KAT'S CAKES CAUSE A COMMOTION IN GEORGETOWN, CO.

Neither Jim nor I are very good at saying no – to the grandkids, to little boy scouts with clean, earnest faces who show up on our doorstep, to the Red Velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting jumping for joy at the prospect of meeting another customer.

There we were strolling down the streets of historic Georgetown (6th Steet if you must know), the "Silver Queen of Colorado", minding our own business when the cupcakes started causing

Main Street USA doesn't get any more authentic than Georgetown, Colorado.

a commotion.  I was on to their subterfuge; hiding behind that cute storefront with the name Cakes, the one with the bicycle parked out front. It was tough to ignore the quaint sale's pitch.

They had me with the bike sans basket parked at the curb.

I mean, come on, even a cub scout would have trouble following that act. Look at the charm, the cuteness of this self-standing establishment in the shadow of Big Brother.  That cozy yellow exterior exudes warmth like a kitchen full of just baked goodies. And did you notice the curtains in the front window. If aprons are not the calling card of a real cook/chef/baker than I’m not ten pounds overweight! Okay, maybe fifteen. Maybe! 

These aprons could almost double for lingerie, which is the only way they'd get any wear and tear.

And look at what Kat Coffield, the owner, has hanging in the doorway leading to the back.

Okay, I'm coming out of the closet with my wedding gown!

Yep, that’s an antique wedding dress!  How unique, clever and delicious is that?  
 
Just about as delicious as Kat’s cupcakes, the one’s calling out to Jim and I from across the street with the enthusiasm of a cheerleader!  Those would be the devilishly delicious Red Velvet cupcakes, the one's causing all the commotion.  The red color alone says, “You know you're going to fall in love with me, my silly valentine!”

I know, you're as surprised as I am with how tough it is getting this cupcake into my big mouth.

I’ve got to admit, I looked pretty silly stuffing my face with my yummy cupcake.  I managed to capture Jimmy displaying a little more panache thanks to my superior camera skills. He obviously needs a few pointers if he’s ever going to get a decent picture of me.  He just gets so distracted whenever I smile at him, even when my smile looks more like a grimace.

Apparently Jimmy doesn't crunch his eyes and grimace like I do when sucking up cupcakes.

I want to know why my sour cream, buttermilk, eggs, vinegar, food coloring, shortening and cake flour don’t come together like Kat’s. And no way has my cream cheese frosting ever had the vim and vigor of Kat’s with the swirly thing going on.  I was expecting something along the lines of heavy sweet concoction for the top treatment, but it was light and fluffy as whipped cream; and that touch of sprinkes had me swooning.  It's not just a cupcake.  My appreciation for these works of art is undoubtedly why I always cry at weddings.  The wedding cake is so decadant, so unbelievably over the top I just can't hold back.     

I hated to spoil Kat's display by making a purchase, but hey, somebody had to quiet the cupcakes!

Kat doesn't seem to hold back much.  Look at those glass cake stands.  No commercial display cases for this classy connoisseur of cakes.  The whimsical tulip liners are a touch you just don't see at the grocery where cupcakes are packed like sardines in commercial plastic.  Plastic!  Don't they realize plastic ruins the presentation, the ambiance; it apparently does a number on the flavor too.  
  
Kat knows all about flavor and ambiance and baking. The place was called simply, Cakes.  Not ‘Kat’s Cakes’ or ‘Cakes and the Whole Kat and Kaboodle" -  just Cakes.  Kat was serious about her cakes; simple, pure ingredients with more of the same when it came to her passion for presentation.  

Kat is a woman after my own heart via my stomach.

Hers is a labor of love.  It always is when passion fuels purpose.  Kat has obviously been passionate about Cakes long before she opened her own place in 2009 after discovering quite suddenly at 50 that she was overqualified to be the head Pastry Chef at Breckenridge.  Who were they kidding!

Of course life is never what we expect.  That's why there's cupcakes!

I expected the hired help would be family.  After all, everything about Cakes said honest, down home baking.  Kat’s mom, Lois, probably made all the aprons lining the windows and 

No wonder this mother-daughter team seemed so sweet. After all, this is a bakery.

the walls.  There were placemats and pot holders and recipe books for sale too.  Undoubtedly both gals are in their element.  This was no Starbucks where the atmosphere was a corporate decision meticulously executed time and time again across suburbia with pastries shipped in to go with the main attraction. The main attraction here is lovingly baked on the premises daily.  Fresh is obviously Kat's middle name. 

These aprons are just too gorgeous to dirty with flour and butter and inspiration.

I suddenly missed my mom (her name was Lois, too).  There were reminders everywhere of my loss, of a time and place when life was pure, simple, and always sunny.  But I was at peace with the loss in the confines of this tiny shop where baked goods and family went hand in hand to make everyone feel welcome.  There is no way to pipe in authentic.  It’s a feeling you get when you know every ingredient is real, every gesture genuine, every cupcake decadent. 
 
You know too, the moment won’t last, which is all the more reason to savor the gift, in this case cupcakes.  It certainly seemed the right thing to do given all the commotion.