3SD

Thanksgiving Break

2009-12-01T11:48:00.004-05:00

Thanks to everyone who ordered Thanksgiving Packs! I was pleasantly surprised at the response to the cuppies, and I hope everyone had a great holiday!
I took a couple of days off after this baking project to recover (read: lay around eating frozen pizza bagels) but I'm back!

I did a bit of flavor development for the Christmas pack coming up, but more excitingly, my website's blog is up (sort of)- I'll be posting on there from now on, so please go there to read about what CakeLab is up to. The page is not totally public (you can't get there from the landing page), so bookmark the link if you want to read it!
This blog will remain as the 3SD blog, which was intended as a group crafting blog, but somehow I took it over with all my baking stuffs- we'll still post here, just not about edible stuff.

Here's a picture of a pack stack, and rows of Candied Yam cupcakes ready to be torched- it looks like an infinite formation of marshmallow topped soldiers!

Hope to see you at CakeLab!

The Hanukkah Pack is complete!

2009-11-15T23:35:00.007-05:00

Here are the flavors featured in my mixed Hannukah pack:

Blue Velvet
because if I don't include a 'velvet'
you will come after me with pitchforks and torches

Black & White
yellow cake with classic black & white icing

Chocolate Gelt
chocolate cake and frosting topped with gelt!

Sufganiyot
nutmeg scented cake filled with jelly and dusted with powdered sugar

Once again, 2 dozen minimum, ready for 12/10 or 12/11. There are 8 days of Hanukkah- make it 8 days of cupcakes! Send orders or questions to GimmeCake at cakelabnyc dot com

PS- Stand by for the Christmas Pack, coming soon!

lips aflappin'

2009-11-14T12:43:00.007-05:00

All those mouths that have wrapped around my little cupcakes are talking! I received my first referral order- this person has never tasted the cakes!
The flavor selection was Pumpkin Ginger, Candied Yam, Blackout and Red Velvet. I'm happy to say that I still get a lot of enjoyment from making these!

Oy vey, I'm late!

2009-11-10T23:44:00.007-05:00

I realized last week that Hanukkah starts on 12/11 and being in New York City, Jewish culture is everywhere. The foods, the Yiddish that has worked itself into the vernacular, chatting with Hasidic women at sample sales, the fact that I, an Asian Christian know a little bit about keeping kosher- it's undeniable that to live in New York is to...become a little Jewish!
Even though I'm still in promotion mode for the Thanksgiving packs, I thought I'd work on a Hanukkah pack for the Jewish cupcakes lovers out there- so far I've got a couple of flavors:
Sufganiyot- it's a jelly filled doughnut eaten at Hanukkah. My interpretation is a nutmeg scented cake filled with jelly and showered with powdered sugar.
Black and White- while it doesn't have any specifically Jewish history, I know that it's a favorite dessert of many Jewish households (and I love them too).

Two more flavors to come!

I feel fine, why do you ask?

2009-11-05T20:55:00.005-05:00

Maybe it's because my insides have been dyed blue from the blue frosting I've been making/tasting lately!
It's narsty.
How can people eat this?!
These are part of a 400 piece catering order for a company whose logo is in royal blue with silver. I offered the option of doing 'blue velvet' with cream cheese frosting and silver dragees (cute!), but the client was apparently firm on having blue frosting. Blech. The customer is always right...?
Ok, so these are yellow cake with vanilla frosting and silver dragees. They're smurftastic!

I think from now on I do my flavors in my colors only.

Um, adults like 'nanas too

2009-11-03T23:51:00.007-05:00

What the heck, people?!
It seems that I've got myself a signature flavor- the banana puddings have been really popular lately. I wonder if it's because I don't have an official flavor list? Is this the only flavor people think I can do?
I had an order for 3 dozen full size cupcakes for this morning, and have another full size dozen for tomorrow. I got feedback from the 3 dozen, which was that they were "ridiculous" and "this is my favorite"- I'm glad they went over well!
Actually I know they're pretty good, as these are the same flavor that angered Sable upon tasting.
Frankly my tastebuds have become numb to them, so they just taste like 'whatever' to me. I'll still keep some extras for me to nom on with the hubs though.

Babies like 'nanas

2009-11-02T10:06:00.003-05:00

In general I try to flavor my cupcakes for an adult palate, but as someone who enjoys nostalgic flavors- it didn't really occur to me that children may like the flavors too. Then I was asked to do a small order for a baby's 1st birthday- the flavor? Banana pudding! As many children go through, this little girl is in a banana eating stage.
This is the first order that I've been asked to personalize too. I always tell people "I'm NOT a decorator", but I think these came out pretty cute. The party colors were pink, lavender and silver- so here is baby's first initial in pink tinted white chocolate with a silver dragee accent.

I bet they got some cute photos of her holding the little cupcake!

better to see you with

2009-10-29T02:46:00.006-04:00

I know it's not the most appetizing image, but for whatever reason these little chocolate pearls remind me of spider eyes. Delicious crunchy-centered spider eyes. Maybe it's a Halloween thing coming over me?
Anyhow, I whipped these guys up tonight to add to some extras that I'm using as a Cakelab promo at a Lutz & Patmos event tomorrow night at inven.tory on Lafayette and Spring from 6-9.
They're chocolate cake with vanilla frosting...and spider eyes.

I think I like that.

yeah.

Putcha mouf on it!

2009-10-27T10:26:00.007-04:00

The cupcakes are up for sale today- if you've wanted to taste the little buggers, here's your chance!
I'll be selling at 'Bazaar Bizarre' inside of Arturo's at 141 W 38th St (bet Bway/7th) from 5:00-7:00. There's going to be a number of other vendors there too, so come on by and get yourself a treat or start your holiday shopping early! (?!)
Flavors are:
PB&J and Red Velvet

Banana Pudding and Blackout

Pumpkin Ginger and Caramel Apple and Candied Yam as well!

The Thanksgiving pack is complete!

2009-10-24T03:08:00.005-04:00

I had a productive baking day today- 4 flavors! Two are part of an order, and I doubled up in preparation of a selling day this Tuesday, 10/27. I did some samples of the PB&J and PB&C and worked on the final flavor I had in mind for my mixed Thanksgiving pack. Here are the flavors that will be included in the pack:

Red Velvet
(because it's the law)

Pumpkin-Ginger

Candied Yam

Caramel Apple

The apple flavor worked out nicely- it has a bit of texture from grated apples and lovely vanilla bean flecks. It's topped off with a rich caramel frosting- just the thought of a caramel apple gives me the warm fuzzies.

These mixed packs are offered with a minimum order of 2 dozen (3 of each flavor in a dozen). I think it's a nice blend of something cocoa-y, spicy, fruity, and something unusual. I hope I get some orders for them!

print, prant, prunt

2009-10-20T20:11:00.007-04:00

More Moleskines to fill with crazy-important thoughts!

Available on Etsy for 5 clams.

Oh and this guy? He's just... look, he's nobody. Don't mind him. He's just a little grumpy. Caffeine deprived, ya know...

He's a 14 x 18 print on some nice thick blindingly white papier.

By popular request

2009-10-16T02:34:00.006-04:00

Ok maybe not by 'popular request', but by Sable's request...fine, she didn't actually ask for them, but she let me know clearly that she did not get to taste the Candied Yam w/Toasted Marshmallow cuppies. She had a bad head cold, so even though she technically ate them, she had no idea what they tasted like; it could have been a blob of dampened cardboard with shaving cream on top for all she knew.

I also made up a small batch of pb&j and tinkered with the frosting a bit. I like how they turned out- this time they have the correct color. A light lavender color, perfect with the peanut butter cake. Now they really look like pb&j. The color didn't come out very well in the photos, but in life they look great!

PB & J...or chocolate...or something

2009-10-13T00:17:00.004-04:00

I thought I'd try my hand at a peanut butter cake. I love the idea of a peanut butter and jelly cupcake, as I haven't really seen one before. At least not one with a PB cake and jelly frosting. I'm pretty happy with my experiment today- the cake is peanut-y and rich, and would have been great with the grape jelly frosting I had envisioned in my mind. Unfortunately that lovely purple vision was in actuality, a horrid mess. Blech.
I turned to some chocolate frosting to finish the cakes, but remembered that I had some raspberry frosting handy (naturally, don't you? :p). Well, it turned out great! It has the jelly flavor I was looking for, and both frosting flavors topped off with a peanut butter chip look really cute.

Cute *and* tasty. I love making these little guys...

Firsts

2009-10-11T10:30:00.010-04:00

It's a weekend of milestones:

3 orders in a weekend
First 'professional' catering contract
First layer cake order
First time I wondered if I was going to get stood up by a customer! (It worked out later)

I'm really nervous about the orders for delivery today- it's for a 2-layer red velvet cake and the other for a catering company for pumpkin ginger minis. The minis are being served at an event tonight at a wax museum in Times Square (arrrrgh). My delivery instructions are to go past the 'Hall of Presidents' which sounds really weird.
I suppose it's good to be nervous- it means I'll always take extra care to make sure the product is good. But really I think I get *too* nervous. This morning I dreamt that I had put the containers of minis out on the porch and small woodland creatures came and ate most of them! Never mind that I live in Manhattan (sadly, without a porch). The only creature who might venture out is this guy, whose window I keep open most of the time.

signature flavor?

2009-10-09T10:27:00.007-04:00

Another order of banana puddings! I think this may be my 'signature' flavor- every bakery has a specialty, right? I don't know of anyone else doing this flavor so maybe this will be something to differentiate me from the rest?
In addition to the banana puds the woman ordered red velvets too. I believe these are for a birthday- I never thought about how frequently people need sweets!

Oh, and my meeting with the caterer last week went really well- my first assignment is this weekend! Stay tuned for pics...
By the way, Cakelab is on twitter (don't hate me) so if you want hear me yell about random baking things, it's cakelabnyc ! The Cakelab website is coming along too, with a contact/comment form. I'll be moving the baking stuff onto a new blog there, so please sign up for updates over there!

A bite sized casserole

2009-10-06T01:50:00.006-04:00

I'm playing with some seasonal flavors and had the idea to do a sweet potato cupcake. Sound a little weird? Well why not, really? We make pumpkin cake, and the textures (and flavorings) are not all that different!
I decided to flavor the cupcake as you would a traditional sweet potato-marshmallow casserole. A hint of cinnamon, a pinch of orange zest, and a toasted marshmallow 'frosting' finish this little bite off just right. I love the springy texture of the marshmallow top- and they look so cute!

I'm working on a 'Thanksgiving Pack', so will have more autumny flavors to come!

PUDs come in 2s

2009-10-04T12:49:00.008-04:00

It's a funny coincidence that I had orders for pineapple upside-down cakes from 2 different people again. It's great since I usually have enough pineapple for 3-4 cakes. I don't mind eating fresh pineapple, but if I can put it in a cake for someone it's even better!

The smell of this cake baking is simply intoxicating- sweet pineapple, warm brown sugar, a tickle of vanilla and coconut...it's amazing. Whoever came up with this flavor pairing is just genius!
If I ever open a store, I'll make this cake for sure- if only to have the fragrance waft out onto the street and pull people in!

I made a third cake for my parents who we had lunch with this weekend- my dad ate 3 slices! :)

The crack-pack strikes again

2009-09-30T00:16:00.005-04:00

I ran around like a crazy person today, delivering sample packs to people in need of sugar. Ok, maybe they weren't exactly in need of sugar, but they agreed to take in the cuppies in exchange for critiques. That's fair, right? Actually a couple were just 'thank you's that I wanted to make, but they've yielded a couple for orders for later this week!
I've one more pack to drop off tomorrow- I've got a meeting with a catering company who may be interested in working with me! I'd love if they'd let me use their kitchen...or at least their walk in coolers!

Here are the crack-packs: Banana Pudding, Pumpkin Ginger, Red Velvet, and Chocolate Blackout. I love how the colors look together like this. Very fall.

Cross your fingers for Cakelab!

nana puddin'

2009-09-26T12:52:00.003-04:00

I know I said that I wouldn't sell this flavor, but it seems to have taken off on it's own- I tweaked the pudding to be a little more stable, and now I can make these little buggers without too much fear of them going too 'melty'. Melty tastes good, but doesn't present well.
These were whipped up for an order with only 1 day's notice! I had the ingredients on hand, so I don't mind the short notice so much. If I can make them, why not?

lil' green cakes

2009-09-25T11:32:00.004-04:00

I made some minis for a friend who *loves* pistachios. Pistachios have such a pretty color (and flavor!) that I thought it would be a fun challenge to come up with a little cake that would have that nutty flavor. I've only seen really dense pistachio cakes, and I think I understand why. These little nuts are so delicate and buttery that they can easily get lost in a cake batter. I made the cakes and gave it a taste only to find that it was a bit light in flavor. I couldn't add any more nuts without making the cake heavy so I filled them with pistachio pudding instead! That little extra shot of flavor in each one definitely boosted the flavor, and I paired the cakes with chai and raspberry frostings. Flavorwise it seemed to make sense, no?

I offered them at dinner last night and they seemed to go over well; I'm glad!

people are weird

2009-09-22T00:05:00.007-04:00

I enjoy the experience of selling to the public face to face. I wouldn't do it all the time, but once in a while it's really interesting to get that immediate feedback from people eating your product. The selling on Saturday was pretty good- I nearly sold out of everything with red velvet being a clear winner.
As my hubs says, if I can get the cupcake into you mouth, you'll be sold on it. It's just getting it in there first that is the challenge. I was set up in the window of the market, presumably as a sugar sideshow of sorts. I think it worked, as we had a lot of drool-y faces up at the glass, with the "OMG" wordy mouths and pointed fingers going on. The San Gennaro festival was in full swing at 11am with people stuffing their gobs with forearm sized sausage heros from "Cuzzin' Vinnie's- I'll admit I've never been to a San Gennaro festival before. Usually when I know it's going on I avoid the area altogether, so to be displayed in a window in the thick of the festa gave me an amusing people watcher's perch to sit from.

The approaches people took when coming up to the table:
Are these real?
Are these edible?
Are these samples?
What are these?
One out of towner and his companion asked while pointing towards his mouth, "I can eat?". I answered, "1 dollar" while holding up my pointer finger. They both proceeded to pick up a cupcake straight off the stand (!!) and pop them into their mouths! I guess they thought I meant that they could have 1 each...which I guess would be true, except that YOU HAVE TO PAY FOR IT!! They did.

The thing that made me really happy was that a person would buy one, eat it, and buy some more. Sometimes they'd walk off with the first one, only to come back later. Often they dragged a friend back with them, so like I said, the feedback was really great!

Here was the setup I had- there was a big truck thing set up in front of the window, so it looks like I'm in an alleyway, but nope- right on Mulberry!

Cupcake Peddlin'

2009-09-17T10:37:00.011-04:00

I'll be selling mini cupcakes and rings in Nolita this Saturday, 9/19 from 2-10pm so come by and check them out! I'll be at:
Open House Gallery (it's a pop-up market)
201 Mulberry Street (Spring/Kenmare)

The flavors offered will be:
Banana Pudding / Chocolate Blackout

Red Velvet/ Pumpkin Ginger

Chocolate Peanut Butter

I'll have rings with me too, so if you have a hankering for tiny food rings, here's your chance!

There seems to be a theme of mini foods going on here!

in my mind it's autumn

2009-09-13T21:41:00.006-04:00

Regardless of the 80 degree days we're having, last week's cool weather has me thinking about all those things I love about the fall- layered looks, furry things to wear, crisp apples, first day of school, and pumpkin spiced anything. I even look forward to the pumpkin pie Starbucks frappacinos (whatever, want to fight?).

So I thought I'd work on some fall flavors and came up with this pumpkin cake with ginger frosting combo. The flavors complement each other really well, and the crystallized ginger in the frosting adds a little extra hit of spiciness that I think people will enjoy.

I think I may offer this at a sale that I'm doing this Saturday, 9/19- contact me if you'd like details!

Bananas!

2009-09-11T22:21:00.005-04:00

I had a last minute order come in- the quantities aren't what I'd normally be ok with doing (1 dozen of this, mixed dozen of that) but since I have some frosting at the ready, I agreed to do it if she stuck to one flavor of base cake. Acutally, the other complicated thing about this order is that they wanted the Banana Pudding flavor, which I made just as an experiment a while ago. Well that experiment made it into someone's mouth, and voila- an order has appeared!
I was hesitant to agree to do this flavor as I don't think it's as pretty as others, but the woman who ordered them was very sweet and apparently really, really wanted them!

Well, ok- I warned you though!
Here's the 6 full size banana puddings, 6 full size banana cake with assorted frostings, and 1 dozen mini banana puddings- I hope everyone was happy with them!

Pie Crust FAIL

2009-09-07T02:03:00.008-04:00

I'll admit, I'm no pie baker- I hate making crusts. Actually, I hate anything that involves rolling out doughs. This is unfortunate, as my hubs loves pie and we both love cinnamon rolls *sigh*. Anyhow, hubs lucked out because our CSA gve us some really nice looking peaches that needed eating asap. I'd never made a peach pie before and had an interesting recipe for a pie crust that included baking powder and eggs- weird!
The crust was really difficult to handle, and I just barely managed to make it into a lattice top. The filling was great, but I think I'll stick to the regular pie crusts. This one has an odd cookie-type texture, not the flakey crust you'd expect. I should have known better with egg and baking powder in there!

Hubs didn't seem to mind- he had 2 slices!

How it should be

2009-09-02T00:49:00.006-04:00

The cookies I enjoy are usually on the thicker side, chewy, full of chips and not too sweet. I've never been a fan of the thin, crisp cookie, nor do I like those cookies that smell like eggs. There's a bakery in town who is famous for their chocolate chip cookies, but whenever I've tried them all I can think is "eww, eggy". In my opinion, when you smell a cookie you should smell butter and vanilla. Not eggs- blech.

I made some cookies last week but took a shortcut on them and they turned out a little different looking than they usually do. I have a surplus of white chips (?!) so decided to make another batch of cookies using them. This time I made my recipe as usual, and their appearance came out as they should. I love the craggy look of this cookie and it's uniform thickness. These guys are chocolate cookies with white chocolate chips and cranberries. They taste sort of like Oreo cookies; they're not too sweet, but you get a little hit of sugar from the white chocolate and a touch of tartness from the cranberry. A really nice combination, I think.

I forgot how much I like baking cookies- I worked on my cookie base recipe for a year, and since bringing it to my satisfaction, I haven't made too many! Maybe I was cookie'd out. I think I should make an effort to flex my cookies muscles more often.

Caw-caw!

2009-08-31T00:32:00.005-04:00

So you may have heard that the Mega Millions jackpot this past Friday was for $333M- I organized an office pool and ended up buying $180 worth of tickets! Well, as evidenced by my writing on this blog yesterday and today, you can guess that I/we did not win...at least not the jackpot anyhow. So with $180 worth of tickets, we won...$12. Oh well. That actually works out to $.33/person, as we were a 36 person split. 33 freaking cents!!!
So instead of me handing out change, I'm going to offer my (extra) cupcakes in exchange for their contribution of the $.33 'winnings' to my butter fund. Butter ain't cheap, people. I'm sure the usual vultures will be out anyhow, but I can always try!
This is an assorted lot containing:

Red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting
Red Velvet cake with vanilla bean frosting
Red Velvet cake with chocolate frosting
Banana cake with caramel frosting
Banana cake with chocolate frosting
Banana cake with cream cheese frosting
Yellow cake with vanilla bean frosting
Yellow cake with strawberry frosting
Yellow cake with caramel frosting
Yellow cake with chocolate frosting
Yellow cake with coffee frosting

I know my limits...

2009-08-29T20:12:00.011-04:00

but it's not 600 pieces! I was really excited to fill this order today, because I wanted to see how I would manage a large order. I made the frostings in advance (ended up only using half) and starting the baking yesterday. With extras I made over 800, and could pick out the 'prettiest' ones of each flavor. It was interesting to see that I got faster as I went on baking. All together things went ok. There were some mistakes that cost me time, but in the end with the much appreciated help from my hubs we delivered and set up the cupcake stands for each of the wedding reception tables on time and with only 1 cupcake casualty (he fell on his head while I was moving him- yes, I brought extras). I hope the bride and groom are happy with them!

The final flavors were:

yellow cake with strawberry frosting
banana cake with chocolate frosting
red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting
chocolate cake with coffee frosting

The colors together looked great and they were all decorated with a dragee on top. Simple and pretty!
Here are the tables during the set up:

I took this photo with the 'ugly' ones I had left at home:

This was a fantastic experience and I absolutely learned how to use my baking time effectively- I'm pretty confident that I could handle over 1000 without much more effort. Now who wants to order? :)

scratch that itch

2009-08-27T02:19:00.006-04:00

So with a wedding order coming up this weekend, I've been slowly working on the frostings over this week and have ended up with quite a bit! I'm ready on that front but now am twiddling my thumbs until I start the baking on Friday- it's been about a week since I've baked anything so I'm a bit "ants in the pants", going through baking withdrawal. Am I weird? Yes I think so.

Anyhow, to help the jonesing I baked up a double batch of macadamia-praline-white-chocolate-chip cookies. I haven't made cookies in ages, and although I took a shortcut in my recipe they still turned out great. They don't look like they usually do but hey, that's the science of baking, right? A small difference in the balance of ingredients, and you get a different product! I'll make a proper batch sometime soon, with the lovely crags and nooks in the surface. These still have the great thick and chewy texture though, and when freshly baked they have that yummy crunch around the edges too. I'll admit, I ate 3...

I love those praline-y spots. They remind me of the butter crunch cookies I ate in high school- anybody remember those? Gimme a woot if you do!

Minis for a Meeting

2009-08-20T02:08:00.005-04:00

So Cakelab is having a meeting on Friday with my consultant (Simone), my sales rep (Sable), my IT guy (DH), and two web/graphic designers to discuss the direction of the business and to establish what we want to do with the website. We'll definitely be moving the baking part of this blog over to the cakelabnyc site, so be on the lookout for that!
Anyhow, for this meeting I've made a couple of flavors of minis- what's a baking biz meeting without sweets?! Here are some banana pudding and blackout minis...

PUD Cakex2

2009-08-18T00:22:00.007-04:00

Somehow it happened that I got 2 orders for pineapple upside down cakes for the same day! One is a 6" and the other is a 9", and both are for birthdays! I cut up a lovely fresh pineapple into thick slices and scented the cake with coconut, added some cherries and sprinkled with chopped macadamia nuts- it smells heavenly! I made a little one for myself with the leftover pineapple, and I'm pretty sure the birthday guys will be happy...

Happy birthday, fellas!

Tons of Minis

2009-08-16T21:04:00.007-04:00

It seems to get easier every time- I set out to make a couple of flavors, and end up with a gazillion minis!
These are part of an order for Tuesday, along with some samples for a flea market who's invited me to be a vendor and some final flavors for a wedding.

Weird, but I don't get tired of seeing these minis- they're like sweet little gems to me! :)

Moaaar!

2009-08-11T00:02:00.004-04:00

One of the many brides in my office returned from her honeymoon today; I wasn't in the office today but decided to make her some strawberry cream puffs to celebrate her return when I go in tomorrow. It's not just her return to work, but her return to...eating everything she wants! No more dresses to fit into, no more pictures to take. She's got a real sweet tooth and usually had a slice of cake with her lunch, but as her wedding date drew closer she started to pull the sugar reins back. Well, there's no stopping her now!
That's one bride down, 3 more to go...

That there pineapple is for an PUD cake ordered for next week! He's ripening nicely :)

The bride is always right

2009-08-05T02:30:00.007-04:00

So I met with the bride today; we went over some flavors and I displayed the glass stand to hold 40, then 60 pieces on it. We needed to get an idea of how much should be on there without looking too crowded- in the end she chose to do 40 pieces on the stand, which is still a 600 piece order, so I'm pleased with that. Flavor wise she decided to do:

Yellow cake with strawberry frosting
Yellow cake with chocolate frosting (it went over like crazy)
Chocolate cake with coffee frosting (she loved the new flavor!)
Red Velvet with cream cheese frosting

We're both happy with the flavor selections, although I would have preferred not to have 2 yellow cakes in there...maybe I'll suggest a white cake, although I'd be smart to leave her alone at this point!

So what do you think?
40 pieces

or 60 pieces?

lightbulb moment

2009-08-04T01:58:00.006-04:00

I needed to right that narsty looking nutella frosting so I did a little more baking tonight. I decided to try the espresso cake with a coffee frosting and a strawberry cake with chocolate frosting. Mostly I wanted to work on a chocolate frosting and had been thinking about how to get the flavor I want. I've had tons of fail batches, but today it hit me- the answer wasn't complicated, but somehow I had overlooked it before. It makes perfect sense. Anyhow, I went ahead with it and it turned out GREAT! I've got my chocolate frosting settled, so can now hold my head up and call myself a baker! You can always judge a good bakery on their yellow cake with chocolate frosting. Now vanilla frosting, that's another matter...

Anyhow here are the pics of tonight's cakes- I also tried the chocolate on the espresso cake too. It definitely works, although I like the coffee on coffee flavor. I decorated with a chocolate covered espresso bean- cute!

3 out of 4 ain't bad

2009-08-02T23:25:00.007-04:00

So I thought it would be good to do a test run for my wedding order by baking up some cuppies to display on the stand that the bride wants to use for each of the reception tables. I need to fit 60 pieces on the stand and I think I can do it, but I can't remember if I've actually tried or not. Anyhow, her wedding colors are burgundy, dark brown, cream with a touch of gold. So I thought I'd switch up the flavors a little and do:

Red Velvet with Cream Cheese Frosting
Lemon Cake with Meringue Frosting
Chocolate Cake with Caramel Frosting (a few with strawberry frost which is also an option)
Espresso Cake with Nutella Frosting

I'm happy with how 3 of them came out, but that last one- the espresso cake with nutella...that one just looks like poop. A steamy, creamy, pile of poop. This makes me sad because it actually tastes really good! I'll need to work on the recipe and maybe match it with a different colored cake, but since I've already made it I can use it to see if she likes the cake color. Maybe I should try matching the espresso cake with a condensed milk frosting. That would make it like a Vietnamese coffee!

Anyhow, here they are- and yes, I have a ton of lemon ones (office vultures, here I come!).

Strawberry? I gots it.

2009-07-30T01:48:00.005-04:00

So I've got a bit of strawberry pastry cream left in my fridge -rather than letting it go to waste, I decided to make some strawberry cream puffs with it! Sound good? It is! I sprinkled them with pearl sugar and really like the crunch they add to the soft eggy puffs. The cream as before tastes like strawberry ice cream so I found it very difficult not to eat as I filled them!

As usual I've over done it and now have 5 million little puffs...

Bake-a-thon

2009-07-24T03:32:00.008-04:00

I have a small order to fill today- 6 dozen to be exact. 2 dozen each of:

Yellow cake with strawberry frosting
Chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting
Red Velvet with cream cheese frosting

So how did I end up with almost 300 cupcakes? Well, I screwed a batch up to start (tossed in the bin after the hubs scavenged a few pieces away). Then I realized that even my half batches of cake batter make about 5+ dozen. It's sort of difficult to scale recipes down to just a dozen when you're talking about minis, but I think it's something I may need to work on- luckily for me (and them), my office is always willing to help 'taste test'.

These are for a wedding rehearsal dinner, so I added a silver dragee to the top instead of doing sprinkles. I think they look pretty cute!

These are leftovers:

My refrigerator is totally full of cupcakes!

Oh, and here's Pip, one of my two Chinese dwarf hamsters-

getting it out of my system

2009-07-18T12:24:00.012-04:00

So I'm back from vacationing in Hawaii- it's so hard to come back to the thick, humid weather of New York when you've been spending your time here-

That was my view at 7AM- Thanks to the time difference I was up bright and early every day! But now I'm home and back to being a sloth...
So I haven't baked anything in about 2 weeks now- our family decided to celebrate our gma's birthday a little earlier this year so I had the perfect reason to get some serious baking done.

Inspired by Hawaii I baked up 6" and 9" pineapple upside down cakes with macadamia nuts:

Did you know that pineapples grow like this? BIZARRE!

A 3-layer 6" Strawberry Cream cake with yellow cake and fresh strawberries (tastes like strawberry ice cream...gghhaalgghh)

And finally (?!) a 6" flan to be served with orange supremes. The texture and acid contrast will be lovely against the smooth, caramelly flan.

I hope everyone will enjoy them!

PS- Why hasn't anybody posted anything here while I was gone?!

Since the cat's out of the bag now...

2009-07-03T02:23:00.008-04:00

In honor of her birthday, a surprise party was thrown for Sable tonight. I'm pretty sure she didn't suspect anything, as she walked innocently if not a bit peevishly into a room filled with her greatest fans. Besides being an accomplice to the surprise, I baked a 3 layer 9" Red Velvet cake- her favorite.
Anyhow as it turns out she had already decided to throw her own birthday party this weekend, so I've baked another cake for that occasion. This is also a 3 layer 9" cake, but this time in Cookies n'Creme. This frosting is really starting to grow on me.

Happy Birthday, Miss Sable!

Banana Pudding

2009-06-22T03:15:00.007-04:00

This isn't a dessert I grew up with- in fact I don't think I even had it until maybe 5 years ago and when I did, I was surprised/disappointed that the pudding wasn't in fact banana flavored (same disappointment with banana cream pies). That's ok though. The luxurious texture of softened, cakey Nilla wafers nestled in pudding and cream more than made up for it!
Here's my take on banana pudding in cake form- moist banana cake filled with vanilla pudding cream, topped with Nilla wafers, then finished off with more vanilla pudding cream and a decorative wafer on top. I did both regular and mini sizes. I got impatient and ate a mini after only 30 minutes 'wafer soak time', but it was still yummy. I'm sure they'll be even better as they sit and those wafers get nice and soft...

It's official!

2009-06-19T03:26:00.007-04:00

So I received an order for Cookies n'Creme cupcakes a few days ago- I guess that makes it an official flavor I make? The person who ordered had tasted the experimental batch I made, so I guess it was a success! Anyhow, since he works with Sable I thought I'd make him some Red Velvets to go with it (besides me, who doesn't like RVs?). [UPDATE: Apparently he doesn't like RVs! How did I manage to find the one other person who doesn't like them? ARRRGHHH!] Yeah so I basically doubled his order...get on the Cake Lab bus early for perks, people! [Perks are over, peeps- I've learned my lesson. No more freebie flavors...wtf?]

I got some mini oreos to finish off the tops- how cute are they?!

no touchy.

2009-06-17T00:40:00.008-04:00

I've always wanted to do a high-hat cupcake. Basically it's a cupcake piled high with frosting and covered in chocolate. They're so cute! They look yummy! Chocolate and sprinkles and frosting and cake!

Oh my God, they're so gross.

Why would anyone want to eat this much frosting? I made a yellow cake with strawberry marshmallow frosting, and of course coated it in chocolate. Looks great, but is equal parts cake and frosting- bleh. I was going to give them out but I don't think they're fit for consumption- they should just sit on someone's kitchen counter and be coo'ed at.
Here they are in various states of nakedness...

big in Yapan

2009-06-16T11:54:00.004-04:00

Oh look, we're (I'm?) on the net! (click to read the article)

Featuring one of my faves, that shirt... with that ghost bird on the sun. I still have not named this. It juggles between ghost bird or what I just said that was really long before.

How come every time a photo is taken of me and published in some public forum I look like the personification of nervous laughter?
Also why does every journalist spell my name wrong...

x Sable

Faerie Cakes

2009-06-15T00:55:00.004-04:00

Doesn't 'faerie cake' sound exotic compared to 'cupcake'? But that's what cuppies are called in England- they often have a glaze top rather than frosting, and I thought it would be fun to make some mini ones. Here are some done in yellow cake and lemon glaze topped with a raspberry.

You can see how teeny the cakes are compared to the size of the raspberry!

Choco Pack

2009-06-10T02:20:00.005-04:00

I made some Blackouts tonight for a friend who's in town and hasn't had the cuppies yet- I thought I'd make some minis while I was at it and ended up with a mixed choco pack. Chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting, the blackouts, and cookies n'creme. Too bad I didn't have any other frostings hanging around...

Cookies N'Creme

2009-06-09T09:49:00.007-04:00

Yes, that's Creme, not Cream- I once asked a Krispy Kreme guy what the difference was between them and he said,"Creme with an e is white and Cream with an a is yellow". For some reason that always stuck with me...I guess it makes sense sort of too. Cream sounds wholesome and pure, something that comes from a cow's teet. Creme on the other hand, I relate to something scientifically altered like Yoplait extra creamy-whatever or, like Oreo cookie sandwich filling!

Thus, voila (that's wa-lah, to some of you)- Cookies n'Creme Cupcakes!

Half a cookie on the outside, and the other half baked inside; it's gooood.

more fiber please

2009-06-09T00:29:00.007-04:00

So Renegade was a big thumbs up. We had a great time and the weather was perfect and I may have lost my mind several times at the copious amounts of cute dogs walking around the park all day. F people watching. Dog watching is the new people watching! Aw-factor was illegally high.

Here are some neat things I saw, hastily snapped with my blackberry camera:

This excellent tee I wish I had the cahones the wear on the regular but I don't, done by Sebei.

Snarky tee of the day, worn by this young lad who happened to be browsing our tent.

I shopped around a bit and nabbed myself an awesome tee by Linty Fresh and a lovely purse by Hoi-bo. I will post photos later when I am near my camera/those items I just said.

Overall, I am happy with my purchases/I needed to unload those tees because goddamn were they heavy!

I will say, however: Porta-potties? OH GOD IT'S EVERYWHERE!!!
Never again. Hands down the worst part of any large scale outdoor event.

I updated my etsy. Go now.

x Sable

Edit:
Look what I got! Cool!

Thanks, LF!

New Craft Project: Amigurumi

2009-06-08T17:31:00.000-04:00

Should I dive into this tedious process?

Day 1 of Renegade

2009-06-06T21:43:00.002-04:00

looked a bit like this:

tote your baggage

2009-06-06T21:33:00.005-04:00

"My tote bag is a totier tote bag than your tote bag"

"No irregularly-shaped, pointy, knifey, bitey, sticky, cockamamie, existential-crisisy, damp, half-baked, volatile, pretentious, harebrained, pungent, or belligerent contents please."

"I am not impressed by your reusable shopping bag, for I am a tote bag, and I am better than you."

"At least I'm not a fanny pack."

"Free high fives inside"

These babies debuted at Renegade today, to pretty good reception. They got a few chuckles and some dude asked for a high five, which I promptly dispensed even though I don't think he quite got the premise of where the free high fives preside. In the tote, dude. Not just in the air...

Anyway, I'll post these on Etsy after the weekend.

ps. first day of Renegade = goodbye notebooks. They got all snapped up in a hot second. Curses to me not anticipating this and only printing a dozen. Merde.

x Sable

new colours

2009-06-03T11:42:00.004-04:00

Oh, you see how I used "colours" instead of boring ol US standard "colors"? Doesn't it make me seem mysterious and foreign but in a chic grammatically conscious way, not a "territory-invading, government-overturning probably fascist secret spy" way. Actually that sounds pretty cool. Not saying I'm down with facists...

ANYWAY

As you can see, I am going with more "subdued" colours. Colours that your dad would be okay wearing if you got your dad an Elkfish tee for Dad's Day (coming up!). I just noticed that there is WAY too much "safety green" in my inventory and it's looking borderline day-glow ridiculous.

Actually this particular Elkfish tee, I've got big plans for. Namely, it's for a custom order this dude asked for at the last Artists & Fleas. I hope he likes it!

You will find these and more at Renegade this weekend. I had a chat with a girl in the print lab who also happened to be printing up a storm for Renegade (she does cards, and some fabric things. I think they looked like aprons or handkerchiefs...) and she said that the only reason she doesn't print tees is because making up inventory is a bitch.
I thought about it. I agreed.

x Sable

A Mini Selection

2009-06-03T00:35:00.008-04:00

So you know how I've been working on strawberry frostings? Well since I think I've come up with one I like, I thought I'd do a mini tasting for my wedding client. I think I've talked her out of doing full size cupcakes and into doing a selection of minis- what the heck was I thinking?!
Anyhow I've proposed that we do a 4 flavor offering to be displayed on pedestal stands in the center of each table. The flavors I'm suggesting are:

Red Velvet
Lemon Meringue
Chocolate with Strawberry Frosting
Strawberry Cake with Vanilla Frosting or Coconut Frosting

Since I was doing up samples, I figured I'd do them along with some other combinations:

They're so cute!

Is this enough?

2009-06-01T03:26:00.008-04:00

Ok, so I've been putting off making my rings, and Renegade Craft Fair is next weekend! I've prepared 2 more trays of rings, which gives me over 100 teeny food rings in total. That's enough right?

Don't forget to come see us at Booth 91 (Bayard/Lorimer entrance) at McCarren Park!

Damnit.

2009-05-31T01:36:00.006-04:00

I had to try it- why? Why not just leave it alone? Why bother?
Well I needed to know whether or not I could do it, and apparently the answer is, yes I can.

Cake Lab (that's me) presents: Bite Sized Pineapple Upside-Down Cakes!

They're hella cute and really tasty; I just wish they were less labor intensive! I'm sure these would be a crowd pleaser, and I've already gotten a request to do some of them. I'm going to have to say no though- they take too long for the regular price of the minis. I suppose I could charge for them as 'specials' or something, but I think I'll wait to put this guy on the menu when I have a shop of my own (if ever). Then I can just call it the special of the day!

I worked on the strawberry frosting again- it's been a while since the last time I tried it, and I think the break away from it was good. I'm pretty happy with the version I've come up with.
I did 2 strawberry frostings and 2 chocolate ones and had a little tasting with my hubs.

One winner out of four is not too bad!

Getting it Down

2009-05-29T07:50:00.004-04:00

Get ready for these bad boy felt pins at renegade. Aren't they cute?

2- no, 4! no, 6! BAKER'S DOZEN!

2009-05-29T02:03:00.003-04:00

limited run of 12 new Moleskines. 4 of each "character" (two black, two brown).

x Sable

Pineapple Upside Down!

2009-05-29T01:56:00.004-04:00

It's a classic- caramel-y brown sugar mingling with cake batter and pineapple...it's sooo good. I've wanted to do it in a cupcake form, and I think I've figured it out! I'm pretty happy with it, and I know it would go over really well as a mini. Do I dare open that can of worms? Just when I thought I was done with the minis! I guess people can't help but like little, tasty tidbits of cake.

Anyhow here they are, my first batch of pineapple upside down cuppies- does anyone else like them or is it just me?!

in the near future

2009-05-26T11:42:00.003-04:00

Okay so say you had this totebag right? And it was pretty blank, as far as totebags go.

What would such a totebag say? What would be on it? What would it look like?

The end.

Artists and Fleas on Sunday!

2009-05-22T22:20:00.007-04:00

So 3SD and Cake Lab will be at Artists and Fleas this Sunday for those of you who stayed in town this weekend- come by, say hi and check out the tees and cupcakes! We'll be in the indoor market on N 6 between Berry and Bedford from 12-8 (or at least to 7). Unfortunately we'll be minus Simone who's off breaking French hearts in Paris for the week. Lucky girl!

Oh, and my cupcakes were accepted to be 'showcased' at the event this week- they went over really well and I met lots of nice industry people...looks like there's a market for my sweets!
Here's are some of the mini cuppies and my set up at the event!

Mini Hell

2009-05-18T03:19:00.006-04:00

I made a trillion mini cupcakes today- they're samples for an event planning company who is hosting an event planner's networking party this week. I'm sort of glad I did this because now I realize what a pain it is to make the mini versions of my big cuppies! Imagine trying to fill these teeny little things. Frosting is easy, but squeezing lemon cream/marshmallow/pudding into a cakelet the size of my thumbnail is not easy!

They're cute though, I'll give 'em that. But I think it's my new policy that I do NOT do any more minis.

Also, I'm working on pieces for Renegade- here's my ring factory in action and a pic of all the sushi pieces waiting patiently to seated on their plates!

Hot Cocoa Cupcakes

2009-05-16T17:31:00.005-04:00

There's something about the flavor of hot cocoa- it's lightly cocoa, sweet yet with a hit of salt, and a rich flavoring of milk. Here's my take on those flavors in a cupcake! Cocoa cake with marshmallows and cocoa whipped cream. I got a bit lazy and thought I could just bake the marshmallows into the center, but they rose up with the cake instead, creating a marshmallow top! It's not such a bad thing, but not quite was I was going for. Next time I'll try pushing them down into the batter or better yet, just filling them with marshmallow filling later.

Oh, and the 'Worms in Dirt' package arrived safely, and Hannah put them together today. She did such a good job with them!

Notice that there's only 11 there? Turns out that Hannah's mom just couldn't wait for frosting and snagged one yesterday!

Oh and...

2009-05-14T23:01:00.002-04:00

You processed information inaccurately!

2009-05-14T21:42:00.004-04:00

Okay, okay, okay.

So I realize that it appears that I do not exist here. Well! I am quashing all rumors and sweeping all evidence of this "AWOL"ness under a very thick probably Persian rug.

There is a very good reason for this, #1 being I haven't printed in ages. I have been in a "rut."

And then I realized that you don't have to be in a rut if you don't want to so basically F that rut. I'm out!

More designs to come! AND more notebooks! And also TOTE BAGS. An acquaintance of mine tells me that totes are the new Tees. Mostly I think she would rather have a design I make on a tote than a tee because maybe my prints are just too INTENSE to wear on the body. Like these all caps here. All too intense.

But just in case you forgot. Look at some tee shirts. And get ready for more.

Also can somebody explain to me how "limited edition" works? I mean, I know what the definition is. I am just unfamiliar with how this whole coveting thing works.

In the meanwhile, here is some receipt paper arts!

Worms in Dirt

2009-05-12T23:48:00.006-04:00

My friend's daughter, Hannah is turning 8 this weekend (dude I'm soooo old)- Her mother wanted me to make something for her, which would not be a problem except that they live in Maryland! So I thought that I'd make up a cupcake kit for her mom to assemble. Personally, I make my own pudding but I thought I'd make it really easy on her mom and throw in a box of the instant stuff.
They're chocolate cake with a pudding top, cookie crumb 'dirt', and a creepy gummy worm peeking out! Luckily little Hannah is not the princess-y type; if I were 8 years old I think I'd like these!

Voila! Instant cutie/creepy cupcakes!

I guess I do a lot of baking

2009-05-11T00:20:00.009-04:00

This is a first for me. In fact I don't think I even know anyone who has done this:

In one year, I've gone through an ENTIRE CAN of baking powder! You know, that leavening stuff you usually only use 1/2-1 teaspoon of for baking? I'm amazed!

Anyhow, here's another cupcake flavor that I've used this baking powder in- Tiramisu cupcakes! It's a moist, lightly coffee flavored cake filled and topped with a cream, dusted with cocoa and impaled with a ladyfinger cookie. I think this could become a signature flavor! I don't think I've seen one done before by anyone, although no idea is truly original. Well, I'm glad these came out nicely; hopefully others will enjoy them as much as I am!

Have you noticed that my pictures are clearer? I got a new camera that takes better close up photos.
Here's a pic of one of my hamsters, General Tso- he's a Chinese dwarf hamster.

He's such a sweetie.

Strawberry frosting OD

2009-05-07T03:37:00.007-04:00

Ok, I've made about 5 batches of this stuff now- I'm trying to develop the *perfect* recipe for it. I had it flavor wise, but can't get the consistency to be stable at room temperature. Here's a strawberry buttercream on yellow cake (3 sizes!) and a few with whipped leftover ganache from the Boston Cream Pie topping...

I guess I'll keep trying, but I hate the whole r&d part of baking- there's so much waste. I really dislike buttercreams and don't even think these are fit for consumption. Maybe I'll take a break from strawberry for a little while. I'm sure my guinea pigs will appreciate it- speaking of the piggies, I got the nicest note from one of them!

I think this might be the highest compliment I've received so far-chewing on the cupcake wrapper. That makes me happy...

Yellow cake with strawberry frosting

2009-05-04T00:43:00.006-04:00

I *love* strawberry frosting and as it turns out, I need to make some for that large order I have. I have definite ideas on what I do and did not want, based on strawberry frostings I'd had in the past- they're never strong enough in berry flavor in my opinion and I really wanted the natural flavor to come through. Strawberries are so delicious it seems a shame not to be able to do a really brightly flavored frosting of it.
Well, I think I've hit on it- The consistency needs to be corrected (I know what I did wrong) but the flavors are spot on (for me anyhow)- I'll be delivering some samples tomorrow, and I think she'll be really happy with them! It tastes like strawberry ice cream...yum!

I bought these stands today with the thought to use them when selling cupcakes at Artists and Fleas- they're cute, right?
My business card printing plans have been delayed by my lack of graphic artwork to put on it- anyone have any ideas? I need to get this thing moving!

Birthday x 3

2009-05-02T14:54:00.005-04:00

Today we're meeting to celebrate our grandpa's 90th birthday, but it's also Sable's mom's and brother's birthday too so I figured that 3 cakes would be appropriate!
These are 3 layer cakes in lemon meringue, chocolate blackout, and boston cream.

I hope they like them!

'Cake Lab' now (sort of) open for business!

2009-04-28T01:00:00.005-04:00

I gave myself the weekend to decide on a name for my little side venture- I'm convinced that this is the year that my hobbies get a chance become something more...the delivery last week went over really well. So well that I was forced to come up with a name and pricing asap!

So, if anyone's interested, you can email gimmecake (at) cakelabnyc (dot) com to place an order. 1 dozen per flavor minimum; you can request almost any of the flavors you've seen here, or if you have a special flavor request I can probably handle it. I just haven't had a chance to get around to doing all the flavors I'd like to yet!

Here's one I've wanted to do for a while- I had to work on a strawberry frosting anyhow, so I thought it would be cute on top of cake filled cones- just like the ones you had in elementary school! I even did the cake in 'funfetti' style, as was mentioned in passing by a friend of Sable's. Inspiration can come from anyhere...

deep breaths

2009-04-22T00:51:00.004-04:00

I'm going to be delivering my first order tomorrow...I'm a bit nervous and hope that they go over well. I bought some real cupcake containers and made labels for them, and after packing my cakes up it almost looks professional!
Filling this order made me realize that I need to ask for a minimum order of 1 dozen per flavor- I scaled my recipes down to fit as closely as possible, but still had enough leftovers to feed my office, the cupcake route and Sable quite well.

Can I handle 300+?

Open for business + banana fluffernutter

2009-04-21T02:48:00.008-04:00

Life is freaky- you never know where opportunity may be hiding, waiting for you to discover it...or in this case, to drop on top of your head so fast you don't know how to react to it. Since our last post I've been given the opportunity for two cupcake orders! The first is by Sable's mother, so I don't know if that really counts but hey, if she's a paying customer (although I probably won't take anything for it) that counts, right?

The other opportunity has me pretty freaked out- a woman in my office overheard me talking about my first cupcake order, and asked if I would do 300 cupcakes for her wedding! She's sampled a bunch of my cakelets, and didn't want to ask me (a hobby baker) about filling such a large order, but when she heard that I was 'taking orders' she thought to ask about it!
Uh, I'm not really sure if I can handle/want to handle that large of an order, but I'm willing to hear what she wants to do flavor/color-wise. Now to figure out pricing...

Anyway, here are my cuppies for today- banana fluffernutter- it's a much loved sandwich from many people's childhoods (although not mine) and I thought that the flavors would be great in a cupcake. It's exactly what it sounds like- moist banana cake with marshmallow filling and peanut butter frosting...ahhhglaaah...peanut butter frosting...

M. Ward "Rave On"

2009-04-16T14:58:00.003-04:00

I seriously love this video. It's got M. Ward, Buddy Holly's "Rave On" and a great animated effect using what looks to be wooden puppets.

More info at Stereogum.com

I just love music videos like this. It makes me feel good inside especially on a day where the sun is shining and my head is pounding. I could be coming down with something. Should this stop me from going out in 70 degree weather this weekend? No way!

Unless I'm too weak to get out of my bed then we might have to change stuff up.

a little chocolate comfort on tax day...

2009-04-15T23:52:00.004-04:00

Here are some blackout cupcakes I made tonight- if you don't know what a 'blackout' cake is, it's chocolate cake with chocolate pudding filling and more pudding and crumbs on top. It's a pretty insane tasting cake. I haven't done a chocolate one in a while, so I figured I'd better do it up right!

Sad fact: I'm doing a cleanse, so I can't even give the buggers a taste...hope they're ok!

Validation in my Life

2009-04-15T12:10:00.002-04:00

I just got an email from a customer of mine with the brooch I had sold him. This makes me feel good that people are actually purchasing items and then showing them off. It actually makes me feel like my life is worth...something.

Can I call myself an artist now?

Urban Outfitters Goes DIY

2009-04-15T10:58:00.003-04:00

I usually get an email from Urban Outfitters everyday about some new sale or new product coming out that they want us to buy and use and wear and quite possibly return because the fit is bad, but today's email kinda caught my eye. It might be because Urban Outfitters has now decided to capitalize on DIY

I guess it's hip to be poor now. I've been hip for the past few years now. Hmm...

Artists & Fleas recap

2009-04-13T21:57:00.003-04:00

We're running out of table space.

Items Up For Sale

2009-04-13T13:01:00.004-04:00

So I finally got my lazy butt into gear and put up my new items to sell on my etsy site.

The address is youropenpalms.etsy.com

I'm currently waiting for my new supplies to come in. Prepare to see your world in felt...again.

Also, I'm working on the second zine as well as reworking on the first one to add more stuff. The old ones will still be up for selling, but there will be a long version up around the same time as the second zine and it will probably cost more.

Get the $1.50 ones while you still can!!!!

Happy Easter + I'm really sick of lemon now...

2009-04-12T21:43:00.005-04:00

So my office bake swap is set for tomorrow- it's a small group of the four of us, so they better all bring their stuff in!
I had some lemon cream left over, so I figured I'd practice making more lemon meringues and give them out at the swap- they seem to get better with practice. I think I'm going to go with this version of the meringue; it's stiff and peaky, and looks pretty when toasted. It's not very lemon meringue-y but more Baked Alaska-y. Anyhow, I like how it looks! Compared to the first batch, Sable prefers the lemon curd filling over the lemon cream and wants more of it in there, so I filled these guys up good.
My street is doing a street sale in May; I'm thinking of doing it but am a bit wobbly with the thought of it...I should probably just go ahead and do it right? I've got flavors in mind, but tell me what your favorites are!

It's Not Hiding In Here

2009-04-10T10:36:00.002-04:00

So, Something's Hiding In Here is this really great duo of DIY/Crafty persons who will be exhibiting their new stuff at the only Fred Flare store ever.

You should go. It's going to be from 7-10PM and there's going to be drinks and food and little surprises around every corner. It'll be fun!

I'll be there. God, that should be good enough reason to go!

Lemon Meringue Take 2

2009-04-10T00:02:00.009-04:00

I made a little lemon meringue cake today; it's a little 6' 3-layer lemon cake with lemon cream and toasted meringue. You can see how little she is compared to the cupcakes in the background. I'd really like to cut into it but I'm saving it for a dinner with friends tomorrow- I had enough batter to also make 6 cupcakes, so Sable will be able to guinea pig the different filling and cake base. I wonder which one they'll prefer?

The last pic is of a little caramel cake I made a couple of days ago to share with my fellow 3SD members. I've only a slice left!

CCCD Cupcakes

2009-04-07T01:25:00.011-04:00

I'm continuing to test cakes and different frostings, and here's another flavor that I personally don't go for- Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough. What's the appeal of eating raw flour mixed with butter and sugar? Just thinking about it gives me a stomach ache. Although I don't get it I know that most other people are mad for it, so I thought to do it in frosting form. Here are some yellow cakes with the CCCD frosting, topped with a mini walnut chip cookie. Thank goodness for my guinea pigs-I'll be having my cakes with leftover caramel frosting!

In crafting news, we got great news today in the way of an acceptance email for the Renegade Craft Fair! We're really excited and feeling honored- we're sort of legit! It's the biggest craft fair in the area (prob the East Coast) and there are lots of vendors that I'm looking forward to seeing. There will be tons of traffic, and we're hoping for not only great selling, but for some excellent product exposure.

In a hobby-worlds colliding story, I received word today that a bakery with locations on the east and west sides is interested in selling my cards! This is pretty exciting except for the fact that I'm daydreaming of having my own bakery-type setup at some point. Naturally I would sell my food-related stuff as well. There's a weird conflict I'm feeling towards this new prospect. I don't think I'm going to sell to them...is that a mistake? It's not like I'm trying to become a professional card-maker person...maybe I'll reconsider later.

Artists&Fleas

2009-04-04T00:38:00.003-04:00

Saturday
April 4
12-8

We will be there. Selling stuff that we made with our hands and our brains and our hearts. But mostly our hands. Be there to witness it. Bring money.

Love youuuu!

x S

Caramel-Apple Cuppies

2009-04-02T00:00:00.005-04:00

I did a little baking tonight- I'm a bit behind in making cards for the upcoming sale at Artist and Fleas this Saturday, and for some reason I'm procrastinating. I'm not really a procrastinator in general, so I must really be dreading putting the teeny-tiny rhinestones onto the two card designs I need to work on.
Anyhow, here are the cuppies for this week- apple cake with caramel frosting. The frosting is really, really good and originally I planned to put it on a simple yellow cake. The apple cake (made with 3 different kinds of apples) is moist and light, but the light cinnamon flavor in it masks the delicate but complex caramel-y flavor of the frosting. I should have stuck with yellow cake, but the idea of a caramel-apple combo was just too tempting. I'm directing those on my cupcake route to try the frosting by itself first before chomping into the whole.

2 Days until the sale!

My Back!

2009-03-31T23:14:00.003-04:00

This is the photo of the "work station" I created for myself tonight. Yup. It's my floor. My back is very tired. I was able to finish off three prints tonight and create some more for tomorrow. Tomorrow I will finish the last three prints, and then the business cards. Super psyched about Saturday.

Ok, Finally

2009-03-30T23:57:00.002-04:00

Finally I got my gocco! FINALLY! I make some prints.

Expect these on 4/4/09!

I like you for your braaiiiinnssss

2009-03-26T23:29:00.005-04:00

So I tried printing on pocket-sized moleskines. Um, they got kind of messed up. I think someone messed with my screens. I also think I overdid it. So no, you aren't really seeing double. Well, you are, but don't worry- you're not going crazy-eyed. It's my bad.
As prototypes I suppose I will have learned my lesson. And that lesson is that God hates me and wants me to fail. Just kidding. Sometimes things get messed up when you print. And then you hate life. But then...

You make zombie shirts and that is nice!

This idea came to me really randomly.

She made me do it.

2009-03-25T23:58:00.007-04:00

What's all the fuss about Red Velvet cake? Is it chocolate or isn't it? What's with all that crazy food coloring? I've never actually eaten a piece of it; just stared and made gaaking sounds at the thought of that sickly sweet, sanguine piece of aerated flour paste. It barely registered as cake in my book.
So imagine my disappointment to learn that this cake is a favorite of Sable's! So since I love my cousin and because I'm sort of a baker, I decided to try my hand at it. I dutifully added in the full amount of food coloring and watched the lovely cocoa batter go bloody red. It's really red. Like ketchup. I mean, lookit-especially in those baking cups, doesn't it look like ketchup?

I was a bit nervous about taking a bite- I knew the batter was not unusual besides the food coloring thing, but still.

Anyhow, now that I'm already 3 cupcakes in, I've decided that maybe food coloring isn't *so* terrible after all...Sable, these are for you- your dear red velvets with cream cheese frosting and pecan dust. They may not be as good as Amy's, but hey they're free!

Better posts

2009-03-23T12:57:00.003-04:00

So I realized that each item on etsy has it's own listing number and that can change from each sell.

So, here's just a full on link to my etsy account. HERE

Enjoy! Still got about 7 more zines to sell!!!

lemony cuteness + just cuteness

2009-03-23T00:02:00.007-04:00

I baked some lemon meringue cupcakes today- I'm trying out a different yellow cake recipe. It's a bit denser than I like, but is still a decent cake. These guys have a touch of tart lemon curd inside and are topped with a browned meringue on top. I used my hub's mini torch to do the browning. I'm not sure why he has such a thing but I'm glad for it. I love how silky and white the base of the meringue is!

I also submitted our application for the Renegade Craft Fair in Brooklyn for June. I'm sure that they get a zillion entries, and hopefully they'll pick us for a booth!
Here's a little lamb card I made- I guess it would be for baby-stuff occasions or I suppose if you just like lambs. Given his current trajectory, I think he'll be crashing into that fence, but I don't think people will mind (or think that far into it).

Fingers crossed...

Up For Purchase

2009-03-22T14:59:00.004-04:00

Come check out my first zine up on my etsy for $1.50

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=22634114

YAY!

before, no after

2009-03-20T11:00:00.002-04:00

You've got your options of black or brown paper bag colored.
Coming soon! Printed pocket-sized moleskines!

First Zines Are Always the Worst

2009-03-19T08:45:00.005-04:00

Finally finished the first zine of "Vignettes". There will only be about 10 copies of this one as I feel like the first zine is always the worst. If you disagree, let me know.

lead the right one on

2009-03-19T00:00:00.003-04:00

Uniqlo's new UT Grand Prix set blows my mind. They are also doing a designer collab with Steve Alan and Opening Ceremony. I am going there tomorrow after work and that is that.

I've decided that on top of collecting cover songs, I may very well start hording limited edition graphic tees. Which is funny because I'm so not a "tee shirt and jeans" girl. But I could be. Oh yes, I could be. Considering I've got boxes and drawers full of them, I ought to be. I just like to have them.
To have and to hold and occasionally wear.

I just ordered more shirts from Alternative Apparel to print on.
On top of that, there are also printed moleskine notebooks to look forward! I should get those tomorrow too. After Uniqlo.
It's a good thing I get paid this week.

Oh and apparently Uniqlo had an international tee shirt design contest and NOBODY TOLD ME?!
Well that's just tragic.

The top 20 finalists are mostly from Japan anyway. Oh snap.

Finally a post from me!!!!

2009-03-15T12:20:00.003-04:00

Yes, yes I know. You haven't seen much from me. Frankly, I've been busy trying to make stuff that I keep on getting lazy about posting. Anyway, here are new ventures from moi.

I'm starting to make greeting cards with my felt designs on them. They're not going to be a folded card, but almost like a post card, except you need an envelope to mail them. I'm still in pursuit of a gocco which will eventually eliminate the felt and replace with great prints.

I've also started working on a zine adventure called "Vignettes" which is going to be me touching on topics of the moment. Almost like an incoherent vignette. I'm also going to try and start a smaller zine of maybe 1-2 sentences per page called "Simone Says" telling people how to live their lives. Why? Because Simone Says.

And here are my baking photos of the week.

I'm swamped in cupcakes for my office.

Mm...delicious vanilla cupcakes with vanilla buttercream from the Magnolia Bakery cookbook. Soo good. These did well in the office.

I'm actually going to a Guitar Hero competition which I will be leaving for in the next couple of minutes. It's also my friend Rob's birthday so I baked him his favorite treat: The Classic Chocolate Chip Cookie. Yum.

Also, I bought a ticket to Paris and will be documenting my journey as well as picking up on the French Craft Scene (if they have one there). You'll probably see another issue of my zine with my journey.

See ya!
Simone

chocolate with marshmallow frosting

2009-03-12T01:16:00.005-04:00

I really enjoy a rich but airy chocolate cake. A lot of bakeries do a heavier textured chocolate cake, but I like mine fluffy, light, and moist with lots of flavor. Today I decided to match my chocolate cake with a marshmallow frosting- it was a great pairing! I usually do a vanilla frosting, but I love the contrast of the bright white marshmallow on top of that dark cake. I finished it off with some chocolate shavings. I tried a new piping tip with these too- I think I like it better than the last one I used. This one is a swirled french star with long 'petals'. It's a keeper..
.
I ended up with 30 in this batch, so there will be lots of cupcake eating over next few days! Sable agreed to be one of my guinea pigs, so I'll be feeding her these tomorrow...

vanilla-vanilla cupcakes

2009-03-06T00:51:00.005-05:00

I love a good yellow cake; the color of the batter, the sweet, vanilla-butter perfume that fills the air when it's baking. My ideal yellow cake is fine but not tightly crumbed, springy and moist. It should have golden edges, and if it bakes up to be flat in the center (not domed) that's even better. I think I've finally got a recipe I'm happy with!

I've found new guinea pigs for my baking- I only take a few pieces to the office now and am getting hit with constant questions as to when I'll be bringing treats in again. I've started feeding my neighbors, which in Manhattan is definitely unusual. I've been leaving treat parcels on a couple of the doors (of people I know, of course) and have had a great response. I include a note that instructs to leave the empty container at my door if they want more next time, no hard feelings if they don't. They want more!

Now what to bake next?

don't believe the hype

2009-03-04T00:20:00.005-05:00

So I organized a cookie swap in my office to take place yesterday- we had 6 confirmed participants (myself included) and we agreed to swap 3 cookies per person. Well, with the snowfall, everyone decided to stay home! We agreed to swap today, and 4 of the 6 of us forgot/was sick/didn't make anything!
Well, the ones who didn't bring anything today will be bringing for tomorrow, and I got to swap with one other person today (got some oatmeal nut chip)...both of our cookies were baked on Sunday, so were a bit stale. I imagine my cookies will be even more stale tomorrow, but oh well- I tried!
Here's my contribution to the swap: Baci chocolate chunk (chocolate/hazelnut).

3SD will be at Artists and Fleas again on Saturday, April 4th- that gives us one month to work on some new ideas and make inventory- come by and say hi!

This is not supposed to be pictorial blog about baking!

2009-02-26T01:32:00.011-05:00

But I did make 24 banana cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and walnuts...

I've decided that I've spoiled the people in my office to the point of them not even saying 'thank you' after they come running for cake. One person who hasn't been around much even asked me "Have we been bad? You haven't brought anything lately..."- I guess they expect for me to bring things in everyday or something.
When I brought the yellow cake/chocolate frosting cupcakes earlier in the week, I had decided to share 12 of the 21 that I made. What was the comment? "How come you only made 12?" What the fuck is that?! How come you don't make ANY?!
I guess I'll have to start feeding my neighbors and building staff- it's not worth lugging these baked goods into the office anymore...well maybe I'll take 6 in for a few folks.

I've realized that making cupcakes is WAY EASIER than making a layer cake. I suppose I always knew this, and maybe that's why I never like making cupcakes but it's amazing that you can have a finished/yummy/portable sweet in about an hour!

On the crafting front- I've decided to make a few pins or 'brooches', if you're 100 years old. I think we'll be at Artists and Fleas again around the end of March/beginning of April, so if you appreciate teeny food items, meticulously sewn cuteness by poetic ingenues or unique tees designed by hot Asian chicks, come check them out.
After our last outing at A&F, I was contacted by a buyer of an internet shop- it's actually a pretty big one, and one that I had even shopped from! It was pretty exciting to know that someone recognized my hobby as something that is desirable/sellable on a larger scale. I don't even care if they place an order or not; I'm hugely flattered and grateful already.

Maybe a little nauseous too.

snickerdoodles and cupcakes

2009-02-22T22:47:00.007-05:00

I've never made a 'proper' snickerdoodle before- the batch took 2 teaspoons of cream of tartar! I'm not sure why it takes so much; besides helping with leavening does it add flavor? I used floral Mexican vanilla and spicy Vietnamese cinnamon. It was pretty tasty.

I also made up a batch of yellow cupcakes with chocolate frosting. The batch made 22, but we ate 4 immediately. My office will be happy to see these tomorrow...