Cocoa & Fig featured in the Star Tribune: Good restaurants in the Minneapolis skyways

The Cocoa & Fig retail shop was in the spotlight in the Star Tribune Taste section this week as one of Rick Nelson's picks for good restaurants in the Minneapolis skyway.  He called us the "Sweet Spot" of the skyway!

From the article:

How many downtowners know that one of the Twin Cities’ best bakeries is parked on a skyway? It’s Cocoa & Fig, and the tiny Gaviidae shop is the source for a slim but wickedly tempting array of imaginative cupcakes (pick up C&F’s luscious riff on the Hostess fudge classic), cookies (it’s easy to fall for the scalloped-edged faux Oreos) and festive cake lollipops. The four-packs of bouchons, intensely chocolate-ey cork-shaped brownies, are ideal $5 gifts, or, better yet, as a midafternoon indulgence.

 Read more at the Star Tribune website.

Join the C&F Team

Cocoa & Fig is seeking friendly, reliable, and energetic individuals for part-time retail customer service positions at our shop downtown Minneapolis.

As the face of Cocoa & Fig, you enjoy interacting with dessert fans, selling and stocking sweets and confections, retail merchandising, and taking and filling orders in a busy environment. Other responsibilities include answering phones, maintaining inventory, and light cleaning. Previous experience using a POS system or working retail is a plus. Must be organized and self-motivated with the ability to work independently and efficiently.  Having a sweet tooth wouldn't hurt either.

Hours needed: Monday to Friday 2 pm -- 7pm, Saturday availability is a must: 9am -- 6 pm

Interested candidates can email their resume to cocoaandfig@gmail.com

No phone calls please.

Finalist for Minnesota Bride's Best Of 2012 Award for Best Favor - Cocoa & Fig

Cocoa & Fig is honored to be a finalist for Minnesota Bride Magazine's 'Best Of 2012' Awards for Best Favor! Winners will be revealed in the Fall/Winter 2012 issue of the magazine which will be on newsstands in July.

Thank you to all of our brides, grooms, fans, & friends for voting for us!

FOUND // The Art of Wedding featuring Cocoa & Fig

Join us for a revelatory night of cocktails and celebration as Photogen Inc. and Rivets & Roses present “FOUND // The Art of Wedding," on Friday, January 20th, 2012 at 514 Studios in the North Loop district of Minneapolis.

FOUND celebrates local talent working to elevate weddings to an art form and introduces engaged couples and Twin City art lovers alike to their work. The event will be curated by Eliesa Johnson and features fine-art installations by photographers Photogen Inc. and Rivets and Roses, fashion designer Tara LaTour, floral designers Munster Rose, filmmakers Capture Studios and stationer Paperista. MN Bride will be handing out complimentary copies of its latest issue, while Flow DJ spins some tunes, Cocoa & Fig will display and serve our tastiest confections, and the lovely crew at Crispin will pour up tastes of their refreshing cider. So whether you’re a newly engaged couple or a fine art enthusiast, FOUND is sure to find you enchanted, inspired, and a little imbibed.

For more details, check out the event website at foundevent.com.  See you there!

CRAVE Guidebook and Chocolate Bouchons GIVEAWAY WINNER

In honor of our feature in the CRAVE Minneapolis/St. Paul Guidebook, we decided to give away a copy of the CRAVE book and a four-pack of Cocoa & Fig Chocolate Bouchons.  Thank you to everyone who entered sharing your favorite desserts with us.  And the winner chosen at random is: anastasiapaige!  Congratulations - we'll be in touch to get you your winnings.

CRAVE Minneapolis/St. Paul Guidebook GIVEAWAY

In honor of our feature in the CRAVE Minneapolis/St. Paul Guidebook, one lucky Cocoa & Fig fan will win a copy of the CRAVE book and a four-pack of Cocoa & Fig Chocolate Bouchons!  You'll be prepared for an awesome 2012 with this guide to exceptional, women-owned businesses in the Twin Cities (and have some sweet treats to eat as you browse!)

To enter, leave a comment on this post telling us what your favorite dessert is along with a link to your blog profile or website with your email contact info listed.  Contest ends at midnight on Monday, January 2nd and winner will be randomly chosen, announced and contacted on Tuesday, January 3rd.

Good Luck!

Cocoa & Fig Featured in the CRAVE Minneapolis Guidebook

For the second year in a row, Laurie has been featured in the ultimate guidebook to women-owned businesses in the Twin Cities, CRAVE.  Her two-page spread includes photos of C&F desserts, a snippet about Cocoa & Fig, and her thoughts on running a business.  Check out more of the fabulous and local, women-owned businesses in the CRAVE guidebook by picking up a copy at the C&F Gaviidae retail shop.

Holiday Menu 2011

We're excited to share our 2011 Holiday Menu featuring new treats, seasonal flavors, and whole dessert sizes!  

 Click here for the menu!

Proposal Planning Giveaway

Proposal Planning is a newer trend that assists men in creating a unique, personalized setting for that perfect propsal moment that the couple will remember forever. We're excited to share a giveaway of an extraordinary proposal planning opportunity - Elizabeth Anne Weddings along with several top-quality Twin Cities wedding vendors are partnering to give a winter Proposal Planning package to a lucky guy!

This package includes:

Planning Assistance by Elizabeth Anne Weddings

Photography by Jeff Loves Jessica Photography

Videography by Capture Studios

Flowers by Ashley Fox

Graphic Design by redshoes 26 design

and Sweets by Cocoa & Fig

If you (or someone you know) have been wanting to propose, but just needed a little help creating that perfect setting for the proposal moment -- then this is the opportunity for you!  To enter, email info@elizabethanneweddings and include a little about yourself, your girlfriend, your love story, and the ideal proposal.

Entries must be received by November 13, 2011.  Winner will be contacted the week of November 14, 2011. Proposal will take place between December 1, 2011 and January 23, 2012.

Cocoa & Fig at Maiden MN 2011

For the third year in a row, Cocoa & Fig will be taking part in the stylishly fun and charitable shopping event, Maiden Minnesota.  Taking place at the Graves 601 Hotel on November 3rd, Maiden Minnesota features a wide range of products and services from women-owned businesses in Minnesota. 

We'll be offering cupcakes, cake lollipops, and French macarons, and you'll also have a chance to bid on something decadent from us at the silent auction.  Learn more and purchase tickets at the Maiden Minnesota website.  Hope to see you there!

Etiquette Class with Paperista

We're so excited to share an upcoming event with you.  Paperista, the fabulous custom stationery boutique, is hosting an etiquette class just for brides.  And what could make an etiquette class even more fabulous?  A great dessert table, we think!  The event is Tuesday, March 29th from 6 – 8pm and features Angelyn Davis, an expert on etiquette.  Join us as she prepares you to host the most important event in your life – your wedding!

Just a few things you can expect to learn how to:

• Give guests critical preparation clues
• Have grace under fire with stressful situations
• Table manners while everyone watches you
• Greet guests in a memorable way
• Send meaningful thank-you notes
• Proper posture: how to look comfortable in your dress
• Word invitations, address envelopes, handle your guest list

The class is free, but space is limited.  Reserve your attendance by March 25th by contacting PAPERISTA: 612.886.3470 (or) info@paperista.com.  You can also visit Paperista's blog for more info, or just to look at dreamy stationery!

STYLE ME PRETTY

Cococa & Fig was recently chosen to join Style Me Pretty's elite Little Black Book. If you are not familiar with the Style Me Pretty wedding blog you absolutely must head over there now and take a look! Beautiful eye candy for the style obsessed bride.

We're just tickled to be included in this invitation-only guide that spotlights some of the best wedding vendors in the country. What an honor to be in the presence of such wonderful talent!
Be sure to check out our listing.

MAIDEN MINNESOTA

We'll be participating in Maiden Minnesota again this year! Last year was so much fun we jumped at the opportunity to do it again this year. The evening will be filled with gorgeous products from Minnesota-based Women-owned companies and we feel honored to be included. Find out more information on their website: Maiden Minnesota

THE BRIDAL PARTY

We spent last Sunday at The Bridal Party wedding show held by Minneapolis/St Paul Magazine. The Metropolitan Ballroom hosted the event. We love having the chance to meet engaged couples and show them our work. Weeks before the event we began planning our display. For those new to our world, we offer a variety of dessert options for wedding receptions. I like to break our options into three categories: cakes, cupcakes, and dessert tables. The dessert table has become more popular in recent years and they are so much fun to put together! For this show, we decided to do something a little different, a little brighter!

We chose gorgeous shades of orange and yellow: tangerine and sunburst. All the desserts and candy for this table were in shades of tangerine and sunburst which made for a fabulous table. But a dessert table is never complete without flowers, so we called the best in the biz: Jackie Just of Just Bloomed. Check out the amazing flower balls atop fruit filled vases she put together for us. Not only is her work impeccable, she's also one of the kindest people we've had the pleasure of working with. And talent must run in the family, because her sister, Jennie of Sewell Photography, took these amazing shots of our display. Thanks guys!

And now for the desserts!

Orange Starburst Cake

Chocolate Peanut Butter Lollipops

Chocolate Covered Pretzels

Vanilla Macarons

Lemon Coconut Cupcakes

Let Cocoa & Fig create a custom dessert table for your wedding reception!

The Bridal Party

We're busy getting ready for our first bridal show of the season, The Bridal Party by Minneapolis/St.Paul Weddings Magazine. On Sunday, September 20, you can find us at the Metropolitan Ballroom from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm. Stop by for a sample of our famous Black Velvet cake! Pictures of our table display will be posted after the show. It might just be our best dessert display yet!

More Markets!

We wanted to also mention that our delicious baked goods can be found in two other markets across the Twin Cities!

Minneapolis Farmers Market
312 East Lyndale Avenue North
Sundays: 7:00 am - 1:00 pm
www.mplsfarmersmarket.com

White Bear Lake Farmers Market
Washington Avenue, Downtown White Bear Lake
Fridays: 8:00 am - 12:00 pm
www.whitebearlake.org
(begins June 26)

Now there are 4 great ways to enjoy Cocoa & Fig each week!

Cocoa & Fig in the Star Tribune

Check out what Rick Nelson had to say about Cocoa & Fig in the
Taste Section of the Star Tribune:

Traffic at 8th Street and Nicollet Mall in downtown Minneapolis suddenly got heavier, at least on Thursdays, when the affable Joe Lin sells partner Laurie Pyle's imaginative and scrupulously produced baked goods at Cocoa & Fig. "The cherry-almond scones sell out in a couple of hours," said Lin, and it's easy to see why; the palm-size ham-Cheddar-green onion scones probably don't exactly linger, either.

Buttercream-lavished cupcakes are self-contained, single-serving birthday parties in paper wrappers, and if you see bouchons, a five-dollar word for intensely chocolately cork-shaped brownies, buy them immediately. Pyle's latest creations, baked in her Shakopee kitchen, are slightly sweet brioche pull-aparts ($3), some finished with lemon zest-flavored cream cheese, others with Nutella. Both are compelling enough to make a person give up their a.m. bagel routine, at least on Thursdays. At their original Prior Lake Farmers Market location, the duo has added made-to-order breakfast to the mix, serving crab-cake Benedicts, huevos rancheros and blueberry bread pudding French toast. My next free Saturday morning, I'm Google-mapping Prior Lake.

Cocoa & Fig (www.cocoaandfig.com), Minneapolis Farmers Market, Nicollet Mall between 5th and 10th Sts., Minneapolis, 612-333-1718, www.mplsfarmersmarket.com, open 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursdays. Prior Lake Farmers Market, Hwy. 13 and Pleasant Av., Prior Lake, 952-447-0263, www.priorlakefarmersmarket.com, open 8 a.m. to noon Saturdays. For a complete list of Twin Cities metro area farmers markets, go to www.startribune.com.

RICK NELSON

We've been blogged!

Cocoa & Fig recently appeared on Tailor Taste, a local blog highlighting style, taste and creativity. You can check it out here. Thanks Katherine!

Twitter!

Everyone is doing it and now we are too. Cocoa & Fig is now on Twitter!

A lot of people are asking me.... what is Twitter anyway? Well, here's a great explanation straight from the Twitter website:

"Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question:
What are you doing?"

We use it as a tool to keep you updated on the happenings around Cocoa & Fig. Sometimes I tweet about little things that happen throughout my day. We do hope you'll join us in the fun, here's a link to the Cocoa & Fig twitter page. Happy tweeting!

cocoa powder

A couple of weeks ago I told you about our Black Velvet Cupcakes and explained that we use the mother of all cocoa powders... Valrhona. Actually, we exclusively use Valrhona cocoa powder in all our recipes that call for cocoa powder. I also promised to give you a little more information on the topic. You see, not all cocoa powders are created equal. There are actually two types: natural and Dutch-processed.

Most of the cocoa readily available in the grocery store (Hershey's, Nestle, Ghirardelli) is unsweetened natural cocoa powder.

Unsweetened Natural Cocoa Powder

The Dutch-processed cocoas (Valrhona, Lindt, Droste) are treated with an alkali to neutralize the acids, making them perfect for baked goods. Valrhona cocoa powder is quite a bit more expensive, but we think it's worth it for the superior quality and flavor. Everything is just a bit more, well, chocolaty!

Valrhona Cocoa Powder

Notice the difference in color. This difference carries over into the baked goods you make. Now, take a look at the cocoas below, side-by-side.

Valrhona, Hershey's and Nestle Brand Cocoas