Last week we started the promotional blitz for our new book! First stop: Philly, PA! We got to chat with Bill & Lori on NBC's local morning gab-fest The 10! Show and demonstrated our brownies and chocolate stout milkshake. Beer first thing in the morning? Yes, please! Then it was off to El Vez, (one of Steven Starr's many fabulous restaurants) for an interview with Phawker.com. We also ate probably what was one of the best burritos in our lives. Lastly, we met with Jim Coleman from NPR's Chefs Table and discussed all things dessert related. We topped our day off with a celebratory milkshake at looks-like-an-antique-ice-cream-parlor-but-is-only-actually-a-few-years-old, Franklin Fountain. Definitely worth a visit. They make their own root beer, people!
The announcement isn't yet official, but we thought we would share with you, dear reader, a sneak peek at our sister store in the South, Baked Charleston! The second Baked will be located in the Historic French Quarter, just a few feet from the waterfront. We are still a few months away from a grand opening, but until then, a little something to whet your palette...
Blair Van Sant has been working with Baked for a very long time. He can bake, he can decorate, and he can sing.
So it is with a very heavy heart that we have to say goodbye to Blair. He is moving to Nashville where he dreams of becoming a great big country star/baker, and we wish him the best.
EMPLOYEE Q AND A: BLAIR VAN SANT
NAME: Blair Van Sant
POSITION: Cake Decorator
FAVE MOVIE: TRON
FAVE BOOK: A Wrinkle in Time
WHO INSPIRES YOU: Small Business Owners (Thanks Blair!)
FAVE DRINK: Orange Jarrito
FAVE SEASON: Winter
WHAT DO YOU LIKE ABOUT BAKED: All my awesome co-workers
WHERE ARE YOU FROM: Nashville, TN
BROTHERS/SISTERS: Two Bros, Three Sis
WEIRDEST THING YOU'VE EATEN: A few weeks ago, I accidentally ate a worm inside a plum. That's weird, right?
Dear loyal reader (the singular tense was intentional)
We haven't been avoiding you, we have just been very busy. Whoever said August is slow for business was very, very wrong.
There are alot of great and interesting things happening at Baked... We are ramping up for our Fall book release, which will happen October 1st... At which point we will update the site with all the info you will need to get your very own copy! Matt & I will then embark on our whirlwind tour, and maybe even drop by a city near you!
This past weekend we celebrated a loved ones long journey to becoming a full-on legal resident of these great United States. For the festivities, we threw him an all-American BBQ with all the trimmings. Hot dogs and hamburgers were enjoyed by all. The highlight of the event was the American Flag Cake. Part Baked (cake and frosting recipe), part Ina Garten (idea came from her cookbook, Barefoot Contessa Parties), it was a total crowd pleaser. Our loved one is from Germany, where sweet frostings do not go over so well. So imagine my surprise when he went for seconds, thirds and dare I say, fourths.
The Fancy Food Show is due to swing through NYC shortly and we plan on being there with our granola.
If you manage to get into the show, you will be surprised at the sheer size of the event. Virtually every country is represented. Expect to see lots of pasta, olive oils, chocolates, salts, and spices. If you can make it through the Italian pavilion without gaining a few pounds, we would be amazed.
The annnual FCI Golden Scoop Awards were announced earlier this week and we were so very excited to learn that our 'Flight of Whoopie Pies' were nominated for Best Bakery Recipe! For the entry, we did mini versions of the flavors we offer here at Baked: Classic, Peanut Butter & Chocolate, Pistachio and Strawberry. We are up against two other amazing Bakeries, Grandaisy and Sullivan Street. We hope that the Judges over at Golden Scoop agree that whoopie pies are taking over the world, and this is just the beginning! Hooray for whoopie!
Saturday was a beautiful day for a food festival at the very Mars-like National Harbor. (I am sure National Harbor will be a lovely place when it is fully built, but right now it is full of building carcasses and cranes and dirt parking lots which gives the place an air of otherworldliness).
We ate and drank and sampled our granola all day long. Mountain Blend was the festival fave. The whole thing was located outside in large tents by the water. Not a bad way to spend the weekend.
This weekend, we will be participating in Washington DC's newest food festival at National Harbor.
It is the inaugural event and it looks to be a big one. Tons of local and not so local food and wine vendors are supposed to participate. We will be making items from our book that is due out in October, and sampling our granola.
We will be open during our regular business hours for Mother's Day weekend. Stop by for special mom-like treats in mom-like colors. We would love to see you.
Our new bagged granola is slowly (very slowly) rolling out to a grocery store near you. Keep your eyes peeled.
We have a new Baked Granola website in the works to tell you about our exciting flavors and delicious blends. If you want to see our granola in your neighborhood store, drop us a line at info@bakednyc.com and let us know where you live and where you shop.
It's a Dolly week for sure. She was a "mentor" on American Idol this week, she sang a new song from her new CD, and there is some news about 9 to 5 becoming a big Broadway Musical. What is lost in all this Dolly hoopla is that she went and wrote a cookbook (okay it was back in 2006) and get this: it has its own website. Of course it is our cookbook of the week...so go buy one (the proceeds go to charity) and make the Green Tomato Cake. I have not tried it yet, but I am oddly intrigued.
We are verge of Spring in NYC. It comes, visits, then leaves. In between these little bursts or "moments" of Spring, we get soaked by rain or the temperature drops. On these in-between days (not to springy/not too wintry), I get the craving for ice cream. Boatloads of it. I want it sundae style...lots of drizzled chocolate and nuts and whipped cream. I ran across this ice-cream concoction while I was visiting Paris last year. It was a very hard caramel ice-cream..hard but creamy....with a light caramel sauce and the top was scooped out and filled with chocolate chunks. I wish I remembered the name of the resto where I had it....but for those of you visiting Paris it is located directly across from Laduree on rue Bonaparte.
Our Cookbook of the week this actually a video. The "cooking" segment is only a few minutes long, but it is surely worth watching, if you are one of the few who haven't already seen this. Watch Brenda make a morning shake as well as talk about nutrition. There is no actual cooking involved in this segment, but we assume Brenda is quite unaware that the room she is in is actually a kitchen. Enjoy:
So, as you may know, we don't do "shaped cakes" or traditional "character cakes". We want our cakes to be 100% edible (no excessive foams or fondants) and we use chocolate transfers (made with a very high-quality chocolate) to bring certain elements of a character to life. Over the weekend, Blair Van Sant, created a Super Mario Bros. cake for a Super Mario Bros fan. Hope you like.
Happy Easter Weekend. Baked is open on Saturday from 9AM-7PM and on Easter Sunday from 9AM-5PM. Regular hours resume Monday. Featuring Easter goodies all weekend long.
