Last year, 2011 was the first year for the Aberfoyle Farmers’ Market. We were so happy to be vendors for this first year and will be returning in 2012. One of our local Aberfoyle newspapers published an article announcing the new five year agreement between the Optimist Arena and the Farmers’ Market. What a great step forward to the long term establishment of the local market in our town. Our own Mayor, Dennis Lever is quoted towards the end of the article saying that he loves the market, and has trouble making it passed our booth!

Click here to read the full article.

Click here for more information on the Aberfoyle Farmers’ Market.

Stop by anytime Mayor Lever! We’ll see you soon, May 26 for Opening Day!

I had the pleasure of attending an intimate cooking workshop, at the St. Lawerence Farmers’ Market in Toronto this week. David Adjey with his team hosted 45 students, myself included and two girlfriends. We spent nearly two hours in an interactive session laughing, asking questions and learning the dish on all the celebrity chefs in his Food Network circle.

I had a fantastic time. The venue was beautiful, and such a great space for a class like this – with gorgeous Miele appliances, stainless everything, and a lofty open air feeling – it was comfortable and inviting from the start. David Adjey, as a host was thrilling, excited about his cooking, the food, the ingredients, as well as an entertainer.

I loved hearing about his experiences on his various Food Network shows like The Opener and Restaurant Makeover. He told hilarious anecdotal stories, made jokes about his peers and even shared stories about his personal life and family.

The highlight for me was participating in the workshop itself. My hand shot up and I volunteered for everything!

Chef Adjey invited the audience up first thing and quipped “I’m not here to work tonight, you guys will do all the cooking” and at any one time there were 6,8 10+ of us chopping, marinating, prepping ingredients and plating the 45 dinners.

Prepping Ingredients for our Mexican dish

We made two delicious meals – an indian spiced salmon complete with papadum bowls, and a second mexican flank steak with a terrific cilantro salsa. Both dishes showed us easy to re-create recipes and tasted fresh and whole.

It was such an experience for me, as a host of workshops myself, it was fascinating and inspiring to see the true way a pro hosts such a fun night. My friends I was with also had a great time, laughing and taking photos along with me. I worked side by side with them as well as new friends I met at the workshop – prepping vegetables and sharing stories of how we came to be interested in this class.

As expected at the end of the night Chef Adjey was selling his cookbook De|Constructing the Dish and signing books. I purchased one for $40, smiled for my picture with my friend Katie and will definitely be trying some of his recipes in the coming weeks.

I will look out for future celebrity hosted classes held there and encourage you to as well. For a list of the St. Lawerence Market upcoming events, please click here.

Take care, thanks for reading!

Next stop? - My own workshop at the St. Lawrence Market

Sauce for our Indian Spiced Salmon

Indian Spiced Salmon

With a cupcake decorating party every week in January 2012 – I have been busy on the weekends teaching girls ages 8+ how to decorate like the pros!

I love hosting and being invited to these special birthday parties. It is really fun to share some cupcakery-skill with all the birthday girl and her friends.

Sweet Temptations Cupcake Decorating Birthday Party

While the cupcake decorating parties are a lot of work, I feel inspired thinking a new generation is getting some tips and tricks early on. It kickstarts their dream (which I share) of ending up with a bricks and mortar cupcake store, or with a TLC special of their own like Cake Boss or on Cupcake Wars!

Even the shy participants, when everyone else seems to know all about decorating techniques pull it off – creating cupcakes of their own, I take joy in seeing everyone decorating at different skill levels, but still proud of their designs.

Each time I do a cupcake decorating party I try something new – hoping that for everyone at the party it is as exciting for each and every one of them.

With a couple hours, groups of 6 – 14 can work to complete a five cupcakes, snack on one, and try several different decorating techniques. From start to finish it is neat to see their work improve in just a short time!

Hope the coming months see more Cupcake Decorating Parties! Cheers to more laughes and cupcake learning!

Please click our info page for more info on hosting a Cupcake Decorating Birthday Party at your home.

Christmas is a special time and whether you are inviting friends and family into your home, or visiting another, our Christmas cupcakes and cakes make the perfect dessert for your night, or as a treat for the host.

Our holiday inspired flavours include – Gingerbread Job, Candy Cane Sparkle, Egg Nog & Cinnamon, Santa’s Favourite, Double Chocolate & Vanilla – and new this weekend, White Chocolate & Cranberry. There is a flavour for everyone at your party – and for $25.00 you can enjoy a mixed dozen of all your favourites.

Gingerbread Joy

If your event is more a cake night – invite a 3D Christmas Tree cake to your party – serves 4-6 people, and can be pre-ordered in any of our holiday flavours. Available on hand at the market while our supplies last in Double Chocolate and Gingerbread Joy. Our delightful Christmas Tree cakes are a feast for the eyes, tummies, and the wallet – at only $12.00!

Having a longer guestlist, or want some extra cake for seconds – deck your halls and dining table with a beautiful Christmas Wreath cake. Like our trees, can be pre-ordered in any of our holiday flavours and will be available at the Guelph Farmers’ Market – Saturday morning – December 24 – in Double Chocolate and Gingerbread Joy. The Christmas Wreath cake serves 8-10 people, and can be your host gift, or perfect holiday dessert for $20.00.

We have holiday flavours, as delicious cakes or cupcakes for your celebration this season. Email or phone today to pre-order to pick up at the market, or we’ll see you bright and early for the best selection on Saturday – Guelph Farmers’ Market opens at 7am!

Thank you everyone for a great 2011, see you all soon!

Merry Christmas,

Jacqueline

3D Elmo Cake & Cupcakes

This past weekend, December 4, 2011, I had the pleasure of creating and delivering a whimsical 3D Elmo Cake and Cupcakes for a lucky litte girl on her 2nd Birthday.

At the request of her family, I made two dozen Sesame Street Gang Cupcakes for her to share with her litte friends – with all the classic characters – Big Bird, Oscar, Elmo and Cookie Monster.

3D 9" Elmo Cake

This special 2nd birthday was the reason for this cake creation – perhaps you have a special event or birthday coming up you would like to invite a cake-Elmo to?

I would love to bake another 3D Elmo cake, along with all his friends. Simply I would ask that you email me at jacqueline@sweettemptations.ca – and I can put together a quote for your party. I would also need details on how many servings you would need, as well as the date you would require your special cake. Hope to hear from you soon!

3D Mini Elmo Cake & Sesame Street Gang Cupcakes

Cupcakes always make a great gift!

Last Saturday, November 26, at the Guelph Farmers’ Market – I was approached by a savvy principal from the Upper Grand District School Board. She asked if our Sweet Temptations Cupcakery services included holiday cupcakes, packaged individually for her to give her teaching staff as an appreciation before they leave for the winter break. Of course we do! With our new holiday boxes for cupcakes (1, 2 and 4) we will be packing up 55 beautiful cupcakes for her school.

Gingerbread Joy

For principals and schools, our Holiday Teacher Appreciation Gifts are delivered right to your school! Handmade, delicious cupcakes packed especially for your teachers and support staff. Starting at $3.00, your cupcakes will be delivered to your school and made custom for each person. As always, we can accommodate most dietary restrictions including gluten-free, vegan, and nut-free cupcakes. Our Holiday Teacher Appreciation Gift service makes this season of gift giving easy, quick and affordable. As a small appreciation, cupcakes are a decadent and meaningful token of thanks.

For parents, these gifts can go a long way to thank your son or daughter’s teachers before they leave for the break. A cupcake is a welcome thank you for a long term, and is something they can share with their family over the holiday break.

Pricing Information:
- 4 cupcakes – $10.00 pp (includes four different cupcakes, all holiday flavours/theme, rectangular holiday box, elasticised ribbon)

- 2 cupcakes – $6.00 pp (includes two different cupcakes, all holiday flavours/theme, rectangular gable with window holiday box)

- 1 cupcake – $3.00 pp (includes one cupcake – small square box, holiday print)

I hope you find a chance to appreciate your hard-working teachers this holiday season by treating them to a special cupcake treat, be them your staff or your child’s teaching team! For more information and an exact quote – please email jacqueline@sweettemptations.ca or call 519-362-0894.

Christmas Marketplace - Mississauga Town Hall

It was an interesting experience being in an office building for a show – and as one of only a few food vendors, it was neat seeing both the patrons of the show interact with me as well as office staff. Everyone was thrilled to see our cupcakes and happy to try something new – like our new flavour for Christmas – Candy Cane Sparkle.

Sweet Temptations Cupcarkery @ Mississauga Christmas Marketplace

Thanks for reading, see you soon!

I attended the Canada Baking & Sweets Show, Saturday, October 1, 2011 – it was a great event for both tasting and sampling some delicious baked goods, but also for buying some new cake decorating supplies and tools. At the show I attended a Halloween cupcake decorating workshop – where the instructor demonstrated four cute Halloween faces. I checked out all the amazing cake creations at vendor booths and in the competitions. This picture of Buddy Valastro was a really cool collage we saw part of the process of making and when it was complete. I was there on the ‘Cupcake Girls’ day, but the Sunday was ‘Cake Boss’ day – and they made this cupcake-portrait using fondant coloured circles, hundreds of them, and several hundred cupcakes. Very neat!

I will say next year – I think if the format remains the same, I would pass on the workshops. It was neat to see the instructor quickly crafting the fondant decorations, but not nearly as exciting for presentation as any of the cake decorating TV shows, nor informative enough to say I really learned another new by way of tips or tricks.

Two show highlights for me include meeting Heather, from the Cupcake Girls – it was great to meet her, take a photo and speak about how I have my own cupcake business. Second, I was thrilled that Flour Confections (where I usually get a lot of supplies) and Golda’s Kitchen were there.

I have always bought cupcake liners, and other supplies from Flour Confections (they have a fantastic online ordering process) – so I was happy to take advantage of some of their deals and show discounts – saving the shipping was an added bonus!

Golda’s Kitchen I had always planned on going to – but never made it. I can now say it is worth the drive for me from Aberfoyle to Mississauga. It was hard to not buy one of everything, but I did end up spending $200+ and bought tons of new decorating tools. In my haul I took home some scallops cookie cutter circles in a range of sizes, some alphabet cutters in a new size I didn’t already have and – something new – a rosette iron – which I am going to be debuting at an upcoming date at the Guelph Farmers’ Market. Now if I can only convince my soon to be mother-in-law to teach me the family recipe for rosettes!

Sweet Temptations Cupcakery will be at the Kitchener-Waterloo Bridal Show, Sunday September 18 from 12-4pm. We encourage all brides-to-be and hopeful brides-to-be to visit us, and get information on our exclusive Bridal Show wedding cupcake offer.

We will be sampling several of our cupcakes at the show as well as offering information on wedding cake and cupcake service options.

Please click the image below to print for $2 off the regular admission to the show. For more information – please visit the show website.

See you there!

This weekend in addition to attending the Aberfoyle Farmers’ Market, Sweet Temptations Cupcakery is happy to be a part of the annual Aberfoyle Fall Fair!

We will be selling cupcakes for extended hours – 8am – 3pm on Saturday September 10. We will also have lots of samples for you to try of our flavours as well as free Sweet Temptations Balloons for children!

We will have a new flavour this week that we are also entering in for a spcial baking competition in the fair.
If you haven’t tried our cupcakes before – come by and do – they make a great snack while attending the fair and for a take home dessert treat. Cupcakes are available in any denomination, but the best value are 4 cupcakes for $10 or one dozen for only $25 (save $8 off the individual price).

See you at the Fair!

For more Fall Fair information, see the Wellington Advertiser site by clicking here

PS – For our friends in Guelph, we will also be at the Guelph Farmers’ Market from 7am-12noon!