Administrative Professionals Day

April 20th, 2009

What would this world be without our hard working administrative professionals? Who would think to order the cake and cupcakes for all your important events? This year let them know how much you appreciate them with their very own cupcake from Daddy Cakes!

Add a message flag to any flavor Daddy Cake.

 Each comes  individually boxed with a ribbon and tag $5.00

While you were out……. I got your this cupcake

This is my cupcake. Yours may look just like it, but this one is mine!

Wishing you a day filled with “sweetness”

You take the cake!

Snap, Crackle, Pop… We think you’re really tops.

If co-workers were flowers, we’d pick you!

“Fudge” a little on the calories today!

Thanks for all you do!

 

Valentine’s Day Specials

February 5th, 2009
photograghs courtesy of ImageWise Photography- Thanks Heidi!

photographs courtesy of ImageWise Photography- Thanks Heidi!

 

 Name

Cupcake size and description

 Price

 Packaging

Red Velvet Seduction

Red velvet daddy, dipped in chocolate ganache, red buttercream, and a chocolate heart

 

$5

Hot Pink box, black and pink bow,and handmade to/from tag

Conversation Heart

Billy Vanilly or Death by Chocolate cake, pink buttercream and heart cookie with message

 

$5

 Hot Pink Box, pink and white bow, handmade to/from tag

Cream filled chocolates

Six baby cakes with cream filling(2 ea, Frangelico, Amaretto, Chambord) pink buttercream , chocolate wafer

 

$15

Hot Pink box with pink and brown bow. Handmade to/from tag

24 assorted chocolates

24 chocolate preemie cupcakes with assorted toppings

$18

Hot Pink  box, pink and blackbow,handmade to/from tag 

Raspberry Truffle Heart Cake

Moist chocolate cake flavored with raspberry, layered with chocolate mousse, and topped with rich ganache. Trimmed in Pink buttercream with sugar paste  bow

$25

Hot Pink  box, black velvet bow, handmade to/from heart tag

Red Velvet Seduction and Conversation Heart

Red Velvet Seduction and Conversation Heart

[

Conversation Heart

Conversation HeartAmaretto, Frangellico, and Chambord cream filled Chocolates

Who wouldn't love getting these?

Who wouldn't love getting these?

all in a day's work.....

all in a day's work.....

24 assorted chocolates
24 assorted chocolates

Goodbye 2008

January 6th, 2009

A year in review

What if you had a crazy idea of opening up a little cupcake shop just for the fun of it? What would life be like? Well, probably something like this…..

  • wake up in the middle of the night with a brilliant idea for  a cupcake flavor and think about it till the sun comes up.
  • Work your first 14 hour day …..three days in a row.
  • Eat more cake that you ever have in your life and still want to bake more.
  • Get to know half of the town not by name, but by their cupcake of choice.
  • Become very good at lifting 50 pound bags of powdered sugar.
  • Use more butter in one week than a small country can eat in a year.
  • Get stopped on the street and asked ”hey, aren’t you the Cupcake Lady”
  • Realize how important you become when your “friends” forget to special order their kid’s birthday cakes.
  • Wake up every morning and get excited about what the day may bring.
  • Realize  that you have the best job in town!

Thanks to all our loyal customers who make Daddy Cakes such a fun place to be.

 

Holiday Specials

December 8th, 2008

 Daddy Cakes for the Holidays

Daddy Cakes has festive cupcakes decorated for the holidays with fun new flavors!

Please remember to  preorder for best selection!

Billy Vanilly- decorated with holiday cupcake papers, green and red sprinkles and a cherry on top.

Red Velvet- white buttercream with holly leaves and berries

Ho-Ho-Chocolate ganache with “ho, ho, ho” in red buttercream.

Holiday Special Flavors

(available only in December)

Gingerbread- lightly spiced molasses cake with cinnamon vanilla buttercream

Spiked Eggnog- Rum flavored eggnog buttercream atop moist spice cake.

Peppermint Patty- White cake dipped in peppermint ganache with red swirled buttercream and crushed candy canes

Cinnamon Roll- White cake with cinnamon chips and cinnamon vanilla buttercream.

Naughty Santa- Red Velvet cake with Hot Damn cinnamon schnapps buttercream and red hot candies.

 

Spice up your tree trimming or office party this year!

buttercream shots

and

naked cupcakes

makes every party come alive!

Buttercream Flavors-Dirty Girlscout, Margarita, Cosmopolitan, Hot Damn, White Russian, Mud Slide and Spiked Eggnog, and Lemoncello!

Cupcakes Flavors- Chocolate dip, White, Lemon, Red Velvet

Available by special order only

12 buttercream shots and 12 naked cupcakes- $25.oo

 

How to make a Buche de Noel

November 20th, 2008

Bûche de Noël

 Bûche de Noël (”Yule log“) is a traditional dessert served during the Christmas holidays in France and Quebec. As the name indicates, the cake is generally prepared, presented, and garnished so as to look like a log ready for the fire. The traditional bûche is made from a Génoise cake, frosted, rolled to form a cylinder, and frosted again on the outside. Bûches are served with a portion of one end of the cake cut off and set on top of the cake to resemble a chopped off branch, and bark-like texture is produced in the buttercream for further realism. These cakes are decorated with powdered sugar to resemble snow, tree branches, fresh berries, and mushrooms made of meringue.

  Thank you to everyone who came out to see our baking demonstrations for this fun and festive cake. I learned  to make this cake in France where it is on almost every table at Christmas time. In France the bakeries are open on Christmas morning so that everything is abloutely fresh. Unfortunately if you are a baker, that means that you never get to sleep in and enjoy the holiday, but it is still very satisfying knowing that people depend on you to complete their Christmas feast. I always enjoy teaching others how to make this authentic French dessert. For those of you who expressed interest in trying one of these at home, I am sharing my recipes and techniques.

 

 

  

 

 Recipe for Sponge Cake

Ingredients                              Quantity                                  Instructions

Cake Flour

1 lb.

Sift first 5 ingredients

Sugar

1 lb.

(4 if making white cake)

Salt

pinch

 

Baking Powder

1 oz.

 

Vegetable Oil

10 oz

Whisk together to vanilla

Egg Yolks

12 oz

 

Water

1 lb.

 

Vanilla

Dash

 

Egg Whites

1 lb.

Basic meringue

 mixer with whisk attachment.

Sugar

10 oz

speed 2-2 min whites/tartar

 speed 3- add sugar mix till stiff but not dry. 

Cream of Tartar

1 tsp.

 

 Special Instructions:

 Have ready three components:

  1. sifted flour
  2. egg yolks and oil mix
  3. meringue

In separate large bowl start with all of dry ingredients, alternate egg yolk and oil, with meringue. Combine gently to incorporate as much air as possible.

 Prepare Cake Pans:

Three large jelly roll cake pans lined with parchment and pan spray. Fill half full by spreading batter thinly around entire pan.

Bake- 325 DEGREES 12-20  MIN depending on oven. Remove when lightly golden brown and edges begin to pull away from pan.

Sponge cake baked and unmolded onto parchment paper

Sponge cake baked and unmolded onto parchment paper

While cake is still slightly warm, use parchment or waxed paper to help roll cake into jelly roll shape.

Stage two of Buche Cake. Rolled cake left to cool.

Stage two of Buche Cake. Rolled cake left to cool.

At this step in the process you can either continue or set cake aside till next day. Leave at room temperature overnight ar continue with the simple syrup and buttercream stages.

To make simple syrup bring one cup water and one cup sugar to boil. Let cool slightly and flavor with desired flavored ( any extract or liqueur you like) Unroll cake and brush syrup onto cake using a clean, new paint brush or pastry brush) Sponge cakes are made to absorb flavors so be generous here.

To make French Buttercream 

Egg Whites

10 egg whites (use the whites that come in a carton. they are already pasturized and pose no risk or salmonella)

 

Sugar

Butter

15 ounces

2 1/2 lbs

 

 

 

 Start whipping egg whites slowly in the mixer until foamy. Increase the speed of the mixer and slowly start adding the sugar until all the sugar is incorporated. Once all the sugar is in, increase the speed of the mixer even more and whip until the mixture is shiny and stiff. You now have a meringue. You know when your meringue is done when you pull out the whip, hold it horizontally, and if you have what looks a “sparrow’s beak” on the end of the whip.

Replace the whip, turn the mixer on medium and start adding the butter a bit at a time. Once all the butter is incorporated, turn the mixer on high and let mix; depending on the weather, the buttercream could take anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes to form. You will know when it has formed when you hear the motor of the mixer start to slow down and whine a little bit; also, when you first add the butter, your meringue will break down and look weird and this is what you want. When the buttercream is done, the mixture will be homogeneous, consistent, and tasty.

Remove the buttercream from the bowl and transfer to an airtight container. Buttercream can be kept at room temperature for a few days or in the refrigerator for a 1 to 2 weeks, but always use warm buttercream when icing a cake. To make chocolate buttercream add cocoa powder with whisk till smooth. 

 Spread buttercream layer onto unrolled sponge cake as if you are making a cinnamon roll. Begin rolling cake again and before. Once rolled, slice into desired length at an angle. Cut a small angle off opposite side and place on top of cake to resemble tree stump.

filled and rolled sponge cake with ends trimmed.

filled and rolled sponge cake with ends trimmed.

 

The final step is to frost and decorate the cake. You can either use a pastry bag and tip ( I like #1D) or spatula and the tines of a fork to get the bark effect.  Use a fine tip (like a #5, 6, or 7) to draw on the rings of the tree. You can decorate it with anything small and festive. Look for tiny Christmas tree ornaments or try the cake decorating section of your local craft and hobby store. Finish with a generous sprinkle of powdered sugar of a White Christmas.

Chocolate Buche de Noel from Daddy Cakes

Chocolate Buche de Noel from Daddy Cakes

Thanks for reading and happy baking!

 

Buche de Noel

November 7th, 2008

  

 

Daddy Cakes

4102 Gage Center Drive

Topeka 66606

(785)228-2300

Tues-Sat 11am to 7pm

www.daddycakescupcakes.com

 

 

 

Buche de Noel

 

 

The traditional French Christmas Dessert

 

Available through December

 

Flavors:

Chocolate

Strawberry

French Vanilla

Lemon

 

Small serves 5-6    19.95

Medium Serves 6-8 $25.95

Large serves 9-12  25.95

 

Each cake comes beautifully decorated and packaged in a gift box perfect for giving or creating a spectacular table centerpiece.

 

 

Country Stampede

July 8th, 2008

Thursday June 21st Daddy Cakes Cupcakes in Topeka Kansas was asked to create a special birthday cake  for former American Idol contestant Kellie Pickler who was scheduled to perform at the Country Stampede in Manhattan Kansas. Since her new single is entitled “My Red Shoes” we created two sparkly ruby high heels on top of a two tier birthday cake. The bottom layer is red velvet and the top layer is Cookies and Cream. Unfortunately due to bad weather she was unable to perform that night, but rumor has it that a select few got to enjoy the cake which Kellie personally served to them in her trailer. A special thank you to local radio station WIBW 94.5 country for inviting us.

What a thrill

March 19th, 2008

Sometimes we get requests for cakes that are just so much fun to do, I would probably do them for free (but don’t come in and ask- I’ll have to say no) Today I came in to find a cake order for the Speaker of the House Pro Tem. (don’t ask me exactly what that means) But needless to say:  would I say no, even if we were over booked?

Here is what he got…..

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Some People…..

March 15th, 2008

Well folks, it is with a little bit of saddness that we must say, some people just don’t get it.   Daddy Cakes is about great ingredients and great cake. Are we Walmart? Heck no. We’re better. Take one bite of our Death by Chocolate  cupcake made with bittersweet Guittard chocolate and you’ll see why. Or our I love Lemon cupcake made with homemade tart lemon curd and light and fluffy lemon buttercream. We are a small buisness that sets ourselves apart by the quality of ingredients we use, the artistry that goes into each cake, and the people that work here. What we offer at Daddy Cakes you can’t get at most supermarket bakeries. We bake from scratch. When you eat our cakes, you will taste the difference. Our buttercream doesn’t come from a bucket. It comes from real butter. We make each cake differently for each customer. We don’t have you select from a book of designs. We talk to each customer about what they want and try to get the little details that are important to them.

If you have ever seen the movie “Like Water for Chocolate” then you know the old wives tale that whatever you are feeling while baking and decorating goes into the person eating the cake. We like to remember that at Daddy Cakes and consider each and every customer when decorating their cakes. This weekend seemed to be the babies theme. We love babies! Cake makes people happy, and cake makes babies REALLY happy. We did a boy baby shower theme, a first birthday and two second birthday’s. We put so much thought and care into making a cake the kids (and moms) would love.  Maybe its the stress of their day or a miscommunication, but when a customer doesn’t like their cake, well- it just ruins our day. We really want our customers to love their cakes. To the folks who didn’t like their Tnkerbell inspired cake beacuse it had some pink on it, we are really sorry, but when you tell us Walmart is better,  that tells us a thing or too about what you wanted in the first place. To everyone else who loves our cakes and cupcakes…Thank You. We’re glad you get it. It is our pleasure to be a part of your special day.

Basket Ball cake

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tinker-bell-theme-cake.JPG

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baby boy shower

Cupcakes at the Capital!

January 30th, 2008

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Everyone loves cupcakes, At least that’s what the people at Kansas Credit Union were hoping when they ordered 400 individually packaged Daddy Cakes cupcakes .They were being handed out to legislators in the rodunda of the Topeka Capital Building on Wednesday. Daddy Cakes was at the state house earlier this week as well in celebration of Kansas Day where we made two dozen Republican themed cupcakes. In the name of giving equal time to both parties, we’d love someone to come in and order some Democtatic Donkey cupcakes, or maybe Obama 2008 on a Daddy Cake.