Giveaway: Ultimate Cookies by Julia Usher

You know what? Because you're sweet and I like you, I feel like offering up a giveaway.

The sweet prize you could win? How 'bout a copy of Julia M Usher's Ultimate Cookies book?

If you're not familiar with Julia Usher's work, well then, you're in for a treat. Full of gorgeous aspirational cookies (I say that because I personally have not made anything from the book yet, but I have looked through it lovingly, and said "someday" at many of the projects), this book contains recipes and tutorials for cookies that are certain to wow a crowd, such as cookie sailboats, fancy cookie rings, and 3-d collage cookies. It's really a delight.

How do you enter to win a copy of this beautiful book? Oh, it's easy. What I need you to do--in the comments section below, or on the CakeSpy facebook page--is simply tell me the following:

What kind of cookies are you most excited about baking this holiday season?

The fine print: this giveaway will close on Friday, November 11, at noon PST; a winner will be chosen at random. Because of high shipping rates, I am only able to offer this giveaway to US and Canadian entrants!

Sweet Giveaway: Win a KitchenAid Mixer or a Cupcake Kit, Compliments of Top Chef Just Desserts

I'm sure that there's something better than winning stuff, but at this moment, nothing is coming to mind.

That's because my friends (we're totally BFF, didn't you know? Of course, see note at bottom) at Bravo have offered up this totally mega-sweet giveaway because of their extreme happiness surrounding the premiere of Top Chef Just Desserts Season 2. Want to read more about it? OK: 

The chef'testants and the sugar are back for season 2! As the pastry chefs meet and greet, they are surprised by host Gail Simmons and head judge Johnny Iuzzini with their first Quickfire Challenge.  One of the first challenges includes a fairy-tale inspired dessert. Imagination and talent are a must to survive the not-so-sugar coated competition. Will the chef's be able to get past their first-challenge nerves and fight their way to sweet success, or will the pressure make some contestants crumble from the start? Find out this Wednesday 8/24 @ 10/9c on the PREMIERE of BRAVO's Top Chef Just Desserts 2

Two winners will be chosen. A grand prize winner will receive a gorgeous Kitchen-Aid Mixer; a runner-up will win this cute and sweet cupcake kit. 

How do you enter? Totally easy. Since this week not only marks the premiere of Season 2 of Just Desserts but my own 30th season of life (aka, it's my birthday on the 26th), tell me what kind of birthday cake you're wishing for this year. Leave it in the comments section below (comments are moderated so don't cry if you don't see it pop up right away!) or on the CakeSpy facebook page! But don't delay: this giveaway closes on August 26th at 5pm PST.

The fine print: This prize was provided by the BRAVO Network but BRAVO is not a sponsor, administrator, or involved in any other way with this giveaway. All opinions expressed in the post are my own and not those of BRAVO. Per prize donor: entrants from the USA only.

UPDATE: The winners! The KitchenAid went to Erika of Fargo, ND, and the cupcake kit went to Suzanne S. of Austin, TX! Congratulations, ladies.

Sweet Giveaway: CakeSpy and Google Places offer a Trophy Cupcakes Giveaway in Seattle

Dudes. Dudettes. If you're in Seattle, you must enter this awesome contest. CakeSpy has partnered up with a big, and totally sweet entity for a giveaway: GOOGLE! You've totally heard of them. And now, it's time for a Google Seattle Cupcake Contest with Cake Spy. This partnership with Google Places is made of fun!

What's better than delicious cupcakes? Delicious FREE cupcakes, of course! That's why Cake Spy is teaming up with Google Places, the new personalized local recommendation engine powered by the reviews of users and their friends! Google wants to give you the opportunity to win a a dozen of custom from Trophy Cupcakes, just for doing what you already do: sharing your opinions on the best cupcakes in Seattle. Here’s how it works:

1.Follow @GoogleSeattle
2. Go to Google.com/Places and select “Start Rating” (you’ll need to create a Google account if you haven’t already). 
3. Fill out this form: http://goo.gl/Lju0t. 
4. Review as many Seattle places (especially cupcake shops!) as you like by 11:59 P.M. on Friday, August 26th. Each review you write will be judged as a new entry.
5. We’ll go through all the reviews you write during the contest period and give them points. The top 5 entrants with the highest number of points will win a box of custom Trophy Cupcakes! 
6. The winner will be notified via email and may collect their prize on Friday, September 2nd at the Trophy Cupcake shop in Wallingford! 

Even if you don't win the contest, there will be lots of fun to be had with Google Places (reviewing and swag!)! We will reward other cool Google swag for people who come close to winning!  

The rules:

- 18 and up only (if you're under 18, I'm sorry you are so youthful! Enjoy it while you can.)
- Full contest rules here. 

Sweet Giveaway: Win a Copy of You Are My Cupcake By Joyce Wan!

FACT: You could use some more cuteness in your life. But how? Answer: a copy of You Are My Cupcake , the adorable new book by Joyce Wan, which focuses on terms of endearment, delivered with a ton of cute illustrations.

And--lucky you--Joyce has offered up three copies to give away on this very site! Like, OMG!

How do you enter to win? It's like, so easy. Simply confess the cutest pet name you use for your partner (or your pup, or kitty, or sister, whatever) in the comments section below, or on the CakeSpy Facebook page. It doesn't have to be pastry-related (but you know that we'll probably enjoy those ones best).

Three winners (US only this time, please!) will be chosen at random on next Friday, August 5; the winners will be contacted and announced once they have been confirmed.

Good luck!

Taking It To the Sweet: All The News That's Fit To Eat and a Sweet Giveaway

Fact 1: CakeSpy Loves to bake. 

Fact 2: CakeSpy is a prolific baker. 

Fact 3: CakeSpy Loves mischief.

It may not be scientific or anything, but what all of these facts add up to is generally lots of fun. Here's how it went down last night.

Now, it is true that I had recently made truffles, gooey butter cake, and millionaire's shortbread for various baking experiments and projects, but when I received a parcel of the new Naturally Nora cookie mixes, I couldn't help but bake up a batch or two.

The chocolate chip cookies were my quarry, and I made two batches: one "plain", and one with two tablespoons of peanut butter added. The cookies came out quite nicely, I think, with a nice, nugget-y look and a soft on the inside, lightly crispy on the outside texture. The peanut butter, while not necessary for deliciousness, sure didn't hurt things (does it ever?).

But now I had a problem: a cookie surplus!

Luckily, this is, as problems go, not such a bad one, so I decided to share my sweet bounty with the world at large. Yup: time to Take it to the Sweet!

and so I put the cookies in sweet twosomes in bags, tied them with ribbon, and wrote sweet little notes to go along with them.

and then I decided on the best place to have a positive and sweet impact: the newsstand! Why? Well, the news can be--how do we say, kind of a downer--so this seemed like a natural and especially good place to brighten someone's day. I think that even if the finder might not be brave enough to eat these mystery cookies, the fact that they found them might just, you know, kind of give them pause in their everyday life, add a sweet aspect to their day, and at least give them a good story.

I chose this lineup on 15th Avenue East because it was under a streetlight and just seemed like a nice little row.

I put some cookies inside of each box, but in the case of USA today, which had not yet been stocked, I put it on the outside, near the payment slot--maybe it would brighten the night of the newspaper delivery-person?

Here's proof that Tom Skerrit loves cookies:

I thought this one, on top of Seattle Weekly, worked especially well.

So there you go--even the news can be made sweeter!

Have a totally sweet day, love CakeSpy.

P.S. Giveaway Alert! Naturally Nora has also kindly offered up a sweet giveaway! Want to win some cookie mix? Sweet! To enter, simply leave a comment below (US only, giveaway closes next friday, May 27 at noon PST) or on the CakeSpy Facebook Page saying how you'd make the world (or maybe just a friend's day) sweeter with these cookies! 

Sweet Giveaway: Win 4 Cupcakes Baked in Jars!

Canning is all the rage, but I'll tell you the truth: I'd rather eat a cupcake than a jar of preserves any day.

And if you're like me, you'll freaking love this giveaway, for 4 Cupcakes-In-A-Jar!

These sweeties are baked with love by Betty Crocker Wannabe, and one lucky winner will win four delicious treats: 2 each of the Turtle and Chocolate Lover's flavors. 

WHAT IS A CUPCAKE-IN-A-JAR? Cupcakes-In-A-Jar are delicious, fully cooked, ready to eat cupcakes layered in a half pint jar and packaged with a signature orange spoon. Each jar contains the equivalent of 2 regular sized frosted cupcakes. Eat immediately upon receipt, refrigerate for up to 2 weeks or freeze for up to 6 weeks. What makes Cupcakes-In-A-Jar truly unique is their ability to ship. Each jar is carefully packaged to insure safe delivery. 

How do you enter? It's so easy. Simply leave a comment below addressing this important dessert subject: when at a restaurant, do you like to share dessert? Or do you like to like to keep it all to yourself?

One lucky winner will be chosen at random one week, on Thursday, April 14th at noon PST. Since the prize is perishable, US entrants only! If you can't wait, go ahead and order some at Betty Crocker Wannabe.

Best Giveaway Ever: Win a Copy of Big Little Felt Universe AND a Handmade Felt Cake by Jeannette Lim

Dudes. Dudettes. You know that I don't like to speak in absolutes (yes I do) but...this is, without a doubt, the biggest, best, awesomest giveaway ever.

Here's the deal. Indie crafter/Etsy artist, Jeanette Lim has just come out with a new book entitled Big Little Felt Universe: Sew It, Stuff It, Squeeze It, Fun! --which I learned about thanks to my friends at Lark Crafts. BLFU features over 70 fun stitched-felt projects—including food items, desserts, and interactive play kits.

And you can win a copy--awesome, right? But wait, there's more: The author, Jeanette, handmade the cake shown at the top of this post for the book, and she donated it for this special giveaway on CakeSpy!!! As you can see, it’s a vanilla cake with eight different kinds of fruit topping, and it comes with candles that stand up via magnets, a serving plate, spatula, and a cake box with a ribbon (not shown) -- all made out of felt!

I know, I know: you want to win this. But how to enter?

It's easy. All you have to do is leave a comment below telling me what kind of cake you're going to have for your birthday this year. I can be a cake you're sure you'll have, or just the dream cake--fantasy allowed.

But--since I'm not above coercing you to like me, I'll enter you in the running TWICE if you "Like" me (CakeSpy) on Facebook. Yeah, you heard me. Do it. 

Giveaway will close on Tuesday, March 29 at noon PST!

Update on Thursday, March 31, 2011 by Cakespy

We have a winner! It's Amy, who doubled her chances by Liking CakeSpy on Facebook!

As for her cake? "I'm planning on hinting at my husband to get me the White Chocolate Strawberry cake from Simply Desserts in Fremont. SO yummy. It will be my 30th, so I deserve it ". 

Wait, Simply Desserts?!? That means Amy is a local! Booyea!

Where to Go: A Sweet Giveaway For a $50 Amex Gift Card

Photo: Bakery NouveauSo. Recently Where.com offered to donate a $50 Amex Gift Card to one lucky reader on my site for giving their site a plug. (See how I just gave them a plug right there?).

Thanks for the giveaway, WHERE!And this offer got me to thinking about how many delicious baked goods could be purchased with $50, so I agreed--because surely there's got to be someone out there who would be thrilled to have money with which to go buy baked goods, right? Plus, I already have a giveaway going on for the kids--this one is for the grownups!

But here's the thing. To enter to win, you've got to do two things.

First, you've got to promise me that you will use the $50 gift card to buy baked goods or some sort of baking related equipment. You've got to PROMISE ME, and not be lying.

Second, you've got to leave a comment below telling me where you'd spend this gift card, and on what. I'll tell you right now, if I were the winner, I would, right this instant, get my butt over to Bakery Nouveau and buy an entire King Cake, and with any leftover money I'd buy a bunch of smaller pastries and be sure to leave the counter staff a nice tip. Wouldn't that be a sweet way to spend $50? 

How about you--what sweet treat would you buy with $50, care of Where?

This giveaway will close one week from today, on March 4 at 3pm PST.

Sweet Giveaway: Win a Copy of What Kind of Fairy Is Merry Berry, a Cupcake-Themed Kid's Book

Finally, they've written my life story as an illustrated children's book.

Just kidding. It's not my life story. I'm not *actually* a cupcake fairy.

But thanks to the lovely folks at Chronicle Books, I have a copy of a book about one--entitled What Kind of Fairy Is Merry Berry? by Lindsey Renee and illustrated by Susan Reagan--to give away to one lucky reader (US or Canada only, please!). It's perfect for a sweet kid in your life--or, you know, your sweet inner kid.

How do you enter? It's so easy. Simply leave a comment below saying what your favorite children's book is (or was). It doesn't even have to be cake-related, because all children's books are so sweet!

But don't delay. This giveaway will close one week from today, on March 4, at 12pm PST! Good luck!

Sweet Giveaway: Reusable Tote from Bake and Destroy!

When I travel, I have a cute little nickname for myself: "Pastry Bag Lady". Because, you see, I keep on going from bakery to bakery, and while I eat some things as I go, some things I save for later (or save for Mr. CakeSpy to consume later). 

And when I am in Pastry Bag Lady mode, it is very helpful to have a fashionable tote for my sweet treasures.

Enter "the handiest tote you'll ever own", from Natalie of Bake and Destroy! As she puts it,

Made with 100% recycled cotton – more sustainable than virgin cotton. A 12.25″ H x 12″ W x 6.5″ D tote with two sets of handles – one long enough to sling over your shoulder and another, shorter set for carrying by hand. (DIYers can snip off the short handles if you prefer a straight-up tote bag.)

And you can win one, sweet stuff! That's right, Natalie has kindly offered up one of these totes for a giveaway, for one lucky US entrant. 

How do you enter? It's startlingly easy. All you have to do is leave a comment on this post with a response to this open-ended question: cookie, cake, or pie?

This giveaway will close one week from today, on February 17th, at Noon PST, and the winner will be announced shortly thereafter. Should you feel the need to buy a tote in the meantime, visit the Bake and Destroy store! Oh, and you should totally visit the site and Twitter too.