CakeSpy Recipes Featured in Food & Wine Magazine!

So, here's what you're going to do today (or tomorrow, or at least before you get in the kitchen to bake Christmas cookies).

1. Exit your house.

2. Proceed to the closest bookstore or grocery store or newsstand.

3. Obtain a copy of the December issue of Food & Wine Magazine.

4. Turn to page 84, where you will discover a photo of adorable Baby Buche de Noel cookies. Man, do you ever want to make those!

5. Flip the page to find the recipe for aforementioned cookies, as well as Eggnog-stuffed cookies...and delight in the fact that they were both contributed by ME! CAKESPY!

It's true: I was hit up to contribute some recipes for the most recent issue, and am so delighted to be featured alongide with baking heroes Danny Cohen of Danny Macaroons and Malika Ameen of By M Desserts . It's quite a thrill!

To read the article online, visit Food and Wine!

Sweet Feature by Bakerella: About This Time Last Year...

Photo of my book by BakerellaAbout this time last year, I had one of the sweetest days of my life while working at CakeSpy Shop, my retail store in Seattle.

First, a friend surprised me by sending me a pie. Now, if you ask me, this is a much sweeter gesture than sending flowers. It's like sending flour!

Then, my friend Rebekah Denn came to interview me for what would eventually be this article.

And then--OMG--my longtime baking and blogging BFF, Bakerella, and her sweet friend Julie, came to visit. Bakerella, who is kind of a big deal in case you didn't know, happened to be in town for her book tour (a book which has proven so successful, by the way, that there are now notecards and cake pop kits to accompany it!).

Bakerella is the one who made this little video for me--and after that we waged a little bit of sweet warfare. (Check out our other sweet exchanges here.)

And now, she has stirred up that sweet warfare again with this make-me-blush feature on me and my work and my book. It makes me so happy to see how much can happen in a year, but how no matter what changes, our friendship--the sweetest part of the whole thing-- is for keeps. 

Check out Bakerella's sweet writeup here!

Seeking Sweetness: CakeSpy Then and Now

Me, 1994I don't want to show off (yes I do), but I was kind of a child celebrity. As you can see from the article pictured above, my artwork and writing have captured the attention of the media since at least 1994.

Oddly enough (or perhaps not so odd at all), it seems that whenever I am fortunate enough to receive press coverage (online or in print!), it's still for the same reasons as that article from nearly 20 years ago: artwork and writing--and now, baked goods, too.

And you can totally tell my my laser-focus sitting at that typewriter that I was bound to be a published author--and as of October 2011 I am, with my newly-published book, CakeSpy Presents Sweet Treats for a Sugar-Filled Life. Here's a convenient link to buy it at Powell's Books.

And to bring things full circle, why not check out this recent feature on me and my work on the awesome site Warning Sugary Goodness, which includes a sweet roundup of my illustrious career, and a fun video interview with Karen Tripp, former owner of Frosting Bake Shoppe.

As previously mentioned, you'll see that not much has changed about what I do, but the quality of my artwork has improved in the past 17 years, I think.

Have a totally sweet weekend!

Sweet News: CakeSpy Featured in the Saveur Gift Guide!

Every foodie knows Saveur, one of the best food sites and magazines out there! (Oh, and by the way, if you haven't picked up the december issue, please do: they have a great holiday dessert article!).

And so considering how rad Saveur is, how sweet is this: CakeSpy artwork is featured in the Saveur Gift Guide! Here's the blurb:

In addition to her baking and blogging capabilities, the founder of Cakespy, Jessie Oleson, is also a talented illustrator, and has created an entire line of original artwork featuring characters such as Cuppie, Toastie, Pie Slice, and Doughnut. These framed and whimsical watercolors add a bit of sweet kitsch to any kitchen. $25-$45 each.

Of course, CakeSpy is in good company: also featured are Bake It Pretty, Spice House, Compartes Chocolatier, Truly Toffee, and so many more!

For the full list, click here.

Cake Byte: CakeSpy Grilled Cheesecake in This Is Why You're Fat!

It's official, world: CakeSpy is making you fat.

Yup, it's true! CakeSpy contributed a sweet spread to the brand new book This Is Why You're Fat: Where Dreams Become Heart Attacks: the Grilled Cheesecake Sandwich! You may remember the so-decadent-it's-deadly recipe from a while back on the site--and now it's immortalized in print!

There are plenty of other so bad but so good recipe ideas in the book--it's definitely worth checking out!

You can also follow This Is Why You're Fat via their website and via Twitter!

Tweet All About It: CakeSpy Featured in Seattle Magazine!

Sweet treats and sweet tweets collide in this month's issue of Seattle Magazine, where CakeSpy gets a mention in Rebekah Denn's article about Seattle's food scene and Twitter!

Rebekah, who also writes the incredibly informative (and witty) site Eat All About It, has put together a very interesting article which ponders the phenomenon that is twitter, and how it is being used by foodies in Seattle (and beyond, really). 

And so what is twitter? A place to talk about the newest restaurant dishes? A place to dish about restaurants? Or is the appeal that "Unlike other forms of social media—or, ahem, real life—Twitter offers a six-degrees-of-separation equality between amateurs, professionals and celebrities"?

While the dust may have yet to settle, one thing is pretty clear: it's prompted many readers to tweet all about it! There's even a handy list of some of the coolest Seattle foodies to follow--CakeSpy is on the list (!) along with a seriously talented and entertaining crew including Shauna Ahern, Brian Canlis, Dana Cree, Maggie Dutton, Whitney Ricketts (who just became acquisitions editor at Sasquatch Books!), Traca Savadogo, Seattle Bon Vivant, Becky Selengut, Surly Gourmand, Lorna Yee, and of course, the grande dame of foodery everywhere, Ruth Reichl.

Check out the article here; or, to go right to the list of Seattle foodies that you should mos' def be following, click here! Of course, you should most definitely be following Rebekah via twitter and her site too.

Cake Byte: Cakespy Featured on the Official Whole Foods Blog!

How sweet is this: our recent Tele-Graham Crackers Post was featured on the official Whole Foods blog! Since we love spending all of our money in their excellent bakery section, this was a very exciting spot to be featured!

We've long been fans of the nice assemblage of pastries in Whole Foods bakeries--not only do they have a great selection of pastries from local bakeries, imported selections from wholesale bakeries in different parts of the country (like Carol's Cookies), but they also generally have a very respectable variety of baked goods made on-site; our current favorite item at our local Westlake location in Seattle is their Vegan Thumbprint cookie, which is like a more delicious version of a granola bar, yummy to vegans and non-vegans alike, and in our opinion, an ideal breakfast cookie.

But we digress--because now that we're thinking of cookies, we'd best get started on some for Christmas! Stay tuned...

You Like Us, You Really Like Us!: Thank you from Cakespy

Well, Thanksgiving is over, but it appears it's high time for the Cakespy crew to give thanks.

We've gotten some very nice mentions lately, and it's time to give props to all the cool people who seem to love dessert as much as we do (listed alphabetically):

All Things Cupcake: We'll readily admit, they're even more cupcake-crazy than us. Naturally though, they loved the Cakespy artwork! See the sweet mention here.

Cachibachis: Impressed by the etsy store, this artist and illustrator couldn't resist mentioning us. Here's what she said!

Chow Bella by Michelle Laudig in the Phoenix New Times: They think we're super cute, and we think they are too! See what they loved about Cakespy here.

Cupcakes Take The Cake: Once again: in a cupcake face off, we might have to wave the white flag with these saucy girls in NYC. They gave Head Spy Jessie's artwork a lovely mention here.

Editorial *ss: This clever little writer has given us mentions a few times, and whoever hasn't visited her website really should; it's hilarious. Check out her recent mention here.

Everybody Likes Sandwiches: A wonderful blog featuring hearty fare, recipes and an intense artistic flair featured both Cakespy artwork and our newest obsession, Lobstersquad. Read the writeup here!

Fred: What a compliment; the coolest product design company, like, ever, loves Cakespy and what we do; see what they said here.

The Grinder (on Chow): A writer named Tea Austen Weaver on Chow came across our doughnut guide; all we can say is doughnut stop believin', Tea. Here's the writeup.

Have Cake Will Travel: Celine is probably one of the greatest people we've ever met. Need a recipe for white-bean spread for your sandwich? She's got your back. And she loves the Cakespy to boot: see what she said about us here.

Kristin Johnson at the Seattle PI: Her job is finding the coolest stuff on the web; naturally, she found Cakespy. Here's the writeup!

Leslie Kelly at the Seattle PI: What can we say, we give good tips on hot chocolate, and she was listening with ears wide open. See her mention above, or here.

Not Martha: Megan at Not Martha came across our doughnut guide to Seattle, and liked what she saw. Just Donut! See her mention here.

Serious Eats: Robyn Lee, like us, ponders the question of what happens when cupcakes face off with muffins: who wins? Here's her sweet writeup. Don't forget to visit her awesome blog, entitled The Girl Who Ate Everything (brownie points to those who get the reference).

The Color of Blushing Apples: A great blog about design and interiors, and they just so happen to like Head Spy Jessie's artwork; see what they said here.

Theo Chocolates: Some of the best chocolate we've ever tasted, not just in Seattle! They love Cakespy too!

So, before they cue the music on us: thank you everyone, for appreciating us and keeping our lives so sweet.