We’re finally getting a chance to look at some retail space. This one in particular is just a mile or so from us, in the middle of several nice neighborhoods, and just down the street from a couple of schools, a library, a pretty popular tourist destination, and, wait for it… yes, a Starbucks.

Only one problem, no parking. Could we survive as a mainly walk-up operation? They do it in NYC don’t they? If only there was a subway stop around the corner.

Finally got some time to take a few pictures of our handiwork. Enjoy.

Mocha

Carrot

Burnt Almond

Here’s a snapshot of a recent experiment: our ever-popular devil’s food cake with a snappy orange buttercream frosting, topped with candy oranges and leaves.

We’re still tweaking recipes every day here at Snack HQ. In fact, we just perfected our Hazelnut frosting. It is, I believe, my favorite frosting to date. Combining a rich hazelnut flavor with a deep chocolate undertone. Mmmmmm. None of that is going to waste, no sir.

Previously we had a delicious light meringue that would never quite lock in. If we didn’t rush it into the fridge, it would droop and appear to melt. Not very appealing, I have to admit. For that and other reasons we are cycling out the meringue from our recipes and going with the more traditional buttercream. I’m sure as we come up with new takes on it, our beloved meringue will return.

I’m not the best at book reviews, but Candy Freak is a great read if you’re into eccentric descriptions of candy and the processes involved in bringing them to life. Steve Almond uses his freak-level attraction for all things candy to justify a tour of several candy factories around the U.S., and in the process gives a nice snapshot of the current state of the industry. Short version — it’s not looking good for the little guy. A quick read, and some nice nostalgic musings about some truly vintage candy bars. You can’t go wrong here.

One of my many skunks works projects: Jell-O in vintage molds. We hope to offer a variety of mold designs, as well as the requisite popular flavors (Strawberry, Orange, Cherry, Lime and Raspberry). I love making Jell-O — it’s the simplest build ever. And if you get tired of eating it, you can always crush it in your fist. Don’t underestimate its stress reducing qualities.

Out of the 12 British candy bars taste-tested so far, here are the three top scorers: Terry’s Waifa bar (“A delicious bite of smooth milk chocolate coated wafer”), Nestlé’s Munchies (“We are yours”), and Kinder’s Bueno (“Milk Chocolate covered wafer with smooth milky and hazelnut filling”). The Waifa is akin to a super Kit-Kat bar, Munchies are a tamer Rolo, but the Bueno is unique. At first the very liquid hazelnut filling seems a bit overwhelming, but the wafer and chocolate combine for a very pleasing chocolate/hazelnut flavor. Testing continues…

I’ve always had the impression that Sprinkles was trying too hard to be the Starbucks of cupcake shops. The overtly branded “cupcake experience” style of marketing they do has always rubbed me the wrong way. But to be fair, I figured I had to witness that experience first hand, to give them a chance to win me over. So, while in Los Angeles for a few days, I took the opportunity to visit their flagship store in Beverly Hills (a few blocks down from Rodeo Drive).

I discovered that the more I try to harsh on the Sprinkles buzz, the more I run into another brilliant little innovation of theirs. In person I found their color coding system of flavors confusing, and the menu painted on their back wall hard to decipher. I was ready to slam them for it right here on this blog (and I guess I kind of just did). But then I discovered that their knives and forks are made out of wood, just like a popsicle stick, with the Sprinkles logo burned into them. Damn I wish I’d thought of that.

Sprinkles is a streamlined, spartan operation — a food boutique, for sure. And will ultimately become a cupcake juggernaut, much like Starbucks before it. But competition is what pushes you forward and keeps you innovating, and we couldn’t ask for a better competitor.

Now that the cupcake side of things is under control (we love baking them, people love eating them), it’s time to focus on the other things we’ll be offering at the shop. Just like our masthead says, we’ll also offer a wide selection of packaged candies, all in individual snack sizes. The plan is to bring in everything that you might be familiar with locally — your box of Cracker Jack, your tube of Flicks — but also gather equally delicious treats from other US regions, and from around the world.

To that end, this morning I paid a visit to the local british foods store and grabbed all the candy that looked interesting. We’ll be taste testing this first batch of snacks over the next few days, and we’ll let you know what we think. In particular, the Yorkie bar has raised my curiosity for it’s tag line alone: “It’s Not For Girls!” We’ll see about that.

Things may be quiet on the surface, but here at SNACK HQ we’re busy planning and researching all aspects of opening our shop. Which, btw, we’re hoping to have up and running by this summer or fall.