Hi there! Welcome to Visions of Sugar Plum, a blog I created years ago to share my recipe creations with the world. My name is Emily and I live in the Ozarks with my husband, Travis, and our dog Cinnamon. I work for the best frozen custard chain in the nation. I love sweets. I can't think of a dessert I would ever turn down. I graduated from the French Pastry School in December, 2012. I love creating, testing, and writing recipes. I'm obsessed with all things food-related. You may have seen me on Food Network/Cooking Channel a long time ago.
Thank you for visiting my blog! Say hello sometime.
Hey, Em, if it's not too weird would you shoot me an email? My address is sarahbodeclark at gmail dot com. I'd love to email you some of my favorite food places in the city, and I'd love to pass along my digits (I really will take you out for a drink if you are up for it...).
ReplyDeleteI haven't lived here for too long, but I can give you a few tips if you'd like them.
WOW, good I found your Blog and congratulation for a great job! I got to include your site into my Blogroll so everyone else can read your postings, including myself!
ReplyDeleteGreetings from Dubai, UAE
Hi Emily!
ReplyDeleteI found this cupcake recipe and I can't wait to share it. It looks so yummy! Great blog!
Good luck on your culinary career, but NYC isn't where it's at. Chicago has better schools and a better atmosphere. I went to culinary school in Chicago and got a great job overseas in London.
ReplyDeleteHey Emily, It's Chris from New York (well actually Simi Valley,Ca)It was so nice to meet you and your mom and I rally thought you were going to win. If you read the reviews I think you really did. It's great to see you are doing well I would love to know how you do in the future. If you want to come to California you have a place to stay. TAke care.
ReplyDeleteHi Emily,
ReplyDeleteI just watched you make your pastrami sandwich on Food Network, and I was sure you were going to win when the judges couldn't stop eating! It looked delicious. And I'm definitely going to try the butternut dish also. Anyway, hang in there, and where ever you go to school, I'm sure you'll be a success. Look into financial aid and scholarships, at the schools you apply to - you might be surprised at what is available for you, especially when you send them a copy of this show!
I'm writing from NYC, (really), and you can stay here when you come for your interviews at schools.
Hi Emily,
ReplyDeleteThe pumpernickel pastrami was excellent!! I watched the show 2/7 and thought for sure you had won. I live in the Kansas City area and come down to the Lodge of the 4 Seasons every May for a conference. Do you have a restaurant in the area??
Heather, good idea. I'll check into it.
ReplyDeleteChris, thank you so much. Oh man, this sounds mean, but I'm trying to remember who you were. Please help me! My head hurts.
Thanks for the nice comment, Pamela!
Thanks Anon! I love KC! I think you should try Lambert's Cafe. :)
Emily,
ReplyDeleteI can't believe this is you. i have been looking at your blog for some time and only today realized that you were one of the contestants on FN last week. I was SHOCKED when they announced the guy won and actualy teared up a bit for you. I so wish you well!
I am officially in love with this blog. I want to eat every item you've featured!
ReplyDeleteI did the same thing. I just searched for something on Google, looking for a certain recipe and I came to your blog. I totally did nto realize that it happened to a blog about a girl I had seen on Food Network! Cool! I hope you get to foloow your dreams soon! Blessings!
ReplyDeleteThank you! You guys sure are sweet.
ReplyDeleteHey Emily,
ReplyDeleteI really love your blog, & I know my mom loves it too. I must say that I miss you & can't wait to see you at the next family gathering. (:
Hi Caroline! I miss you, too. :(
ReplyDeleteYou guys should come back soon. I wish I could come to PA to visit you. Thanks for dropping by! I love comments from you guys.
Hello Emily,
ReplyDeleteI entered in cheesecake bars one night on google and a gorgeous picture of your lemon blueberry cheesecake bars popped up. I clicked on the picture and was sent to your sugar plum blog. Now I am hooked!! I found another person who loves baking as much as myself!! How do you find the free time and the money to bake as much as you do? I am finishing up my last semester in college but I have NO time or money to continue my passion with baking.
Also, I am looking into culinary schools after I graduate. Do you have any suggestions?
Thanks for your time. Keep up the amazing work...you really inspire me to continue baking even when life is hectic and busy.
:) Maureen
Hi Maureen!
ReplyDeleteWelcome! I'm so glad you found my blog. Please visit often! I'm grateful that I have wonderful readers such as yourself. Okay, so, I have free time because I'm not in school. I'm saving money to go to culinary school in New York City. The job I have is also really flexible, so I have a lot of time to bake.
Well, you're almost finished! Get to baking once you get that degree. :) I am looking at the French Culinary Institute and the Institute of Culinary Education. CIA is the best, I think.
Thank you! Please keep in touch and update me with what you're doing.
Hi - Just found your website looking for sugar plum recipes on the net for my son to leave for Santa - love the site!! Can't wait to try out the recipes and the music rocks too! Put me in for the cute apron too!
ReplyDeleteHi Emily!
ReplyDeleteThis might be a dumb question since I just started reading your blog - which I love! - but what do you do with all the food you bake? I read on one of your posts you throw it out 2 days after you bake it. Seems like an awful waste, since I can't imagine you eat that much in a few days! Do you share it/sell some/what's the deal?
Colleen
Hi Colleen,
ReplyDeleteNo, no, I don't do that. I was just joking. I give things away to friends or family, or give stuff away at work. I do throw some things away if they're too weird. :)
I can't wait to try your recipes. I love your baking style and blog! Thanks for sharing your art with the rest of us!
ReplyDeleteI just discovered your blog today - I can't remember which blog I was reading when I ran across your site in their favorites - but I just have to say that I absolutely adore your posts. They're so personable and fun to read. I'm going to make the Mayan Mudslide Brownies tonight.. mmm!
ReplyDeleteHi Sarah,
ReplyDeleteWelcome!
Hi Lauren,
Welcome to you, too! Thanks for dropping by and leaving such a sweet comment. :)
hey emily! would love to follow your blog, am I missing the link to follow? love your 4th of july posting!! made me smile! =D
ReplyDeleteHi Emily! Love your blog! i've added your blog to my website as one of my favorite blogs!!! yaay keep up the great work! come visit my blog when you get the chance
ReplyDeletewww.confectiouskaos.squarespace.com
Hey Emily!
ReplyDeleteI just wanted to let you know I absolutely adore your blog- from your delicious, mouth-watering recipes/photos, to your adorable writing style. You've inspired me to start my own blog! I have only one entry, but still... lol
Great blog!!
Mallory
Hey!
ReplyDeleteSo, I love baking and, fortunately, just stumbled across your site for reasons having to do with peanut butter. I already love it. So thank you for it. But I have a question- as I mentioned I love baking. I give some away, but I really can't fit all the baked goods I bake inside myself, if I bake as often as I like. What do you do with all the lovely things you make?
Courtney
Hi Courtney,
ReplyDeleteI give some of the stuff away or Eric and I eat some. Sadly I have to throw away a lot. Most of these baked goods don't last long! :(
Emily: Just a quick question on the Best Ever Choc Chip Cookies recipe. The recipe says: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Generously butter cookie sheets. Am I buttering the sheets to toast the nuts, or buttering them to put the cookies on? Just checking. This recipe looks delicious. Cant wait to try it. Barry from Bellevue, Nebraska
ReplyDeleteHi Barry!
ReplyDeleteYou coat the cookie sheets with butter (or cooking spray) before putting the cookie dough on. The pan with the nuts doesn't need to be greased. Good luck!
Hi! I didn't realize that you were on Ultimate Recipe Showdown until I saw your ABOUT section. I saw the episodes you were in and wanted to tell you that you are great!!!
ReplyDeleteMarie, you're too kind. :) I'm not great! Thanks for watching the show and reading my blog.
ReplyDeleteemily! you are such an inspiration. i stumbled across your blog in search of a good boston cream pie cupcake recipe... its midnight and i am tempted to start up my mixer!! cant wait to test it out.. :) are you going to culinary school??? im 23 and baking is my passion but im still on edge about changing majors.. any advice?
ReplyDeleteHi Jackie!
ReplyDeleteI hope you like the Boston Cream Pie recipe! If it's something you really want to do, you should go for it! There are culinary schools just about everywhere. I still want to go to school, but I'm undecided where and when.
Emily; I love your blog!!!! Your chocolate chip recipe is by far the best I have ever eaten. I love baking them. For the last couple of weeks I have had a problem when I go to the previous page button on your blog. I get an error bX-67oaj1 and can't do anything else. Do you know if any of your other readers are having this problem or is it just me?
ReplyDeleteHi Kim! Thank you so much for reading! I'm glad you like the cookies. :) I tried updating and making that recipe better the other day, and I totally screwed them up. Haha.
ReplyDeleteI know what you're talking about. It's really bothering me. I have no idea how to fix it. I guess I'll have to contact Blogger?
Hi Emily! LOVE, LOVE, LOVE your blog! Best of luck with your culinary career, I'm sure you'll go really far :) Glad to be your new follower!
ReplyDeletePS: Soooo jealous you met Guy!!
ey Emily,
ReplyDeletemy name is Ben and i live in Israel.
i jusr discoverd this blog and i can't stop reading and see your Recipes for HOURS.
i can't wait till passover will be over and i can try some of it :)
long story short - i just must tell you that your works here is AMAZING, i LOVE this blog , and just put it forst on my favorites.
so - from the other sideof the world...sending my Admiration.
i know that it's so fun to get a good word - and you tottaly deserve it!!
keep doing those things you are so good at!!
yours,
Ben
Hi Kelly! Welcome!
ReplyDeleteHi Ben! Thanks so much for reading! I really appreciate it.
Totally LOVE your blog. Keep up the good work. Very informative and entertaining at the same time.
ReplyDeleteHey!
ReplyDeleteJust wanted to say that you visiting my blog made my day!!
Thank you!
-rachael
Dear Emily,
ReplyDeleteI tried your "Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever" recipe. You are right the world can't (and shouldn't) go without this receipe. I've tried a couple of variations and been really pleased. You have a right to brag, so go for it. :) I love your site I'm going to try your Lemon-blueberry Crumb Bars and Heath Bar Cake (both sound and look yummy). Kind regards to you, xSx
Okay so this blog is ridiculous. Every recipe I see I want to make, bake, and drool-over-but-not-eat. Maybe one.
ReplyDeleteUgh, anyway. I watched you on URS a long time ago but I didn't even know that this blog belonged to you, and when I found out it was yours, I kind of died.
FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS ~*~*~*~*~* and count on me commenting the crap out of all of your brownie/cake/cookie/muffin recipes ^_~ ❤ ❤ ❤
Hi Grace! Thank you so much!
ReplyDeleteHi Rachel, no problem! I need to visit again!
Anon, glad you liked the cookies! I hope you like the lemon-blueberry bars.
Hi Michele, thank you so much for the sweet comment! It means a lot to me. Thank you for reading my blog!
Hello,
ReplyDeleteI am a Springfield Branson girl who currently live close to Cape Girardeau. I sell Pampered Chef if you ever need anything, hint, hint. LOL
Anyway, I was looking for a Apple Pie with Crumb topping and your fits the bill. I just wanted to say thanks so much and I appreciate your efforts!!
JoEllen Dowler
Hi Emily
ReplyDeleteJust found your wonderful site when looking for a healthy biscotti recipe. Now I'll be trying a whole bunch of your recipes. I live in the north of Canada and winter has arrived. That means I have the urge to bake! Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful recipes.
Maggie
Hi Emily!
ReplyDeleteI have love your site for a couple of years now and have loved every recipe I have made. I get so many requests for your Red Velvet Cake its ridiculous (I make cake pops out of it and they are FABULOUS!). I have been baking for most of my life but have recently really gotten back to it, however I made your best ever choc.chip cookies for Christmas, and I have made them many a time, but this time they spread out a lot and were quite flat. I thought it might be the butter but I went back to the original butter I used and the same thing. Any ideas what might cause this wacky phenomenon? They still tasted wonderful but didn't have the same oomph. :-(
Thanks so much! Again I love your site
Emily S :)
Hi Emily! Thank you so much for reading! I really appreciate that. It makes me very happy. I'm glad you like the red velvet cake. Oh no! I'm so sorry that happened to you? What recipe was it? I will look into it. Was it the "best ever" cookies? I've actually improved that recipe but have yet to post it. That's weird that you had baked them before.
DeleteIt was the Best Ever Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe - the final chapter. I make them without the nuts, due to allergies in the house :(, But I made them last night with white choc chips (so good!) and the first batch was great, the second batch I used my cookie sheet air pan and they went flat as did the remaining dough. I was thinking maybe it was the air pan but I was sadly wrong. I am in Savannah but like I said I've made them before, middle of summer with some ice cream yummy! I appreciate the help in solving the flat cookie mystery!
DeleteI'm thinking it has something to do with the butter. I don't think the white chocolate would have affected the spreading, do you? It's not like they got all melty. That's what happens if you use chocolate without the stabilizers.
DeleteI have solved the melting cookie problem! My oven gets WAAAAAAAYYYY too hot. I have adjusted for pretty much every other recipe except this one. Don't know what I was thinking. The first thing I baked in this oven was my uber fabulous honey bread (which has gone through about 20 alterations to get perfected) and it burnt and barely even baked, soggy middle dark brown and burnt on top and bottom :( so I got air pans and an oven thermometer and voila! Yummyness again! My oven overheats by at least 25 degrees so I was totally re-melting all that butter way too fast. Thank you so much for responding to my queries. It's so nice to know you care so much about your fans!
DeleteOh no! I'm glad you figured it out! I need some air pans.
DeleteI noticed my oven here (Chicago) is way hotter. I had cookie puddles when I tried to bake chocolate chip cookies a week ago.
No problem! I love talking to reader! I'm very grateful.
I just watched your Food Network video...you are a natural!
ReplyDeleteGuy's hair IS scary!
Any future plans for FN?
Haha thanks! I wish! I'm too shy, I think.
DeleteHey! what happen to your "Link Love" section! I loved checking out that list!!!!
ReplyDeleteIt's above under blogging buddies.
DeleteOOOOOH ok got it now! thanks ;)
Deletehope you are having fun in chicago- it's hot over here in Austin Tx.!
have a nice weekend!
Marla Solano
Emily,
ReplyDeleteI've been a long time reader of your blog and have always enjoyed your recipes and sunny personality (at least that's how it translates :), but recently I was very disapointed to see that your settings have changed and I can not longer read your enter post in as an RSS feed (in Google Reader).
Unfortunately the only time I really have to paruse blogs is when I'm at work (on breaks etc), and I can not click through to yours. I've missed seeing your recipes over the last few weeks and I'm hopeful that eventually you can change it back to how it was before.
Always,
-Brie
Hi Gabriella!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for reading! I feel like a huge jerk now. I did change the settings. I'm doing some experimenting right now with blog revenue. I'm pretty much breaking even, which isn't good because I'm not working right now. (I'm looking, though!) I might change the settings when I receive my paypal money from Foodbuzz. Most bloggers use partial posts in readers to get the reader to click over for more page views. I honestly don't know if it makes that much of a difference.
Hi Emily!
ReplyDeleteI just wanted to say I love your blog and thank you so much for inspiring me to start up my blog. Your tips are amazing and I have been reading them over the last months closely and I have been practicing everyday. Just a quick question - Before you begun cooking school were all the recipes & food photographs you published based on your skills alone? It gives me hope to be able to cook as well as you without having the luxury to go to cooking school (with a lot of practice, of course).
Thank you for being so inspiring!
Harriet
Hello Harriet!
DeleteI can't wait to check out your blog! I'm so happy I inspired you. Thank you so much for reading! I really appreciate it.
I absolutely think you can cook as well as someone who went to cooking school (if not better). It's all what you put into it and how much you practice. I took some classes in Springfield, but mostly learned from reading cookbooks, practicing, and learning from my parents.
Good luck with your blog!
Hi Emily!
ReplyDeleteI've been following your blog for a few years now, and I just wanted to say that you are truly inspiring, and you seem like a genuinely sweet (pun sorta intended) person. I wish you nothing but the best!
Hi anon,
DeleteThanks so much for reading! I can't believe you've been reading me for years! That amazes me. How did you find my blog?
I hope I'm a sweet person. Sometimes I'm a jerk when I get hungry. Haha.
Hi Emily,
ReplyDeleteI just found your blog and I'm so excited to try some of your recipes. I also have a MAJOR sweet tooth. I just read your FAQ's and I was so sad to see that you have to throw some of your stuff away! I used to have this same problem, because I love to bake, but I recently found a local community shelter that loves to take my extras! You should see if there's a homeless shelter, elderly care facility or somewhere similar near you... they will always take food donations and it would make them so happy!
Hey Emily!
ReplyDeleteRandom question - I noticed recently that you were no longer with Foodbuzz, and have switched to Blogher ads. My contract with Foodbuzz is up at the end of this month, and as you may know they are switching their ads to Lijit, which has a horrendously low CPM. How are you liking Blogher? I applied to them 2 or 3 weeks ago and have yet to hear back. Do you remember by any chance how long it took for you to be approved?
Thanks for any insight!
Maggie
Hey Maggie,
DeleteYup, I switched about two months ago. I just got fed up with Foodbuzz and them changing stuff all of the time. They also forgot to pay me several times. They would never answer any of my emails. It seemed all very disorganized. Blogher seems like they have their stuff together. As far as income, I think I might be making a little less. I was approved pretty quickly. Maybe two weeks? Maybe a lot of people are switching over now so they might be busier. Good luck!
Yeah, I think a lot of people are jumping ship from Foodbuzz, so hopefully they just have a backlog of people! Thanks SO much for getting back to me! Keeping my fingers crossed that I hear soon :)
DeleteThis is crazy but I can't see where to join your blog so I can keep up with it. I live close to Rolla, Mo and love to cook too so want to follow you. You should check out my blog although it's more about Farm Life than cooking but I do cook a lot and try out recipes on my coworkers.
ReplyDeleteI have used your chocolate chip cookie cake recipe every year for my husband's birthday for the last 3-4 years. I originally found it on your sugarplumblog.net and then it changed unbeknownst to me and I had to go in search of it again... and I found it here! Now I'm trying to find your cookie cake recipe and I cannot find it anywhere! AND my husband's birthday is Tuesday. He loves your recipe for the cookie cake.
ReplyDeleteMegn, I'm so happy you liked the recipe! Unfortunately, about six months ago I had to delete a lot of posts with personal stuff in them, and that was one of the posts. I'm so sorry! I hope you find another cookie cake recipe.
ReplyDeleteOh no, does that mean you lost all those recipes, or do you just have them filed away somewhere?
ReplyDeleteYou would turn down cheese cake? Have you ever tried Junior's Cheesecake in NY?
ReplyDelete