Christmas Eve Cupcakes!

HELLO, and Merry Christmas Eve!
I'm blogging from allllllllll the way over on the west side of the country, in my tiny hometown of Mount Vernon Washington. I woke up this morning excited for days of relaxing, eating, laying on the couch and being fanned while someone serves me wine. All memories of baking out of my mind and replaced with new ones of...say...presents! I walked downstairs, grabbed a cup of coffee, and the first thing out of my dear mothers mouth is "Keavy, you get started making the cupcakes".......well crap.
I've been working on a TOP SECRET project that might involve some recipe writing, and to see how my writing checked out (and cleverly come up with an excuse not to bake) I decided to use my sister Molly as a guinea pig. For a woman who has a hard time making anything but toast (which she would like me to inform you she does "quite well"), she did a fantastic job with the mini cakes. A little help from me with the frosting, and we now have bonafied Kumquat cupcakes to take to our family gathering! Hoorah!

Molly carefully reading the recipe.

Everyone meet Violet who is patiently waiting for some crumbs to fall off the table

The finished product in a very clever carrying case from Momma Landreth

Check out Molly's website & blog! She's an amazing photographer and is going to be having a show in Soho this January.

Happy Eating!

xo
Keavy

Mediabistro <3's Kumquat

And we love mediabistro too! Here is a snippet from the email I recieved from them....

"Mediabistro.com had our 1st annual Birthday Baked Goods poll and Kumquat Cupcakery was the winner!

Other bakeries in the poll:

Sugar Sweet Sunshine
baked by Melissa
Butter Lane
Baskin Robbins
Stuffed Artisan Cannolis
Tonnie's Minis

Heather"

Done & Done

The Gifted Market is still going strong, but Kumquat Cupcakery has left the building.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU, to everyone who came to the market to visit me over the past three weeks. Times were definitely stressful, but getting to meet fans who have been following us for years, and also create new ones (one woman bought a 12 pack every day!) made the whole thing worth it. I loved seeing peoples faces light up (especially the dudes) when they saw the bacon on the cupcakes.
Overall a wonderful experience that I'll definitely take place in next year. I'm already scheming new items to bring, and how to better set up the table.

I found this box of cupcakes in my kitchen that never made it to the flea, so I've brought them back to my humble abode. I thought for sure I would never want to see another cupcake again (or for at least a week), but low and behold....I've already eaten two. They are really good arn't they?? Sometimes I forget.

My tiny christmas tree....

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
Keavy

Even runners need sugar sometimes....

I was just sent these images from Ben Nilsestuen (one of kumquat's very best customers), of his running team in central park chowing down on some of our mini cupcakes!
These pictures are darling, and it looks like these guys really earned those cupcakes.

Let's take a moment....

This only has about %5 to do with cupcakes, but Idon'tevencare.
Scavaging through emails in the wee hours of the morning, making sure everything's on target for today's orders (which btw, OMG), I ran across this invitation. It's the only thing that could have stopped me in my frantic tracks to make me grin from ear to ear. Val & Andy, of whom I've known since the first time I set up shop at the Artists & Fleas market two years ago, are finally getting hitched. I'm so frickin' happy for them. I'm also so frickin' happy about their invite....how amazing is that picture?!? A.maz.ing.
I will be making beautiful red and white rose cupcakes for their wedding, and will be sure to post many many pictures.

Gotta run or you people will remain cupcakeless.
THIS WEEKEND IS THE LAST WEEKEND I WILL BE AT THE GIFTED MARKET! .....so stop by :)

xo
Keavy

NYC DAILY DEALS!

The folks over at NY Daily Deals love our stint with the skint so much they decided to make one of their own! Check it out.....

Kumquat Cupcakery is extending a special offer to New Yorkers today! The first 50 people to stop by their stand at Gifted: A Holiday Market (20 E. 4th Street @ Lafayette) starting at noon and mention NYCDAILYDEALS will be treated to a free cupcake!

DIRECT URL TO DEAL: http://www.nycdailydeals.com/2009/12/free-cupcakes-from-kumquat-cupcakery-in.html

Count down....

Kumquat Cupcakery's last day will be the 23rd of December, so remember to get your holiday orders in by the 19th at the latest!
Here's a picture of some cute cupcakes all dressed up and ready to go to a party....

NY Liberty Blog Translation.....

I recieved an email last night from a darling woman named Maiko explaining to me that she just moved to NY from Japan, and that she is both in love with my cupcakes and the Japanese blog that my cupcakes were written up in last week. She saw that I was in need of a translation for the article.....and so she gave me one! Amazing!

So here is is folks.....The NY Liberty Blog translation!

Title: "Kumquat", here is the most delicious cupcake bakery in New York.

Paragraph1: I just found a very cute cupcake bakery at "Gifted", which is one of inside flea market in Downtown Manhattan.

The name of this bakery is "Kumquat". There are bright 17 flavors of cupcake, and they are all $1 each. Cheap, isn't it??

Paragraph2: I saw a picture of postcard on the table that the owner Ms.Keavy Landreth eats some mini-cupcakes at a room with plenty of mini-cupcakes.

I like this photo!--That's unique and so much fun!

Paragraph3: Fortunately, I was able to talk with Keavy there. She finished two schools; Parsons The New School For Designs, and French Culnary Institute. After that, She has run her business since October 2007. I think she is the great owner in spite of her age.

Paragraph4: She usually sells her products at Brooklyn Flea and on her website. As for shopping on website, you can order them as both catering and delivery.

Hey, let's go to her website; That's cute again! There's a photo of Keavy as the introduction of owner. It made me smile.

Paragraph5: She is wonderful. I think it is the complete business. She is cute so doesn't look the owner from outside, but I felt that she really enjoys her business.

She has a nice atmosphere and shines up!!!

Paragraph6: By the way, every cupcake tastes amazing! They are not too sweet and well-balanced sweetness.

I could get 12 cupcakes with tiny pieces of bacon and that was what I've been most surprised at. AWESOME!!!

Have you ever discovered any cupcakes with bacons before? No, right? I'm so impressed by them, seriously.

All the products has fully considered for customers, for example, the size that everyone can eat easier, flavor, ingredients and so on.

Additionally, they are pretty and good-looking cupcakes. Unbelievable!!!

I say this with my confidence and certainty, "This is the most delicious cupcake bakery of all".

Not bad! Thanks Maiko!

xo

Keavy

Solving the Bacon crisis

Here at Kumquat we believe in growing the business very slowly. There are many reasons we do this (the fact that I've never owned a business before and have lots of messing up to do is big), but the one that sits oh so brightly at the top is money. We have no small business loans or family loans holding us up, so when I get money it goes strait back to Kumquat. One thing that this has held me back from doing these past two years is going completely local or organic, even though I myself try to eat as locally as possible. HOWEVER, I'm thrilled to say that with a recent increase in business I'm finally taking small steps towards sustainability, and reaching out to other small businesses in the area.
This leads me to STEP ONE.....get awesome bacon.


When I ran out of bacon this past week (again, I'm sorry!!) I knew it was my opportunity to venture over to the south side of Williamsburg to see if I could find some awesome bacon over at one of my favorite stores, Marlow and Daughters. The guys there helped me pick out a very thick cut bacon from Edwards farms which is %100 certified humane. It looks so yummy. I'm going to be baking some of the bacon cupcakes tomorrow and will post how the judging goes.

I couldn't leave without a gift for myself so I bought some yummy kielbasa to go with my new Curry Sauerkraut from McClure's.......I can't wait for dinner.

xo
Keavy

Pictures from this last weekend....

wow. What a weekend. Did anyone pass by the market on Saturday? If yes, then you might have seen me looking slightly frazzled behind a very hungry mob of people. I went through 2 days worth of cupcakes in only 4 hours!! You people love sugar! ;) I dutifully went back to the kitchen that night to bake for the next day, and snapped some pictures of the finished product.

These were new Maple Cinnamon cupcakes that I made up on the spot. Since we went through twice as many bacon cupcakes as anticipated, we ran out of our bacon stock. I think these cupcakes look so cute, and almost resemble eggs. I think next time I make them it wont be a maple cinnamon flavor but something a bit more eggy and floral with maybe a drizzle of honey in the middle. who knows! I'll have to play around.

This is what 1,000 mini cupcakes look like....

alright, back to the kitchen!
xo
Keavy

cute wedding pic

Okay, so my email etiquette as of late has left something to be desired. If you are one of those people that got a 3 page essay coming from my iphone, or had to wait 48 hours to hear if I could put pink frosting on a chocolate cupcake, I'm sorry! December has proven to be a tiiiiny bit crazy over here at Kumquat.
That's why when I received this email I couldn't help but feel utterly delighted that the tables had turned. Along with the letter she attached this photo, and it's...ummm....AMAZING.


"So i figure that three months is a pretty standard response time for me at the moment (eek). But there is absolutely no excuse for that fact that I have not yet written to you to tell you that you are the most fabulous baker in the world and you did the most amazing job at my wedding and everything was wonderful and that i will forever be grateful. :)"

As if that isn't cute enough, she write for this adorable blog.....

Thanks Erin!
xo
Keavy

Cupping at the Crop to Cup headquarters

As some of you may remember, Crop to Cup and Kumquat Cupcakery have been neighbors for a little over a year now. Taylor, head brewmaster at Crop to Cup, was the one who showed me the space in downtown Brooklyn and saved me from my stressful life of baking in my own kitchen.

Last night they held a "cupping" for family and friends. I had never been to one of these before, and was curious to see how the masters determine good coffee. I admittedly have been addicted to the stuff since I was about 13, so I pride myself on when knowing when a cup is "good" or "bad," but have never sipped a cup of coffee like a glass of wine. Having each cup side by side and doing the proper slurping method (something like what your mother told you never to do with soup), you can definitely tell the difference in each coffee. One coffee tasted strongly of blueberries, and we later found out this was because it wasn't dried properly. Pretty cool.
Overall it was a really fun evening and I've attached some blurry iphone pictures for your enjoyment.

The coffees...

Alexis, the newest member of Crop to Cup demonstrating the slurping method

Taylor skimming the roasted coffee off the tops of the cups

Sarah (the new kumquat baker) being very studious and taking notes on each coffee

xo
Keavy

Don't forget about free cupcakes this Saturday & Sunday....

Gifts Galore and Cupcakes presented by Its Ok my Dear and The Shiny Squirrel


On saturday and sunday, December 19th and 20th, The Shiny Squirrel and Its Ok my Dear are going to be holding a fun Holiday event at Its Ok my Dears' store front studio in Williamsburg. There will be some last minutes shopping from local Brooklyn Based designers such as Brooklyn Rehab, Species by the Thousands, Take off your Clothes, Beetle and Flor, etc as well as free drinks and FREE CUPCAKES from Kumquat Cupcakery.

December 19th and 20th
246 Grand St
btw Driggs and Roebling
12:00 pm to 7:00 pm

L Train to Bedford Ave
All Major Credit Cards accepted
Free Cupcakes and Drinks

Kitchen photos....

Sarah had the day off yesterday so I entertained myself in the kitchen by taking waaaayyy too many pictures of cupcakes. My iphoto library has more pictures of cupcakes than it does people....it's sad.
So here it is....the line up for this weeks Gifted Market!








nom nom nom....
See you there!
Keavy

This weeks schedule.....

Here's a line up of where you can find Kumquat Cupcakes this week.....

First on the list is the Savor the Success Charity fundraiser and Holiday party. Kumquat Cupcakery will be donating 10 dozen cupcakes for the event.
After a long week at the Gifted Market I'm excited to throw on a pair of heals and head uptown to mingle with other women entrepreneurs. Come sip a few cocktails, eat a couple cupcakes, and support a wonderful charity.

Bake Sale

THURSDAY DECEMBER 10th

Coco66 www.coco66.com

8pm

BJ and Stephanie are back!

Bringing you hilarious comedy and delicious treats!

This weeks sponsor: The Kumquat Cupcakery

www.kumquatcupcakery.com

We can't wait! yummmmmm

FREE CUPCAKES! FREE COMEDY!

DID WE MENTION IT'S FREE?

Show starts at 8pm!

COCO66 www.coco66.com

Take the G train to greenpoint ave.

Kumquat Cupcakery will be back again at Bake Sale this Thursday. If you love comedy, Greenpoint, and free cupcakes you should definitely head over to Coco 66 to support your local stand up comedians.

Task in Williamsburg is having a two day holiday Trunk show run by the lovely Jessica of Shiny Squirrel. Jessica has ordered 8 dozen cupcakes to be given out during the course of the day so hurry on and snag a few before all the hungry hipsters devour them all. It runs December 12th & 13th from 12-7pm.

xo
Keavy

Bailey's Cupcakes

Feast your eyes on these bad boys.....


Being a tad overwhelmed this season with the gifted market and holiday orders I haven't had much time to play around in the kitchen. I wanted some new flavors for the market so I took some advice from my kitchen mates and made a Bailey's Irish Cream cupcake. At first I only put it in the cake, and although there was a hint of bailey's flavor in there, it just wasn't enough to satisfy me. After trying out different combinations with chocolate and coffee I landed on this beauty.....bailey's irish cream caramel sauce. I made the same caramel sauce as the Coffee Caramel Bourbon Cupcake, but instead of using Bourbon I used Bailey's....and Voilà! Delicioso!
This cupcakes will be introduced at the Gifted market on Wednesday.
xo
Keavy

Gifted Market Pics...

Hey look! It's Stacy London lookin' sharp & eating a Kumquat Cupcake! :) After she finished eating she gave it two big thumbs up and said it was "really really great." I just hope I dressed okay today....

We ended up selling out for the first time in a week! Not that we haven't been selling cupcakes like crazy, but I made it my personal mission to bring so many tiny cakes each day that I would never sell out......I have failed. ;)
Tomorrow we are back for the weekend with a brand new batch of cupcakes. The flavors will be changing each week, and will be including some fun holiday assortments. I've had a couple requests for Chocolate P.B., so you'll be seeing those next week. Any other suggestions?

Chocolat Peppermint & Sweet Wort

As requested Kumquat Cupcakery has been working on a few new holiday flavors! Introduced for the first time at the market yesterday is our Chocolate Peppermint Cupcake. It doesn't get much better than rich brownie like cake mixed with the creamy peppermint frosting. I must admit the frosting is a bit more fuchsia, and not quite as candy cane, as I would have liked....but they are very pretty all the same. I'm doing a bit of research on switching to all natural dyes, but right now all my results are coming up very very pricey. Any suggestions on where to look?

And next up....Sweet Wort! The reason for the jaunt to Red Hook yesterday was to collect this new fun ingredient.
A few months back I met one of the head brewmasters for Six Point Craft Ales at a Greenspaces party. We got to chatting about our respective businesses and he ended up telling me how wonderful this thing called sweet wort is, and how he often makes ice cream from it. Loving a good challenge (and an excuse to be around beer) I told him right then and there I was going to be making a trip to the brewery to pick some of this magical barley juice up for myself. And gosh darn it, I did. I had a ton of fun chatting with him, and getting to see the process of how they ferment the beer. I even got to taste what half fermented beer tastes like, and it's pretty delicious!
I got back too late yesterday to play around with it, but am going to be blogging about the whole process (might even make a little video) so stay tuned.

xo
Keavy

Thanks Amy!

If you stopped by the Gifted Market yesterday to buy a cupcake, than you met the lovely ms. Amy Cao of Amy Blogs Chow.
While I drove from flatbush to manhattan to red hook to queens and back to manhattan yesterday, Amy stepped up to the plate to take over the title of cupcake monger for the day.
If you haven't already, you should definitely take a look at her blog. The writing is hilarious, and her videos for Stupidly Simple Snacks are highly entertaining.
Thanks again Amy!
-Keavy

NY Liberty blog....

I ran across this great article today about "Kumquart" at the Gifted Market. I totally remember these guys, and would love to know what the article says. Are there any translators out there? Check it out.....http://nyliberty.exblog.jp/

They got some great photos!




xo
Keavy

Epicurious Predicts Top 10 Food Trends for 2010

Another article about cupcakes! This article specifically mentions MINI cupcakes. Heyoo! Mini cupcakes takin' over the world!
okay okay....so they mention them as being set on the back burner....eh. I honestly skimmed over that part, and am kinda flattered that mini cupcakes have become so big that they are now passe. I don't want to take ALL the credit for the mini cupcake movement, but gosh darn it, I'm going to take some of it. I remember when I switched to making minis way back when in the summer of 2007, I thought it was such a novel idea. "Mini cupcakes?!? How adoooorable!" I had never heard of someone making an online cupcakes store, let alone one that was entirely mini. Then 2008 rolled around and mini cupcakes were popping up everywhere: baked by Mellisa, Crumbs, Nine Cakes. I did feel slight twinges of animosity, but I also felt kinda flattered....they were copying me.....that's kinda cool. I get nostalgic remembering back to my first blog post. Sitting on the end of my bed in my tiny brooklyn apartment in my pj's, writing about the cupcakes I would be bringing to the Artists & Flea Market. Hoping I could pull a fast one on people and actually lead them to believe I had my own business. I had no clue how fast it would spiral into an actual business....let alone one that is "so last year."
Anyway, being on the back burner with burgers.....not too shabby.

Here it is....my first blog post....

Saturday, October 20, 2007

Artists & Fleas market

I'm excited to finally introduce the Kumquat Blogspot! Even though i'm aware of the fact that my baking skills slightly surpass my writing skills, I'll try my darndest to keep all you sugar fiends up to date on the latest Kumquat creations.

First big exciting news is that Kumquat Cupcakery is taking to the streets of Williamsburg Brooklyn this sunday, at the Artists & Fleas Market, to win over the hearts of all brooklynites one delicious mini cupcake at a time!

Here's a sneak peak at tomorrow's menu:

-Strawberry Cupcakes with a Cream Cheese Frosting

-Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting

-White Chocolate Cupcakes with Raspberry Frosting

-Chocolate Coffee Cupcakes with Chocolate Caramel Frosting

I have to admit, with that line up in mind I couldn't wait to start baking so I did a little test round just for myself (and a couple of the curious kids who live in my building) yesterday. Not only did they end up being one of the most adorable cupcake line ups i've ever made, but they were AWESOME tasting. I skipped on dinner, ate one of each, and didn't feel guilty in the slightest.

The market runs from 11am - 7pm and will be held here:
129 N. 6th st.
btw Bedford & Berry
Brooklyn, NY

www.artistsandfleas.com

Hope to see you there!

-Keavy

GIFTED!

The first week of the holiday market has wrapped up, and I must say it was a rousing success! I was incredibly impressed with the way you folks bounced back from Thanksgiving! :)
So now what? Now I spend the next two days running around like a maniac to insure that when you come back Wednesday I'll have an even more dazzling display of miniature delights.
Errands include Ikea, costco, staples, cake & bake, and then back to the kitchen. All in one day? yes....it can be done.

I'll leave you with some pictures from this last weekend.....

The cupcakes on their way to the market....

How cute is she? I was amazed how many kids liked the chocolate lavender cupcakes.

My two favorite folks at the market....and no it's not just because they give me free beer....

My new neighbor! I was a little disoriented not being by other food mongers, but it turns out this situation will work out quite well for everyone. Concentrating so much on cupcakes I tend to throw my own hygiene to the wind, and the owner of Australian Scent must have picked up on this. She's already gotten me completely hooked on their amazing soaps and lotion.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's blog, I'll be sharing some pretty fun news! yay!
See ya then,
Keavy

NY Times cupcake article....

Did any of you get to see it? What did you think?
I think that the article is really interesting, but the comments below it are even more so. It seems that everyone who commented was very negative about cupcake shops, saying it's a fad or not a viable business. Being a cupcakery owner myself I believe it can be done.....but you have to do it right. To be honest I'm still trying to figure out what "right" is, but I do know that the #1 priority is to have a stellar product. Making a product that's empty calories, or just a rehashed version of something everyone's seen before will lead to people growing tired of it....just like the commenters in the article.
I think this is good, and I'm excited to see where this whirlwind of cupcake mania will take us. Moving on some will survive and many of them will fail.....and in my humble opinion it will be the ones with more heart and less sugar. :)

xo
Keavy

They're waiting for you.....

Starting at 12pm today the Gifted Holiday market is finally open for business!! Dodge the awful macy's crowds and come hang out with us eating cupcakes and drinking beer. :)

-Keavy

The Thanksgiving orders....

have officially been sent out for eating. Phew!

Now it's time to buy lots of wine, maybe some more butter, and cook cook cook until sundown tomorrow.....so nothing new really... ;)



I hope you all have a wonderful wonderful Thanksgiving!! Eat until you can't eat no more, and then eat dessert.
I'll see you on Friday!

xo
Keavy

Sarah Haas

After two years of being head baker at Kumquat, spooning every single cupcake into a baking sheet, frosting every tiny cupcake with it's appropriate design, I'm very happy to be finally handing over my pastry bags. Sarah Haas is now Kumquat Cupcakery's first full time baker!! Sarah has already proven herself to be a fast learner, a wiz with frosting designs, and a cheery pleasant person to be around.....which is very important here at Kumquat.
Sarah will be hiding in the kitchen most of the time, so as a way for you to get to know her I asked her to write a little something about herself.

Ladies and Gentlemen, please meet.....

Sarah Haas

"My name is Sarah Haas and I am proud to be the first employee of Kumquat's master cupcakery. New to baking, it hasn't taken long for me to fall in love with these mini delights. In fact, I often to their reassuring sweetness when the big city gets a little rough. You see, I'm a westerner at heart, a Coloradan in spirit and I'm very very new to New York. It was only six weeks ago that I moved to the shabbiest of sheek Brooklyn apartments, a shocking transition for this country bumpkin. Snowboarding in Colorado powder, hiking through rocky mountains and farming Californian chickens, goats and veggies are my activities of old. Now, instead of waking up to rooster calls, honking taxi's serve as my alarm. Soon enough, I'll be at graduate school at NYU (MA in art and philosophy), but for now I am a baker by day and an happy explorer of the streets of the city by evening and night. I might just be the the luckiest girl in the city and it it makes me so happy to bake bake bake all day."

xo
Keavy

Law Students for Reproductive Justice & Cupcakes

This last week Kumquat Cupcakery dropped off cupcakes at a fundraiser for Law Students for Reproductive Justice. It's a wonderful organization, and I highly recommend taking a second to check out their website: http://lsrj.org/


Here's an image I was sent of "Laura Mehlinger, the owner and designer of Lola.Haze lingerie who donated her lovely wares at our event." Looks like she's enjoying a p.b. banana cupcake while her friends are eating the chocolate pistachio.

Are you part of an organization that regularly hosts parties? Shoot us an email to find out more about our donation packages.

xo
Keavy

Marshmallow test

Okay....this has nothing to do with Kumquat, but it's way too cute to not post....

Oh, The Temptation from Steve V on Vimeo.

Happy Sunday!

Keavy

Sold out early on the Last Flea

There are two things I'm really bad at: actually using my camera when I bring it to the flea, and estimating how many cupcakes to bring. Today we sold out at 2:30pm! Selling out last week, I used my good judgment this week and brought twice as many cupcakes thinking it would hold us over till 5pm. shoot.....

The loneliest Maple Cinnamon cupcakes

Here's my neighbor Neki of Early Bird Granola being a ham for the camera (I really wish I could have thought of a granola pun for that one.......are there granola puns?)

-Keavy

Chocolate Lavender at the Brooklyn Flea 11/21

I got an email yesterday from an attendee of the B.C.E saying, "I had your chocolate lavender cupcakes at the Brooklyn Chocolate Experiment last weekend and I’ve been craving them all week now!"
So, being the oh so generous cupcake maker that I am, I decided to bring them to the flea this weekend! With tomorrow being the last day for the Brooklyn Flea in Fort Green before turning into the Gifted Holiday Market in Manhattan I decided I needed something a little special anyway. Here are some action shots of my new baker (gasp! more on that subject to come in future blogs) frosting a whole hoopla of them.

We will also be having Pumpkin and Red Velvet, and out of the shot there are Maple Bacon, and P.B. Banana

She's very skilled with the pastry bag.....

Everyone welcome Sarah Hass to Kumquat Cupcakery!

See you at the Market tomorrow!
-Keavy