 The perfect little indulgence, cupcakes create just the right sweet for celebrating Valentine's Day or any special occasion. Their cousins, cake balls and cake pops, are similarly bite-sized treats that delight the eye while also pleasing the palate.
IN THIS ISSUE, we serve up recipes, hints, and how-tos for cupcakes, cake balls, and cake pops - information you can put to immediate use in creating your own Valentine's Day festivities. In addition to these sweet suggestions, you'll find more inspiration in our store for celebrating the season of love! |
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Ken's Notes:
|  Like cupcakes? We do, and we hope you do too! If you like this issue of our newsletter we hope you'll decide to join us for Cupcake Camp Marietta on Feb. 27th. It should be a fun time! See below for details.
Cupcake Camp Marietta Thank you to those who have already volunteered to help, and to the bakers who have signed up. Remember, this isn't a competition (although we will have a judging just for fun) - it's an "eat fest". Cupcake Camp Marietta is meant to be a gathering of cupcake lovers and bakers who like to share and try new things. We hope to see you there on Feb. 27th.
What: Cupcake Camp Marietta is an ad-hoc gathering born from the desire for people to share and eat cupcakes.
When: Sunday, February 27, 2011 from 3-5:30pm
Where: The Cook's Shop, 180 Front St., Marietta, OH
This is an event for cupcake lovers, so you can:
- bake cupcakes to bring
- buy cupcakes to bring
- just eat cupcakes
 1. No limit on how many cupcakes you can bring!
2. You need to have your cupcakes (how many (we're requesting a minimum of 12, 24 if you're entering into a contest category), and what type) registered by Wednesday, February 23 at Noon -- otherwise we will have to do the unthinkable and reject your precious cupcakes (please don't make us do that)!
3. People bringing cupcakes should bring them to The Cook's Shop before 2:30pm the day of the event. We're instituting a limit of 30 bakers due to space restrictions.
4. In true Cupcake Camp style, we will have four 15 min. timeslots scheduled for tasting different types of cupcakes. The schedule will be posted in-store beginning Friday, February 25.
5. Be prepared to take leftover cupcakes home.
6. Share your recipes! Bring a copy when you drop off your cupcakes. We'll copy and share your cupcake recipes with other cupcake lovers.
7. Of course this is a competition! Judges are yet to be determined. Categories include: Most Decadent Flavor, Best Decorated, and Most Unique Ingredients (try to be more creative than just chocolate, my favorites from other camps include bacon, maple syrup and alcohol - not together mind you, but as separate cupcake flavors).
8. The Cook's Shop will supply water, milk, coffee, plates, utensils and napkins.
9. Volunteers! We could use a few people to: control admittance, carry cupcakes from the staging/judging area to the tables, keep milk and coffee flowing, check in and organize cupcakes 30 minutes prior to the event.
10. If you're not bringing cupcakes we're asking for pre-registration and a $5 admission fee, which we will donate to a charity. Non-Bakers will be limited to just 30 people due to space restrictions.
RSVP - If you're ready to RSVP or volunteer now, you can do so to info@thecooksshop.com
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Cooking Classes at The Cook's Shop!
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Yes, we're aware that the list is getting short - we'll have our new class schedule ready to publish in two weeks in our next newsletter. Stay tuned!
Sweetheart Cupcakes - Monday, Feb 7, 2011 - 6:30 pm, $35.
Mindy Barth - Baker, Old Town Bakery. Learn to bake and decorate special treats for your sweetest! Details to follow. Class is limited to 15.
Homemade Ravioli
Wednesday, Feb 16, 2011 - 6:30 pm, $40 SOLD OUT! John Rossi - Culinary Artist. One of our favorite foodies, John Rossi, has agreed to do another class for us. This time, he'll be making ravioli from scratch. Besides knowing more about pasta making than anyone we've ever meet, he also has a knack for keeping his classes thoroughly entertained with stories of his past exploits. Recipes will be distributed after the class since John tends to make it up as he goes along! Class is limited to 15.
A Taste of Latin Cooking
Saturday, Feb 26, 2011 - 2:00 pm, $45
Tere Clegg - Owner/Chef, Mango, a Latin Bistro. A last minute addition to our class list - at this time, we know that Tere will be cooking a plantain dish and a seafood dish. Details to follow. Class is limited to 15.
Cupcake Camp Marietta
Sunday, February 27, 2011 - 3-5:30 pm
Cupcake Camp Marietta is an ad-hoc gathering born from the desire for people to share and eat cupcakes. This is an event for cupcake lovers, so you can:
- bake cupcakes to bring - buy cupcakes to bring - just eat cupcakes See our Cupcake Camp Marietta info above for more details!
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Hello, Cupcake! by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson. Copyright © 2008 by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
This book is all about inspiring cupcakes that delight the eye and tickle the imagination. The focus of the book is on decorating and transforming a plain cupcake into fun faces, furry pups, happy sunflowers, and dozens of other creations. Six different cupcake recipes are offered along with six frostings, and six cake mix variations. The rest of the book is full of step-by-step how-tos for working the icing and embellishments into delightful pieces. You'll enjoy choosing your favorite construction, then riffing on the theme for your own cupcake improvisation.
Cake Pops by Bakerella. Copyright © 2010 by Angie Dudley. Published by Chronicle Books, San Francisco, CA.
Like the author's own experience, after our first cake ball, we noted that this was a subject to be revisited. We immediately fell in love with the Cake Pops book as an excellent guide for our explorations. The basics are presented thoroughly with all the tips for success generously included. From there, more than 40 different creations are detailed and pictured - from Spring Chicks, Bride & Groom Cake Pops, to Lovely Little Ladybugs - there's a cake pop for every occasion and every season. After initial success, you'll want to make more and expand your abilities - the instructions and tools for beginners and the advanced alike are all there waiting for you!
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| Enjoy celebrating all the special people in your life this Valentine's Day! |
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