Movin' & A-Shakin'

When I started Sweet Cheeks Tasty Treats last year, I had no way of knowing what to expect. I truly didn't know if I'd even have enough orders to keep me busy. Either way, I thought it would at least give me an excuse to get in the kitchen more often, to try recipes and techniques I'd been wanting to for a long time! This venture has become SO much more than that!

The absolute BIGGEST (and BEST) surprise for me has been meeting SO many amazing people! Through my blog, my FB page, through referrals, emails...you name it...the support and following I have never ceases to AMAZE me! I appreciate EACH ONE OF YOU!

I know that not everyone wants to order cupcakes 1 dozen at a time ;) I have a couple of things in-the-works that I'm hoping will give those of you who have followed my baking online a chance to sample some of my deliciousness!

So here's what I've got cookin!

Downtown Cedar Rapids Farmers' Market: 9/3

I'll have a Sweet Cheeks Tasty Treats booth set-up at the Cedar Rapids Downtown District's Farmers' Market THIS Saturday, September 3rd! My booth (#68) is very close to the corner of 3rd Street and 3rd Avenue.

I plan on offering individual Cupcakes and Cake Pops...flavors to-be-decided! But I will reveal one flavor: FRENCH TOAST CUPCAKES! The newest flavor in my cupcake line-up will be making a GRAND DEBUT at the Farmer's Market this weekend! I developed this recipe with the Market in-mind. I wanted something fun and breakfasty since the early birds arrive to shop at 7:30am! Personally, it's one of my new FAVORITE flavors...but you'll have to try one for yourself and be the judge ;)

I'll also have a SPECIAL OFFER available to any patrons at the Farmers' Market: BUY 5 CUPCAKES, GET 1 FREE!

French Toast Cupcakes!
A Cinnamony-Sugary Cake baked with Pure Maple Syrup,
topped with a Cinnamon Maple Buttercream Frosting.

Brickside Cafe: Sweet Cheeks Tasty Treats' CUPCAKES ARRIVING 9/6!

I recently had my home kitchen inspected as part of the application process for a Home Food License. My application WAS APPROVED! Which means...I can now sell my goodies to other businesses!

I will start delivering YUMMY Sweet Cheeks Cupcakes to Brickside Cafe in Hiawatha on Tuesday, September 6th!

Brickside Cafe is located at 1705 Boyson Road in Hiawatha, IA.

I am SO unbelievably excited about this venture! As of right now, I'll be bringing in an assortment of flavors in every other day!

So stop in, have some of their BEYOND AMAZING brick oven pizza...and then for dessert...well you know :)

That's ALL for now!
I look forward to MEETING those of you that stop by at the Farmers' Market this weekend!
~Audrey

Saturday Night Sugar High #5

Halloween is right around the corner...HONESTLY! I feel like I'm already behind...I don't have the kids' costumes picked out, I haven't done any detail work on our Merry NOT Scary Costume Party, THE CLOCK IS TICKING!

I was looking back through some of my treats from LAST Halloween for inspiration...always a good place to start right?

So here's a little ROUND-UP of some Halloween goodies courtesy of yours truly ;)

Witch Hat Cupcake Skewers! I entered and WON the Cupcake Skewer Contest hosted by Pizzazzerie last Fall!



Caramel Apple Cupcake Skewers! This was my 2nd entry in the Cupcake Skewer Contest...let me tell you, these things are SO tasty!!!



Ogre Toes! These are made using Circus Peanuts ;)
Here's a TUTORIAL if you're so inclined!

Witch Finger Cookies! I've been making these for YEARS and they're always a BIG hit!
We like to serve them with some whipped topping sprinkled with cinnamon for dipping ;)

Frankenstein Pops! Dipped & decorated Marshmallows, super cute and FUN!

Frankenstien S'mores!

Ogre Eyes! Decorated Cake Balls ;)



Black Magic Cupcakes! These were a FAVORITE of the Cupcake of the Month Club Members last year.
Devil's Food Cupcake topped with Blackberry Buttercream Frosting...YUMMY!




Monster Cake Pops! From our Merry Not Scary Costume Party.
Photo by KV Photography.

 

Pumpkin Roll! This is a picture of my 1st attempt making any kind of cake roll!
I was immediately hooked and made several different flavor combinations last Fall...
but Pumpkin was always my FAVE!

 Enjoy!
~Audrey

Saturday Night Sugar High #4

This week I was ON-THE-HUNT for new ways to use up the brown and spotty bananas we always end-up with toward the end of the week!

I have a few GO-TO banana-based recipes that I use on a regular basis. Number 1 on the list is Grandma Deanna's Banana Bread....simple & sweet!  I LOVE letting the kids' help me with this one because it's one of the FIRST recipes I remember baking when I was a youngster ;)

Another Family-favorite around here is Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Pudding! It's AMAZING served hot, when the chocolate is all melty-schmelty right out of the oven...and it's just as delicious served cold the next day!

Recipe photo from Allrecipes.com http://allrecipes.com/recipe/chocolate-banana-bread-pudding/detail.aspx

Here are a few new ones I found that we'll be giving a go!

Peanut Butter Banana Smoothies
from This Chick Cooks...ummm...YES please!



Frozen Peanut Butter Banana Bites
from Tidy Mom...I know my kidlets will go NUTS over these...plus it's the perfect recipe that they can help with!


Banana Split Cupcakes
from Bakers Royale...these have been on my MUST-BAKE list for awhile now...it's only a matter of time people!



Banana Boats
from Lick My Spoon....we've made these for YEARS! They are SO flippin' good...perfect for camp-outs or even just as dessert on Grill Night!



Peanut Butter Banana Sushi
from Domestic Charm...another FUN one for the kiddos!



Enjoy!
~Audrey

Our Library: Raingutter Bookshelves!

Obviously this isn't a treat-related post...but it's still SUPER SWEET! I received SO many comments and inquiries in response to the picture I posted of our kiddos' library on my FB page, that I felt I really should dedicate a full post to the subject ;)

We finished our basement this past spring and resolved to make a big part of the open area a playroom. I've been dreaming of reclaiming my livingroom for about 3 years now...so I was BEYOND excited when the space was finally finished!

I wanted to have a fun way to organize the kids' toys and make it extra special for them too! One of the first things to accomplish was figuring out a fun way to display their books. I'm a bit of a book fiend and buy them ALL the time...we've also had library-growing parties (where all the guests bring a gift-book) for each of the kiddos' 1st Birthday Parties...so needless to say, we have books coming out the WAZOO here ;)



I really loved the idea of shelving that allows the covers of the books to be visible. The idea is, if the kids see the covers they're more likely to pick one (or 10) off the shelf and take a look. So that's how I happened upon the Raingutter Bookshelves in the first place! There is a GREAT (as-in super informative and easy to follow) tutorial over at Raising Olives! That's what we used for our library wall reference.

I did have to spend a little time convincing my hubby that raingutters mounted to our wall would look nice...and not "hillbilly" as he kept implying....and that he should just trust my vision...in the end even he came around...which was good since he had to do the actual "work" involved ;)

Once the shelves were installed we finished the look with a custom vinyl wall quote from It's Written on the Wall! It TOTALLY took our library into over-the-top-cute territory. BONUS: the quote we used has been added to their Etsy shop so, if you're so inclined, you can snag one yourself! 



Check out the post It's Written on the Wall devoted to Raingutter Bookshelves for more inspiration photos!

I'm IN-LOVE with this one from Home Stories A2Z! I already had plans to add some more of these shelves to the kids' bedrooms and now I know exactly how I want to proceed!

fun...if any of you attempt these and want to post your photos on my Sweet Cheeks Tasty Treats FB page please DO! I'd love to see what you all come up with ;)

Hello LADIES!

Well, well, well....let's see...where to start! I'm trying to get back on schedule with my posts...but it's going to be a work-in-progress round these parts for awhile ;)

I'm settling into life as an Official (with a capital O) Stay-at-home-MOM! Wahoo! I've been busy-busy getting into the NEW swing of things with the kiddos. I have to say, I think I'm working harder now than EVER before! These kids are really making me earn my keep - LOL! Every day offers something new and exciting, challenging, hilarious...we're really covering all the bases here.

Of course, I've been just as busy baking up a storm. I'm now working some of my baking orders in during naptime and it's been GREAT because I can always use MORE time in a day!

So, here are a few yummy treats I've worked on over the past few weeks....I realize I'm terribly behind on posting photos...and really...that's what you're all here for right?!?!

First up...say HELLO to these Little Ladies! I had a really FUN order for a Ladybug themed 1st Birthday Party...cute right? I hadn't made Ladybug Cake Pops before, but they were on my list ;)

I made these Jungle Animal Cake Pops last month for a Baby Shower. I LOVE the color scheme they were working with: grey, orange and green! So SUPER cute!

Finally...the Cupcake of the Month Club members were treated to Orange Dreamsicle Cupcakes in July! Let me just go on-record as saying these cupcakes are now in my TOP 5! I could seriously SWIM in this frosting....I was already thinking that with some slight adjustments these would be AMAZING as Mimosa Cupcakes too! So-SO good!

I want to thank all of YOU for your amazing support over the past year! Growing Sweet Cheeks Tasty Treats to a point that made it possible for me to be at home with my kiddos truly wouldn't have been possible without my AMAZING family, friends, customers, followers...every, single one of you!

That's all for now...I think we're caught up ;)

Happy Baking everyone!

~Audrey

P.S. I'm planning on getting back on-track with my Saturday Night Sugar Rush post next week...LOL! So stay tuned!

Back to School: Apple Pencil Cake Pops!

Many of you are getting ready to send the kiddos back-to-school in the next couple of weeks. Which also means you're probably searching for fun teacher gifts and treats to get your little ones in the mood for school!


So....I thought it would be the PERFECT time for me to re-post my Apple Pencil Cake Pop Tutorial! These are SO cute, and were SO well received when I made them last spring for my daughter's Vintage Schoolhouse 1st Birthday Party. Have fun!

If you want a great tutorial on how to make the Apple Cake Pops I'll defer to the Queen of Cake Pops herself, Bakerella!


She also has a tutorial for those of you that have never attempted Cake Pops and need the basics...I'm not reinventing the wheel here...and she's so thorough you definitely need to go to her site if you plan on poppin' in the future ;)

There are TONS of FREE Back-to-School Printables available in Blogland....many of them are perfect for dressing up your pops!

Pencil Pops!

Here's what you'll need for the Pencil Pops:
Prepared Cake Balls, formed into apple shapes
Red Candy Melts
Pencils
Plastic Pencil Pop Tips (I got mine from Sweet Baking Supply)

Happy Poppin!

Audrey