This isn't exactly baked good related, but definitely worth a post/rant. For those who haven't read the Amanda Palmer belly story on Pitchfork or Feministing yet, check it out:
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/news/147869-dresden-dolls-palmer-tangles-with-label-over-tummy
http://www.feministing.com/archives/012421.html
You should also read Palmer's account of the situation on her blog:
http://blog.amandapalmer.net/post/62721071/the-rebellyon-the-deal-with-roadrunner-records
Apparently, the Dresden Doll has been getting some flack from her label about some scenes in her video for Leeds United because they didn't feel that her belly adequately represented the fantisies of testosterone charged frat boys. Translation? She's not a size zero, and she's comfortable with that. Apparently that's not what the label is interested in selling.
Now considering the fact that this was the third album she's put out on Roadrunner Records, you'd assume that they would have some idea who Amanda/The Dresden Dolls and their fan base are. You know - the music they make, the people they are, the image they try to convey. Unfortunately, it looks like they're more interested in transforming her into a plastic, overproduced, underfed commodity a la Katy Perry, Britney Spears, Jessica Simpson, etc. Although, I guess you can't really expect much from any label that would sign Nickelback.
Luckily, Palmer stood her ground and refused to edit the belly shots in question. From one belly to another, I salute you Amanda Palmer. I think this warrants a cupcake in your honor.
Stay tuned.
Oh, and here's the video in question for your viewing pleasure.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Where is my mind?
A few weeks ago, my pal Lacey asked if I'd be into making some cupcakes for an upcoming benefit she was throwing. Bakesales and benefits being two of my favorite things, obviously I was on board.
I'd like to carve out a little space making baked goods for charity for the rest of my life. Baked goods as a social movement, anyone? Maybe it's because I'm lacking in most other creative qualities, but I find baking to be a perfect form of diy-ness. I mean, you take a bunch of random ingredients that aren't worth much - flour, water, sugar, baking soda, heat, time, etc. - and you create something that is almost sure to make people happy. Something tasty for people to eat that wasn't made out of petrolium biproducts and surplus corn in some factory with an average output of 100,000 treats per minute. Something that can help persuade people to donate time and money to a good cause. Baked goods for social change. I mean, even if your baked goods totally suck, you can just throw them out and start over again. No big deal.
I'm getting a little sappy here, but I guess what I'm trying to say is that the world would be a better place if there were more bakesales. Of course, it helps that the organization benefiting from the event's baked good sales is really awesome. If you have a chance, read up on CHIRP and the low power radio movement. It's super rad. Chicago has a wonderfully rich music scene and a history of community activism, both of which are grossly underrepresented on the radio these days. By securing a low frequency broadcast license, CHIRP will be able to bring a new voice to local community groups and independent artists that would otherwise get very little exposure due to the fact that the airwaves are so heavily saturated by generic big media.
Here's a great article on the low power radio movement:
Also, read more about CHIRP and what they're trying to do.
Now, for the baked goods. The event had a bit of a Pixies theme, so I'm going to go ahead and call these "Where is my mindcakes". They're pumpkin cupcakes stuffed with cardamom cream cheese frosting, and I have to say - they're one of my favorites. They're subtle, but tasty - like a slow dance in your mouth. Be warned - you might forget your name, social security number, or why you're wearing gold lame leggings in public after eating one. Or maybe you just won't care.
I did get some feedback that these could probably benefit from a slightly higher frosting:cupcake ratio, so I'll probably fill 'em up a bit more next time.
I invented this next cupcake for a potential election night party, but ended up pretty wrapped up in the excitement of barack-a-palooza and went to the rally in Grant Park with my roommate. There are a few things more important than baked goods - watching history in the making is one of them.
I couldn't just let the cupcake idea go to waste, however, so I made them up for the Cease to Resist dance party. They're chocolate cupcakes which I filled with a blueberry red wine sauce and topped with some lemon cream cheese frosting. I have to say that the blueberry wine sauce was a total experiment, but it came out so good that I was licking it out of the pot once I finished filling the cupcakes. They're called blue state cupcakes to honor my two home states - Illinois and Massachusetts.
To continue with the Pixies theme, I'll leave you with this video of Chicago's Blue Ribbon Glee Club covering Where is my Mind?
Enjoy.
Brought to you by Barack Obama, The Pixies, Oh My Golly, CHIRP, and the love of bakesales.
I'd like to carve out a little space making baked goods for charity for the rest of my life. Baked goods as a social movement, anyone? Maybe it's because I'm lacking in most other creative qualities, but I find baking to be a perfect form of diy-ness. I mean, you take a bunch of random ingredients that aren't worth much - flour, water, sugar, baking soda, heat, time, etc. - and you create something that is almost sure to make people happy. Something tasty for people to eat that wasn't made out of petrolium biproducts and surplus corn in some factory with an average output of 100,000 treats per minute. Something that can help persuade people to donate time and money to a good cause. Baked goods for social change. I mean, even if your baked goods totally suck, you can just throw them out and start over again. No big deal.
I'm getting a little sappy here, but I guess what I'm trying to say is that the world would be a better place if there were more bakesales. Of course, it helps that the organization benefiting from the event's baked good sales is really awesome. If you have a chance, read up on CHIRP and the low power radio movement. It's super rad. Chicago has a wonderfully rich music scene and a history of community activism, both of which are grossly underrepresented on the radio these days. By securing a low frequency broadcast license, CHIRP will be able to bring a new voice to local community groups and independent artists that would otherwise get very little exposure due to the fact that the airwaves are so heavily saturated by generic big media.
Here's a great article on the low power radio movement:
Also, read more about CHIRP and what they're trying to do.
Now, for the baked goods. The event had a bit of a Pixies theme, so I'm going to go ahead and call these "Where is my mindcakes". They're pumpkin cupcakes stuffed with cardamom cream cheese frosting, and I have to say - they're one of my favorites. They're subtle, but tasty - like a slow dance in your mouth. Be warned - you might forget your name, social security number, or why you're wearing gold lame leggings in public after eating one. Or maybe you just won't care.
I did get some feedback that these could probably benefit from a slightly higher frosting:cupcake ratio, so I'll probably fill 'em up a bit more next time.
I invented this next cupcake for a potential election night party, but ended up pretty wrapped up in the excitement of barack-a-palooza and went to the rally in Grant Park with my roommate. There are a few things more important than baked goods - watching history in the making is one of them.
I couldn't just let the cupcake idea go to waste, however, so I made them up for the Cease to Resist dance party. They're chocolate cupcakes which I filled with a blueberry red wine sauce and topped with some lemon cream cheese frosting. I have to say that the blueberry wine sauce was a total experiment, but it came out so good that I was licking it out of the pot once I finished filling the cupcakes. They're called blue state cupcakes to honor my two home states - Illinois and Massachusetts.
To continue with the Pixies theme, I'll leave you with this video of Chicago's Blue Ribbon Glee Club covering Where is my Mind?
Enjoy.
Brought to you by Barack Obama, The Pixies, Oh My Golly, CHIRP, and the love of bakesales.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Cease to Resist
If you're in Chicago and you like good company, good tunes, and baked goods, you should totally come out to Darkroom this Wednesday for Cease to Resist dance party! The night will be hosted by DJs Dr. Drase and Rev. Michael Flavor of Hump Day Dance Party, and will feature CLIQUE TALK and BFF. Plus, I'll be there selling my cupcakes to benefit CHIRP (Chicaogo Independant Radio Project), a really great organziation that's working to create a new community radio station in Chicago that is committed to local, independent programming, and generally furthering the causes of localism, diversity, and independence in broadcasting.
Find out more about CHIRP at http://chicagoindependentradioproject.org.
Seriously - come out!
Find out more about CHIRP at http://chicagoindependentradioproject.org.
Seriously - come out!
Cupcake Archive
So it's been a little longer than I'd like between posts, but I will be selling my cuppers at a super rad event this Wednesday so I promise that there will be plenty of new pictures later in the week. In the meantime, here are some of my favorite cupcakes (baked by moi) for your viewing pleasure.
The McSteamy: Spicy Mexican Hot Chocolate Cupcake filled with ginger caramel Sauce (I could honestly eat this stuff by the bowlful, and I don't care how disgusting that is) and topped with chocolate ganache and crystallized sugar.
Mint Chocolate Camo Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache.
Vegan Banana Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Buttercream and dried bananas.
Vegan Chai Tea Cupcakes with Vanilla Bean Buttercream.
Vegan Cookies and Cream Cupcakes (recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World).
Slutty Naked Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes.
S'mores Cupcakes that were whipped up during an impromptu beginning of summer baking session with my rad friend Joanne. Graham Cracker Cupcakes with Marshmallow Cream Frosting, Graham Cracker Crumbs, and Hershey bar pieces (essential for any good s'more). These were ridiculously gooey and I spent the rest of the week in a blissful sugar coma after eating my share.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Monday Crush
Mondays always need a little sweetening, right? Well, IMO, it doesn't get much sweeter than cute boys with a knack for sugarcraft. That being said, let me present my Monday Crush - Geoff Manthorn from Charm City Cakes.
I'm willing to bet that anyone who's seen him work his skills on Ace of Cakes can attest to his dreaminess, but check out this video if you need any convincing. Not only does he know how to yield a pastry bag with precision, but he can play you a lovely tune on guitar while you're enjoying your delicious mountain yak shaped birthday cake. Nothing says romance like songs about wet t-shirt contests and the jersey shore. Behold:
Now I typically find that placing a guitar in front of someone increases their foxiness by at least 63%, but the fact that he's playing you a song while in a bakery? That's the icing on the...umm, yeah...cake.
Enjoy.
I'm willing to bet that anyone who's seen him work his skills on Ace of Cakes can attest to his dreaminess, but check out this video if you need any convincing. Not only does he know how to yield a pastry bag with precision, but he can play you a lovely tune on guitar while you're enjoying your delicious mountain yak shaped birthday cake. Nothing says romance like songs about wet t-shirt contests and the jersey shore. Behold:
Now I typically find that placing a guitar in front of someone increases their foxiness by at least 63%, but the fact that he's playing you a song while in a bakery? That's the icing on the...umm, yeah...cake.
Enjoy.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Owl Cakes for Emily
As much as I love Chicago, some of my favorite things are still in Boston. Included in that list of things I miss from the homeland are some of my favorite people on the planet. These cupcakes go out to Emillama, who I miss terribly. Emily loves owls and the color yellow almost as much as I love her.
Inspired by: Emillama.
Best enjoyed: While listening to The Concretes on an autumn afternoon when the sun makes everything look shades of orange.
I want your skullcakes...
I've always wanted to play in a Misfits cover band. Over the weekend, I decided to take the most logical step to fill this misfits-cover-band shaped void in my life...but instead of practicing el guitaro and posting a craigslist ad for bandmates, I baked skullcakes.
Little did I know when setting out on this task that it would come damn close to being an epic faiulre. You see, I did my homework. I made a template for the white chocolate skulls, and I assembled them while the vanilla cuppers were in the oven. It was only once the cupcakes were cooled and I was ready to place the glorious white chocolate skulls on top of them that I realized my mistake. The skulls were gigantic. I don't even know how my measurements ended up as off as they were, but these skulls were about the size of two cupcakes (each).
No biggie, though. I just stacked two cupcakes on top of eachother (with the wrapper removed on the top one), secured with chocolate buttercream and a lollipop stick, then dipped the whole thing in chocolate ganache. Crisis averted. Cupcakes prevail.
The details - vanilla cupcakes dipped in chocolate ganache (tinted black). The skulls are made of white chocolate that I piped on wax paper and set in the freezer to harden.
Would Glenn Danzig eat these cupcakes? That I can't say, but I can say that you won't lose any punk cred by devouring one (or three). Hey - if the [chocolate] drains down like devils rain, we'll bathe tonight.
Inspired by: Danzig, The Misfits, Skulls, and my lack of a music related creative outlet.
Best enjoyed: while wearing a black hoodie and listening to Skulls by the Misfits on repeat.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Smashing Pumkins...literally.
I'm going to put it out there - pumpkins kick ass. I'm talking about anything pumpkin related. Not only are pumpkins the ultimate symbol of fall (and the raddest holiday in existence), but they also taste really, incredibly good. As a tribute to Daenra's upcoming birthday, I decided to experiment with my all time favorite pumpkin cupcake recipe. These little packages of awesomeness combine three of my favorite things - pumpkin, ice cream, and cupcakes. The name is a bit of tribute to one of Daenra's favs from his teenage years. Plus, in terms of British adjectives, these babies really are smashing.
For the mini-cakes, I used the Pumpkin Chocolate Cupcake recipe (sans chocolate chips) from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World in a Wilton pumpkin mini-cake pan.
The Wilton pan makes 8 pumpkin halves which you place together for 4 total pumpkins. After baking, I scooped out their guts with a regular table spoon to make a bowl shape, then filled the bowls with vanilla ice cream just before serving.
For the leaves, I molded tinted gum paste and then used food coloring diluted with vanilla extract to paint the shadows. For the vines, I wrapped strips of gum paste around lollipop sticks and let dry in place.
The frosting is cinnamon buttercream tinted orange and piped into the pumpkin crevices with a #5 tip. We were pretty excited to eat these, so please excuse the hasty piping job.
This recipe alone is probably reason enough to go out and buy the cookbook if you don't already have it. The cake comes out moist and delicate with a fine crumb - in other words, "awesome". The best part is that you literally have to smash these mini-cakes to get to the tasty ice cream center. Try it, and I guarantee that you won't be disappointed.
Inspired by: Daenra, Smashing Pumpkins, Billy Corgan, and Autumn. Best enjoyed with Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness playing in the background. Don't worry, autumn is an annually issued passport to emo-dom, regardless of who you are. Embrace it.
x ms. s
For the mini-cakes, I used the Pumpkin Chocolate Cupcake recipe (sans chocolate chips) from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World in a Wilton pumpkin mini-cake pan.
The Wilton pan makes 8 pumpkin halves which you place together for 4 total pumpkins. After baking, I scooped out their guts with a regular table spoon to make a bowl shape, then filled the bowls with vanilla ice cream just before serving.
For the leaves, I molded tinted gum paste and then used food coloring diluted with vanilla extract to paint the shadows. For the vines, I wrapped strips of gum paste around lollipop sticks and let dry in place.
The frosting is cinnamon buttercream tinted orange and piped into the pumpkin crevices with a #5 tip. We were pretty excited to eat these, so please excuse the hasty piping job.
This recipe alone is probably reason enough to go out and buy the cookbook if you don't already have it. The cake comes out moist and delicate with a fine crumb - in other words, "awesome". The best part is that you literally have to smash these mini-cakes to get to the tasty ice cream center. Try it, and I guarantee that you won't be disappointed.
Inspired by: Daenra, Smashing Pumpkins, Billy Corgan, and Autumn. Best enjoyed with Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness playing in the background. Don't worry, autumn is an annually issued passport to emo-dom, regardless of who you are. Embrace it.
x ms. s
Saturday, September 13, 2008
White Wedding.
This blog has been in hibernation mode for a while (read: a year), but I've decided that it's time for a revival. My dear friend and soulmate, nikkiehippie, is currently planning the raddest wedding in the history of weddings. Nikkiehippie is one of the raddest people that I know, and she will be marrying her rad fiance with a rad ceremony in the rad month of May, 2009. Rad-I know. Not only do I get to play the role of rad bridesmaid, but I've also signed on to [potentially] make 200 cupcakes and some sort of mini-cake/giant cupcake for the bride & groom.
No small task, but one that I am super stoked about, if it ends up happening. Those of you that know me know that I don't really need an excuse to break out the mixing bowl, but what better excuse is there than "research and development" for your best friend's wedding?
Well, in the name of science, I will be spending the next eight months testing recipes and design ideas for cupcakes, mini cakes, tiered cakes, and more. Some will be wedding related, while others will be to answer some age old questions like:
Can fondant be punk rock?
What is the best edible medium to recreate a devilock with?
Can a cake look badass and still taste good?
How many cupcakes can one person make in a 24 hour period?
Are there limits of the power of cupcakes? They can mend friendships and heal broken hearts, but can they fight terrorism? Capitalism?
I will try to get you the answers to these and more, while testing recipes and flavor combos on anyone in my path. Expect to hear some reviews from my wonderful roommate, my life hostage/partner in crime - daenra, and anyone else who'd like to sample my 'goods.
Get into it. Stay tuned. And while you're at it, check out my "get inspired" links for some rad folks with rad skillz.
xo
ms.s.
No small task, but one that I am super stoked about, if it ends up happening. Those of you that know me know that I don't really need an excuse to break out the mixing bowl, but what better excuse is there than "research and development" for your best friend's wedding?
Well, in the name of science, I will be spending the next eight months testing recipes and design ideas for cupcakes, mini cakes, tiered cakes, and more. Some will be wedding related, while others will be to answer some age old questions like:
Can fondant be punk rock?
What is the best edible medium to recreate a devilock with?
Can a cake look badass and still taste good?
How many cupcakes can one person make in a 24 hour period?
Are there limits of the power of cupcakes? They can mend friendships and heal broken hearts, but can they fight terrorism? Capitalism?
I will try to get you the answers to these and more, while testing recipes and flavor combos on anyone in my path. Expect to hear some reviews from my wonderful roommate, my life hostage/partner in crime - daenra, and anyone else who'd like to sample my 'goods.
Get into it. Stay tuned. And while you're at it, check out my "get inspired" links for some rad folks with rad skillz.
xo
ms.s.
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