JoyceKC: PT’s new bottled cold-brew coffee & Smallcakes’ new cupcake cookbook

▪ Just in time for steamy summer days, PT’s Coffee Roasting Co. is introducing a line of bottled cold-brewed coffee.

The 12-ounce bottles will be offered in Cold Front, its signature cold brew, for $3.75, as well as select single-origin coffees for $4.50 a bottle. The bottles, including a four-pack option called the Quadzilla, are available at PT’s at the Crossroads, 310 Southwest Blvd., as well as PT’s at College Hill in Topeka.

PT’s describes cold brew as a process where coarsely ground coffee is steeped in cold water for up to 24 hours, resulting in a drink that is “rich, dense and low in acidity.”

PT’s was founded in 1993 in Topeka. It plans to open four more cafes in the next two years in other markets outside Missouri and Kansas.

▪ Kansas City-based Smallcakes has a new cookbook.

Andrews McMeel Publishing's new Buttercream Dreams: Small Cakes, Big Scoops and Sweet Treats has 30 signature recipes served at the chain’s more than 90 locations in 15 states and the United Arab Emirates. The book is being published May 5 and will retail for $14.99.

It also has a bit of Smallcakes history. Founder Jeff Martin saw cupcake-only shops in his travels to Los Angeles and New York. They were extremely busy even though he considered their cupcakes just average. He talked his wife into the idea of opening a Kansas City shop and they began testing recipes, finally perfecting 10 flavors like their Orange Creamsicle cupcakes and Cinnamon Maple Cupcakes, recipes that are included in the new book.

But five different landlords turned Martin down before one signed him to a month-to-month lease. His daughter, Lily, was nicknamed Smallcake so the couple took that as the name of the shop and the first Smallcake A Cupcakery opened in 2008. Martin has since franchised the concept and appeared on several national television shows.

One of his favorite recipes is the one for Caramel Pecan Carrot Cupcakes. His grandmother made it as a cake but he tweaked her recipe, adding pineapple and a little more cinnamon. Other flavors include Chocolate Malted Milk Ball, French Toast and Bacon, Jax’s Bubble Gum, and Infamous Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cardamom Buttercream.

This story was originally published April 22, 2015 at 12:04 PM with the headline "JoyceKC: PT’s new bottled cold-brew coffee & Smallcakes’ new cupcake cookbook."