Fall Give Away

Once again, it has been way too long since I have written a new blog. Once again, I apologize and hope to do better in the future, but that may not happen since our busiest time of the year is right around the corner.....Thanksgiving & Christmas.

Soooo, I though it would be fun to do a Fall Give Away for my blog/Facebook/Twitter followers.

Below you can see 3 of the items that will be included with the prize package; A book about Cupcakes, Fall Cupcake liners & picks, Fall Sprinkles and not shown is a dozen of our Fall colored Cake Pops. A total value of $45 and all you have to do is post your favorite cupcake combination on this blog. My staff and I will pick the winning cupcake combination and will announce the winner next Sunday, so you have 1 week to post your favorite and/or best idea for a cupcake combination.






















I can't wait to see how creative our followers are! Good luck everyone!

A Spooky Sneak Peek

Boo!

I'm probably jumping the gun a bit, because it's not even Labor Day yet, but I couldn't pass up a chance to give you a sneak peek at our new Halloween collection.










We previously had the Mummy, Monster, Black Cat and Jack-O=Lantern, but have now added the Ghost and a Candy Corn.


Our new Halloween pack will be available online in October.

Half Price Sale

Because my guilt has gotten the best of me. Well, guilt is not the right word, more like neglect. Ok, not really neglect.....anyway......

On Monday, August 8th, 2011 The Cake Pop Company will be having a......you guessed it! A half price sale!

Now what does guilt and neglect have to do with a sale? When we opened our storefront back in February, the focus of our company shifted, without me really intending it to. Our focus was on the storefront and becoming a retail presence in good ol' Springfield MO. While we still appreciate our loyal "out of town" followers, the specials that we have ran lately have all been geared to driving people into our store. Which is why I feel a little guilty and neglectful. Well then, how do we right this horrible wrong, you ask? We have a half price sale for our "out of town" customers. We would have done this sooner, but with the current heat wave we can't ship Ground, which is what the majority of our customers would like. Check out the details and rules below to see how we're going to work around this problem.

If you have questions, feel free to post them here, on Facebook or send us an email. (you can find the email address at www.cakepopco.com)


The Rules:
1) Sale will be for 1 day only, Monday, August 8th, 2011.
2) Limit of 2 dozen Classic Cake Pops can be ordered. No exceptions, no specialty, no characters.
3) You have until November 30th,2011 to use your dozens.
4) You need to let us know at least 1 week BEFORE you want your order shipped.
5) You MUST pay for shipping a week prior to your order shipping. Contact us via email or phone to get a shipping quote.
6) If you live in the Springfield area, you can participate, however these same rules apply.
7) Only 1 order per household.
8) ALL orders must be made online at www.cakepopco.com





The Details:
1)NO shipping will be calculated on Monday. It will only allow for "Local Springfield Pick Up" (The reason is that shipping is so high right now due to the heat, so we will calculate the shipping when you decide you want your order shipped and you will pay for the shipping at that point.) You will need to contact us at least 1 week before you want your order shipped and we will give you a shipping quote at that time. Payment of shipping will have to be made before the Cake Pop order will be released.

2) The last date to have your order shipped will be Tuesday, November 29th, 2011, unless you live in the state of Missouri. If that is the case, we can ship Wednesday, November 30th 2011.

3) This is only good for the Classic Cake Pops or the Gluten Free (Vegan) Cake Pops. No exceptions will be made to substitute any other styles.

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Tell your friends, because this kind of sale won't happen again for a very long time. Again, if you have any questions, please let us know, by posting it on this blog, on Facebook or by sending us an email.

Thank you for being our loyal follower, customer and friend.
Deb

Favorite Summertime Recipe

Today I am stepping away from my usual Cake Pop related blog to share one of my favorite Summertime recipes with you. My Mom used to make this and I'm so very thankful that I learned how she made this (and some other yummy recipes, like Homemade Chicken & Dumplings) before she passed away. It's pretty simple, but the result tastes like being at home in the summertime. Enjoy!

Fried Summer Squash
Ingredients:
2 Yellow (Summer) Squash
2 Eggs - beaten
1 pks saltine crackers - crushed into tiny pieces
vegetable oil
frying pan

Find a nice size Yellow Summer Squash. I typically have to go to our Farmer's Market to find a decent sized squash. You can make this same recipe with zucchini, but there's just something about the Yellow Summer Squash that tastes so amazing.



Next, you will need to cut the squash into small slices. Be careful not to cut them to chunky or to slim. You can still use them, but it might take the chunky slices longer to cook and the slim slices might cook a little too fast.







Pour the vegetable oil into the skillet and put over a medium heat. Hot oil can be very dangerous, so please take caution not to get it too hot. Have a lid or fire extinguisher near by, just in case.


Crack eggs into a bowl and whisk. You can add a dash of milk if you like, but it's not neccessary.

Dunk the slices of squash into the egg batter. I use my fingers, but if you don't want to get too messy, you can use a fork.

















Next, dunk the egg covered slices of squash into the bowl of crushed up saltine crackers. Cover both sides of the squash, making sure it has a nice coating on it.













Carefully place the covered slices of squash into the frying pan. Turn the squash when it becomes slightly golden.














Remove squash slices when both sides are a nice golden brown color. Drain excess oil off on a paper towel covered plate or you can use a microwave bacon pan, like in the photo, but you will want something under the slices.

Lightly salt, if you want to and Enjoy!

Love is in the air

A few months ago, we were contacted by TomKat Studio (http://www.thetomkatstudio.com/) to make Cake Pops for an upcoming photo shoot. We jumped at the chance to be involved with such a reputable company, plus Kim is such a sweetheart, I can't imagine saying no to her.

As you can tell by the photo the colors were gray and yellow, which seems to be a big trend this wedding season. We also made a variety of dessert items for a local wedding using this same color scheme.

We often get questions about how to display our Cake Pops. We typically stand our Cake Pops up so that the swirls can been seen from the top, but for this photo shoot, they displayed them upside down in the mini cupcake papers. The ideas for displaying the treats, depend on what you are using them for; centerpieces, as an addition to a dessert table or just to hand out as favors. You are only confined by your own creativity, as there are hundreds of ways to display them.

It was fun to see the final product and to be apart of a TomKat Studio project. The talented photographer for this photo shoot was Laura Winslow. (http://www.laurawinslowphotography.com)

We've decided to do a contest. What kind of contest? One where our customers/fans/followers can help us with their creativity. We want to produce a Cake Pop Co t-shirt with a clever saying on it. So we're asking for YOUR help! Leave a post on this blog with your best saying or image idea about our delicious and addicting Cake Pops. (Example: a drawing of a Cake Pop with a bite out of it, with the words.....Bite Me!)

My staff and I will choose the top 5 sayings and those folks will win a FREE dozen Cake Pops. The final winner will win a FREE t-shirt and a dozen Cake Pops! Are you up for the challenge?

We will offer the winning t-shirt for sale both online and in our shop. The contest will last for 1 week, so check back often to see everyone's ideas. This is going to be FUN!!

Good luck!

Month 1

Well, it's been a little over a month since we opened our storefront. We have had an overwhelming amount of support from our community as our customer base grows. So many people had never heard of a Cake Pop and it has been so much fun explaining and then watching as they take their first bite. Their facial expressions are priceless.

We started out selling regular size cupcakes but quickly realized that the mini cupcakes were flying off the cake stands, while their larger counterparts were sitting around getting stale. I made the decision at that point, to go in a kind of new direction....specializing in Mini desserts! It's been a blast coming up with new mini cupcake flavors and other Mini desserts, like whoopie pies, fruit pies, brownies and other cute and tasty treats.







We are also excited to announce that the city has approved us to have seating, so that our customers have a place to sit, relax, enjoy a hot cup of coffee and their treat. I couldn't be more thrilled at how cute the brown table and chairs look in our shop. At this time, we only have seating for 6 people, but we have room to expand. We've even had several people ask about reserving our shop for baby showers, wedding showers and even a political fundraiser. Nothing is booked at this moment, but it's exciting to consider all the fun events that could take place in our new "home".


I do hope that if you are ever in the Springfield, MO area, that you will stop by, say Hello and have a Cake Pop or another mini dessert. Until next time.........

Growing Pains

When I was little, I used to get leg aches. My mother would say that it was "Growning pains." There was even a TV sitcom called "Growing Pains." What a strange way to start of my blog this time, right? Well, I should have known that when we decided to take a leap of faith back in mid-November to have our own bakery facility and storefront, that it would come with it's own set of Growing Pains. There's that word again, it sounds painful doesn't it? Well, when trying to open a food service business, it can be a bit painful, but in the end, instead of an inch taller, you are rewarded with a beautiful business and if you're lucky, room to grow a bit bigger. I will say that once, we found the "right" person to deal with, things got done and got done in a timely manner.

So, in case you don't follow us on Facebook or Twitter, I'm talking about our brand new store!

We signed a lease the end of November and after a two month process of getting everything permitted, built, inspected and approved, we are ready to move! Our new store location will not only allow us to be more streamlined for our shipping customers, but will give the residents of the Springfield MO area a new bakery to visit and of course, buy our famous Cake Pops! We are expanding our line of local customers to include cupcakes, mini cupcakes, cookies, muffins, brownies and even a few individual pies. We're very excited, if you can't tell. (big smile)

Our new address is 1805 E Seminole, Springfield MO 65804. Our new phone number is 417.886.CPOP (2767). How cute is that phone number? I love it!
Our store hours will be 9am - 6pm Mon - Sat.

I actually meant to write more as the process unfolded, but with the Christmas holiday, time for writing a blog was not found and I thought January would prove to have more time, but between orders, being sick with the flu and store stuff, the month flew buy. I am hoping that having 1 facility that houses our commercial kitchen and my office, will afford me time to work on the blog more often, as well as being more organized. It was hard to have my office at home and everything else at the shop.

We are planning our Grand Opening on February 7th from 9am - 6pm. The ribbon cutting will be at 11am, which is done by the Springfield Chamber of Commerce. If you are in the area or within driving distance, I do hope that you will try to make it on the 7th. We will have merchandise give aways, free samples of our newest flavors of Cake Pops as well as other bakery items. We will also be introducing our newest Cake Pop, The Vanessa. Named after one of our celebrity customers.

Here is one last teaser photo of the new shop.
Enjoy!
Deb