In the Kitchen...

As you may or may not know,  we're a brand spanking new dessert business, (barely 3 months old!) but we've been preparing to open for over a year and half before we took our first order.  Besides working on the business plan and testing recipes in our home kitchen, we were also busy researching on necessary permits and also looking for a kitchen to bake our CCs (Creme Caramel) and BPs (Bread Pudding.)  (Maybe we should have looked into making desserts with shorter names.)

Thanksgiving holiday order prep.

Creme Caramel in an array of fall colors.

In our quest to making our business a reality, we lucked out and found a fantastic Small Business Incubator in LA off of Robertson Boulevard, Chef's Kitchen!  Sarah, the kitchen's General Manager is awesome and has been very helpful in developing our process.  The kitchen is open 24 hours/7 days a week, which is helpful in our case since we still have day jobs.  There are several private kitchens available and the location is freeway accessible off the 10!

Our Creme Caramels waiting to jump into the oven!

We'll be cooking away this weekend for our second week at the Sunday Melrose Place Famers' Market in West Hollywood.  We hope to see you there!

Don't forget to check out our "Hot" Chocolate Bread Pudding with All Spice Cafe's Ghost Pepper Grind, this Sunday!!  And if you haven't checked out our Caramelized Bacon Caramel Bread Pudding with Cast Iron Gourmet's Cajun Bacon, get there early!  We sold out last week, so don't miss out!

XOXO
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"Hot" Chocolate Bread Pudding!! Only at Melrose Place FM!

One little post - about big flavor and heat!

We're pairing up our Chocolate Bread Pudding with All Spice Cafe's Ghost Pepper Grind for some "Hot" Chocolate action!  What is Ghost Pepper?  Tell us Wikipedia:

"The Bhut Jolokia, as it is commonly known—also known variously by other names in its native region, sometimes Naga Jolokia—is a chili pepper recognized by Guinness World Records as the hottest pepper in the world."

Afraid?  You shouldn't be, but this is definitely for those who like a little spice and heat.

We met John Lesko and JD Cowles of All Spice Cafe at Artisanal LA's shows in October when we were buying yummy goods and in December when we were slangin' our own treats.  John Lesko had the inspired idea (based on his own test recipes of chocolate and spice) to take our Chocolate Bread Pudding and sprinkle a little of their Ghost Pepper grind on the dessert.  One word, "Wow, that's pretty amazing."  Ok that's 4 words, but the flavor of the chocolate melds with the warm heat of the Ghost Pepper and it's a party in your mouth, folks!

We will serve our "Hot" Chocolate Bread Pudding with a small container of the Ghost Pepper grind.  It is up to you to choose the heat, test with a little or kick your mouth in, we just ask that you be kind to you. :)  We recommend our Creme Anglaise sauce topping for a lovely flavor saver that will help mellow out the heat and make it warm in your tummy and tongue.

This will be available ONLY at our Sunday booth at the Melrose Place Farmers Market.  Come by and check out the hot stuff and our other treats!

XOXO
K

76 degrees outside and we sell out of HOT Bread Pudding!

February 6th, 2011 marked the first day we opened our "doors" at the Melrose Place Farmers Market and it was a beautiful!

We woke up at the crack of dawn to slightly chilly temps and headed west towards WeHo from Silver Lake.  The produce vendors were already in place and the prepared food vendors and crafters were setting up for the day.  We grabbed a cup o' joe from fellow vendor Oscar's Coffee, unloaded our "store," and the day took off with a great start.  We were welcomed by our neighbors, Honey from Bolani (SO GOOD), Bergen from Eat Me Cookies (Delicious and good for you!), and Phil from Fair Trade Express (I bought the cutest little bull handmade in Peru for my new nephew).

 

Burro the Bull

Really awesome people vending fantastic products.  We're in GREAT company!!

The morning warmed up and the sun was bright and... well, sunny. :)  Rose penned a sign that it was our first day of business and it was official.  We were slangin' desserts!

(Photo Courtesy of John Lesko)

We loved the look of instant pleasure and the positive reviews from our sample tasters.  Really, that made all the long hours worth it.  We loved when we were asked, "Are you coming back next week?" multiple times.  Yes.  DEFINITELY!  (Please and thank you!)

The day was made even more fantastic when we sold out of our Chocolate & Caramelized BACON Bread Puddings!  Another hot (sold out) seller was our Original Creme Caramel.  For our new loves out there, get there early.  We don't want you to miss out!!

 (Photo Courtesy of John Lesko)

We heart the vendors and WeHo community for such a warm and sweet reception.  We can't wait to see more of you out next Sunday for our second day of business!!

Thanks to my very dear loves, Sean G, Creese W, Adri D, and Rose V for their support and help throughout the day.  You are awesome beyond compare.

LOVE LOVE LOVE to our friends and family that stopped by:  Vicky, Diana, John, Jenn B and the rest of the B family. :), my bro Kyle (aka my webmaster) and Sheila, my sis Karleen and Jules (sans new baby boy.), and lastly, my moms and pops.  Our day was made brighter by your presence.

Week #2 here we come!  And look what we have in store for you:

Week #2 - Hearts and Hot Love Week
We have two news items for you!
1) We're adding a little spice to our regular menu.  Literally!  Try our "HOT" Chocolate Bread Pudding made warm by All Spice Cafe's Ghost Pepper Grind spices!!  This past Sunday's sold out Chocolate Bread Pudding will have a little hot action going with a simple sprinkling of All Spice Cafe's Ghost Pepper grind.  The amount of spice is up to you.  We'll give you a container of the goods, you sprinkle your desired temperature.  The result is a warm, but not overwhelming heat that is tempered by the chocolate custard and our recommended sauce topping of Creme Anglaise.  Get hot with our Hot Chocolate BP!! (Sorry - this lovely flavor will only be available at the Melrose Place Farmers' Market.)

2) LA/OC dwellers - Order ONLINE for the 14th and send your loves (friends, fam, and/or hot luvah) creme caramel and bread pudding to sweeten their day.  (Ok, I hate that I used the obvious verb - lame, I said adjective, but I meant VERB. ;-) )  Last day to place your order for delivery to addresses (home and office) in LA and OC counties is this Thursday, February 11th by 4pm!  Want to save on delivery fee and pick it up on Sunday at our booth?  Enter the coupon code HEARTSIES and we'll confirm your order will be ready for pick-up anytime between 10am-2pm at the Melrose Place Farmers Market this Sunday, February 13th.  This coupon is only valid for pick-ups at the Melrose Place FM.

Thank you again for the love and support on our first day.  Hope to see you this Sunday!!
Kristine

Here are more pics from our first day!  (Thanks to Jenn B and John L for the pics. :)

Our Store!

 (Photo Courtesy of Jenn B)

Weekly Menu

  (Photo Courtesy of John Lesko)

Melrose Place Farmers Market

 (Photo Courtesy of Jenn B)

Happy B Fam with Chocolate Creme Caramel

  (Photo Courtesy of Jenn B)

The early crew - Sean G, and Creese W.

(Photo Courtesy of KdlC & retouched by Cathy G.)

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SUPER SUNDAY!!

Super in a lot of ways.  There's a game going on that I hear is pretty popular.  If you are going to a party celebrating this annual game centering around pigskin, don't forget your pig eats!!

Caramelized BACON Caramel Bread Pudding - the CBC! (Pictured below with Salted Caramel sauce.  Thanks E for the pic!)

If you're looking for gluten-free options, check out our Crème Caramel desserts for your sweet craving: (Oooh, this is a pretty sassy picture of our Cafe, Original, and Chocolate Creme Caramel!)

As special thanks for reading and your support of Crème Caramel LA, we're offering a special Party Platter Pack discount if you order online and pick-up at our Melrose Place Farmers Market booth this Sunday!

Creme Caramel - $22.50 - 6 pack (Sold individually - $4/each)
Bread Pudding - $26.50 - 6 pack (Sold individually - $5/each)

Just place your order online through our Google Checkout by 6pm on Saturday, February 5th and use the coupon code "MPCFM."  We'll have your order ready for pick-up at the booth on Sunday anytime between 10am-2pm.  Just in time for the big game!  (This offer is valid only for pick-up at the Melrose Place Farmers Market on 2/6/11.)

Thank you for reading.  We hope to see you soon!

:), Kristine

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Drive-by Desserting!

What an awesome week!  My sister gave birth to a pretty awesome little man, Julian Zachary.  I heart that little boy so much!!

And if that wasn't amazing enough (actually it is - the rest is just icing,) we're opening our weekly "store" at the Melrose Place Farmers Market this Sunday - February 6, 2011!  The Melrose Place FM is located on La Cienega and Melrose Place (near the Beverly Center.)

Our booth will be open during the farmers' market hours - 10am-2pm, but we're offering, "Drive-by Desserting" for our loves!

How does it work?
-Follow us on Twitter @cremecaramella or email us at cremecaramella@gmail.com.
-Tweet or email your order and we'll respond back to confirm and give you a contact number to call when you are near by.
- We'll give you the designated spot to meet near the Farmers Market and huzzah!  Drive-by Desserting!
-All we ask is a 1/2 hour heads up and you're good to go.

Or you can just park and come by our booth and chat it up with us! :)

We're still taking online orders for delivery in LA and OC counties, so check out our Google Checkout widget on our blog or on our website!  You can also place an order for pick-up at the Melrose Place FM.  Just send us an email (cremecaramella@gmail.com) and we'll give you the deets!

We hope to see you this Sunday!  We're so excited to finally bring our desserts to our CCLA loves!!

:), Kristine

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This makes me want to vend in my backyard...

A little backstory to my giddy giggles today:

I've been working on starting Creme Caramel LA for over a year before we officially launched at Artisanal LA last month.  Part of my plan was to vend at a weekly farmers' market.  I had an idea of what the booth would look like and how we would vend.  After sending my ideas to the booth company, Promotional Design Group in El Monte, they sent back renderings and I was really impressed with their work and customer service.

Today they sent pictures of the booth fully assembled and I now want to open up shop in the backyard of my apartment building.  (Sorry, Creese - my landlord.)

WOOHOO!!  We have a "store"!  And we have a home!

Sunday, February 6, 2011 - 10am-2pm
Melrose Place Farmers Market
La Cienega/Melrose Place

I'm MIA because of my sister's shower this week, but I'll be back next week with little notes to hopefully entice you to come and see us.

WOOHHOO!  11 more days!!

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It's Official!!

We just received approval for our weekly home!!

Melrose Place Farmers Market (La Cienega/Melrose Place - West Hollywood)
Sundays - 10am-2pm

WOOHOO!!!

It's a smaller market, but we know it will be wonderful for our start and for our present and future loves!

More details on our official starting date coming soon.  But geez, I can't tell you how excited we are to finally have a weekly spot to bring you chilled creme caramel and hot bread pudding!!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!  Take care and be safe.

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