I just want to say out loud thanks to Kristin for all of your help this summer. SHe’s finishing up her fnial year at Brown University but spent the summer learning all about CakeLove and how we do what we do. Nice work and best of luck next year!

OMG! I’m like a broken record when I say “it’s been a long time since my last blog entry” and now is no exception. I’ve been a bit preoccupied so I appreciate the patience with anyone who even remembers that I keep a blog.

 Anyway, back to business and back to basics! The book is out and peeps have questions- so I’ll blog replies and comments from what I’ve heard. It’s time to celebrate- we won best Cupcake and Best Birthday Cake from the Washingtonian Readers Poll. New stores are opening! CakeLove is now at Tysons Corner Center (Tysons 1). And, CakeLove at National Harbor will open in just over a month! That’s a lot of exciting stuff in the midst of a tough, tough year for the economy. I wanna say thank you! Thank you for choosing CakeLove, thanks for spreading the word about what we do and what you like.

 Now it’s onto a few specific entries…that by now you’ve figured out I posted in reverse order. Doh! So now you know, I write in chunks and then post! Shhh–don’t tell anoyone else!

The CakeLove team is extremely excited for the opening of our newest store at National Harbor! The build out has been very quick and we are anticipating being open by the end the end of next week! Every week the crowd multiplies, more stores open, and I see endless opportunities for success at the National Harbor location. The ease of access from DC and Old Town, quantity of stores and size of National Harbor are going to make the development a staple destination for locals and tourists alike. It’s also really nicely built. Check out the mosaic map of the Chesapeake Bay above the visitor’s center–totally cool! I’ve mentioned the opening of National Harbor at several of my book signings, and the excitement it brings out in people really makes me hopeful for the success and popularity of this location.

My first cookbook is out and the publisher is already printing more! The book tour is/was a blast, and I’ve loved the opportunity to explain where I’m coming from in writing the book, give out helpful hints and answer the endless questions novice through experienced bakers have. I’ve toured throughout Virginia and Maryland as well as the DC area and its really heartwarming to see how many people appreciate the book and are trying out the recipes, whether its their first attempt at baking or they are veterans of the caramel cake. Sift your flour and buy a scale!

Some cupcakes won’t melt in the sun. Sounds crazy, doesn’t it?  For one of our meetings the other day, one of our GM’s brought some sample cupcakes from a rival bakery for us to try. In an unintentional experiment, they were left in the car for MANY hot hours and upon our return, were still glossy and impeccable. Something was wrong! If you’re cupcakes don’t melt in the sun, then something bordering on unhealthy is probably in them–whether its preservatives, trans fats, oils, or more likely a combination of all three. Thankfully, if you left CakeLove cupcakes in the car, you would arrive upon an ooey gooey mess—which is definitely a good sign and a testament to the natural ingredients and quality of our baked goods! 

Exciting news to share! CakeLove has partnered with ocean conservation group Oceana for their annual cookie cutter fundraising sale launching just in time for the holidays. This is a great opportunity to spread some CakeLove to your friends and family who may not live near one of our three locations (including the just opened Shirlington venue), while showing some love for the environment at the same time. What could be better?

When you purchase your cookie cutter set at Oceana’s website, you’ll also receive a very special recipe* created by me specifically for this effort. It’s just another way we here at CakeLove are looking to increase efforts to help the environment – after all oceans cover roughly 70 percent of the globe’s surface, right?

Oceana is a great group, and I would know first-hand since their headquarters aren’t all that far from our U Street Corridor location here in Washington, DC. International in scope, the group is the world’s largest non-profit that advocates for ocean conservation.

Be sure to stop by their website to receive your exclusive CakeLove sugar cookie recipe when you purchase one of Oceana’s cookie cutter sets on behalf of the oceans: www.oceana.org/adopt

*contains 3 eggs

A beloved friend to the Washington, Dc 14th St mid-city community passed away recently. Noi Chudnoff was the epitome of Go Mama Go! her funky store that offered a wide variety of house wares, art, trinkets, and collectibles all under one roof. She was spunky, energetic, embracing, sassy, and, best of all, friendly. Her store is one of the brightest stars along 14th St and as such draws a regular stream of people who are either browsing or buying. And Noi welcomed them all. Her passing is a great loss for everyone.

I met Noi years ago before CakeLove started. At the time I was baking cakes at Laval’s Food to Go (currently the kitchen of St. Ex). We met when she was scoping properties looking for a storefront to lease for Go Mama Go! It was 2001 and she had vision- way more than me. She could see the future and how the neighborhood would shape and was bound to transform. She took what I thought was a huge gamble on a big space that needed a lot of work. She couldn’t have picked a better location and the simplicity of her store should be a lesson for all entrepreneurs.

I enjoyed watching Noi stroll in the neighborhood or march in the gay pride parade. She was everywhere because she was passionate about living and working and being a strong business woman. I admired her drive and found a lot of inspiration in it.

Noi will be missed and my heart goes out to her family.

eh, I’d do that but my hip hurts too much to get up so I thought I’d keep going. A few months ago I went for a run that was a little too long and then went aggro at teh gym trying to shrink my tummy and I got a great big hurting side that hasn’t really stopped sicne then. anyway, too personal, ahces and pains bite.

what’s the Scratch bar? what is it? Is it a cake? is it a snack? what is the scratch bar?

Well…Scratch bars are one of my favorite snacks at CakeLove. They’re guilt free. They’re small and easy to carry. They’re wrapped and clean. They’re not sticky. They’re cute. They have wild flavors and weird spices going on. They’re different for CakeLove. They’re good.

Scratch bars are almonds, dried bananas, vege protein, soy milk, agave syrup, and a lot more other things ground up, smushed together, baked in one flat sheet, and cut to size. There are chia seeds in them, too. Chia seeds, as in Cha-Cha-Cha-Chia pet. For me, the chia seeds and everything else in a Scratch bar give me a great balance of carbs-proteins-fats for slow, sustained energy release. I eat them and don’t find myself craving anything. It’s like I dropped my hunger, or that it dropped me. Either way, I can focus and do whatever…

Another major project I’ve been working on which has been in the wind-up stage in the past several weeks in the editing process for my first cookbook - CakeLove, how to bake cakes from scratch. it has some of the recipe we bake at CakeLove plus a lot of recipes that we don’t bake at the bakery b/c there too complicated (read - deliciously complicated to bake). The plan is that the publishing date is March/April ‘08. My editor at Stewart, Tabori & Chang and I are steadily plugging away to make sure each recipe is clear, concise and offers a functional series of recipes. I love baking (all food really) and I want the methods I bring to the bakery to be as clear as possible in the book. Warning - some of the recipes are a little heavy in the number of steps, but they’re short steps so moving through them should take no time. I’ll for sure post more about its release as the date draws near so don’t worry - I’m going to publicize this! Thank you!