Change of Plans!

So, this week we had some set backs.  The worst being that our bankcard number was stolen and used to purchase about $700 of computer equipment.  Luckily, we are covered and the money will be returned within the next week.  Thank goodness our account is monitored very closely or they may have wiped us out within a couple days!

Several good things happened over the last two weeks, too!  Our full sheet oven was delivered yesterday!  We are ready to fire it up.  It will be great to bake 100 cupcakes at a time, compared to 24 in my little oven at home.

While I was on vacation, the new floors were installed.  It made a dramatic difference!  No more blue and red tile, just beautiful wood floors and dark trim.

The first of our vinyl lettering has made it onto the wall.  Beth installed our tag line above the kitchen window.   It looks so good!  Thanks to Amy W. for helping us with our decorating.  I hope I am not driving her completely insane with all my emails, text messages and phone calls. 

Our refrigerated bakery case was delivered right before I left for vacation.  It is, quite possibly, my favorite piece of equipment so far.  This is kind of a mini bakery case, but it is plenty big enough for our cheesecakes and cream pies!  It is just adorable!  I'm sure I am the only person on the planet who finds a bakery case adorable, but I can't help myself.  It may also be the fact that it was the first piece of NEW equipment to be delivered.  We purchased a lot of used equipment that had to be scrubbed from top to bottom, inside and out.  When this arrived, we used a little Windex to clean off the fingerprints, but other than that, it was CLEAN!

The last few nights, I have been working on our menu boards.  Beth found four picture frames, two that are really large, and painted them up with a sort of silver antique-like finish.  She then cut some wood to fit each frame and painted them with chocolate colored chalkboard paint.  We could use them as chalkboards, but wanted to fancy them up a bit.  So, we are using vinyl lettering.  These are the two that are finished.  I still have two more to go!

And that ends the sneak peek pictures.  We still have counter installation on the schedule for this weekend and the first part of next week!  These are the last interior pictures I will be posting before our opening.  To see the finished product you will have to come visit us!

We have made the decision to delay our opening by one week. Working with the Health Department is not a quick process. Just today we received our letter stating that we have Department of Health approval. This does not mean we can open. We now have to schedule two inspections and pray that they don't require us to make any major changes. At this point, we are relatively confident that this will not be a problem. Our first inspection will be on Monday.  Wish us luck!

So, Labor Day weekend, we will have special hours for our Grand Opening Celebration! We will provide free coffee and tea, along with samples of of some of our fresh baked desserts. Additionally, we will have a variety of our daily dessert and drink items for purchase.  We will resume our regular hours the following Tuesday.  Here is the information for our opening.

Grand Opening Weekend!

Friday, Sept. 2 from 4 pm – 8 pm

Saturday, Sept. 3 from 9 am – 3 pm
Sunday, Sept. 4 from 10 am - 2 pm

 

We hope that you, your friends
and your family will
join us to celebrate
the opening of our bakery!

We are located in the
Dierberg’s Shopping Plaza at

5688 Telegraph Road

St. Louis, MO 63129

Several of you have asked for a flyer containing our opening information.  I am attempting to post a link to a printable Grand Opening flyer.  If I am successful, it will be located to the right of this post with the title Grand Opening.  We will also be sending the flyer via email and posting the information on facebook.

And because it wouldn't be a blog post without a cake picture, here are a few!  Before I left for vacation, I did this Baby Einstein cake for a first birthday.

And this Winnie the Pooh cupcake tower for a first birthday.

And, last but not least, Africa cookies!   This is a hand-shaped cookie cutter that started out as an oval.  I've never had a request for a cookie shaped like a continent, but it can be done! 

Hope to see everyone at our Grand Opening!

Mark Your Calendars!

Okay, so first things first, we have a tentative opening date!  Mark your calendars! If everything goes right and the health department gives us the go ahead in time, our Grand Opening will be on Friday, August 26 and Saturday, August 27!!!!!  We hope to have a large crowd both days, so tell everyone you know and plan to come by and pick up something sweet! 

We have made quite a bit of progress in the last few weeks.  A lot of running around and check writing.  Quite a few changes have come about inside the shop.  As you can see in the following pictures, the colors have changed.  The yellow and red walls are a thing of the past!

The kitchen floors have been buffed and waxed.  Can I just say, they were disgusting!  Now they are all shiny and looking almost new.  The new molding goes in tomorrow and then we will begin moving in the kitchen equipment and fixtures this weekend.  The ceiling in the dining area has been dusted and painted and all those little light fixtures that were blue and red have been painted black.  Quite an improvement!

Unfortunately, we still have the red and blue floors. Yikes!  No worries, a new floor is on it's way.  We will move all the equipment into the kitchen and then the new floors in the dining area will be installed in a couple weeks, probably while I am on vacation.  Picture a dark wood floor.  Can you see it?  After the floors go in, we will just have the counter area to finish up and then we can set up the coffee bar and bring in the tables and chairs.

Our viewing window is going to be a great place for the kiddos.  I plan to have my prep table under that window so they can watch cakes being decorated, cupcakes being iced and other items being prepared. 

Because we just couldn't wait, we hung a few pictures on the wall.  We had some of our photos blown up and printed on canvas for the big brown wall.  They are 30 x 30 and I really love them.  The coffee bar will sit just underneath.

The plaza has installed the hanging sign outside our door!  We are pretty official now.  Just waiting on our big sign - hopefully it will be up in the next couple weeks.  Our menu boards are in the works and some vinyl lettering for the windows will go up in the next week.  We have to commit to some store hours soon, as they will be posted on our door. Yikes!

I have baked about 84 cinnamon rolls in the last two weeks but haven't done much else.  We were out of town for a bit and July seems to be a slow month.  Guess it's the heat!  The flamingo cupcakes were for a party that my girls had with their friends.  I found the flamingos at the dollar store.  They were actually drink stirrers but made great cupcake picks and the cupcakes matched their party ware.

These cupcakes were for a birthday swim party.  The picks were handmade - flip flops, surf boards, sunscreen, beach balls, the sun, and a beach umbrella.  A few were personalized for Grace, the birthday girl.  Lots of bright summer colors!

If you would like to receive the details for the grand opening by email, just send us an email with "Grand Opening" in the subject line to icingcafe@att.net.  Or, you can just check back here periodically for more information!

Beth is out of town this week and I will be on vacation the second week in August.  When I get back, school will start and we will hopefully open the following week.  It's happening! 

Amy

Just Pictures This Week . . .

So, mostly this post is going to consist of pictures that we have taken over the last few weeks.  One of the most exciting pictures . . .

You can now drive into the Dierberg's Plaza and see this sign in our window.  Of course, it is really crooked in this picture.  If you know me, you know that that bothers me immensely!  But, I am happy to report that Bill and Beth went up there and fixed it up.  So, when you drive by, it will be all nice and neat.  It's the little things!

This was last weekend's project.  A wedding cupcake tower.  This is the tallest thing that I have ever made.  It was equivalent to a seven tier cake.  The tower held about 150 cupcakes and a small cake on top for the bride and groom.  There were an additional 150 cupcakes in the kitchen for the 300 guests that attended the wedding. 

This is the before picture of my cinnamon rolls.  They don't look like much here, except the swirl is pretty impressive.  Lots of cinnamon, brown sugar and butter in that swirl.  But once they are baked and a layer of icing is poured over them while they are still warm . . .

they become something really special!  Ooey gooey cinnamon sugar goodness!  Hoping to have these available everyday.  We are also thinking we may make several batches and freeze them.  You would then be able to pick them up, place them in your refrigerator overnight and bake them in your own oven the next morning.  I am thinking they would be great to have for Christmas morning, or any morning really!

This was a Spongebob and Patrick cake full of crabby patties for twin boys. 

This little cake sat atop a cupcake tower for a first birthday party with a luau theme.  The cupcakes below went on each tier of the tower. 

This was a little cake for a baptism.  The little cake was surrounded by the cupcakes below.

Baseball cupcakes for a birthday party.  The "dirt" was buttercream icing rolled in brown sugar.  A little "grass" was piped on top and a cake pop, decorated like a baseball, was placed in the grass.

The request for this cake was, "he wants a cake of the Rocky Mountains with a mountain lion on it."  So, this is what I came up with.  Maybe not as impressive as the Rocky Mountains, but a mountain nontheless.  And, a tiny mountain lion making it's way out onto the road, purchased at a local craft store.

Things are starting to move forward inside the shop.  We went and washed the windows last week and used tape to map out the front end of the store.  Seeing where the counter, coffee bar, tables, pictures, etc. made it feel like things are really coming together. 

We picked out paint colors and booked a lot of appointments.  Floors will be buffed, the space will be cleaned, we will get an official phone number, electric will be run, venting will be installed, floors will be installed, a new window will be put in place, new trim will be installed, pictures will be made and menu boards created.  Lots to do and most of it will happen over the next couple weeks!