what splendid timing for this article to come out…right when i leave the market.  ouch.  but all is not lost.  the cakes are still bein’ made and i’m still the producer.  you just won’t find me and my cute vintage oven on the streets of ballard any longer. here’s the link to the article:  http://www.seattlemag.com/0p38a1377/meet-the-producer-hot-cakes/

thank you seattle magazine!

i know this photo is ridiculously huge, but i had to post it. look a the beautiful detail in the soil and roots...mmmhm! photo copyright of ned frisk

This is so exciting for me, the first business (besides my dear, sweet work) to approach me with enthusiasm for my little side project, Hot Cakes! I love it! I am thrilled, humbled and honored to put hot cakes on the freezer shelf in Picnic, Jenny and her husband Anson are amazing and have really great taste in the food they produce, the wine they carry and the products they bring in from outside; small and local producers like Theo Chocolate and Boat Street Pickles. 

So get your chocolate-loving self on over to Picnic and swoop the one and only take-n-bake molten chocolate cake in a jar!  Made with love using Theo Chocolate, organic eggs and organic fair trade sugar.

If you haven’t been to this stinkin’ adorable, hip, thoughtful, tasty and conscious new “sustainable sandwich” hot spot, you now have your suggestion for your next lunch date.

Okay, first of all, this place is near and dear to my heart before I even walk in the door as I used to work right next door when it was Atomic Rag O Rama – does anybody remember that store? The up-side-sown wedding cake, the penis pasta, the quirky magnets….

ehhhhm.  – Homegrown. 

a) their tables are made from old high school basketball gymnasium floor.  

b)they sell Theo Chocolate.  

c) a couple of young and ambitious dudes dreampt the place up.  

d) the food is tasty.  

e) their branding is BRILLIANT.  

f) they think about the origins of their ingredients before purchasing.  

g) they’ve got spunk. 

h) they refuse to sell bottled water.

 Considering they are the new kids on the block,  I was expecting my dine-n-dash experiences to be a bit on the rocky side, but I was rather impressed by their cheery attitudes and willingness to please…not to mention their tasty fare.  As any start-up, they have minor stuff to work on, but when all is said and done, I like what they got goin’ on.

Since I stopped the farmer’s market I have been missing the dear sweet flavor of the Josephine, an almond-butter-rum financier that I developed with inspiration from the

I grew up in Brier, Washington, a little leg of Kenmore, with it’s own police department and a candy store , which is most likely where my chocolate passion truly started. My parents had their hands full with 4 kids so we didn’t get to the city often. But when we did make the trek, we always stopped at La Panier for their friand, a perfect butter financier. We would buy enough for each to have two because while eating the first, you couldn’t help but think about the next. The frinads at La Panier have changed shape at least 3 times since I first encountered them, which had to have been a good 20 years ago, but the flavor and texture are the same…spot on. So, when I was working at Canlis, I was determined to re-create the friand as a gift for my little sister who loves them so. Actually, my whole family loves them but it was my little sister who’s name now claims my version of my first childhood pastry romance. My sisters name is Kaycee, not Josephine, but my brother and I have been calling her Josephine for years, a hybrid of her two middle names – Jo Nadine.

Anyhow, the point of all of this is to say that I miss making the Josephines for people! They sold out nearly every time at the Ballard Farmers Market and it made me so happy to slip a little bit of heaven into a brown paper bag in exchange for a few bucks and a big smile. ..

I had wonderful adventures at the Ballard Farmer’s Market this past fall and winter – what an experience! I’ll never forget slingin’ molten chocolate cake and Josephines in 4” of snow, sipping on hot chocolate (spiked with scotch and Baileys, courtesy of the wonderful Janna, of Secret Stash Salts) as cross country skiers cruised by.

Or my very first market day where I sold 80 little jars of molten cake –  it was the Sunday before Thanksgiving so that trend didn’t carry over to the Sundays that followed but Christmas came close!

As rewarding as the market days were, Sunday’s also marked my 7^th day of work for the week and well, I just got tired of working so much. So, i have stopped selling at the market but the jars of molten chocolate-goodness live on!

My beloved place of work, Theo Chocolate offered to sell the Ari Cole molten chocolate cakes back in December and it has been a great outlet for them so far.  Now my focus is on producing them for the Theo retail store and anybody else who wishes to carry them.

Alas, if you are looking for THE take n bake molten chocolate cake, come to Theo Chocolate retail store, open every day 10am to 6pm. You can, of course, find the most delicious organic, Fair Trade chocolate there as well. If you are looking for a special order for an event or celebration, I would love to help, shoot me an email and we can work out the details.

Thank you for your support at the Farmers Market and I hope to see you around!