Hi folks! I did a good bit of cooking this weekend, but thanks to a bit of a hectic work schedule it’ll be a day or two before I can get everything typed up & posted. So instead, I figured I’d just do a quick shout-out post to my dear friend Amy of AmyCakes here in Springfield!
I met Amy about 2.5 years ago while we were playing together on a trivia team at Finnegan’s Wake (which happens to be right around the corner from Amy’s bakery). Back then, Amy was just getting her bakery up & running, after purchasing the bakery from Barb Baker (formerly The Bakehouse).
(308 W. McDaniel in downtown Springfield, MO)
Prior to buying the bakery in 2009, Amy concocted her craveable creations using the kitchen at Finnegan’s (then “South Avenue Pizza”). During the last 3 years, Amy’s made a big name for herself & her business around town by doing what she does best—making some of the most amazing baked goods on the face of the planet. And I’m not just saying that because I’m biased or a fiercely loyal friend. It’s a fact, Jack. And I’ve had my share of cupcakes & other baked goods from AmyCakes (I’ll spare you the photo of my muffin top that proves it), because one of the fringe benefits of hanging out with someone as awesome as Amy is that aside from just generally being a super fun, super sweet, super creative person who hosts the best Murder Mystery parties in town, is that, well, Amy brings cupcakes. :) And I, for one, have NO problem whatsoever in being my friend’s guinea pig when it comes to sweets.
(The only REAL question is, which one to start with???)
Last year, my husband & I hired Amy to make the cake & cupcakes for our wedding. We got married in July…on what ended up being the hottest day of the year to date at that point. And yes, we had an outdoor wedding.
And when people come up & talk to my husband these days, after the inevitable (and utterly trite) question of “So how’s married life?”, the topic always shifts to discussing a) how hot it was that day, and b) how we had some of the best wedding cake said person had ever had.
We did a small cake with about 40 servings, and then the rest was cupcakes. Our cake was vanilla with a tart triple berry filling and vanilla buttercream:
(The combination was AMAZING—sweet & tart & fruity & delicious. I hungrily eyeball the top layer that’s still sitting in our freezer, taunting us until our 1st anniversary)
And for the cupcakes we did a “strawberry lemonade” (lemon cake w/strawberry filling) and a cookies-n-cream (chocolate cake w/a whipped cookie crumble frosting).
And birthdays with Amy have never been boring!
(Death by (mostly) Chocolate: Double Chocolate, Chocolate Mocha, Junior Mint, Chocolate Peanut Butter…and Strawberry, to round it out.)
And during a recent Murder Mystery Party, which was pirate themed, even Amy’s cupcakes got into character!
(Blood red velvet, of course! YAR, MATEYS!!!)
Alas, a few weeks ago, AmyCakes made the announcement that they were no longer going to offer a walk-in case, and would be moving to custom orders only (with the exception of downtown’s First Friday Art Walks, when the case will still be open & you can buy an individual cupcake…or seven). I know it really troubled Amy to do so, but she wanted to be able to have more time to focus on her custom cakes and cupcake orders, which have really been picking up. While it saddens me that I can’t run by & grab a cupcake any time I feel like it anymore, I’m so excited that she’ll be able to use this opportunity to grow her business (and perhaps have time to come play trivia with us a little more often).
FYI—as a small compromise to her regular walk-in customers, AmyCake’s famous giant cinnamon rolls (which topped the charts in 2011 as one of 417 Magazine’s Five Best Cinnamon Rolls) are now available in the cooler for take-and-bake. YUM.
Of course…this DOES afford me something of an opportunity to try out some of the other walk-in cupcake eateries around town. As previously mentioned, I’m a fiercely loyal friend, so I actually haven’t tried any of the other cupcakes that are available here in Springfield, because it felt like “cheating” on Amy’s bakery (plus, I mean, why go searching when you already have a great go-to cupcake???). And while I can still pre-order 6 or more cupcakes from AmyCakes if I need to bring something amazing to a party (or just pig out at home with the hubs), I DO, on occasion, just NEEEEEEEEED a cupcake “likeOMGrightnow”.
Soo…maybe some experimentation + reviews are in order, yes? :D
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