I like cupcakes but I LOVE.......

Oh my what a year!! New location, 15 minutes of fame and so many cupcakes that I swear I'm seeing double! Here is a little recap from the beginning :
Packing up 9 years of sugar, sweat and tears and moving 10 miles down the road was one of the hardest  moves I have made. " Ya see I was emotionally connected to my little shop in Titusville", not only was I fond of that old quirky little building, I LOVED my old quirky landlord Mr. Bill. He was my 85 year old boyfriend!! I miss him and his snarky remarks. ( he was the only person that could get away with telling me "You have such a pretty face, but you could lose a little weight!" Ha Ha Ha what every girl wants to hear!! He passed away in October but his picture hangs in my shop because he was a BIG part of Something Sweet. I miss him dearly.

15 minutes of fame...... Ok that was just crazy, CrAzY!! Ya know the saying : Be careful what you wish for......well that holds true for me, don't get me wrong I'm completely grateful for everything that has happened this year..the good and the bad. It was a bit overwhelming at times......first seeing myself on tv, (that was painful enough) thousands of cupcakes and long lines of people waiting to get them......Whoa we where NOT prepared for that! Not to mention what we had to go through to even get on the show, get through the show .....and beyond. Don't get me wrong I'm really not complaining because I asked for it...all of it!! But when they asked us to compete again ....and again, we turned them down because 15 minutes is all we needed! I didn't even mention the criticism that comes along with it....yep that just sucks, ughhh...we have lovers and we have haters! Lets face it , who likes to be critized ......".your cupcakes are dry, to moist, to sweet not sweet enough,to plain ,to fancy!"  I hate that I can't please EVERYONE...I want too, really bad ,but that fact of the matter is "It ain't never gonna happen!!" So everyday I make peace with that and keep on caking!

 

This year is all about getting back to the basics.....the Something Sweet Cake Studio basics that is! I like cupcakes but I LOVE cakes and that is what Something Sweet CAKE Studio is really all about. When I opened the shop almost 10 years ago ( March 1st 2003) I was all about the cake...the dessert, pies, cheesecakes, cookies.......matter of fact I really didn't make that many cupcakes. And then it became the "art" of cake. I love the art of cake!! I'm lucky to have the best partner in the "art" of cake....(Shawn) he is so naturally talented that he blows my mind sometimes.( I could just squeeze him:0) of course we will still be making cupcakes, cause you know we can dress up a cupcake pretty darn cute too! ;) So we are looking forward to 2013 and all the fabulous clients and their fantastic ideas so we can turn them into edible art!
XOXOX~Johnnie & Shawn

Ya know people are funny...I LOVE them, every last one of them!!...

........even the ones that bring me nothin' but grief. (but back to that in a minute)

We FINALLY moved into the new shop!! Whoo Hoo!! YAY!! I have so much space that I stay lost most of the day! ;o) It's  great to be so close to home so that our kids have some sort of "normal" life. (YES this is WHY we moved the shop)"AHHHHH did you see that??"... I just answered a question (YES this is WHY we MOVED the shop) so this little blog post is gonna answer a few questions that keep popping up!!

  So let's start with a little Q&A:

How long have you been here?
2 weeks in this location but 9 years in Titusville

Are you a bakery, cupcake shop or cake shop?
Well I'm glad you asked! We are a custom cake shop that happens to make a damn good cupcake!

So you just make cakes and cupcakes?
No we also make cookies, pies and cheesecakes, but we specialize in Custom Decorated KickAss Cakes!

Do I have to order a cake or do you have them already made?
 You have to order your custom decorated cake at least TWO WEEKS before your event and ONE WEEK for a dessert cake................ "Procrastination on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part." I mean.. I do realize your daughter's "Sweet 16" was a big surprise for you and you didn't know it was coming up for the LAST 16 years....

Publix and Wal-Mart have cakes on hand, why don't you?
Your kidding right?? Both of these places DO NOT bake their cakes in house, they are shipped in frozen then assembled..YUM-O ........All of our cakes start out as flour, sugar, butter, milk and eggs, which means we need time to mix + bake + cool + frost + decorate it= FABULOUS CAKE EXPERIENCE (and they are NEVER frozen) The decorating part is the most time consuming part of the equation!

Why are your cakes so expensive compared to Publix?
Seriously?? if you have to ask.......you cannot compare what we do to ANY "big box store"
Every custom cake we do is a piece of edible art, we spend hours on ONE cake...hhhooouuurrrsss!  We will also do our best to work within your budget, but if you are trying to feed 100 ppl on a $50 budget then I do suggest you go to Wal-Mart.

Are you hiring? Can I intern with you? I will sweep the floors if you show me how you decorate cakes?
We get this at least two times a day, we are not hiring or taking on interns and Shawn sweeps the floors! ;o)

Will you donate to my cause?
We are very charitable and do donate  to special events and charity's, but unfortunately because we are a small business we cannot donate to EVERY cause.

What is the difference between a custom decorated cake and a dessert cake?
This is easy let me show you: cake 1 "dessert" cake 2 "custom decorated"

cake 1

cake 2

and last but not least "Why do you keep running out of cupcakes, do you just not have your act together?"
Yes someone actually said this to us!!! But first off... we will save up to 2 dozen cupcakes by phone if you give us a call ahead of time!! This way know one goes away cupcake-less!! "But since I feel the need to explain what we do".... here ya go:
 We bake in small batches from SCRATCH every morning and thru out the day, at 3:00 we stop baking for the store front and we start working on our custom orders. But before we do this we check to see how much stock we have left and we estimate how many more people will show up in the next 2 hours, because our ultimate goal is to make EVERYONE happy. BUT there will be times when we run out, which is not a bad thing because this insures you we will have FRESH product the next day.  If you have been one of the unlucky peeps that has showed up with nothing left but the crumbs... and if your attitude is as sweet as the cupcakes we make.... we will ALWAYS take care of you. (and y'all know who you are)
BUT if you are the BEE-ACHH that shows up at 5 minutes to 5:00 and tells us how to run our business and we apparently don't know what we are doing...I promise you... I will NEVER give you a damn thing until you change your "tude"!!! NO CAKE FOR YOU!!

Don't get me wrong folks.....apparently this lady just needs a sugar-fix, and I'm grateful to her, because she is teaching me patience!

Which brings me back to how I LOVE PEEPS!! I really do... every last one!! .......even the ones that bring me nothin' but grief!!
I hope this has answered some questions for y'all! But if not, feel free to ask me!!

XOXO~
Johnnie

SHAME ON ME

Fool Me Once, Shame on You. Fool Me Twice, Shame On Me.

Well I've been stewing in a pot of disbelief for a while now, so I guess it's time to let it  boil over. I haven't written a "pissed off" post in over 2 years. (That's pretty good actually, this states the fact the MOST people are good,honest human beings)

I'm not sure who I'm more pissed off with...ME or the rotten B$%#H that pulled the buttercream over my eyes. ughhhh............... probably me.

This is how the story goes......................"LADY" calls up and orders 50 custom decorated cupcakes for a bridal shower,(keep in mind this is a returning customer...matter of fact she is a waitress at a restaurant that me and my husband frequent) I work with her budget and I make her 50 beautiful cupcakes.
Morning of pick up I get a phone call from the LADY....."Johnnie my car was broken into last night and my purse was stolen!" she says with sobbing in the background..(of course) "they stole my purse and the fixing's for the punch I'm serving."...... OK OK I believe her, because who steals punch for goodness sakes!!

LADY - " I worked a double shift yesterday to pay for this party, and now it's all gone." more sobbing.....
LADY- " Who ever broke into my car has no idea how this kind of stuff effects us HARD WORKING people" more sobbing..........

Now this lady has me hook line and sinker....why? Because I used to wait tables back in the day and I pulled MANY double-shifts to make ends meat.......so YES... I GET IT!!!! I know what it's like to put up with people's crap for a buck.

LADY- "I don't have the money to pay you, but I could pay you on Monday after I work Sunday" sobbing....
ME-"Ok no problem, I'm sorry this happened to you , stop in on Wednesday and you can pay me"
LADY- "Are you sure, thank you, God Bless You, I PROMISE I will be in to pay you and I will take good care of your cupcake stand"

(Oh yeah.. I let her borrow my very fancy cupcake stand)

Well a week passed.....nothing........then I remembered the stand, so after leaving countless messages she called me back and said "I 've been so busy at work, I'm not ignoring you, I will send my daughter in with the stand and the money"

Daughter brings in the stand....proceeds to tell how everyone LOVED the cupcakes and my mom will be in tomorrow with the money.
PRAHAHAHAHAHA I'm such an IDIOT!!!!
it's been over 6 weeks ago.........................

I'm not even sure what the moral of this story is...........that I'm a sucker.....some people suck......or maybe some people have such a HUGE set of balls that I'm not even sure how they drag them around!!!!

Holiday Open House Menu 2010

Stop by on October 16 from 6-8 and sample all these Sweeties~!!

BANANA FOSTER CAKE

CARAMEL FUDGE PRALINE CAKE

APPLE STACK CAKE

RED VELVET CAKE

PUMPKIN PRALINE TORTE

PUMPKIN ROLL

YULE LOG

PUMPKIN PIE

SWEET POTATO PIE

PECAN PIE

CHOCOLATE BOURBON PECAN PIE

STRAWBERRY RHUBARB PIE

CRAN-CHERRY PIE

BLACK AND WHITE BREAD PUDDING W/ WHITE CHOCOLATE WHISKEY SAUCE

PUMPKIN CHEESECAKE

WHITE CHOCOLATE RASPBERRY CHEESECAKE

DEEP DISH CARAMEL APPLE DESSERT

Facebook | photoARTworks

Facebook photoARTworks

I Laid an EGG...........wanna see?????

OK I really didn't, but there was A LOT of LABOR involved!!! Meet JIMMY,  a middle-aged parrot wearing a Georgia Bulldog's jersey. I'm pretty much in LOVE with him...... O' how I hated to see him go.

I'm not sure how someone could fall in love with cake, but this cake has personality,charm,a good sense of humor....even good looks!!! (I think I just described my husband ;o)

Any-Who I'm gonna show ya'll the 4 stages of my Sweet Jimmy.........

This is Jimmy when he was.......well a lump of cake, super yummy lump of chocolate pound cake and chocolate ganache....

What is this????  a mummy,an urn.....poo maybe? No silly its Jimmy!! He is starting to take shape....what kind of shape? well it was still a mystery to me at this point!

There he is!!! Wait a minute.............. he looks like a ghost! hmmmmmm He needs a little color, a little personality maybe?

TA-DAH!! Jimmy the Parrot......he has attitude, a little cocky even.. every pun intended!!

Now..........can you see why I love him????

Jimmy stats: chocolate pound cake w/chocolate ganach filling,chocolate buttercream frosting and rice crispies.

1 hour to carve (me) along w/ my sidekick Sharlene... making me piss my pants w/her funny ass self

3 hours of detailing(me)

2 1/2 hours to paint (Debbie)

Woodland-themed Baby Shower | oh my! handmade goodness

Woodland-themed Baby Shower oh my! handmade goodness

This was the coolest baby shower I have EVER seen!!!! (Very Mystical) Check out my cake and cupcakes on this super cute blog!!