Clever Cake Studio

The Punk Rock Flea Market was, in short, a lot of fun.  It was a lot of work and stress and hard labor, but it was also very rewarding.

Getting instant feedback from so many people was awesome.  We had some really amusing and flattering comments (our favorite was from a woman regarding the strawberry-balsamic chocolate fudge, who said it gave her a hard-on) and the few criticisms I felt were justified (I’m still tinkering with the Gold Hearts to bring out the distinct Goldschlager and make them less like regular snickerdoodles).  Overall, it helped solidify for me that there definitely was a strong market for unusual flavors.  People called our menu progressive, innovative, even inspiring!  That was really amazing.

It was really, really wonderful to watch people’s expressions as they tried the samples.  The fudge was the first thing that sold out, and it was very well-received. The Spicy Hot Chocolate cookies were a blast - the heat doesn’t hit you right away, it’s rather this unexpected boot to the rear end on the way out.  So people would take a sample, chew it, nodding and starting to move on, then suddenly stop and look surprised.  Those also sold out, as people kept returning to buy some more and finally one lady bought all we had left in one fell swoop.

Let’s see… The lavender oatmeal was awesome.  It didn’t matter that it was vegan, people were snapping them up and we ran out.  The rose baklava went over well, but it is harder to eat while wandering a market.  My Cranky Lemon Muffins, freshly baked that morning, unfortunately suffered on the ride over and I only had a small number that weren’t squished.  However, we enjoyed them and shared them with our fellow crafters sharing the big tent with us.

The other items all did fine as well, but the lavender oatmeal, strawberry-balsamic fudge, and spicy chocolate cookies were the really big hits.  I need to play around with more fudge ideas.

Also, I need to do more vegan items next time, and get some gluten-free products.  I had four people ask about GF stuff and I hated having to say I didn’t have any - I wanted to, but ran out of time.

For those of you who eat GF, what sort of things would you like to see?  I want to develop some non-chocolate items, because it seems like flourless chocolate cake and other chocolate baked goods are the most common GF products I’m finding, and I know I’d get bored of that pretty quickly myself.  Just about any of my standard items I will be converting to Vegan, GF, and Vegan-GF versions.

Any other special diets I should also take into account?

Whew!  It’s hot here.  Not Arizona hot, where I grew up, or even California hot.  No, it’s just Seattle hot.  I remember when I was young my family visited Seattle during the summer.  There was a heat wave, which was really only in the 90’s, and we all found this funny, having come from the low 110’s.  Granted, there is more humidity here and air conditioning does not come quite so standard as it does with the homes back in Phoenix.

Now after living in Seattle for 6 years, I’m quite used to my nice 60 degree temperate weather and am finding 75 degrees at night a very uncomfortable temperature to sleep in, much less bake in.

Oh yes, you thought this wouldn’t have anything to do with baking?  Not here.  It’s unescapable.

Imagine a house with no air conditioning, and more than half the windows don’t have screens so we can’t easily leave them open because of our indoor cats.  We run all the fans we’ve got, but they’re fighting a losing battle against a 350 degree oven running for hours on end in a tiny little kitchen.

With the teasing scent of browning sugar, melting chocolate, and baking cake, it becomes both a wonderful and torturous place to be.

Right now, we’re doing all the final stuff for the Punk Rock Flea Market.  I’ve got 7 products about done, mostly wrapped.  I’m waiting on the rose baklava in the oven right now while some lavender blondes are cooling.  I’ve got a big pile of Sugar Rats, painstakingly decorated by the whole household (by the way, as a tip, those cheap three-pack empty condiment bottles you can buy work well for icing cookies) as well as some Gold Hearts (Goldschlagger Snickerdoodles), Absinthe-Almond-Fig Biscotti, Cherry-Gingersnaps, and Spicy Hot Chocolate cookies.  Tomorrow I’ll be making Strawberry-Balsamic Fudge and finish up the remaining packaging and labels.  Sometime on Friday or ungodly-early on Saturday I will be making some Cranky-Lemon Muffins.

I’m pretty exhausted, but it’s nice to see things slowly getting finished in this final hour.  I am always too ambitious and usually plan for more than I manage, especially as of late.  Since mid to late last year (this is not really when things started, but when it all seemed to kick off and get exponentially worse), I’ve been dealing with a lot of health problems.  I was just recently diagnosed with what seems to be Lupus.  Lupus is not really officially diagnosed until there’s organ damage, which thankfully there isn’t at this point.  But as my family and medical history point very strongly towards it, it’s a pretty damn safe bet.  I’m still figuring myself out in it, finding out where my new limits are and trying not to be trapped by them.  Sadly, my energy supply is definitely far less predictable than it used to be.

Overall, though, I’m pretty happy with the selection we’re accomplishing.  Since this is my first time at this market, it’ll be a learning experience anyhow.  I know that there is usually just over 1000 people in foot traffic throughout the day, so it’s quite possible that if my products appeal to people we’ll sell out early since we’ve only got less than 100 of each type. We’ll see!

If you happen to make it out there, drop by and let me know you heard about it from my blog. I may be able to sneak you a good deal

This is a catch-up post.  I had gotten the photos from her awhile back, but only now finally uploaded them.  See, this is what happens when you forget to take photos yourself in the first place!  Throws everything for a loop.

This was for a friend of mine, the creative genius behind Sweet Anthem, making handmade vegan perfumes and other scented delights, for her Valentine’s Trunk Show at Sweet Petuna in Seattle.  I mentioned this when it happened back on this post.

I made heart-shaped lavender cookies, almond-anise biscotti, and sweet petit fours (the gold one is bittersweet-chocolate mint, the white one with spice dusted on top is chai, and the one with the red dot and edible pearl is strawberry).

Petit fours are really fun to make, and it’s such a lovely, ethereal treat - the poured fondant coating is thin and light, with a soft vanilla buttercream beneath, and then the not-too-sweet cake and filling within.  I think in this case, the strawberry one was a tad too sweet - next time I’ll use preserves that are a bit more tart and less sweetened.

This is a favorite at my house. Tender, not too sweet, with a melt-in-your-mouth finish, and the lavender is subtle yet defining.  Good on its own, or with some tea.

I personally love lavender, and enjoy introducing it to people who haven’t experienced it in anything but potpourri!  It’s wonderfully French and foreign, yet feels homey and inspires daydreams of country cottages, British tea and lovely gardens.  Besides this sweet treat, lavender is great in savory dishes, like roast chicken or an herb omelet.

I think Americans have long underutilized this herb.  Try it out!  Make sure to pick up culinary lavender (it can be ordered online or found at many groceries or organic/natural foods stores).  This way you can be sure no unhealthy pesticides or dyes were used on it.  Be brave with it.  You can also try herbs de province, a French herb blend that includes lavender, which is wonderful in just about everything.

EDIT:  After getting the comment below from Heidi and Doug, I decided I’d add another useful thing about these cookies - they’re great to carry around and hand out at conventions. 

I made these rat sugar cookies for RatsPacNW’s annual Spring Show this past weekend.  My roomate breeds really gorgeous, sweet ratties (FurrRattery), and this is the second show we’ve shared a table together at.  Last time I sold some cupcakes and cookies, including some vegan items, though I didn’t get photos, because I’m a dork.  I regularly forget photos, so several nice cakes and other items have missed their chance in the sun (well, my blog anyhow).

These photos were taken by my husband’s cell phone camera.  I made a bunch of these Sugar Rats, not all of which are pictured.  They were very well received and completely sold out, so I will likely be doing them regularly for rat shows and will also sell them on Sugar Revolution when that’s up and going.

I also sold some lavender cookies, and may get some photos of those up later on.

I’m going to start posting about other baked goods besides cakes.  This is the first - big fat delicious blueberry lemon scones!

I love scones.  I love tea.  I love the combination of the two, so meant to be, so fated and perfect for one another.

A proper, real scone is not like a muffin.  It’s not like cake, moist and rich.  It shouldn’t be dry, just tender.  A good scone isn’t very sweet, either - it provides a creamy base upon which you can apply clotted cream, butter, or preserves, or just eat plain with your favorite warm beverage.

Seattlest has a nice article about this, including a recipe.  I haven’t tried their recipe, but I like their opinion on the state of scones.  Down with those mini muffin-tops coated in icing at the grocery store, those imposers trying to pawn themselves off as tiny scones!

I am very happy with how these turned out.  Buttery and soft, a bit flaky and crumbly, with the sweet-tart jolts of dried blueberries and a gentle background of lemon.

I wish the photos showed it better, but the top of the scones have a few layers of egg white glaze on them, which gives it a shiny, flaky-pastry appearance.