Chicago Baking News

Nov 15

Cupcake Mondays Begin Tonight At Lincoln Square’s Grafton Pub

The Huffington Post Reports:

“The Grafton Pub & Grill in Lincoln Square is known for its delicious Guinness, curry fries and killer burgers. But starting tonight, the Irish pub hopes to woo customers with a sweet treat: cupcakes.

Kelly Ortigara and Jenny Kawecki, both bartenders and servers at the Grafton, are cupcake pros. From pumpkin and cream cheese to chocolate, these gals can bake. The duo pitched the idea of a cupcake night to general manager Ben Munro, who quickly got on board.

Starting at 6 p.m. Monday, customers can purchase a beer and a cupcake for $5. If people are pleased, the bar hopes to make Cupcake Mondays a weekly event. After your dessert, stick around for a free show. The Old Town School of Folk Music’s Jug Band Jam with Jonas Friddle starts at 9 p.m.

What: Cupcake Monday

Where: The Grafton Pub & Grill, 4530 N. Lincoln Ave.

When: 6 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.

Cost: $5 buys you a cupcake and a beer

Oct 07

JOHNNY CUPCAKES is coming to Columbia College TONIGHT (October 7th)!  Johnny Cupcake’s lecture talks about how he turned a simple idea into a multi-million dollar clothing brand with nontraditional methods and focuses on the importance of branding, small business management, product development, marketing, and communication. This is perfect event and opportunity students to get a comprehensive picture of how small businesses get off the ground.  It is open to the public!!!! Check out the video here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpcjIM2LMDg October 7th @ 6:30PM The Conaway Center 1104 S Wabash

JOHNNY CUPCAKES is coming to Columbia College TONIGHT (October 7th)! 

Johnny Cupcake’s lecture talks about how he turned a simple idea into a multi-million dollar clothing brand with nontraditional methods and focuses on the importance of branding, small business management, product development, marketing, and communication.

This is perfect event and opportunity students to get a comprehensive picture of how small businesses get off the ground.  It is open to the public!!!!

Check out the video here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpcjIM2LMDg

October 7th @ 6:30PM

The Conaway Center

1104 S Wabash

Sorry for the leave of absence, friends.  Work and life have gotten in the way.  Hopefully, we will be back to regular programming. 

Aug 06

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Aug 05

Happy Shark Week! If you are not aware, it is the infamous Shark Week on Discovery Channel this week.  In honor of this special holiday, I made shark week cupcakes using the recipe from Hello, Cupcake! by Karen Tack & Alan Richardson. A few tips: I couldn’t find the cookies that were called for to make the fins, so I tried fondant instead.  Fondant was a failure due to collapsing fins, so I tried graham crackers and they worked great! When cutting the oval mouths for the sharks out of the fruit roll up, leave the plastic on while cutting to make it easier and less sticky.  Instead of using swedish fish, I used the colored cheddar Goldfish.  I like them better because they are more colorful! Don’t make the sharks to big — they will make the cupcake too top heavy.  (Click on the photo above to see more pictures of the baking process on my personal blog.)  

Happy Shark Week!

If you are not aware, it is the infamous Shark Week on Discovery Channel this week.  In honor of this special holiday, I made shark week cupcakes using the recipe from Hello, Cupcake! by Karen Tack & Alan Richardson.

A few tips:

(Click on the photo above to see more pictures of the baking process on my personal blog.)  

Jul 31

Chicago Baking News is taking a bit of a hiatus for a few days due to a wedding, fun, and debauchery!  

Don’t miss me to much. 

Jul 28

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Jul 27

August Iron Cupcake Chicago: Summer Fruits IronCupcake is a friendly cupcake competition where amateur and professional bakers put their skills and recipes to the test.  Each month features a special ingredient that needs to be incorporated into the cupcake.  August’s theme is summer fruit! Summer fruits are juicy and delicious — and now is your time to use them in your own unique recipe and compete in IronCupcake. If you are not a baker, don’t worry there is still fun for you!  You can taste all the cupcakes, vote and be entered in a raffle, all for just a $5 fee.   So either baking, competing, or tasting, you are sure to have fun at the IronCupcake Chicago Challenge! When: Monday, August 9th at 6:00 p.m.  Where: Mrs. Murphy and Sons Irish Bistro (3905 N. Lincoln Avenue) (For more info click the pic.)

August Iron Cupcake Chicago: Summer Fruits

IronCupcake is a friendly cupcake competition where amateur and professional bakers put their skills and recipes to the test.  Each month features a special ingredient that needs to be incorporated into the cupcake.  August’s theme is summer fruit!

Summer fruits are juicy and delicious — and now is your time to use them in your own unique recipe and compete in IronCupcake.

If you are not a baker, don’t worry there is still fun for you!  You can taste all the cupcakes, vote and be entered in a raffle, all for just a $5 fee.  

So either baking, competing, or tasting, you are sure to have fun at the IronCupcake Chicago Challenge!

When: Monday, August 9th at 6:00 p.m. 

Where: Mrs. Murphy and Sons Irish Bistro (3905 N. Lincoln Avenue)

(For more info click the pic.)

Paintings and Produce.

Remember today is the Museum of Contemporary Art’s Farmers Market from 7am to 3pm.  The open air market offers a variety of fruits, veggies, flowers, produce, cheese, spices, and more!

Be sure to stop on inside, it is FREE day at the Museum.

Insider Tip: A little birdie told me that Flirty Cupcakes will be there with Big Blue!  Yay!

Jul 26

It’s Sprinkles Time! Sprinkles opened with a bang today at their new Chicago location (50 E. Walton Street).  Just look at that line! Why the rush?  Well in 2004, the first Sprinkles was fonded in Beverly Hills by Candace Nelson.  That Sprinkles was the first cupcake bakery in the US!  Today, Sprinkles makes simple yet satisying cupcakes from scratch everyday at all 10 locations throughout the country.  You know it is a Sprinkles cupcake by their signature dot topper.    So stop by today, join the line and get a taste of history! Insider Tip: I opted to pre-order my cupcakes online to skip the line/rush.  I suggest you do the same by going here.  You can even have them delivered, but you will miss seeing their adorable shop.  

It’s Sprinkles Time!

Sprinkles opened with a bang today at their new Chicago location (50 E. Walton Street).  Just look at that line!

Why the rush?  Well in 2004, the first Sprinkles was fonded in Beverly Hills by Candace Nelson.  That Sprinkles was the first cupcake bakery in the US!  Today, Sprinkles makes simple yet satisying cupcakes from scratch everyday at all 10 locations throughout the country.  You know it is a Sprinkles cupcake by their signature dot topper.   

So stop by today, join the line and get a taste of history!

Insider Tip: I opted to pre-order my cupcakes online to skip the line/rush.  I suggest you do the same by going here.  You can even have them delivered, but you will miss seeing their adorable shop.