valentine's day Cupcake Baker of the Week: Charlene Jaszewski (Cake Pops!)

 

We've got it on photo evidence, folks. Proof of a real (sweet) visitor from outer space...or perhaps, Manhattan's Upper West Side. She's even got alarmingly cute antennae, made out of a pair of homemade cake pops! *

Getting down to Earth again, this is one serious baker, with or without antennae. Charlene Jaszewski believes in using the best ingredients possible to create treats that can be a pleasure to look at, play around with (see photo exhibit A), and most importantly, taste.

In her own words, "most attention is paid to making the outside cute, rather than making the insides delicious." Charlene opts to pass on the cake mix and canned frosting route, and instead focuses on the flavors and textures inside her simply decorated cake pops.

See below for photos of a festive Eggnog Rum Cake Pop, and discover a magical (really!) creation called “Mangle bread.”

* Cake pops, a "mashup of cake+frosting" rolled into a ball and then coated and decorated, were popularized by Bakerella (whose book signing was the theme of our recent CTTC meetup).

Name: Charlene Jaszewski
Website: www.treatbeat.com
Location: Upper West Side, NYC

1. How did you get into cupcake baking?
I have been baking since I was a wee girl. My gramma encouraged me – she baked everything under the sun from her dusty old Wisconsin church cookbooks (which I inherited!) It’s weird that I got the baking gene because my mom can barely make toast.

2. Do you have a signature cupcake (cake pop)?
I am kind of addicted to dark chocolate things.

3. What kind of cupcake do you plan to bake next?
I’m heavy into testing cake pop flavors at the moment. I came up with a not-too-boozy eggnog rum cakepop for the holidays and I’m testing a pumpkin cream cheese flavor next. I’m also trying to update/improve something my gramma made called “mangle bread.” White cake, frosting, almond, coconut and some magical flavors inside.

4. Where do you find inspiration?
Everywhere. I might taste something at a market and then go home and make my own version of it, tweaking it. I miss the Greenpoint Food Market, where every month people could test out their treats before making a go of it officially. It was so fun to see what people would come up with. And I also still find interesting recipes in those old church cookbooks.

5. Describe a memorable (funny/disastrous/life-changing) cupcake baking moment you've had.
The day I walked into a bakery and asked for a cup of frosting and no cupcake, and they gave it to me!

6. Give one piece of cupcake advice for other bakers out there.
Quality ingredients make the difference between average and amazing desserts. My greatest delight as a baker is seeing people make that “MMMMMM” face when they eat my goodies.

Use butter, use real vanilla, use as high quality chocolate as you can afford.

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Thanks, Charlene! Stay tuned for next week's Cupcake Baker of the Week. Leave us questions, feedback, and suggestions in the comments below. If you would like to nominate someone to be featured, e-mail us at cupcakestakethecake@gmail.com with "Hey Melissa! Check out this Cupcake Baker!" in the subject title.

valentine's day Cupcake Baker(s) of the Week: Janelle Craft & Jennifer Bunkers

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Matching aprons, check. Catchy tagline ("History in the Baking!"), definite check. Dazzling smiles, double and triple check. These baking gals sure seem like they have their act together. Not to mention, their cupcakes made quite an impression at our last NYC Cupcake Business Class.

Sweet Vintage Baking Co.'s cupcakes are inspired by, and honorably named after,  the "sweet" women in their lives. Meet "Frances", a Vanilla Cupcake with Pink Vanilla Buttercream and White Non-pareils, or "Doris", an Orange Velvet Cupcake with Orange Buttercream (pictured below).

Read on for more about how Sweet Vintage Baking Co. came to be, seasonal cupcake flavors, and...gasp! A Cupcake Smugger!

Name: Janelle Craft & Jennifer Bunkers, Sweet Vintage Baking
Location: Sparta, New Jersey
Website: www.sweetvintagebakingco.com

1. How did you get into cupcake baking?

Both of us have a passion for baking, which is a result of growing up baking with our mothers, grandmothers and aunts and the passion for baking that these women possessed. As accomplished home bakers and moms to young children, it seemed most fitting to specialize in cakes and cookies, but most of all, cupcakes. We also felt we had a unique perspective to offer by paying homage to the women in our families who handed down their love for baking (and recipes!). That’s why each of our flavors has “her” own name.

2. Do you have a signature cupcake?

Yes! We took our old-fashioned vanilla cupcake (“Frances”) and our decadent chocolate cupcake (“Mabel”) and dressed them up with pink buttercream and white non pareils. You can see these “ladies” on the front page of our website.

3. What kind of cupcake do you plan to bake next? 
We are focused on our seasonal holiday flavors such as Gingerbread, Chocolate Peppermint, and Eggnog and our Cupcake of the Month for November is Caramel Macchiatto. We also are now taking orders for our beautiful cupcake wreaths!

4. Where do you find inspiration?
Since the foundation of Sweet Vintage Baking is built upon a strong family history of baking, our inspiration comes from the recipes of our grandmothers, mothers, aunts, great aunts, friends of the family and their arsenal of vintage cookbooks. Some of the recipes are original that date back to 1931 and some have been tweaked or altered slightly. Our tagline of “History in the Baking” best captures what we are all about.

5. Describe a memorable (funny/disastrous/life-changing) cupcake baking moment you've had. 
One of the funniest moments we’ve had so far would have to be the unsolved case of the “Cupcake Smuggler” at a recent event we did as vendors. We had over 400 sampler minis of 4 different flavors on stands in front of us. Each flavor of minis were placed in front of a full-sized cupcake that was for display purposes only. We were constantly reaching down under the table to get more minis. A couple of times when we were both bent down, we came up to find our full-sized display cupcakes had been snatched! This happened not once but a few times…..with the Cupcake Smuggler nowhere in sight! We had a great laugh over that.

6. Give one piece of cupcake advice for other bakers out there. 
If you’re just starting out, make sure you and your support team is on the same page. This may be your spouse, your family members, friends, it doesn’t matter. What matters most is that they stand behind you and support your goals, whatever they may be.

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"Doris"

Thanks, Janelle and Jennifer! Stay tuned for next week's Cupcake Baker of the Week. Leave us questions, feedback, and suggestions in the comments below. If you would like to nominate someone to be featured, e-mail us at cupcakestakethecake@gmail.com with "Hey Melissa! Check out this Cupcake Baker!" in the subject title.

valentine's day Cupcake Baker of the Week: Emily Hanhan (Cupcake Competition Tips)

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Happy Thanksgiving! In the spirit of giving thanks for friends, I'm happy to introduce Emily Hanhan, avid cupcake baker and a regular participant at Cupcakes Take the Cake events in NYC. She's the creator of the crowd-pleasing Salted Caramel Peach White Chocolate Cupcakes for our 2010 Delicious Sandwich Social. Emily, an experienced food throwdown/bakeoff/contest veteran, has shared some of her cupcake competition tips at the bottom of this post.

Also check out her Honey Glaze Carrot Cupcakes with Salty-Sweet (Local) Honey Butterscotch, topped with Crunchy Pecans and Fresh Currants, for a dash of holiday baking inspiration!

Name: Emily Hanhan
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Website: www.nomnivorous.com

1. How did you get into cupcake baking?

Cupcakes popped into my life once I realized how much I enjoy baking for others. Two dozen cupcakes for a friend's birthday seems less daunting than a two layer, leveled and frosted cake. Perfection is NOT my specialty, yummy is.

2. Do you have a signature cupcake?

I love changing flavor combinations too much to give one the reigning title of signature. But I think most people know me as the salty-sweet baker. And the flavor combination that introduced most of my friends to my baking bug is a Guinness chocolate cake, whiskey ganache filling and Bailey's buttercream. It's a decadent, drunken affair.

3. What kind of cupcake do you plan to bake next?

Homemade marshmallows have completely captured my attention, so I would like to work on a scorched, ooey gooey S'mores cupcake for the winter. The graham cracker is the most mystifying part of the equation!

4. Where do you find inspiration?

The flavors that are comfortable to me, familiar, inspire me. To make it more interesting, more balanced, to fill every nook and cranny with flavor. Bringing savory touches to sugary sweet ideas has become a huge part of my repetoir. What a sprinkle of salt has done for my sweet tooth, it's just beyond words.

5. Describe a memorable (funny/disastrous/life-changing) cupcake baking moment you've had.

Over the summer, I discovered just how rough the heat can be to a delectable buttercream. In New York, there is an indie food competition community and I've jumped into it. When I decided to make 200 carrot mini cupcakes with honey butterscotch buttercream for one competition, I didn't factor in that it would take place over a three hour, steamy July afternoon. To say I was frazzled by it all would be an understatement. The puddling oozes of frosting didn't win any awards for looks. But the flavors were on point, which helped my bruised ego. It was a sad afternoon, but at the worst a pricey learning experiment.

6. Give one piece of cupcake advice for other bakers out there.

Don't let baking paralyze you! In the end, baking has alway been about having fun and sharing the love (final products) with friends and family. If you're freaking out over the missing sour cream or frustrated that you can't find your vanilla extract, the fun is gone. Baking is a science, but a flexible one. The more you let yourself get comfortable in the kitchen, the more natural making substitutions will feel. And I can almost guarantee - the happier you are while baking, the more delicious that final cuppycake will be!

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Honey Glaze Carrot Cupcakes
Honey Butterscotch, Crunchy Pecans & Fresh Currants

Emily's Cupcake Competition Tips

I. Moisture. Cupcake competitions make you realize how delicate and fault-ridden most cupcake recipes are. Starting from the cake up, when it comes to competitions I try to use extremely moist recipes. Usually I am baking in advance, so the moisture is very important.

• Use a fresh fruit or jam to flavor fruit-based cakes instead of an extract.
  
• Brush liquid onto the tops of vanilla, chocolate, or non-fruit cupcakes. I do that both when they're warm and once cooled down. Coffee is great on chocolate, Bourbon or rum makes vanilla more interesting, but there are any number of ideas.

II. Stability. Just recently, I've discovered one of your best tricks at keeping frosting more stable for transportation and storage outside is shortening. It's not a new idea, but even replacing two tablespoons of butter with shortening will help the frosting whip up smoothly and keep it from melting a bit. The addition of marshmallow fluff is also a fun way to make your frosting more friendly!

III. Decoration. And, a great tip is, if you're not the best at piping, play around with decorating. I'm a fan of decorations that also taste fantastic, like the currants in the above cupcakes. Fresh fruit, a chocolate drizzle, toasted nuts, fresh herbs, or even some jimmies make for a more enticing cupcake.

Thanks, Emily! Stay tuned for next week's Cupcake Baker of the Week. Leave us questions, feedback, and suggestions for future bakers in the comments below, or e-mail Melissa at cupcakestakethecake@gmail.com with the subject "Hey Melissa! Meet this Cupcake Baker!"

valentine's day Cupcake Baker(s) of the Week: Allison and Matt Robicelli



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I wish this photo was taken by their kids, but alas,
eating cupcakes turned out to be more interesting.

Who could these cupcake darling be but the Robicellis? We've given them a lot of love on Cupcakes Take the Cake, and rightfully so. From being part of our 5 year blogaversary party (and our upcoming 6 year party), speaking at our NYC cupcake business class, to ordering their constantly changing flavors for our cupcake events, we've gotten to taste a lot of Robicelli's cupcakes. More importantly, we've gotten to know the passionate and undeniably talented cupcake bakers themselves, who, in their own words, are known for their "chefs' approach to cupcakes [and] fearless approach to creating flavors."

Former professional pastry chefs turned cupcake bakers, husband-and-wife team Allison and Matt Robicelli are a dynamite team, baking batches of cupcakes by moonlight, delivering these delicate goods around the city, and developing a keen sense of cupcake ESP while raising a family together. For all us solo bakers out there, it's nice to remember that cupcakes can be a fun group activity. Heck, it sure beats being alone in the kitchen when 70 cupcakes come crashing down!

Read on for a few of Allison and Matt's mind-boggling cupcake flavors, including an upcoming SUPER limited edition with cheese, polenta, balsamic vinegar, and...well, I won't give it all away just yet! 

Name: Allison & Matt Robicelli
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Website: http://www.robicellis.tumblr.com/

1.How did you get into cupcake baking?
Completely by accident! We both had serious pastry careers: accomplished pastry chefs at starred NYC restaurants, top bakeries, elite catering. We decided to open a gourmet shop together since it seemed a more stable option as we had gotten married and had young children, but unfortunately the stock market crashed only a few days after we opened. We decided to fall back on our pastry skills in the hopes that it would attract new customers, but knew that people wouldn’t buy giant cakes all that often. We decided to make some of our cake recipes into cupcakes instead of full sized versions, thinking we’d sell a few dozen each week. Well, we did end up drawing more people into the store, but instead of falling in love with our sandwiches or cheese counter, they were clamoring for more cupcakes! What was supposed to be a few dozen quickly turned into a few hundred, then over a thousand, until finally we decided to close our store and pursue cupcakes full-time.

2. Do you have a signature cupcake?
We have over 100, so it’s pretty hard to choose just one! We initially became very popular for more “mainstream” cupcakes like the Tres Leches with Dulce de Leche buttercream, and for our commitment of using seasonal ingredients at the peak of flavor. What made us stand out was our total ADD, and our insistence that we introduce a new flavor at least every two weeks. Now what we’re known for is our chef’s approach to cupcakes, and for our fearless approach to creating flavors. Some of the most notorious are the Chicken n’Waffles, The Iona (pear olive oil cake, candied walnuts, blue cheese buttercream, port reduction), Butternut Squash Spice, and The Yvonne (Late harvest reisling cake & buttercream with blueberry-thai basil compote)

3.What kind of cupcake do you plan to bake next?
This week we are doing a SUPER limited edition cupcake that involves polenta, red grapes, balsamic vinegar, aged parmesan & mascarpone. We don’t expect it to be replacing chocolate cake any time soon, but those ingredients are an amazing flavor combination, and we’d love to make a dessert from them that everyone can afford to try.

4.Where do you find inspiration?
EVERYWHERE! We’re inspired by the ever changing spread of produce at the market, exciting new ingredients we find at ethnic groceries around Brooklyn, great chefs, restaurant dishes, all sorts of cookbooks (we collect them)- we research all the time. Matt and I are “on” 24 hours a day, 7 days a week- a plus side to being married to your baking partner.

5. Describe a memorable (funny/disastrous/life-changing) cupcake baking moment you've had.
Once we had a CRAZY busy day, capping off a crazy week. Our bodies were achy and sore from being on our feet for hours on end, and couldn’t wait to pack our cupcakes up and go home. So after finishing the last tray of cupcakes, I was heading to the walk-in to let them set and had a gigantic back spasm, twisted my body the wrong way and dropped an entire sheet tray of cupcakes on the floor! We had to stay at work for another two hours to remake those 70 cupcakes- I thought Matt was going to kill me!

6. Give one piece of cupcake advice for other bakers out there.
Ask questions all the time. Research. Never stop learning. And NEVER be afraid to fail- it sometimes takes a few tries to get something right, so there’s no shame in making a bad batch as long as you learn from it!

A recent video of the Robicellis by our friends at Food.Curated. (Read the full post here)



Thanks, Allison and Matt! Stay tuned for next week's Cupcake Baker of the Week. Leave us questions, feedback, and suggestions for future bakers in the comments below, or e-mail Melissa at cupcakestakethecake@gmail.com with the subject "Hey Melissa! Meet this Cupcake Baker!"