We're mad about these cookies!!

Crazy mad that is! And we know if you are a closeted 70's or 80's kid you'll be crazy over our MadNibbles too!

Didn't you just ______those cool ______ fill in the blank note _______ that you could _____ with all your ______? LOL We loved 'em. We loved 'em so much we could just eat 'em...now you can too. We've designed our own text to suit any fill in the blank craziness you can come up with and put it on our yummy cookies to ship out fresh to you or your pal.

Just like all our Invitastions, you get to pick the box color and ribbon color, but this time the matching card that comes with the cookie is a pre-printed post card all ready to be addressed and mailed from the recipient to you or anyone else they want to share the fun with. We also send an edible marker to fill in those blanks! Hey, we'll even try to match or compliment the marker color to the ribbon color when possible.

$20 each and available now at Sweet Talk Boutique!
In addition to the new fresh look on the home page and the introduction of MadNibbles, we've got some other goodies in the works. Check back often this summer to see some cute gift ideas we're bringing to our boutique just for you!

Sweet Talk's Featured Items!
MadNibbles Cookie Greeting...20$ shipping included.

The evolution of a cake bite...

We've all seen them now; this once obscure little taste of ultimate cake and chocolaty goodness. We've even seen them take many a form.

From the fancy schmancy truffes de gateaux to the too cute for words cupcake pops from bakerella.

How about a butterfly? Why? Because I can silly! And so can you.

Make your favorite recipe of cake bite dough, but instead of rolling it in a ball use your rolling pin to make sheets of the dough about 3/8" thick (or more if your mouth is on the side of large). Then just use your favorite little butterfly cutter and cut your sheet of cake bite dough, chill, then dip. But...ahhh, the finishing touch...cut up some of your favorite chocolate transfer sheets to fit and lay your bite to set on the transfer. This lovely baroque sheet from Fancy Flours was perfect - couldn't you already see the butterfly in there? I did.

Have fun!

~ then have a bite or two!

My favorite cake bites are made with blackberry infused ganache and my chocolate chambord cake, but you can make them however you like.

Elegant and Easy DIY favor boxes

So, you've decided on the treat, but you have no idea how to present it with taste and style. Here's a design I've done that's super simple but has a huge impact for presentation factor. It's a little time consuming, but the pay off is worth it and the difficulty level is fairly low.

A small to mid size take out box will easily hold 2-4 truffles or cake bites, 2 ounces of bite size cookies, or even a small cupcake! Be sure to bag those goodies in a FDA approved cello bag first to avoid unsightly stains on the box that may soak into the cardstock from any butter content in your treats.
You will need:

• your favorite take out box or box template and some pretty cardstock or textured stock.
• grosgrain or double face satin ribbon of 3/8" width by about 8" length
  
• accent ribbon of about 1" width by about 4" length
  
• silk flowers pulled from the stems, shown are hydrangea silk blossoms, 2 layers of petals
• hang tags already printed; leave extra margin in the top left corner of the tags
  
• decorative grommets and grommet setting tool or small hammer
  
• you may need an craft knife in addition to shears and a hole punch tool
  

All of these items can be purchased at your favorite craft store or online of course.
I chose grosgrain ribbon to compliment my ribbed cardstock boxes, and used a palate of moss green and mustard yellow. I was even able to find the perfect mustard ribbon with moss edging.

1. With your box already assembled, mark and punch, on the two narrowest opposite side panels, 1 hole about 3/4" from the top flap fold line. Tie a knot on one end of the 3/8" ribbon and thread the ribbon through the hole from the inside out so that the knot is in the inside of the box. Continue to thread the ribbon through on the opposite panel of the box from the outside in and tie off the ribbon on the inside of the box. This was the trickiest part, the box can sort of get in your way while tying that second knot.
2. Mark and punch one hole about 1/2" from the corner of what will be the top left flap of the box "lid". Mark and punch one hole in the top left margin of your hang tags.
   
3. Strip your silk flowers from the stems and select your blossoms. Layer them in twos so that the blossoms sort of overlap one another so you can see all the petals. You do not need to punch a hole here, one is already there from the stem. Put these aside.
4. From an "awareness ribbon" loop with the 1" wide ribbon and punch a hole through both layers of the ribbon where they cross.
5. Layer your pieces in this order from top to bottom; blossoms, ribbon loop, hang tag, and place on your lid flap lining up the holes.
   
6. Secure the blossoms and ribbon to the flap with your decorative grommet.
7. Fill your boxes
8. Wow your guests!

Can't you just imagine lots of other ways to embellish take out boxes? I can. Enjoy!

Sweet Talk Boutique is Cool, Mom!

What a great treat to find that Liz from Cool Mom Picks wrote about our cookie invites and announcements on May 13th. Frankly, I can't even say it better than Liz did...check it out!

Look for some changes and new ideas on the Sweet Talk site soon too.

Thanks Liz!

And hey, don't forget, now you can get stationery without all the calories - our signature illustrations are available on note cards and sets.

You can't get there from here...

Or perhaps we should have named it "She's in the boonies but Takes Your Cake anywhere you want".

In an effort to help out my prospective brides, and at the risk of unannounced visitors, we've finally done a map of our location in reference to Syracuse NY. It will be linked to the website for easy access. Please note; as always has been the case with Jen's datebook...you must have a prepaid appointment for a consult OR be picking up a cake when you visit. Please, do not just show up to try some samples...it's not gonna happen. Things are baked fresh...no frozen cake, no case full of goodies, no samples on a whim! Got it? Good!
So, there you have it, directions to my little slice of heaven. It's gorgeous here - just ask anyone who has made the trip and thought they were lost. I always tell my brides to just hang in there for about 5 more minutes if they think they made a wrong turn, and it works every time.

And hey...where'd we get that cool map?! Well, I made it. Kicking and screaming and swearing along the route I made it. But I totally followed the tips and directions over at wedding mapper to figure it out. I had a little trouble, but admittedly didn't follow their map to a "T", mostly because I was impatient, but hey...I suggest you do it their way. I also didn't have a whole wedding party to design invites and maps for, I recommend this site for those couples that do. And if you can't figure it out or want them to do it for you, they will!

Enjoy the ride! Oh and by the way...we make the trip ALL THE TIME, so I don't want to hear any of those lame-o "we're choosing a bakery closer to our venue" excuses ;-) Besides, didn't you hear, it's totally worth the trip!

Head on back to my partners page on the She Takes The Cake website if you weren't done browsing the site. Thanks!

Attention Please...Not All Fondant Tastes Like Crap...

There! I've said it. And it's true dang it!

Here are a few other little bridal cake bubbles I'd like to burst for you.

• The "Get a fake cake and serve a few sheets" thing the magazines perpetuate to frugal brides...not liking that little myth at all. In an effort to debunk this little beauty, I will elaborate later, but the long and short of this one is that in an effort to save a few bucks all you will probably up with is cheap. There are of course exceptions, but I can count them on one hand. And you might not save any money either; no really, it's true.
  
• "Nobody eats cake anyway, don't waste your money". Nobody eats BAD cake and BAD cake gets left on a plate. GOOD cake doesn't go uneaten. And not all wedding cake is bad.
  
• "Don't use the W word, it will cost extra". Contrary to popular belief one will find in chat rooms and magazines, not all wedding cake vendors are out to rip you off. Most professional, experienced designers will take our years of experience and talent into full consideration and ADD those elements to our cost and overhead when we dictate our pricing structures.
• "It's just flour, sugar, and eggs...anyone can DIY a wedding cake". Yep, and anyone can spend the last two days before your wedding day chained to a kitchen covered in said flour, sugar, and eggs. Do you really want it to be you and yo' momma? (and two days is IF you've already done a practice run or two...or four...)
• "Let them compete for your order". Ok, who started this little bit of rudeness? Sending a mass email without the benefit of blind cc to every cake vendor in your area asking for our best price is not going to get us to compete for your business. It may however get your contact info quickly thrown into the trash.
• "Butter cream is better. Fondant tastes like crap". Nope, not always, and like I said...Not All Fondant Tastes Like Crap. And while we're on the subject; some fondant designs can be done in butter cream, but some can't. You better check the portfolio of whoever promises you that they can to see if they can put their dough where their mouth is.

Look for a future post with my take on cake...I'll give you the run down on some things to expect and what to look for when cake shopping. Just think of it as one more piece of advice from one little cake designer to help you make your choices a bit easier. Everyone is different but having some basic info should prove helpful to your planning. The biggest tip I can give is to pick your priorities and do your research. You know...cake research...the kind of research where homework is doing a taste test! But really people, every wedding may need a cake, but not every wedding needs the most expensive cake. Find what you're comfortable with in your budget range, but know your range before you shop and know what your priorities really are.

Your guests will remember if you had a drop dead gorgeous cake that tasted like crap. They'll remember if you had an amazingly delicious cake that looked like crap. They'll remember an amazing cake that tasted as good as it looked every time but what you WANT them to remember is that the day was amazing and the food, including the cake, and company was great.

PS...my fondant is yummy.