Guess what? I was surprised and delighted this morning to learn that CakeSpy is a nominee in Saveur's First Annual Food Blog Awards, in not one, but two categories!
First, it is nominated for Best Baking and Desserts Blog (with, I might mention, an intimidatingly talented crew of sweets bloggers!).
Everybody's Irish when there's a cupcake like this around!
That's right: it's March, and that means it's time for some serious sweetness at Trophy Cupcakes, where they've brought back their beloved St. Patrick's Day flavor for the entire month: Chocolate Guiness Stout Cupcakes with Bailey's Irish Cream Buttercream frosting on top!
If you suspect that these cupcakes are comprised completely of awesome, you are right. The stout adds a wonderful density to the cake, leaning more toward chocolatey than toward a beer-y flavor; the Irish Cream in the buttercream gives it a little zing--just enough so that you know it's there, but not so much that it drives you to distraction.
Available at all three Trophy Cupcakes locations; for directions and hours, visit their website.
March is in like a Lion at Cupcake Royale, where their flavor of the month is bound to make the masses roar with good cheer: Irish Whiskey Maple Cupcakes!
Here's the 411, direct from Cupcake Royale:
It’s March 1...and you know what that means: Jameson Irish Whiskey Maple cupcakes are back at Cupcake Royale! In keeping with our mission to make Seattle’s most local cupcake, the March cupcake of the month is made from local ingredients like milk, eggs, and butter from Medowsweet Dairy and specially milled Shepherd’s Grain cake flour from Shepard’s Grain farmers in Eastern Washington.
But don't hesitate--in this spy's experience, the flavor of the month is usually first to disappear from the bakery case on most days! To ensure availability, call ahead.
It may be the home of Le Big Mac, but this Mac Attack has nothing to do with burgers. It's macarons, friends, and for better or worse, if you go to Paris, you can get them at McDonalds.
Does this mean Laduree and Pierre Herme are in trouble? Is the MacDo Macaron a sort of death knell for the fancy French cookie, a surefire sign that they have jumped the shark?
I can't say for sure as I didn't try them, but when I happened upon this case on my recent Paris trip I couldn't resist capturing the moment.
It's time to let some sweetness into your life. Here's what you should do.
1. Drop whatever you are doing. Ok, maybe not like, literally, especially if you're holding a baby or performing open heart surgery or something (although props to you for being on this website at the same time).
2. Obtain a sweet treat of some sort. If you don't happen to have some delicious peanut butter cookies or avocado cake on hand, hit up your local bakery.
3. Finally--and this is very important--log on to the CakeSpy Shop for some seriously sweet new gear! There are a bunch of new things:
4. And yeah, once your purchase is complete (or perhaps while you are browsing the shop), you probably need to watch aforementioned Bakerella video. Again. Here it is:
And hey, if you're in Seattle, get ready for some serious sweetness! CakeSpy is taking over the lease on an art gallery and gift shop in Capitol Hill called Bluebottle Art Gallery. It's about to become a seriously sweet spot to pick up CakeSpy products! Read more here.
Summer camp? Not so much. Bad crafts and bad food = big bummer.
CupcakeCamp, however, is a different story. Because at this camp, everyone's a winner, because they all get cupcakes. It's a franchise which has enjoyed great success in New York and San Francisco, and now, thanks to coordinator Carrie of Bella Cupcake Couture (a CakeSpy sponsor and awesome company in general), it's coming to Seattle!
So what exactly is CupcakeCamp? Per the website, it is
An event for cupcake lovers: Bake or buy cupcakes to bring -or- just come to eat and help a good cause. Activities include cupcake eating contests, cupcake wrapper decorating, bakers competitions, Hope Heart Institute fundraiser and more. Best of all … it’s FREE.
Once again, just in case you didn't catch that last part: it's free!
Here are the details:
When: Saturday April 10, 2010 11am-2pm Where: 415 Westlake, Seattle WA Why: Because who doesn’t love cupcakes?
Oh, and of course, you've got to love the CakeSpy-designed promotional postcard! (pictured top)
For more details and to see how you can become involved, visit the “About” section on the Cupcake Camp Seattle website!
It's true, friends: CakeSpy is gonna have a retail shop.
In breaking cake news, I have decided to purchase Seattle's Bluebottle Art Gallery!
Bluebottle Art Gallery is a Capitol Hill landmark, a wonderful source for handmade artwork by a variety of awesome artists.
It will remain a gallery which carries the work of several artists, but in taking it over I will become the gallery's main artist and maintain my studio in the retail space!
I had chosen at random, and the one I chose, as it turned out, was the coconut lime cookie. It was a good decision.
Now, let me tell you about eating it. The first thing that hits you? The butter. The rich, tongue-coating buttery flavor.
And then a powerhouse of a sweet duel, from the sugar and the coconut, blossoming in perfect harmony with the butter and then giving a subtle sweet taste, which is then countered by the bright ray of zingy lime sunshine.
And then a small sea of more subtle flavors: the nuttiness of the coconut as an aftertaste, the lightest touch of bitterness (from zest perhaps?).
And finally--finally--the salt. And all Dorie stalkers--er, fans--know how important that is. As she says in Paris Sweets ,
salt is pastry's unsung hero...a pinch is enough to balance the sugar in a tart crust, underscore the flavor in any chocolate dessert, give caramel that certain je ne sais quoi.
In a word: perfection. Or should I say parfait?
Alas, the CookieBar was only open through February 12, but you can read all about it here, or read a comprehensive roundup of the deliciousness that was CookieBar at Serious Eats.
From Left: Kelly Ripa, CakeSpy, Cake Boss, Kelly, Carlo's Bakery baker, ErikaI don't know how to tell you this...but I'm kind of a big deal.
OK, maybe not--but I sure did feel like one earlier this week when I was lucky enough to be part of the amazing "Kelly's Cake-Off" event in NYC.
What was the deal?
Dig it: So Foodbuzz, where I am a featured publisher and who helps me out with the advertisements you see to the right of the main body of this page, in collaboration with Electrolux's Kelly Confidential program, decided to put on an event in NYC wherein 15 lucky food bloggers would be flown out for an event, Kelly's Cake Off. They put us up in a totally sweet fancy hotel and fed us delicious vittles at the famous (and amazingly delicious) Spotted Pig restaurant. It was all coordinated by the fine folks at Weber Shandwick.
Basically, Kelly's Cake Off consisted of all of us gathering in a very cool space in the same building as the Food Network Studios and the Chelsea Market (also the former Nabisco factory!). We then learned some sweet cake decorating tips from Buddy Valastro, owner of Carlo's Bakery in Hoboken (and oh, you may know him as the Cake Boss from the TV) and Kelly Ripa, and then we were set into 5 teams of three to decorate cakes using fondant, buttercream, and various sugars and glazes (yum). Each team had a different cake: our theme was "Snow Day"--behold this beauty:
Basically, this event was a triple threat of awesome. Sweet cake, sweet sponsors, and a super sweet cause. It was incredibly fun too, which certainly doesn't hurt--and oh man, the cake even tasted good! (um, so did the countless other pastries furnished by Carlo's Bakery).
But in case you don't believe me, you can see the video for yourself:
How can you be part of the awesome? Go vote for my cake, the "Snow Day". Yes, you've got to sign up using your email address, but I'm totally worth it, am I not? Also, you can vote once a day, and I fully expect you to do so, or I will never talk to you again. And trust me, I will know.
What a happy note to receive in the mail today from CakeSpy buddy Ann, who wrote to say
I just leaned that semlor (which is the plural of semla, I'm told) are available now from Svedala Bakery (yay!). You have to order them, and they don't ship the semlor because they wouldn't last (what with the whipped cream and all).
My friends and I are plotting our new annual tradition of stuffing ourselves with as many semlor as possible while they're available, so this is good news.
Indeed Ann is right, this is good news. In case you missed the feature on the sweet Swedish specialty last year, basically this is like heaven on a plate, a cardomom-spiced yeast-raised wheat bun filled with almond paste and whipped cream. Per Sweden.se,
The plump, cream-filled buns traditionally eaten on Tuesdays begin appearing in shops as early as January 1. Fat Tuesday would be more aptly named fat January, February and March.
And if you're in Seattle, they're available through Svedala Bakery! They no longer have a retail storefront, but you can special-order semla for pickup by calling 206.890.9774 or visiting their website, svedalabakery.com.
Monday, March 1, 2010 
Guess what? I was surprised and delighted this morning to learn that CakeSpy is a nominee in Saveur's First Annual Food Blog Awards, in not one, but two categories!
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