Vegan cupcake success secrets with Sticky Fingers Bakery owner and Cupcake Wars winner Doran Petersan

Vegan baker, owner of Sticky Fingers Bakery and Cupcake Wars winner Doran Petersan talks to Portfolio about her business's success, and the rise of the cupcake:

To what do you attribute your success?

You can make your shop as pretty as you want, and ambiance is important. People could come in and feel comfortable, but unless you have good food, nobody’s gonna come back. So it’s the food that keeps bringing people in. The best compliment is when someone comes in not knowing we’re a vegan bakery and, after eating, they still have no idea it’s a vegan item. There’s no preconceived notion that vegan is not gonna be good. The minute you tell someone that’s not vegan that they are eating a vegan product, they are looking for something to be different. I’m not here to tell people what they should eat; I’m here showing them what we can do and then letting them make the choice.

Cupcakes are a luxury: Has the economy hurt your business?

They are luxury items, but they are considered acceptable and affordable luxury items. You're talking about a cookie or a cupcake that costs $2 or $3. We’re not talking about jewelry or shoes. Where we feel it is our largest orders—our catering, our wedding cakes—that’s where people try to cut back. But as far as our retail, we see more of the lesser expensive items being sold, but our daily retail sales have grown.

Has the cupcake wave started to wane?

It has not weakened at all. It is huge. After six years of cupcakes, they are getting hotter and hotter. We’re not just a cupcakery; we look at other people and the amount of product they are putting out, and I am flabbergasted. A lot of times if you have a fad it runs out in two or three years, but it’s not. People are absolutely in love with these things. We can’t keep them on the shelves. If it’s a fad, I’m not concerned because we have a full-service bakery, and when it’s the next thing you just ride the wave. I’m confident we can do anything as a vegan alternative to a non-vegan item. Whatever it is, you figure it out.

Visit Sticky Fingers at stickyfingersbakery.com on Facebook and be sure to check out her new cookbook, Sticky Fingers' Sweets: 100 Super-Secret Vegan Recipes.




from the Sticky Fingers' Cupcake Wars viewing party

Sprinkles Cupcakes will debut 3 24-hour cupcake automats in New York City this summer

An update on the big cupcake story of the week, the Sprinkles Cupcakes 24-hour "cupcake ATM" automated cupcake machine. It's not just for those in Beverly Hills! 3 of them are coming to New York City, according to the New York Daily News:

Good news for emergency sugar cravings — a Manhattan bakery is rolling out three 24-hour cupcake “ATMs” this year.

Called “cupcake automats,” the outposts of Sprinkles Cupcakes are planned for midtown, downtown and the upper West Side with the first whipping up business by summer, a company rep told the Daily News.

“We’re working hard on the exact locations now,” spokeswoman Nicole Schwartz said. “They’ll be restocked constantly throughout the day, so if it’s Wednesday, you’ll only get our Wednesday flavors.”

She said bakers at the popular Sprinkles on Lexington Ave. and E. 60th St. will pack each machine with a few hundred designer cakes at a time for on-the-go addicts.

Cupcake chuck, cupcake samples and cupcake decorating at KC Cakefest

Tomorrow is official the start of KC Cakefest, which, according to The Pitch, is:

Cake challenges look incredible on television. They’re even more amazing in person. That’s the idea behind celebrity baker Mike Elder’s charity CakeFest on Saturday and Sunday at the Kansas City Convention Center. A dozen cake artists, each of whom has appeared in a televised competition, battle it out. Events include cake demonstrations, a cake decorating expo, a cake dive and a cupcake chuck. And at 1 p.m. Saturday, Elder attempts to break the world record for the world’s fastest edible car — it’s a hot rod made of cake. KC CakeFest is a benefit for the Whole Person, a nonprofit that helps people with disabilities lead independent lives. Admission costs $40 to each of the celebrity cake battles, taking place Saturday at 6 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.

There are classes today, and you can find out more and get the scheduleat their website and Facebook page. I'd love to know more about what a cupcake chuck is - if anyone goes and has photos and would like to do a guest post, email us at cupcakestakethecake at gmail.com with "KC Cakefest" in the subject!

Sprinkles Cupcakes to launch 24-hour automated cupcake machine and Sprinkles Ice Cream in Beverly Hills

Sprinkles Cupcakes is getting ready to launch their 24-hour automated cupcake machine and Sprinkles Ice Cream in Beverly Hills! Are you ready? You can follow 24-Hour Sprinkles on Facebook and, though it has only been used once so far, @24HourSprinkles on Twitter. Can't wait to hear when its launching. I will be in San Francisco in April and might have to pop down to Beverly Hills to check this out! Via LAist, who report:

This automatic cupcake machine dispenses freshly baked cupcakes, cupcake mixes, apparel and even cupcakes for Fido! In the heart of Beverly Hills nestled between Sprinkles Cupcakes and the brand new Sprinkles Ice Cream, 24 Hour Sprinkles will be continuously restocked day and night with a variety of freshly baked cupcake flavors.

And while Sprinkles Ice Cream sounds like it will be an ice cream shop and not actually selling cupcakes, it's still a big move for this major cupcake bakery and I would imagine will tie back in to the bakery somehow.

Our ice cream will be hand-crafted American ice cream using only the finest ingredients, staying in line with the Sprinkles philosophy. Scooped into crisp waffle cones, pressed between fluffy cupcake tops or piled high into sundaes topped with housemade sauces and toppings, Sprinkles Ice Cream shop is a back to basics creamery with a Sprinkles twist! Sprinkles Ice Cream will also serve up freshly baked cookies and brownies!

Cupcake recipe plagiarism accusation rocks Food Network star Anne Thornton

From Fox News:

Television dessert diva Anne Thornton lost her sweet deal with the Food Network after brass discovered some of her decadent delights were reheats from cookbooks and super chefs like Martha Stewart and the Barefoot Contessa, sources said.

Thornton -- whose show, "Dessert First," launched on the foodie channel in October 2010 -- was told the popular program would not be renewed when its second season ended.

"The network was very concerned because many of her recipes were close, with only a few minor edits, to other chefs' recipes," a source close to the production said Wednesday.

Among the sweet sensations that raised eyebrows were the frosting for Thornton's German Chocolate Cupcakes, a near replica of Martha Stewart's 2009 Coconut-Pecan Frosting recipe, give or take a handful of pecans and a dollop of butter.

For the curious, here's Anne Thornton's German chocolate cupcake recipe and here's the Martha Stewart chocolate pecan frosting recipe.

Donate a can, get a free cupcake at Chicago's Southport Grocery

Great promotion on great cupcakes by Southport Grocery in Chicago! Via Roscoe View Journal - see southportgrocery.com for more information:

Now, as the grand finale to its Four Fortnight promotion, Southport Grocery is asking customers for something in return–cans. From Feb. 13-26, the cafe will be giving away one of its signature cupcakes to any customer who donates a canned good. So to recap: You give a can and get a free cupcake in exchange. It’s fair trade at its finest.

Southport Grocery will then turn over all donations to the Lakeview Pantry, which operates an East location at 3831 N. Broadway Ave. and a West location at 1414 W. Oakdale Ave. The pantry, established in 1970, provides food to people living below the poverty line, serving neighborhoods bounded by Lake Michigan and Damen on the east and west, and Irving Park and Fullerton to the north and south.

The canned goods drive comes at a time of year when food pantries start to deplete the stockpile of donations that poured in between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Lakeview Pantry has expressed a particular need for canned tuna, canned meats, canned fruit, peanut butter and shelf-stable fruit juice. Pop-top cans that don’t require a can opener are always greatly appreciated.

Twitter postings lead to Cupprimo Cupcake Wars appearance tonight!

From Austin Business Journal comes some cool news about Austin, Texas bakery Cupprimo that is a major reminder that social media is extremely important and is in no way just about reaching your local community, but about reaching the entire world:

“Cupcake Wars” usually chooses combatants from audition tapes, but producers approached Brown after following her tweets that constantly promote Cupprimo.

“I never dreamed [Twitter] would lead to such an incredible opportunity,” Brown said. “I know people in this business who have been trying to get on ‘Cupcake Wars’ for three years.”

And if you hadn't heard, Cupcake Wars is now casting for Season 5!

You can follow those Tweets @Cupprimo on Twitter and also find them on Facebook and cupprimo.com and watch them tonight on Cupcake Wars on the Food Network. They're located at 8650 Spicewood Springs Rd Suite 105 in Austin and can be reached at cupprimo at gmail.com and 512-335-7746.

Below are some photos from their Facebook page, including fun chalk art. They have Thin Mint cupcakes! Or had them yesterday. Again, keep up with their social media to know what flavors they have each day. "It is a thin mint cupcake, chocolate mint cake, filled with a magic concoction, topped with mint buttercream and of course, that persnickety little girl scout cookie." Sorry I couldn't grab a larger size of the photo (if anyone is making Girl Scout cookies, now is the time to email us those photos! cupcakestakethecake at gmail.com with "Girl Scout cookie" in subject line).

Free cupcake alert, streetcar popup shopedition: tomorrow in Toronto

From Post City, the scoop on tomorrow's free cupcake giveaway in Toronto. If you go, we'd love a photo, either email us at cupcakestakethecake at gmail.com or Tweet us @cupcakeblog - this is definitely upping the cupcake popup shop ante!

For the few who don’t tune in to W Network (i.e. straight dudes), Heather White and Lori Joyce are Gemini-award-winning, Dragon’s-Den-triumphing, Canadian reality TV royalty right now. Their “docu-soap,” The Cupcake Girls, is the story of how the best friends build their B.C. cupcake franchise, Cupcakes by Heather and Lori. Put simply, the show rocks. But how good are the cupcakes? Torontonians will soon find out, because the girls are taking over a streetcar this Saturday. Starting at 5 p.m., the pair will give out cupcakes to unsuspecting TTCers in a totally unique pop-up.

What we know is this: the outside of the streetcar will look normal, and will stop at normal stops. But there is no set route. The plan is to drive anywhere the tracks will take them and take on unsuspecting TTC riders at each stop.

The inside of the car is a different story. It will be decorated to look like a Cupcakes by Heather and Lori shop, with a TV crew, organized Toronto fans, Heather and Lori and of course, cupcakes, inside.

“We wanted something different, especially having competition in the city,” Joyce says. “We’re going to have our classics, and a special cake that will tie in with Toronto.”

Classics include the Blue Hawaii, which is coconut cake with blue butter cream and sprinkled with coconut, and the Sweet 16, a vanilla cake with pink vanilla butter cream topped with pastel sprinkles.

Here's the official Facebook event page.

New cupcakery alert: KupKatie's KupKakes turns moonpies into cupcakes in Maryville, Tennessee

This cupcake spotlight is on KupKatie's KupKakes in Maryville, Tennessee (451 High Street); the photos are via their Facebook page. They can be reached at kupkaties at gmail.com.



I found out about KupKatie's from this article at WBIR, and I liked the innovation going on here:

"I bribe them with cupcakes," she said.

That was kind of her strategy when she went to MoonPie headquarters in Chattanooga to ask about using the southern snack's trademark name.

"I made a MoonPie cupcake in every flavor and he tried it and he loved it so we're the exclusive bakery that can sell MoonPie cupcakes," she said.

Her MoonPie cupcakes have not one, not two, but three MoonPie ingredients.

"We make the KupKatie's batter, we put MoonPie in the batter," she explained.

She chops up a big MoonPie and stirs it in to her cupcake batter. The MoonPie batter goes into cups and then into the oven. After the cupcakes are baked they get another MoonPie.

"And then we put a MoonPie in the middle," she said.