Tour de Sweet: CakeSpy in Washington DC on November 15! And a Giveaway!

Guess what, Washington DC? You thought you were sweet, but you're about to get SWEETER.

That's right: CakeSpy's Tour de Sweet is coming to town! As I said on the Facebook event page,

OMG. This is your chance--your BIG CHANCE-- to come eat cake, hang out with me, and buy a copy of my lovely and amazing new book, "CakeSpy Presents Sweet Treats for a Sugar-Filled Life"! And I will even sign it and draw a unicorn in it, if you'd like.

This is one of the best spots for cake in DC, so even if you have no interest in seeing me, come for the cake. I'll understand.

But wait, there's more! GIVEAWAYS And some sweet items to give away, like notecards and maybe even a pair or two of my cupcake-unicorn-robot socks.

Missing this would be a big mistake.

Here's the 411: Tuesday, November 15 · 7:00pm - 9pm; Location Baked and Wired, 1052 Thomas Jefferson NW Washington, District of Columbia. Online here.

BONUS GIVEAWAY!

But wait, there's more! Book signings always make me feel like giving away a copy of my book, so here's the giveaway of the week. Even if you're not in the DC area, you can enter to win! Simply visit the Baked & Wired website and tell me what sweet treat you'd most love to try from their menu. Enter this in the comments section below or on the Event page, and next Sunday at noon PST, I'll choose one winner at random!

Tour de Sweet: CakeSpy in Baltimore on November 14!

Guess what, Baltimore? You thought you were sweet, but you're about to get SWEETER.

That's right: CakeSpy's Tour de Sweet is coming to town! As I said on the Facebook event page,

OMG. This is your chance--your BIG CHANCE-- to come eat cake, hang out with me, and buy a copy of my lovely and amazing new book, "CakeSpy Presents Sweet Treats for a Sugar-Filled Life"! And I will even sign it and draw a unicorn in it, if you'd like.

Forget John Waters, Baltimore's all about the BAKED GOOD! And you'll find some very tasty ones at Dangerously Delicious.

But wait, there's more! GIVEAWAYS And some sweet items to give away, like notecards and maybe even a pair or two of my cupcake-unicorn-robot socks.

Missing this would be a big mistake.

See you there, from 6-8 pm! Location stats: Dangerously Delicious 2839 O'Donnell St Baltimore, Maryland; online here.

Tour de Sweet: CakeSpy in Philadelphia on November 12!

The Tour de Sweet is keeping on keeping on, sweeties!

BAKED was totally awesome (read one sweet account of it here), but now it's time to head to Philadelphia!

The next stop, on Saturday, will be Bredenbeck's Bakery! As you may recall, I have visited this sweet spot before, and adored it. I think you will, too. 

Here's the 411 straight from Bredenbeck's:

Last winter, we received an undercover visit from CakeSpy, a.k.a. Jessie Oleson. She visited Philadelphia on a cold, snowy weekend, and hit a few local bakeries to sample goodies. She stealthily popped in and out of our shop so fast, we didn't even know she was here. (Read the review.)

This time, we'll be able to roll out the red carpet in anticipation because we know when she's coming! That's right: CakeSpy will be here signing copies of her new cookbook, "Sweet Treats for a Sugar-Filled Life."

When: Saturday, November 12 from 1-3 p.m.
Where: Here! 8126 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19118

In honor of her visit, we'll be whipping up some of the yummy recipes featured in CakeSpy's cookbook, including:
Red Velvet Cake Shakes
Cupcakes Stuffed With Chocolate Chip Dough
Rainbow Cake
Rainbow Cookies
Cinnamon Rolls Stuffed with Cookie Dough
Ginger-bread Pudding

If you haven't yet made your plans to attend her book signing, do so. A signed cookbook: what a perfect holiday gift for yourself, or your favorite sweet lover!

Well, I think they pretty much covered it! Find the Facebook invite here, and find the address and directions via the Bredenbeck's site!

Sweet Times: CakeSpy Book Signing at Teacake Bake Shop

All photos: Pink Buttercream PhotographyI could simply tell you that the CakeSpy Tour de Sweet stop at Teacake Bake Shop in Burlingame totally ruled, but really, it's far more effective to show you photo proof, so here goes. All of these gorgeous photos were taken by Agnes Hsu, owner of Teacake Bake Shop!

Click here for all my tour dates.

So, first, I arrived, and was greeted by this amazing sight: pink cupcakes with pretty sprinkles...and toppers featuring MY artwork! 

You'd better believe I ate one of those cupcakes.

...but I paused to draw a unicorn or two in people's books.

oh, did I mention I have a book out? It's called CakeSpy Presents Sweet Treats for a Sugar-Filled Life. It looks great with flowers.

...but it also looks good with wrappers.

...oh, let me pause to sign another book here.

I'll also do this bloggy photo-taking of food thing.

and talk to some people. "Oh, you like cupcakes, too?"

...oh, I know! I'm so funny.

...but wait, who's this? A dessert celebrity! Me and Anita Chu!

..."you know, cupcakes taste better when you buy the book."

oh, and here's a cute one with me and my sister Bridget. We can't not wear showpiece glasses, apparently.

and here's me with Agnes Hsu, the owner of Teacake Bake Shop! Go see her shop and eat her cupcakes, and soon!

For more about Teacake Bake Shop, visit their site. To buy my book, click here. Click here for all my tour dates.

Tour de Sweet: CakeSpy in NYC on November 9 and 10!

Big Apple? Only if it's dipped in caramel, put on top of a cupcake, and called "CakeSpy's Book Tour". My bakery book tour, entitled Tour de Sweet, is coming to NYC next week! Of course, if you're not in NYC, click here to see if and when I am coming to a city near you!

If you're not familiar with what a bakery book tour might entail, let me help you out. These will be fairly informal events at which we'll have copies of my book, CakeSpy Presents Sweet Treats for a Sugar-Filled Life for you to buy and me to sign for you. But that's not all.

I'll also have some sweet activities and surprises (in NYC, I am making a "dessert quiz" for attendees to take - test your NYC sweets knowledge!), as well as a bunch of CakeSpy products to give away to lucky winners, including my famous cupcake-unicorn-robot socks!

Here are the dates and locations for NYC:

• Wednesday, November 9: Butter Lane , 123 E. 7th Street, NY, NY. 2pm-4pm. Facebook invite here.
• Thursday, November 10: BAKED in Brooklyn , 359 Van Brunt Street, Brooklyn. 7pm-9pm. Facebook invite here.

Hope to see you at one of the events!

Tour de Sweet Boston: Eat Cake! in Newburyport, November 8

So, I really think you should come visit me in Boston when I pass through on my Tour de Sweet book tour.

On November 8, I will be making a sweet stop at Eat Cake! in Newburyport ( I'll also be stopping in downtown Boston on November 7, at SWEET). They will have books on hand for you to buy and me to sign and draw a cute little unicorn, cupcake or robot in for you.

But I don't want to be too bossy about it, so instead of saying "you'd better come, you!" I'll give you five sweet reasons why it would be a good idea for you to come. Totally your decision though.

1. Eat Cake! is adorable. They have exposed-brick walls and black and white checked floors. Classic!

2. The bakery has a very sweet story--sort of "If you bake it, they will come." Read it here.

3. On their menu is something that goes like this: "The Infamous Dipped Chocolate Fudge: cake dipped in Chocolate with Vanilla (or Oreo) buttercream, dipped in Chocolate again". I want that in my mouth.

4. They also have a "Today's Cupcake" feature on their site, where you can see what is available TODAY--with pictures. I love this.

5. I will be bringing some cute stuff to give away to lucky winners, including notecards, original art, and my famous cupcake-unicorn-robot socks.

This event will take place at Eat Cake!, 9 Prince Street, Newburyport, at 3pm. For directions and more, visit the Eat Cake! website.

Cakewalk: 13 Sweet Moments from CakeSpy's Portland Book Tour

Treats and my book at Saint CupcakePortland totally ruled! Don't believe me? Here's proof: 13 of the sweetest moments from my Tour de Sweet, Portland leg:

TV! How fun was it to be on Fox 12 and demo my cakes made in orange shells? So easy to customize in a Halloween-y way.

Take your Pix: I got to hang out for a few hours at Pix Patisserie, where I gorged on Salted caramel macarons, signed books, and hung out with a bunch of awesome people, including owner of Perch, Willi Galloway.

Delicious Donuts: Finally! After being greeted with the "sold out" sign so many times, I finally hit up this holey spot while they were open (just after 6am on Saturday). The donuts, as promised, were delicious, but the victory of finally trying them was the sweetest part.

Alder Pastry: I learned about this place in one of the Portland weekly papers, and knew I had to visit. I picked up a lovely salty-caramelly kouign amann, and ogled at their other pastries and gelato offerings. Go there!

Tasty N Sons: Le nom nom nom. I ate mostly savories here, but the biscuits were simply amazing, and the "is it sweet or is it salty" apples with pork bits and syrup were divine. Here's their website.

Tinymeat: I got to visit the HQ! How sweet is that! I also picked up a new Unicorn Versus Godzilla wallet, and they told me to visit Salt and Straw ice cream.

Salt and Straw Ice Cream: Several people told me about this new ice cream joint, with its creative flavor offerings, and I was absolutely delighted by the Bourbon Pecan Pie ice cream, which was studded with chunks of rich, delicious pie, crust and all. Also very interesting: flavors such as Pear and Bleu Cheese! Find their website here.

Tonalli's: Sometimes you have to "Just Donut". This place pretty much rules. Find them online here.

Buy Olympia: Guess what? They have my book there. Go there, and buy it.

Two Tarts: Like, OMG. How adorable is this place? With $8 per dozen of their tiny and tasty treats, this is a killer deal and a very sweet spot to visit. Pictured above: a peanut butter cream sandwich cookie. Find them online here.

Papa Haydn: How could one not visit this famous spot when in portland? I tried one of their current specials, the champagne cake, which included layers of buttercream, strawberries, and rich cream cheese. Le nom. Find them online here.

Fizzy Party: At my Saint Cupcake signing, I met the lovely and amazing Tiffany of FizzyParty - check out her totally sweet website posting about our meeting!

Saint Cupcake: This was the best event ever. The treats were delicious, I felt so welcome (there was a cupcake that said "Welcome CakeSpy!" to greet me), and everyone was so amazingly sweet. They had a bunch of cupcakes and bonbonbunbuns (yup, their real name--sort of like doughnut muffins) for me to share. I also got to meet Brigitte Nguyen, who is just as enthusiastic about sweets as me (and more proof that famous people like my book!)! I can't wait to go back. Here's their website.

Bonus: My new favorite person, Becca, came to my Saint Cupcake signing and brought me a sweet treat she'd created just for me: Cuppie Barrettes! OMG!!

Thanks Portland - you're tops in my heart!

Tour de Sweet: CakeSpy Coming to San Francisco for Book Tour, October 29th and 30th

San Francisco, you're in for a treat. And it's not of the Rice-a-Roni variety.

No, it's a far sweeter treat: CakeSpy is coming to the Bay area as part of the best book tour ever--Tour de Sweet, a bakery book tour!

Oh, this is going to be awesome.

First off: CakeSpy on TV! I will be on TV on Friday, October 28. I'll update you with details as they become available.

And then, I will stop at bakeries and make sure to have books to sell you and then sign for you. And I promise to draw either a cupcake, unicorn, or robot, in every sold copy. Where will I be stopping, you ask? 

• On Saturday, October 29, I will be hitting up Teacake Bake Shop, an adorable bakery with a few locations. You'll find me at their Burlingame location from 2pm til approximately 4pm. 
• On Sunday, October 30, I'll be making things sweeter at famed bookstore Omnivore Books. I'll bring rainbow cake, too! It kicks off at 3pm and will go on til 5pm. 

Now, I know we haven't specifically talked about it, but I will wear a Halloween costume if you want me to. I have this adorable ride-a-unicorn costume which I think you might like just as much as I do.

For the full Tour de Sweet schedule, visit this page!

Virtual Tour de Sweet, Stop 11: Magic Cookie Bar Pie by Blondie and Brownie

CakeSpy Note: My book tour has already begun--online, that is! Marking stop 11 for the virtual Tour de Sweet blog tour is one of my favorite blogs, Blondie & Brownie, who are offering up a sweet giveaway and who tested out the wonderful Magic Cookie Bar Pie:

I first encountered Magic Squares in college. Sweet, chewy, and ooey-gooey, they were just the perfect fuel for late night study sessions. I've added crushed potato chips, pretzels, and chopped peanuts to make Kitchen Sink Bars, but it was the Head Spy herself, the fabulous Jessie Oleson, who opened my eyes to the possibilities of a Magic Bar Pie.

As Jessie said in her new book, CakeSpy Presents Sweet Treats for a Sugar-Filled Life, "Magic Cookie Bars are, as their name might imply, no ordinary treat. Starting with layer upon layer of unrelentingly rich, buttery graham cracker crumbs, toasted coconut, chocolate and butterscotch chips, and nuts, they get even better when they’re smothered in rich sweetened condensed milk. With all that awesome, some might argue that a small serving is best. But I disagree, and to prove it, I’ve created those magical bars in pie form, which is naturally best served in thick, fat wedges. You’re welcome."

CakeSpy's recipe includes brilliant addition of peanut butter in place of plain chopped nuts which ups the saltiness factor. As much as I love sweet treats, I tend to knock my magic bars down just a bit. Here I substituted unsweetened coconut for sweetened toasted coconut, upped the amount of chocolate chips and took down the amount of butterscotch chips. The result was ab-so-freaking-lute-ly delicious.

For the full post, visit Blondie & Brownie!

Virtual Tour de Sweet, Stop 10: Homemade Toaster Pastries by BGSK Small Kitchen College

Photo: BGSK

CakeSpy Note: My book tour has already begun--online, that is! Marking stop 8 for the virtual Tour de Sweet blog tour is BGSK, who tarted things up with these homemade toaster pastries. As they sweetly put it in the post,

In her book, Jessie writes, “I strive to bring a sense of fun and fearlessness to baking, and I hope this book will inspire you to do the same.” To encourage such inspiration, last week Cakespy kicked off her first virtual blog tour by inviting different bloggers to comment and try out her recipes. As the ninth stop on the tour, I wanted to prepare something that would appeal to college students’ unique food preferences while also being relatively easy and inexpensive.

Perhaps not as cliche as college students’ relationship with ramen noodles, students love the convenience and cheap taste of pop tarts. In her book, Cakespy includes a recipe for Homemade Toaster Treats that is easy enough for even the baking-challenged. Requiring simple ingredients and just a little elbow grease, the recipe produces buttery and flaky pastries that can be filled with almost anything, and so in my case I chose to fill them with Nutella. Although my attempt at the treats required a little extra milk and a few extra minutes in the oven, the results were scrumptious. As Cakespy says, “this version doesn’t fare as well in the toaster, but it sure has a leg up on either commercial variety in the deliciousness department.”

For the full post and recipe, visit BGSK's Small Kitchen College site!