COCOA & FIG IN DOWNTOWN BUSINESS JOURNAL

Photo by Kathleen Stoehr

Cocoa & Fig comes to Gaviidae Commons

Cocoa & Fig, the Shakopee-based catering and special events company famous for its high-design cupcakes, cookies and French macarons, opened a retail location last weekend in Gaviidae Commons. The quaint little patisserie — only 230 square feet — squeezes in next to Juut on the second-story skyway level of the Saks Wing of the Commons. Hours are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m.–6 p.m., and Saturdays 10 a.m.–5 p.m.

The retail space — Cocoa & Fig’s first ever — will operate as a specialty bakery, with emphasis on high-end baked goods and coffee in the morning, said owner Laurie Pyle. Pyle hinted at a partnership with Bull Run Coffee Roasting Company, the connoisseur brewers known for taking an exquisitely refined approach to the cup of Joe.

In the afternoons, the store will operate mostly as a dessert boutique, Pyle said, although she would like to introduce a line of specialty, locally sourced sandwiches and soups. Such lunch items may be available in a month, she said.

A grand opening is tentatively planned for March.

Gregory J. Scott

VALENTINE SPECIALS

Valentine's Day is all about the sweets, and so are we! Here's a sneak peak at our Valentine items:

Cupcakes!
Pictured here are Black Velvet with Cream Cheese Icing (and red heart)
Lemon Coconut (with pink coconut!)

Valrhona Chocolate Bouchons

Peanut Butter Pops

New! Cake Pops

View our Valentine's Menu for pricing!

TAKING THE CAKE IN GAVIIDAE COMMONS

Taking the Cake in Gaviidae Common

By Rick Nelson, Star Tribune

Coming next week to downtown Minneapolis: a permanent location for Cocoa & Fig (www.cocoaandfig.com).

Co-owners Laurie Pyle and Joe Lin have been on the lookout for a retail outpost to expand their catering and farmers market operations, and finally found one on the skyway level of Gaviidae Common, a small storefront that most recently housed Groveland Confections.

"It's a big growth for us, in a tiny space," said Pyle. "But it's a good location for testing the waters and seeing how retail works for us."

Pyle and Lin are partnering with St. Louis Park-based Bull Run Roasting Co. for drip coffees (no espresso, since nearby Caribou Coffee has a mallwide non-compete) and plan to serve quiche and breakfast pastries, including muffins, scones and their fabulous cream cheese-Nutella brioche.

At lunch, the menu will switch to tarts, galettes, macaroons, cookies and brownie-like bouchons. Look for eye-catching cupcakes and 6-inch three-layer cakes made in a variety of flavors, from almond cake with caramel buttercream to chocolate with coffee-mocha icing, plus a popular item from the C&F catering menu: dessert "shooters" in 2-oz. shot glasses, including triple chocolate mousse and Key lime pie. (I'm still baking the recipe Pyle formulated for Taste in October 2009 to help celebrate the section's 40th anniversary.)

Further down the road, Pyle said, she hopes to partner with Rustica (3220 W. Lake St., Mpls., www.rusticabakery.com), using the bakery's breads to produce made-to-order sandwiches in the shop's cramped kitchen. Most of the store's inventory will be produced in the C&F kitchen in Shakopee.

When farmers market season returns in late April, the duo plans to return to Saturdays at the Prior Lake Farmers Market as well as weekends at the Minneapolis Farmers Market and Thursdays at its branch on Nicollet Mall. "We're thinking of this as an extension of what we've been doing at farmers markets," Pyle said.

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.

CUTEST BABY SHOWER CAKE EVER!

Baby shower cakes are probably my favorite cakes to make. They are always so adorable! The fun, vibrant colors and cute little touches make them very popular too. It seems that at any given time we all know at least one friend or coworker who is pregnant. Which means I will always have the privilege of making many, many baby shower cakes!

I just love this cake we made for a recent client. This adorable baby elephant cake was for a baby shower celebrating two pregnancies! Friends decided to throw a joint baby shower for the expecting mothers. Since one was having a girl and the other a boy, it was only appropriate to have two elephants on the cake.

The gorgeous colors were inspired by the invitations. Chocolate brown, olive green and raspberry... so beautiful!

How adorable are these baby elephants? I'm sure the little bundles of joy will be even more adorable when they arrive!

GO VIKINGS!

In honor of the big playoff game this evening between the Vikings and Saints, I though it only appropriate to share a recent cake with you. We make a lot of sports related cakes, but this was our first bright purple and gold. Perfect for the football loving member of any family!

Here's a close up of the hand-shaped football Joe created out of fondant. Perfect stitching!

Happy Birthday Dylan!

Go Vikings!