and learn, as in the case of fruit-filled cakes, of which she says the following: "...I am finding as I get older I am changing my mind a bit on the fruit issue. I don't know if it will ever reach the level of sweet surprise, but I will probably make it out of the disappointment category in 10 years."

Winner 3 was Queen of the Click, from Brooklyn, NY. She actually wrote in her response "I hope I win the notecards". Well, that wishful thinking paid off! All of those notes will look super sweet, but not as sweet as her next birthday cake, which she hopes will include cherries, pineapple and cream. Yum!

Winner 4 was Krysta from CA, who also won a pack of notecards! Krysta is a longtime Cakespy reader--and her daughter is a proud owner of original Cakespy artwork! So clearly there's no lack of sweetness in this household, which welcomes birthday pies but just says no to syrupy strawberry filling in their cakes.

Thank you to everyone who participated! If you didn't win, you can always pick up Cakespy gear at the etsy store. And be sure to check back next month for the next cake poll!

Stay sweet!

Eat Your Art Out: Sweet Masterpieces by Patianne Stevenson

Cakespy note: The above cupcake is sweet, but not delicious: it's made of cardboard!

What's so awesome about dessert? Well, there's the obvious answer--everything! But if pressed, we might say that our favorite aspect is that it's such a simple and attainable luxury--something that can so easily turn around a bad day, make an event special--something that just makes life sweeter. Literally.

And that sweetness is celebrated beautifully with Art on the Menu, a collection of artwork by Seattle-based Patianne Stevenson. We're equal parts in love with her painterly renditions of sweets, and completely awe of her painstaking cardboard renditions of dainty desserts (yes--the pictures to the left are made of cardboard!). Our Head Spy Jessie recently wrote a story about her for DailyCandy Seattle, and in researching it got to pick her brain a bit about her art; here's what we learned!

Desperately seeking sweetness: who is the artist?

I am a real foodie, and an artist. That's Art On The Menu: a life combing both my loves. I am formally trained in the visual arts, however cooking and baking are also an art form for me. Place painting, sculpture, cooking and baking in the bowl and stir until incorporated. They each have the quality of creating something from something. In my life, this not only gives me the picture perfect subject, I get to eat it later! Tasting my subjects is part of the process. And there is never a lack inspiration. At times a painting or cardboard sculpture will begin with a recipe which I will make; at other times I just have to eat french fries for dinner...all these moments are inspirational. If I don't have a feeling for what's next in the studio, I "go out". Going out can mean anything from visiting a bakery to shopping the farmers market, or simply discussing food with my foodie friends.

What's the story behind her process?

I seem to have the "deconstructing" nature that I notice in the prose of professional food writers. They are able tell you about the meal, including the look, taste, and ambiance, by poetically describing the parts. I too focus on the bits and parts of a meal to evoke the whole. Rather than words, I use color, pattern, texture and shape. This is how I approach my work, including commissions, which can be anything from depicting a family recipe, to creating a site and color specific piece for that little slice of wall under a cabinet and above the counter in a client's kitchen. It's the same process with my cardboard sculpture. Although it is three dimensional, cardboard has color, pattern, texture and shape. I especially love the inconsistencies and little imperfections that arise in the final pieces from the "Cardboard Kitchen". It's just like finished recipes from the other kitchen in that way, but without the oven of course!

Why does she do it?

I love painting sweets! They're always beautiful, happy, and fun. But, my favorite baked subject has to be the cupcake! The variations are endless. It's like a fashion show! Enrobing can run from classic buttercream to the cupcake encrusted with the most outrageously gorgeous colors and fondant decorations. Even the outer garment, the paper cup, can make a stylish appearance. And of course there's the cake as the surprise. I just bought a little beauty to paint from a local bakery. The cake is pineapple rum flavored. I am so excited! So now I have to admit I also love to eat them. I think of it as eating a whole cake at once!

On her hometown:

We Seattlites are incredibly lucky to have many truly wonderful cafes, bistros, restaurants, and bakeries. I can never decide on just where to take visitors, unless I have a month. And are we ever blessed in the cupcake department! We not only have several very well known bakeries dedicated to the cupcake, we have a head spinning array of bakeries producing delicious, elegant, high quality gemlike cupcakes! Are we in heaven?


What's next?

That's easy...there is so much beautiful food out there!

Wanna buy some art?

Large format paintings are available through the artist's website, artonthemenu.com. Small format paintings, and cardboard sculpture are available through her etsy shop, artonthemenu.etsy.com.

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Berger, Hold the Fries: Baltimore's Famous Cookies and More

You know that scene in the Wizard of Oz, after the house lands, when Dorothy opens the door and suddenly her world is in technicolor?

Well, that's sort of how it was for us when we recently tried the Berger Cookie for the first time. Call us starry-eyed dreamers if you will, but it felt as if something changed in our lives when a parcel of the precious cookies arrived (a gift from our friend Mitch in Baltimore) at the Cakespy Headquarter doors.

(Cakespy Note: Since the cookies were shipped to us, the cookies shown in our photos may differ in appearance from cookies purchased in Baltimore! They were no less delicious though.)

For those who may not be familiar with these treats, the Berger Cookie is possibly Baltimore's crowning culinary achievement: a buttery, cakey cookie with a soft, sweet, fudgy chocolate topping. The recipe was brought to America in 1835 by German immigrants George and Henry Berger; since then the bakery's ownership has changed a few times and they are now produced on a large scale--but unlike many prepackaged the cookies, they are all still made and frosted by hand, and it shows: like snowflakes, no two are alike. We think that DCist put it beautifully: 

...the extra-thick layer of fudge, which is nearly a half an inch at its thickest point (yes, we measured), is applied in an absurdly generous schmear that can barely be contained by the limited surface area of the cookie. As a result, the fudge tends to droop over the cookie in odd formations with distinctive wave patterns--like chocolaty stalagtites. What's more, the actual amount of fudge can vary dramatically from cookie to cookie.

Of course, as the article goes on to say, "This, of course, leads to dilemmas when sharing your Berger Cookies with others". Because if you're like us, when you bite into that "absurdly generous schmear", there's no turning back, and certainly no offering bites to others. The beauty is not only in taste (which one Serious Eats reader described as "almost nauseating--in a good way") but in texture--whereas on other cookies the chocolate topping may be hard and break off unevenly, the soft fudge on the Berger cookie doesn't crack when bitten, and therefore allows the perfect ratio of chocolate to cookie with every bite.

Berger Cookies, we love you. 

Buy Berger Cookies online at bergercookies.com, or check out the list of retailers in the above-mentioned DCist article. Also--what a find!--though the official Berger recipe is apparently quite closely guarded, you can find one baker's version here.

Of course, we realize that one cannot live on Berger Cookies alone (arguable). That's why we're glad to have experienced some other mail-order cookies recently too! We first learned about the vegan Liz Lovely cookies through our friend Imani, who has a website called Chocolate Nerd, and knew we had to try some. Not only do these cookies have heart (they're organic, they're cruelty free, they're free trade, and packaged with green materials), but they happen to be addictively soft and insanely delicious as well. We are particularly in love with the Cowgirl Cookie, whose description promised "A chocolate chip cookie so soft, sweet, and slightly baked you'll wonder why we didn't just leave it in the mixing bowl for you!"--and oh, does it deliver. A close second was the Ginger Snapdragon, a spicy confection of molasses, ginger, and delicious (it's also their bestseller). The package says a serving is half a cookie, but we defy you to let the second half sit til later. Available online at lizlovely.com.

A Very Special Cake Poll and Giveaway: It's Cakespy's Birthday!

Do you remember the day you were born, Cakespy? After all, it was one year ago--on August 1----that we made our inaugural post. How the time has gone! In some ways we can't believe it's been a year, and yet at the same time, it seems inconceivable that it's only been a year. One sugar-filled, dentist's nightmare of a year.

While we could regale you with the story of Cakespy's birth, we thought it would be much funner to have a poll and give away some sweet stuff! In keeping with the birthday theme, our subject is birthday cake. And since it's a special day, there will be not one but four winners! 

• Winner 1 will get the original painting shown at the top; 
  
• Winner 2 will get a Cakespy T-Shirt (Unisex sizes XS-L, winner will be notified and asked for a size; no need to put it in your response); 
  
• Winners 3 and 4 will receive a box of 10 assorted Cakespy Notecards!

The fine print: The poll will be closed at 12 noon PST on Wednesday, August 6th; responses may be posted in the comments section or emailed to jessieoleson@gmail.com. As usual, winners will be chosen at random, and will be assigned prizes in the order mentioned above (sorry, no swapping). Entries from the US and beyond are welcome. Your info will never be shared and these questions are solely motivated by our nosy spy tendencies.

Cake Poll: Birthday Cake!

1. What kind of cake did you have for your birthday when you were little?
   
2. What kind of cake do you want for your next birthday?
   
3. Whipped cream frosting: yes or no? (Feel free to explain)
4. Licking the frosting from the bottom of the candles: do you do it?
   
5. Fruit filling: a sweet surprise, or disappointment in the middle?
6. Ice cream cakes: awesome or awful?
   
7. Is it wrong to have a birthday pie instead of a cake?
   
8. What's the best thing about birthday cake?

Please note--the poll is CLOSED! 

Cakespy tees, artwork and cards are also available for purchase at jessieoleson.etsy.com!

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