Review & Giveaway "Just Baked" is Just Wonderful!

Meet the "Cake Boss" of Detroit!

I love to eat and to try new things so if I am invited to a place where there is food, I am so there!  On Tuesday, I had the pleasure of attending a tasting event at  Just Baked bakery on Woodward in Royal Oak. I had not heard of Just Baked before, but when I mentioned the name to my friends, they started smiling and telling me stories about yummy cupcakes, so I figured I was going to be in for a great experience.

Fat Elvis' for everyone!
Just Baked is everything you would expect a bakery to be - cute, clean, and full of cases of goodies.  I was allowed to try whatever I wanted and since I am a chocolate nut, I went for the Fat Elvis cupcake.  This cupcake contains banana cake topped with peanut butter-buttercream and is dipped in a homehand chocolate ganache and sprinkled with peanuts. It was sinful and delicious and I was in heaven!

I then greedily tried the Apple Pie cupcake and it was equally wonderful with that big fat juicy cooked apple slice hanging off the top.  Both adults and kids were loving these cupcakes.  While I was chowing down, the kids at the table next to me were enjoying every bite and it showed on their faces.

Pam Turkin, owner of Just Baked

Pam Turkin makes a great cupcake - and has a great story
Now that I knew I was in one great bakery, it was time to meet the woman behind all these great sweets - Pam Turkin.  I can describe Pam in just one word - phenomenal.  She is warm and personable and just downright "good people".

She sat down with me and we had a great conversation about how she started her business. She has always liked to bake, but had never done it professionally although she had been toying with the idea of opening a bakery.  She was over 40 and had a successful career in marketing, when her husband lost his job and her employer wanted to relocated her out of state.  She did not want to uproot her kids, so she just decided to go for it and open the bakery.

She opened her first store in Livonia and she joked with me that it was just her and her husband and a Cuisinart mixer for the longest time.  But things quickly took off because she was making her items with the same love and superior ingredients as when she was making them at home - and people were loving those cupcakes.Now she has 4 locations in Livonia, Royal Oak, Novi, and Ann Arbor and has plans of selling a line of her bakery items in grocery stores nationwide.

Move Over Cake Boss
If you watch TCL's show "The Cake Boss" then you know how Buddy Valastro is now a household name from the outlandish cakes that he and his family make on that show.  Well, he has got nothing on Pam.  Pam says her bakery can make ANY kind of cake for ANY occasion and I got to view her look book and I was totally impressed.

From kids cakes to spectacular wedding cakes, Pam has done it all.  She showed me a photo of Star Wars themed cake with a 3D spaceship and all the Star Wars figures - and everything was edible.  Since I am a fashion hound, my favorite cakes were the ones that looked like designer purses, including edible store receipts!  Pam will FedEx her cakes anywhere in metro Detroit for only $14 so you don't have to worry about transporting them yourself.

I had a wonderful time at Just Baked and I have the full tummy and the calories on my hips to prove it. I would highly recommend this place to anyone - it's a real metro Detroit area treasure.

Just Baked Gourmet Cupcakes are $2.95 each / 2 for $5.50 / 6 for $12.50 / 12 for $24.00.  Click here to see the complete menu.

Now here are few photos of custom "Just Baked" cakes....

Yes, this is a cake in the shape of a Sony Camera.  Isn't cool!

A Louis Vuitton Bag Cake. Look at the receipt.  It's the birthday card!

This Gucci Bag Cake looks awesome.  The birthday girl actually refused to cut it because it looked so real.

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GIVEAWAY:  
One FREEISMYLIFE reader will win one dozen gourmet cupcakes from Just Baked. Yummy!

TO ENTER:

-Fill out the information in the form below.

-One entry per person please.

- The contest ends on Thursday, July 29, 2010 at 11:59pm EST.

-The winner will be selected by random number generation.

-The winner will be contacted by email on July 30, 2010. If a winner does not respond within 24 hours of the email being sent, another winner will be chosen. Contest fulfillment will be provided by Just Baked.

- You can get 1 extra contest entry for following Just Baked on Facebook.

- You can get 1 extra contest entry for following Just Baked on Twitter.

- You can get 1 extra contest entry for following FREEISMYLIFE on Twitter.

Good Luck!


Disclosure: Pam "persuaded" me to take home 6 gourmet cupcakes on her tab.  I tried to resist, but my stomach got the best of me  :)


FORM REMOVED

CONTEST IS CLOSED

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE WINNER:
Laura T from Woodhaven!

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