Back to School Cupcakes

September means Back to School and two new Scrumptious Cupcakes!

Back to School Cupcake

Is your son or daughter going back to school soon?

Surprise your backpack clad kid with this ~Pure Vanilla~ "Back to School cupcake" when they return home from their first day of school. They are great to share with their school friends or the family.  These are available in a 6-pack for $15 or individually for $3, only this week (Aug. 30-Sept. 5). 

Caramel Apple Cupcake

These Back to School cupcakes will also be included in our September Sampler Box.  Our Sampler Box is an exclusive "sample or tasting" of a featured item off of our menu.  They are only available on one specific day during the month.  Tune into our FB page at "Scrumptious" to follow when we are offering this Sampler Box and what the selected sweet might be.

This month's sampler box will be an "all cupcake" box, back by popular demand! It will also feature our NEW custom "Caramel Apple" cupcake.  This spiced apple cake is injected with a caramel sauce, topped with our cream cheese frosting, drizzled in caramel syrup and finished off with a sugared red apple.  As yummy as it is cute!

Our Sampler Box is only available on Friday, September 9th.  So order your box today by e-mailing us at: Scrumptiousbyaandk@yahoo.com

Scrumptious offers Special Dietary Sweets

                                                                             

   Food Allergies are a growing problem in our Country today.  Weather it be to dairy, gluten/wheat, Caseic-egg, nuts, etc.  This makes eating sweets and serving them, from a bakers stand point, very difficult.  My family is one of these affected by food allergies.  My mother is boarder line Celiac, as is my Uncle, and now my cousin and I have some of the same tendancies.  However; my cousin un-luckily enough got a double dose of food allergies as she is also allergic to dairy, which runs on her mother's side.  So, how does one enjoy a Birthday treat when they are allergic to Gluten and Dairy?!  Luckily, she has me as a baker in the family!
I researched GF/DF recipes for 2 days to find some great selections that I knew she would enjoy! A midst my research and being in constant deep thought about her desserts, I had made a trip to Barnes and Nobel with my mother and children.  I came across the following book and had to laugh. It was just one of those perfect timing moments! I resisted in purchasing the book then, but later went onto Amazon and ordered it!  I figure I'll read it then pass it on to her.                                                                      

For those of you who aren't familiar with Celiac Disease; it is an autoimmune disease that damages your small intestine and interferes with the nutrients that you get from foods.  This essentially means, that every time a person who has Celiac consumes something with gluten, the body will attach itself.  When this disease goes un-treated, it can lead to further auto immune complications such as osteoporosis, arthritis, thyroid disease, and in some cases cancer. For this reason, gluten free diets are typically suggested to those who have arthritis and even autism.

Gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley and rye.  Which is in everything!  The obvious products that we would eat everyday and take for granted, such as a homemade cookie, wheat bread, a bagel or muffin in the morning, pastas, pizza and beer.  Then, there are those products which are not as obvious that you really have to be on the 'label reading hunt' to notice, like soy sauce, salad dressings, sauces or gravy.  It has definitely been a learning curve for me but it is possible.  And a very healthy eating lifestyle to lead.

Coconut Lime GF/DF Cupcake

This is where the "creative" baker in me must come out.......if I own a baking business, I want to come up with wonderfully sweet recipes that I can indulge in as well.  So, in each of our Scrumptious categories of treats, I have come up with some gluten free selections.  For example, we offer a banana nut crunch muffin, chocolate chip or m&m cookie, lemon bar, chocolate snowflake bar or raspberry tart bar ALL of which are gluten free!  In our Injected Cupcakes we also serve a gluten free 'Black and White' or 'Red Velvet'.  The cupcake seen here is a custom gluten free AND dairy free cupcake, that tasted great!  Baking gluten free is it's own beast.  It requires a lot of trial and error, experimenting and taste testing, which can get expensive with these specialty ingredients. I like to use a combination of various flours and starches to get just the right texture and flavor depending on the item that I am baking.  It is very important to measure amounts exactly, as density and leavening agents are very different from baking regular dessert items.

Surfer Birthday Girl with her Custom Cupcakes

My advice is just keep trying until you get the taste that you desire. And, go out of the box when coming up with fun flavors to incorporate.  As gluten free desserts tend to be very bland and boring.  I say, the more chocolate the better.
My cousin shown here, loves coconut, so I concocted this Summery Coconut Inspired Cupcake for her to enjoy.  It's a coconut flour, coconut milk base, infused with a lime juice and fresh lime zest in the dairy free frosting.  YUMMY!

Check out our Gluten Free selections on our Scrumptious Menu and inquire within to order further special dietary desserts.

For more information on Celiac Disease, check out the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness:

http://www.celiaccentral.org/Celiac-Disease

Where do your Summer's Travels take you?

   Earlier this Summer, in late June my Summer travels began and I am so glad for what I had discovered along the way! It was my turn to take a little vacation away from daily life at home and from Scrumptious to vacation with my family.  My husband I, along with our three children traveled to the East Bay in Northern
California to visit with family and close friends before we headed to the Coast.

   Before doing so though, I had to visit a bakery in Danville that was recommended to me by a friend of my Mother-in-Law.  This was not just any bakery it was a Gluten Free Cupcake Shop!  I was very excited to visit as I myself am Gluten Free and bake our Gluten Free products for Scrumptious.  There are not many places near my home that produce and serve sinful Gluten Free desserts.  It's kind of an oxymoron, they don't really exist.  Which is why I have found a new passion for researching and experimenting with Gluten Free recipes and desserts.  When you are Gluten Free, it's things like the homemade cookies, cinnamon rolls and scones that I miss the most.  The flavor, texture and light n' fluffy bites are tough to replicate in Gluten Free baking. (If you are Gluten Free you know what I mean; these bland, crumbly, cardboard "desserts", or so are they called, are usually terrible!) Besides baking Gluten Free desserts from scratch (my preference is with lots of chocolate), the closest that I have found are various sweets from Whole Foods Market, (my favorite grocer for specialty dietary needs). So, a new Gluten Free treat is what I was looking forward to!  I met an old High School friend with her kids at Miglet's Cupcake Shop in Downtown Danville.  It was adorable and I wanted one of everything! It was fresh and clean with a pretty in pink feel.  There was a whole display case filled with specialty cupcakes, beautifully decorated and they tasted as equally wonderful.  I purchased four different cupcakes(Carrot cake, Lemon Blueberry, Toasted Coconut and Strawberry Shortcake), some fresh cookies and brownie bites that were so moist and very chocolaty!  I savored each bite!  If you are in the area and are on a Gluten Free diet, you should make the time to check it out.

 
  So, our family then headed to Half Moon Bay where we spent the 4th of July holiday with friends. And, it is here where our camping experience began.  After leaving Half Moon Bay we headed to Big Sur where we camped at Pfiffer Big Sur State Park.  It was gorgeous, we all loved it! A few days later on our way out and on to our next destination we stopped at a little turn off on Hwy 1, where we found the Big Sur Bakery and Restaurant tucked behind the beautiful foliage.  It was small, quaint, quiet and I so badly wanted to sit on the rustic patio to enjoy
a mimosa and taste a bite of a local sweet breakfast treat.
The bakers here are keeping up the traditions of old, as the building has been around since 1936. They serve "soul food" pastries, in my mind, they are simple and just look delicious. I loved it so much so that after we left we stopped not more than 8 minutes further down Hwy. 1 at Nepenthe, where I had to purchase the Big Sur Bakery Cookbook, A Year in the Life of a Restaurant.  Each chapter in the book is a new month that spells out a whole new menu with recipes, revolving around a favorite fruit or vegetable or spice that is popular for that time of year.  Nepenthe is an eclectic spot to stop off at as well.  No bakeries, believe me I looked! But it has a very artsy, sort of old hippie town feel, with a great book store/gift shop called The Phoenix, fountains throughout the grounds and lookout points to the coastline.  Then we continued walking up the path to the top of the hill where you will come to Nepenthe Restaurant and Bar with a "rim of the world" view.  Beautiful scenery to say the least.

   The final stop on our camping tour was in Morro Bay.  Our first full day in Morro Bay was packed!  Starting out by attending a Marine Animals of Morro Bay Talk at the camp ground where my kids became Jr. Rangers, to spending quite some time at the Natural History Museum which had great interactive expos for the kids, to driving into town to check out the local streets.


   There were three local bakeries, however; my favorite was the Sun N' Buns Bakery at the Embarcadero.  They had two very large display cases with every pastry, sweet roll, danish, cookie, sugar twist, etc. etc.  that you could think of, then a third case filled with various cupcakes and bars.

   Thus rounded out my personal bakery bonanza and our family camping expedition.  This will become a new tradition for me as I travel to now seek out new and different bakeries, while I'm sure collecting more "coffee table" cookbooks and recipes along the way.  As my passion for baking and our business at Scrumptious continues to grow, I am forever learning and always inspired.  My cup has runneth over this Summer in things that I am thankful for and this, a new found love for baking on a different level, is one of them.

~Amy~

• Miglet's Gluten Free Cupcake Shop in Danville, CA~  www.migletsgf.com
• Big Sur Bakery and Restaurant in Big Sur, CA~  www.bigsurbakery.com
• Sun N' Buns at 830 Embarcadero in Morro Bay, CA~ 805.772.4117

To check out our Scrumptious selections including Gluten Free treats, visit us at www.Scrumptiousbyaandk.com and "Like" our FB page at "Scrumptious".

Hey there Cupcake!

~Custom "Theme Party" Injected Cupcakes~
  
    Katie and I didn't originally set out to include Cupcakes on our Scrumptious Menu.  However; because of the growing "Cupcake Craze" and popularity of them among our clients we decided to add them to our menu after all.  As many of our clients and friends have young children, as we do.  What kids don't like cupcakes?!  But we knew that ours had to be different from all of the other cupcakes out there.  With Frosted, Sweet and Saucy as well as Great Dane for competitors we wanted to set our cupcakes apart from those offered at nearby bakeries.  So, we decided to make our cupcakes "injected"!  This means that every cupcake has a filling down through the center of the cake.  Depending on the flavor of cupcake the injection may be a mousse (vanilla or chocolate), peanut butter, fresh fruit, curds, or creme (coconut creme or a variety of fruits).
So, not only are our cupcakes "injected", but they are slightly lower in price compared to our surrounding competition, and we will deliver them to you for your party!
   We have two categories of our Injected Cupcakes on our Menu; Simple or Specialty. However, we can bake any cupcakes and add "theme" toppers, sprinkles, decorations, or custom colors to coordinate with your party.  This is very popular and finishes off the look of your celebration wonderfully!
Take a look at some of our Custom Scrumptious Creations:

Curious George

Curious George~ Our Specialty Peanut Butter Cup with "George" rings and half of a Reese's peanut butter  cup on top.                                                                                                                               

Curious George and his Bananas

                                                                                                            Curious George~  Custom Cake request: yellow cake with banana cream injection and yellow colored vanilla butter cream frosting, topped with "banana" candies.

                       


                       

Dr. Suess~ Our Simple Pure Vanilla cake with aqua and red colored vanilla butter cream frosting, topped with "Dr. Suess" toppers.  

                                          

  

Custom Cake Request: Banana Split Sundae~ dark chocolate cake injected with banana mousse, butter cream frosting then drizzled with chocolate syrup and topped with a maraschino cherry and a plantain chocolate square.

Princess Belle

Princess Belle~ Custom Cake request: yellow cake with banana cream injection and yellow colored vanilla butter cream frosting, topped with clear sugar crystals and Princess Crown toppers. With a personal "Belle" cupcake for the Birthday girl.

Doggies on parade

  
Doggies on Parade~ These are our MINI cupcakes in Black and White.  (Our minis
do not come injected as they are just too small to do so.)
These were created especially for Shutterbug Photography in Los Alamitos, who held pet photography sessions.

Birthday Confetti Candy 

Birthday Confetti Candy~ custom cake request: white confetti cake, topped with butter cream frosting, rolled in Nerds candies, and topped with a Marachino cherry.

Bunnies and Chicks~ Easter Birthday

Bunnies and Chicks~ custom cake request: chocolate and yellow cakes, injected with vanilla mousse, topped with pastel colored butter cream frosting, sprinkled in colored sugar crystals and pearls and finished off with bunny and chicks picks.

If you have a Birthday party coming up, let us TREAT you!

      www.Scrumptiousbyaandk.com  ~ See Cupcake Listings on our Menu to see all of our Scrumptious flavors, or inquire about your custom theme by sending us an e-mail.  Scrumptiousbyaandk@yahoo.com

~Amy~

Scrumptious combined with Pilates

   How do baked goods and exercise, let alone Pilates, go together? Well, if you exercise more, maybe you can sneak a few extra bites of your favorite treat!
Our friend and fellow female business owner, Johnna Carreno Green supports us at Scrumptious!  And for that we thank her!!!  Johnna is a Pilates Instructor who teaches at her own studio in Belmont Heights, as well as being an instructor with Stroller Strides of Long Beach, she is a mom of a beautiful little girl, and an exercise queen herself!

   I have learned quite a bit about Pilates from Johnna over the last few days.  Including trying out her Semi-Private Cardio Reformer Class.  It was AWESOME, I felt great afterward!  I held myself a little taller all day!  Johnna offers Private and Semi-Private classes as well as the Cardio Reformer class.  
What's even better is that childcare is included in the cost of your class!  Johnna says, "After becoming a mom in early 2010, I have a new found respect for the demands of balancing motherhood and a healthy lifestyle. Because of this childcare will be provided during your session (additional $5 charge for 2nd child.)"

   As a working mom myself, I have a lot of respect for other females who work to help support their family, especially those who own and run their own business!  It takes a lot of work keeping family life and business affairs in order. Which is why I relate to what Johnna says about how important it is to find a balance and stress reliever that works for you.  For me, it's Yoga and now Pilates!  I need the quiet, inner peace, and mental relaxation after a full day of 3 kids, managing my household and helping to run a baking business.
Johnna said, "After a successful run in the entertainment industry I found another passion~Pilates!  I spent years living a hectic lifestyle before I discovered that Pilates would give me the results I needed both physically and mentally.  Pilates gives me the inner peace as well as confidence in my body that I didn't have before."

   As we support each other's businesses, Johnna graciously agreed to sell our NEW Granola Bar out of her studio. It's a great healthy little snack for after a hard workout.  These bars are sweetened with honey and fruit, there is no sugar added.  That combined with crunchy salty nuts makes for a snack that you will crave!  The Granola Bar sells for $2 individually.  You can also order them in a batch and get 9 bars for $17.


To contact Johnna Carreno Green for more information on "Pilates by Johnna", e-mail her at Johnna.Carreno@gmail.com

Check us out at: www.Scrumptiousbyaandk.com

"Like" our Facebook page at "Scrumptious" to get updated Scrumptious News, New Flavors, Special Offers, Product Pictures, our monthly Sampler Box, and MORE!

The Scrumptious Sampler Box

Cupcake Sampler Box from March

Every month Scrumptious offers a "Sampler Box" which allows our clients and friends to try a variety of our Scrumptious items.  This way if there is something that you have not ordered before you can "sample" it to know which item/s you would like to order again.
Our Sampler Boxes are offered at the low price of $20-$25 depending on the amount of pieces and selections in the box.  We try to choose 3-4 different items and you will receive 2-3 pieces of each item in your box.  Sometimes we base the Sampler Box around a theme or a holiday, should one fall in this specific month.
The picture here is a special Cupcake Sampler from the month of March, where we featured some specialty flavored cupcakes. If you haven't tried our Injected Cupcakes, here are a few to tempt you!
The Pure Vanilla and Chocolate Suede are always on our menu. However, based around St. Patrick's Day, we did a Baileys Infused Chocolate Latte Cupcake rolled in Chocolate covered Espresso Beans. Also green, was our Key Lime Pie Cupcake, made with fresh squeezed key limes, key lime butter cream frosting and sprinkled with graham cracker crumbs. We then had some more fun with the ~Intoxicated~ specialty flavors and did a Limon Cello infused cupcake with lemon butter cream frosting topped with a sugared lemon candy.  Lastly, an homage to Girl Scouts everywhere, being at the height of Girl Scout Cookie Season, we did a "Samoa" Cupcake injected with Coconut cream and topped with our favorite Girl Scout cookie.

Very Berry Muffin

This month our Sampler Box is a Scrumptious Breakfast treat!  In April we came out with our Spring/Summer Menu, featuring NEW items in each of our baked goods categories as well as a whole new breakfast item; Scones!  We incorporate organic fruits and fresh flavors that are at the peak of the season during this time of year.  So, each item in this month's Sampler Box is a BRAND NEW item! They are: Lemon Poppy seed Muffin~a fluffy, lemon zesty muffin with the ever popular poppy seed, Banana Nut Crunch Muffin~a sweet banana muffin with walnuts and coconut topped with a cinnamon sugar crust, Granola Bar~a multi nut crunchy bar sweetened with honey and fruit, and Double Chocolate Chip Scone~the classic buttery scone with dark chocolate Cacao cocoa powder and chocolate chips.  You will get to sample all of these for only $20 this month!  But reserve yours now, pick-ups of your Sampler Box are this Tuesday 6/21 from 7 a.m.-1 p.m.  Grab your Sampler Breakfast Box on the way to the office for your meeting or before your play date to share with friends.  Don't forget the coffee, and you'll have a Scrumptious morning!

Have a bite of something simply Scrumptious today!

Like our FB page at "Scrumptious"
www.Scrumptiousbyanadk.com

Behind the Bakers of Scrumptious

Lemon Bar

~Scrumptious~ Baked Goods, by a & k.  

So who are we?  I am the “a” which stands for Amy, part owner and baker for a new local bakery called Scrumptious.  The “k” stands for Katie, my business partner and baker in creating tasty treats in sinful flavors.

We are two mom’s of five young children, all of whom are 4 years old and under.  Crazy you say?  We get that a lot! How do you do it, run a business and take care of your kids as well?  Our answer, we manage it well.  We are very organized, you have to be. We each have our own strengths and accomplish tasks accordingly, we are honest with each other and both strive to do the best job that we can.  For us, it’s also our “adult” outlet.  We love being mom’s, but even mom’s need a little break once a while.  Scrumptious allows us to be creative, get our hands dirty (on our terms) and at the end of the day we are proud of the products that we have produced.

Zucchini Chocolate Chip Mini Muffin

           

We have been in business for nine months now, Scrumptious began in late September of 2010.  We have come a long way since the idea for starting a bakery had popped into our heads last Summer.  Actually, it was Katie’s brilliant idea, and I am forever grateful.  It was something that we both really needed to do for ourselves.  Katie came over with her two girls one morning, and as our 3 toddlers played, we held our two babies, and drank our coffee (another favorite thing of our’s) as Katie posed the question...... “so I was thinking, we should start a baking business.”  Without hesitation, I said, “O.k.!”  We immediately got out the paper and a pen and started brainstorming.  Thus, “Scrumptious” was born.  However, coming up with our name took us a while as it was more difficult than we had thought, we actually had many other details planned out first.  We had lists of names that we had come up with and kept coming back to.  We researched meanings, googled them, looked up words in the thesauruses, until we set our hearts on Scrumptious!

Salted Caramel Fudge Brownie

            We describe ourselves as a specialty baked goods company, a “boutique” bakery, with a classic feeling and beautifully presented items.  We pay careful attention to details and decorations with the custom options always available.  We also pride ourselves in using the best ingredients such as; sweet cream butter, Cacao Berry cocoa powder, Meyer lemons in our signature lemon bars, Madagascar bourbon vanilla and Saigon cinnamon, just to name a few.  Our categories of selections include; Breakfast items such as Muffins (available in 3 sizes) and Scones, Specialty Bars (our signature items), Cookies and Injected Cupcakes (also available in 3 sizes), and now introducing Wedding Cakes (available in an array of flavors, fillings and frostings)!  We deliver, offer Gift Certificates and Gift Wrap options, accept credit cards, and invite you to follow us on Facebook at “Scrumptious” and “Like” our Page.   

Allow us to treat your next Tea Party, Bridal or Baby Shower, Birthday Celebration, Office event or Wedding, Scrumptious style.  And, remember to taste a bite of something simply Scrumptious today!

2 Female Bakers + 1 HUGE mistake = Lesson Learned

Mocha-choco-latte

Note to self: When driving one of the largest SUV’s with 3 dozen freshly frosted cupcakes in the trunk, do not take u-turns!  Why not you ask?  Because you may just end up with a bakery box smeared in frosting.

I am one of the Scrumptious owners and bakers, Amy.  My partner, Katie and I ventured off to a private pastry class in Redondo Beach at the South Bay School of Cooking to broaden our techniques when it comes to cupcakes.  “Injected Cupcakes” are a new category for us to carry on our Menu of Baked Goods, so we decided to take some classes and get a schooling on how to better offer these cupcakes to our clients.  After 3 hours of perfecting new frosting recipes, tasting, practicing new piping styles with various frosting tips and experimenting with different decorating decor and sprinkles, we were satisfied.  At least for one night.  Along with a wealth of Bakers tips and helpful advice in the world of pastry making given by Chef Annette, Katie and I boxed up our finished products. 

Queen of Hearts

We ended up with three cupcake boxes, as beautiful as can be!  Including, one dozen “Valentine” decorated cupcakes (as it was the week prior to Valentine’s Day), one dozen Birthday Confetti decorated cupcakes, and a variety dozen of Specialty Cupcakes (including the Mocha-choco-latte and Chocolate Suede cupcakes).  Very proud of what we had both accomplished we loaded the bakery boxes into the back of Katie’s SUV, got in, and headed back for home.  But not before Katie had to flip a u turn on Artesia Blvd. to head back to the 405 freeway.  As the u turn was complete, a crashing sound of bakery boxes colliding rang out.  Katie and I looked at each other, wide eyed.....oh no!  What do we do?  Pull over or keep going?  Wondering if ALL 36 cupcakes had been ruined we decided to keep driving.  After all, if the goods were destroyed, there wasn’t much that we could do about it at that point.

Chocolate Suede

Sure enough, after arriving home and waiting for the rear door to open on the SUV, the boxes were seen strewn across the back.  Only to find that nearly all of the cupcake masterpieces that were created over the course of three hours, now seemed to resemble a puddle of frosting within the bakery boxes. 

C’est la vie!  In other words, “it” can happen to anyone, no matter how perfect you are or think you may be.  Your cupcakes may crash and frosting can smear across the back of your SUV too.  ;)

This brought another topic to our attention, our free local DELIVERY.  (Since Scrumptious does not yet have a store front for you to come in and shop from, one of our business bonuses is that we will bring your order directly to you!)  So, we needed to make sure that this transportation disaster did not happen again to either of us while making our deliveries.  Katie had the brilliant idea of securing a “holding area” within each car to make sure that our product stays safe while in transport. Now both SUV’s are set up correctly and we at Scrumptious can make safe deliveries while protecting our precious cargo!