Bakerella!

This was a big week for me...in more ways than one! In the kitchen I kept myself busy with my Cupcake of the Month Club Baking. I went into cupcake overdrive every night when I got home from work so I could get these cranked out before the end of the week because I had something big planned.

Something huge (H-U-G-E)!

I was going to meet the person that without even knowing it (or knowing me for that matter) gave me the final kick-in-the-pants motivation I needed to start my own baking venture and create this blog....BAKERELLA!

I happened upon Bakerella's baking blog earlier this summer and was instantly smitten. I was in awe with the creativity this one person possessed in the kitchen....but the most surprising thing reading her posts did for me was leave me thinking, "I could do that!" So I started out by trying my hand at a batch of Cake Pops...and, well....things just started snowballing from there.

I've always loved to make fun treats in the kitchen and especially anything baking related....or anything that contains chocolate as a main ingredient. But with two small children to tend to, and with working a full-time job, I hadn't been making time for myself to play in the kitchen in a long, long time.

So when I discovered that Chicago was a scheduled stop on Bakerella's Cake Pops book tour I instantly started making plans to visit! My friend Laura and I decided to make an overnight trip of it and my sister Kristi wanted to join in the fun too, so the three of us set out from Iowa on Thursday night.

I've never been to Chicago before (shocking I know)...I didn't really have anything on my agenda besides A)Meeting Bakerella and conveying my complete and total adoration (you know...without scaring her or anything) and B) Going to Sprinkles Cupcakes and stuffing my face.

So MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

Bakerella was amazingly sweet, just like you would expect her to be if you've followed her blog. She took time to answer every question asked of her and to sign books and take pictures with the crowd.

Of course when I met her I had treats...just a little token of my appreciation for her inspiration....and I mentioned how I was also the winner of the Cupcake Skewer Contest hosted by Pizzazzerie last month...and since she was the guest judge of that contest it connected a few dots ;)

If I look like I'm about to cry/pee my pants it's because I almost did (on both counts). I was beyond excited...like BEYOND.

Now as for Sprinkles. I'll be as brief as possible, really I don't need to say much to get my point across here: Chocolate Marshmallow and Caramel Apple Cupcakes. Amazing.

Gone in about 4 bites (since I shared with my sister she let me get in on her Lemon Coconut Cupcake...again Amazing...that's with a capital "A"). I mean, what else did you expect!?!?

Poor little guy, he didn't stand a chance.

We weren't even in town for 24 hours and were already heading back home, not enough time to check out the city....but it's on my list for the next time I'm in town.

~Audrey

Ogre Eyes!

I haven't had nearly as much time as I'd like to experiment with new Halloween treat ideas. I have been trying to fit in some "just-for-the-fun-of-it" treat making when I can.

I've been on a bit of a green-monster/ogre kick lately. If you haven't seen my post on how to make super fun & freaky Ogre Toes out of Circus Peanuts be sure to check it out! I've also made a couple different Frankenstein inspired treats....check out my Frankenmallow Pops and my Frankenface Grahams!

Okay, so enough with the older stuff and here's what's new: Ogre Eyes!

These are standard cake balls decorated to look like "Ogre" Eyes!

The other project keeping me busy in the kitchen this weekend was baking for the Cupcake of the Month Club. This month's cupcake flavor is Black Magic Cupcakes! This is the flavor of the cupcakes I made for the Pizzazzerie Cupcake Skewer Contest and I'm so excited to share it with my CCMC members!

So I guess that's about it for now! Oh and...if you haven't visited my new shop on Etsy please do...http://www.sweetcheeksaudrey.etsy.com/! I need more people to "heart" me and add me to their favorites so I feel more legit! Now that I've figured out how to post an item for sale I just need someone to make a purchase!

BIG NEWS! Sweet Cheeks Treats on Etsy!

So it's been a busy (BUSY!) week...lots of orders and lots of work behind the scenes to get my Etsy shop up and running.

What does this mean for you? Well my local customers can continue to contact me via email or phone to place orders...but those of you far and wide who have been inquiring about purchasing...now you can order Sweet Cheeks Tasty Treats items to be shipped via my new shop!

Right now I only have one item listed, but it's a big first step and more will follow! I decided for my first official Etsy listing I would offer one of my seasonal favorites....my Witchy-Grinchy Fingers!

Please visit Etsy and "heart" my shop!

http://www.sweetcheeksaudrey.etsy.com/

Halloween Boxes!

Introducing

Halloween Boxes by

Halloween Boxes containing a variety of my favorite seasonal treats are available to preorder

NOW through October 22^nd.

I suggest placing your order early to ensure availability!

Boxes will be ready for pick-up on October 28^th-29^th.

BOO BOX $5

Perfect for the special Trick-or-Treaters on your list!

Contents*: 3 ogre toes, small bag of Ghoul Grub, 2 Halloween Pops

HALLOWEEN SAMPLER             $25

The Sampler pack is perfect as a take-along to parties and it makes a great Hostess Gift!

Contents*:  5 Witch Fingers, 5 Ogre Toes, 4 Popcorn Balls, and 6 Halloween Pops

HALLOWEEN PARTY PACK       $45

The Party Pack will make your Halloween get-together totally spooktacular!

Contents*:  1 doz Witch Fingers, 1 doz Ogre Toes, 4 Popcorn Balls, 1 doz Halloween Pops, 6 Mummy Pretzels

To Order: contact Audrey at sweetcheeks@southslope.net or by calling 319.241.8647

*specific contents may vary and can be changed without notice

Local customers only please. I am unable to ship at this time.

BIG NEWS!

Okay...I know I just put a new post up....but this couldn't wait!

The winner of the Cupcake Skewer Contest hosted by Pizzazzerie was just announced...and guess what?!!?

It was me...ME! This was such a fun contest to work on and really helped kick-start some creativity.

Can't wait to get the prize pack...included is an autographed copy of Bakerella's Cake Pops book!

Thank you to everyone at Pizzazzerie and of course to guest judge Bakerella herself.

Now I have to get back to pinching myself repeatedly ;)

~Audrey

Is it Halloween yet?

Don't get me wrong. I'm not in any big rush for Halloween to get here....I have way too much to do before then! I have a lot of Halloween-themed treat ideas floating around in my head...and treats that I've seen on other people's sites that I really want to try...but there's only so much time in a day. Luckily this weekend I was able to carve out some time for a few of these side projects.

I posted my first official treat making tutorial for the Ogre Toes I created this week. You can access the original post here: Ogre Toes!

As you can tell, I was kind of on a green-monster-theme this week because my next two treats feature Frankenstein himself!

The first are some Frankenface Marshmallow Pops...the shape of marshmallows is absolutely perfect for this project. They become about 10-times more adorable just by putting them on a stick...I don't know why but it's true...anything on a stick is automatically better!

This last treat was inspired by a recent post on the Living Locurto blog with an adorable Owl Smores tutorial. So these are my Frankenface Smores...can't you just eat him up? Well I actually did.

The rest of my week was spent baking all the cupcakes for my Cupcake of the Month Club Members. The flavor this month was Spiced Apple Cupcakes topped with Caramel Buttercream Frosting. They were good....and by good, I mean....GOOD! I just love Fall flavors and nothing says Fall more than a Caramel Apple ;)

That's all for now...till next week!
~Audrey

featured on

My Witchy-Grinchy Finger Cookies were featured in a Halloween Treat Idea article on Pizzazzerie!

Check out the Pizzazzerie site for tons of entertaining inspiration.

Some of this stuff is almost too cute to handle!