Bubblegum confetti cupcakes and a box of amazing looking ones from Brandon Cakes

Bubblegum confetti is a flavor of cupcake I've never heard of before, which is saying something! These are all by custom cupcake company Brandon Cakes, based in Kailua, Hawaii, via their Facebook page. Oahu cupcake bakers: I am missing your island and plotting my return in the fall, so when I need a little of the aloha spirit, I look up the bakers I met on my trip and you never fail to impress me. Call or text 808-780-3505 for orders and questions and visit brandoncakes.com for more information and full flavor listings.

Li Hing Lemon, Angry Gorilla and Banana Split cupcakes by Brandon Cakes in Honolulu, Hawaii

Brandon Cakes brought what I think were the biggest cupcakes to our Honolulu cupcake meetup. They were majestic looking, as I hope you can tell from below. I'd never had nor heard of Li hing* and it was interesting, a very strong taste that took some getting used to for me, but I liked the lemon cake and frosting (and the Li Hing lemon cupcake got rave reviews from several attendees). I preferred the banana split, which had a light, spongy filling, and a good combination of flavors and textures. I ate so many cupcakes I had to take some home, and those are a bit of a blur in my mind so I can't tell you much about the angry gorilla, but it's part of a whole line of alcohol-based cupcakes Brandon Cakes sells. All of Brandon's cupcakes were gobbled up fast. If I have time during my last 3 days, I will try some more but I have had such an amazing time in Honolulu, I'm already plotting when I can come back!

They're based in Kailua and do custom cupcake and sell their cupcakes at Food Company on Tuesdays and Thursdays (The Enchanted Lake Shopping Center, 1020 Keolu Drive, Kailua, HI). You can find out more at brandoncakes.com and on Facebook and @brandoncakes on Twitter and contact them for fastest service by phone or text to 808-780-3505 or by emailing sales at brandoncakes.com. You can also email kuhpkeyk at gmail.com to get on their email list for flavor updates.












inside the banana split cupcake




me with Brandon

*Once again, some info from Wikipedia, this time on Li Hing:

Li hing mui is salty dried plum. It was made popular in Hawaii by Yee Sheong, who in early 1900, had began importing Li hing mui and various other preserved fruits from China to Hawaii. The Li Hing Mui craze was started by Yee and flourished with the company he founded, Yick Lung. It can be found in Hawaiian and Asian markets. It has a strong, distinctive flavor, and is often said to be an acquired taste, as it has a combination of sweet, sour, and salty taste. It has also been described as tart, and even tangy. Originally from China, the name "li hing mui" means "traveling plum". "Li hing" is "traveling" and "mui" is "plum."

Pancakes and bacon, salty chocolate trail mix, piňa colada, chocolate coconut custard, blueberry cream cheese, chocolate chip and many more cupcakes by Brandon Cakes in Kailua, Hawaii

Before I share these beautiful cupcake photos that make me want to just be in a room with all these gorgeous cupcakes, I want to say that one of the things I love most about cupcake blogging is the community of bloggers, bakers, and eaters. I've been very impressed with how collegial the bakers I've corresponded with in Hawaii are, and this is a case in point: I discovered Brandon Cakes, the company whose custom cupcakes are seen below, because Angel Cakes Hawaii posted on our Facebook page. Pretty cool, right?

Also cool is Tuesday night's Honolulu Cupcakes Take the Cake meetup with free cupcakes! You don't have to RSVP, but if you're coming we ask you to so we know how many cupcakes to have on hand. So far we've got 25 people and I am thrilled about meeting local cupcake fans and bakers (whether you sell your cupcakes or not, you're welcome to bring some, but not obligated to). Any questions, email us at cupcakestakethecake at gmail.com (if it's related to Hawaii, put "Hawaii" in the subject line).

You can order custom cupcakes from them; they're based in Kailua. These photos are from their Facebook page. They also sell their cupcakes at The Food Company Kailua at 1020 Keolu Drive. You can email them at sales at brandoncakes.com or call or text for faster service: 808-780-3505. You can see all their regular cupcake flavors here, and they also have a special alcohol cupcake menu here. Those flavors have names like angry gorilla ("chocolate cupcake baked with brandy-soaked bananas, frosted with 99 Bananas buttercream, drizzled with brandied chocolate, topped with crushed banana chips") and lava flow ("oconut rum cupcake filled with strawberries frosted with Piña Colada cream cheese, trimmed with coconut flakes, topped with a cherry & pineapple chunk"). January's featured flavor is champagne! They also sell mini cupcakes.




pancakes and bacon


salty chocolate trail mix


piňa colada


chocolate coconut custard


blueberry cream cheese


chocolate chip


pink coconut ice - white chocolate and coconut


white chocolate macadamia


peanut butter cup


Valentine's Day rose cupcake bouquet (order by February 7th)