We first met Samantha Seeley at our cupcake business class in NYC earlier this year. We're proud to witness her growth as this passionate young entrepreneur has now launched off the ground with her cupcake business, Sweet Remedy. Take a look at her journey below, dotted with memorial cupcakes for loved ones, flavor inspiration from a Febreze bottle, and a personal Cupcake Camp NYC tale.
Alison, who nominated this Pine Bush Farmer's Market's vendor, notes that Samantha's cupcakes not only look and taste amazing but are strongly based in local, natural products. Her business model even includes a fun component for her customers: if they guess the flavor of the mini-sized "Mystery Cupcake" that day, they get one free!
I'll raise a Mystery Mini Cupcake to that!
Name: Samantha Seeley
Location: Orange County, New York
Website: http://sweet-remedy.com
1. How did you get into cupcake baking?
I was working at Circuit City & got laid off when they closed their doors so I was bored and unemployed. I started to draw cupcakes because I thought they were cute and the more I searched about them the more I found out that actually baking cupcakes was pretty awesome and you could do a lot with them, between flavors to fun decorating. So I decided to try it out... Then I started a small cupcake blog and then it grew into Sweet Remedy.
2. Do you have a signature cupcake?
No, Not really. I made cupcakes for the last cupcake camp NYC that replicated my logo (Root Beer Float) It looked pretty close to my logo and was pretty cool. Unfortunately I never actually made it to Cupcake Camp NYC because of cupcake technical issues. I am toying with the idea of making it my signature flavor.
3. What kind of cupcake do you plan to bake next?
I have a lot of ideas currently for new cupcakes. I want to play around with some type of chocolate chili and a butternut squash flavor which I used for a “mystery mini” cupcake (See below for the image). It’s a little game I play at the market, guess the flavor and I give you a cupcake free. I want to jazz the flavor up a bit. Also, I have a suggestion box so I want to work on some of those flavors which include cookie dough cupcakes, cinnamon & rose, and some other pretty cool ones. I also want to do some experimentation with boozy cupcakes. :)
4. Where do you find inspiration?
Everywhere! My inspiration comes from other food items, colors, seasons, feelings, smells. (Believe it or not I once thought of a flavor from a limited edition Febreze bottle.)
People also give me inspiration: I have what I call a “Memorial Cupcake” Which is a cupcake that I based off of my grandmother who’s favorite drink was a “toasted almond” For some reason we all remember her fondly when we think of toasted almonds. The cupcake version is an almond cake with vanilla-almond frosting covered in crushed toasted almonds with some big almond chunks. It pretty much tastes like those good humor toasted almond ice cream bars. I also plan on making another “Memorial Cupcake” for my father, It will be either some sort of stout beer cupcake or a whisky sour cupcake.
5. Describe a memorable (funny/disastrous/life-changing) cupcake baking moment you've had.
I guess I would have to go back to my perviously mentioned cupcake camp NYC entry. I was pretty sad that day. I live in upstate New York about an hour from NYC so I drove the cupcakes there. They fell apart, I think it was because I was rushing to get them done that morning and didn’t get as much cherry juice as I could out of the cherry before putting them on top, or I should have waited until I got to my destination before putting the cherries on... whatever it was, I learned a lesson that day. Also, I realized transporting cupcakes is serious business.
6. Give one piece of cupcake advice for other bakers out there.
If you aren’t happy with how something came out do NOT compromise. Sometimes people are drawn towards taking the easy way out and trying to make things work because of deadlines or other time restrictions. Don’t cop out! If something isn’t exactly how you envisioned it, don’t present it to the world. You will just be unhappy with the results since you know that you could probably get it right the next time around. Also, if you want to do something, DO IT. Don’t let any nay-sayers stop you. This advice could apply to anything really, not just cupcakes.
Thanks, Samantha! Stay tuned for next week's Cupcake Baker of the Week. Leave us questions, feedback, and suggestions for future bakers in the comments below, or e-mail Melissa at cupcakestakethecake@gmail.com with the subject "Hey Melissa! Meet this Cupcake Baker!"
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