Cupcake CrazeHouston’s sweet spots serve up tasty treats
Houston’s sweet spots serve up tasty treats
Cupcakes are classic Americana, right up there with hot dogs and apple pie. Cupcakes are comfort food, like mashed potatoes or mac and cheese. And cupcakes are everywhere it seems. These little four-ounce treats — 19th-century accidents of history that were created when a baker poured leftover cake batter into cups — carry a lot of *ahem* weight. So much so that a few years back when Texas tried to ban cupcakes in schools, the furor was so deafening that legislators passed the “Safe Cupcake Amendment” to protect the right of parents to tote cupcakes to school. After the vote, one lawmaker remarked, “We didn’t realize how important cupcakes were.” Uh… really?
Foodtimeline.org offers, “Individually portioned confections have a long and venerable history. Diminutive iterations of popular traditional baked goods are particularly enjoyed when portability and ease of service is appreciated. Cookies, tea cakes, petits fours and cupcakes all spring from the basic same idea.” Which explains a lot about why moms bring cupcakes to school on birthdays.
Kathryn Oths, an anthropologist who studies food and culture, says, “The cupcake-as-symbol-of-childhood is powerful. It’s wrapped in the cultural definition of what it means to be a good mother, something that’s a moving target in this society.”
But mostly, cupcakes are about celebrating a moment. I’m a 40-something-year-old woman — but the other day at my fave cupcake spot, I was as excited as a little kid as I rather impatiently waited for my red velvet cupcake to be served up. My friend who was with me observed, “Cupcakes say ‘it’s a special occasion.’ Plus, they’re pretty, and it’s kind of cool to have one all to yourself.”
For whatever reason, cupcakes definitely make us happy. They remind us of simple pleasures and sweet childhood memories. And right now… cupcakes are HOT in Houston. A simple search on Google renders dozens and dozens of bakeries that sell ONLY cupcakes or who specialize in the single-serving, sugar-coated cups of contentment.
For your *guilty* pleasure, Lifestyles & Homes visited some of the most popular bake shops in the area — Sprinkles, Ooh La La, Gigi’s, Sugarbaby’s and Frost. After reading their delectable cupcake descriptions, don’t be surprised if you find yourself standing at a counter ordering up a dozen to go.
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Ooh La La
The Spaz strawberry, lime and orange tie-dyed cupcake from Ooh La La.
beginnings:
For Vanessa O’Donnell, pastry chef, restaurateur and native Texan, life keeps getting sweeter. “I’ve always had a strong interest in baking,” she says. But it wasn’t until O’Donnell experienced a real sense of restaurant life, in the pastry kitchen at Brennan’s of Houston, that she discovered her true calling. Recognizing her passion to pursue “the sweet life,” O’Donnell enrolled in the Art Institute of Houston’s Baking and Pastry program. Shortly before graduating in 2005, O’Donnell began an internship at the Houston Country Club. There she continued to perfect her pastry skills for three years. It was her experience and success acquired at HCC that provided O’Donnell the confidence she needed to take a sweet leap of faith in creating Ooh La La, a boutique dessert bakery with locations in Katy (Cinco Ranch and Park Row) and Houston (Town & Country Village).
why cupcakes?
We offer over 30 cupcake flavors daily to our customers, but we also offer a wide variety of desserts on a daily basis. When we first opened I thought about doing just cupcakes, but I was afraid the cupcake trend would die off, but so far it hasn’t.
Ooh La La’s blueberry maple cupcake.
what makes an ooh lala cupcake stand out?
I am biased, but besides being baked from scratch and really good, most people always comment on how big our cupcakes are. Have you ever heard that saying “everything is bigger in Texas”? Well, that stands true
for our cupcakes.
inspiration for flavors
We usually ask our guests what they would like to see, and we test different flavor combinations. We also have the staff “taste test” and get their opinions before making our final decisions.
bragging rights
We won the best Red Velvet and best Vanilla cupcake in the Houston Cupcake Smackdown, and this year we were also
voted second in Houston’s Top 10 Cupcakes.
most popular/ signature cupcake
Our red velvet cupcake (the Velvet Elvis) is the most popular cupcake that we offer.
most exotic cupcake
We offer over 30 flavors of cupcakes, and many of them are exotic. We also offer a different cupcake flavor each month; we call it our “Cupcake of the Month.”
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Frost Bake Shoppe
beginnings:
Terese and her husband moved from East Texas to The Woodlands in 2008 with their children. After living here for two years, she decided it was time to fulfill a dream that she had for quite some time. Terese inherited a love of baking from her grandmother and had always wanted to have a bakery. She decided that cupcakes would be a great way to start and began baking for all her friends. Once she had her recipes perfected, she rented space and as they say, the rest is history! Therese says, “I hope that our cupcakes, cookies, cakes and other treats add something sweet to all your special occasions.”
why cupcakes?
Cupcakes are the perfect treat for every occasion; they’re fun, adorable, delicious and just the right size to satisfy your sweet tooth or indulge in a little decadence.
The Sundae cupcake from Frost Bake Shoppe.
a frost bake shoppe cupcake stand out?
Using the finest, freshest ingredients and locally sourced produce makes Frost cupcakes stand out from others. We also customize our cupcakes to match your
occasion or event.
what makes inspiration for flavors
Some of our flavors are childhood favorites passed down, some are classic and some we just think of combinations we like and try them out!
bragging rights
One of our customers is in a “little ole band from Texas” and he and his wife love our cupcakes. We were also honored to be featured on Cupcake Wars!
most popular/signature cupcake
Strawberry is definitely our most popular, but our Chocolate Dream is our signature cupcake.
most exotic cupcake
Margarita and Pina Colada. We also offer fondant or buttercream cakes in all of our flavors.
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Sprinkles Cupcakes
The signature Red Velvet cupcake from Sprinkles.
beginnings:
Candace Nelson is the founder and pastry chef of Sprinkles Cupcakes, the world’s first cupcake bakery. Started in Beverly Hills in 2005, Candace’s sophisticated take on the classic American cupcake made Sprinkles an overnight bakery sensation. Today, Sprinkles has eight locations across the U.S. and a traveling Sprinklesmobile, sells its cupcake mixes at Williams-Sonoma stores in the U.S. and Canada, and has inspired a worldwide cupcake-bakery phenomenon. Candace is a judge on Food Network’s Cupcake Wars as well as a judge on Throwdown! With Bobby Flay for cupcakes. She shares, “When we first opened Sprinkles in April 2005, everyone said we were crazy. Despite naysayers, we sold out within hours of opening, and sales haven’t slowed since.”
why cupcakes?
We wanted to open something unique and special, and celebrate the American cupcake.
what makes a sprinkles’ cupcake stand out?
We bake fresh daily, throughout the day. The cupcake you get in our store just came out of the oven a couple hours earlier! We bake with the finest ingredients like sweet cream butter, bittersweet Belgian chocolate, pure Madagascar Bourbon vanilla, fresh bananas and carrots, real strawberries and natural citrus zests.
inspiration for flavors
I spent a year creating the recipes that make up the Sprinkles Cupcakes menu. I knew what I wanted my cupcakes to taste and look like, and I understood the components of the recipe and what role each ingredient played, so that I could adjust the various components to create my desired result.
bragging rights
Accolades for Sprinkles Cupcakes come from the likes of Oprah Winfrey, Blake Lively, Katie Holmes, Ryan Seacrest and Barbra Streisand.
most popular/signature cupcake
Red velvet is our most popular cupcake. Everybody loves red velvet, especially in the South.
most exotic cupcake
Chai latte, key lime, German chocolate, salty caramel.
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Gigi’s
The chocoale chip cookie cupcake from Gigi’s.
beginnings:
Richard and Christi Bothe are the owners of the Sugar Land Gigi’s Cupcakes location. Both have extensive careers in the restaurant industry. Richard, a commercial pilot and flight instructor, is a Houston native; Christi, who has always enjoyed baking and cooking, is from Tennessee. Christi shares, “We decided to leave the corporate world and become owners of our own business in a field that we truly enjoy.”
why cupcakes?
Cupcakes provide an option for more variety and convenience — more flavors than just one cake and frosting.
what makes a gigi’s cupcake stand out?
Our cupcakes are larger than most, and we have an extensive variety — close to 200 different types of cupcakes.
inspiration for flavors
We use lots of things as inspiration —childhood favorites, favorite desserts, even some unusual combinations and then lots of trial and error!
bragging rights
Several country music stars are fans of our cakes — Taylor Swift and Reba McEntire, to name a couple.
The raspberry buckle from Gigi’s.
most popular/signature cupcake
The overall most popular cupcake is the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough cupcake; however, our Wedding Cake cupcake is our signature.
most exotic cupcake
Banana Cream Pie, Chocolate Salted Caramel, Kentucky Bourbon and S’mores.
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Sugarbaby’s
The Pinata from Sugarbaby’s.
beginnings:
Owner Bridget Gould says, “I’ve been in the food industry since I was old enough to have a job and the women in my family have been motivated by baking since long before that. I’ve held every position in food service from waitress and hostess, to concept design and product development — always for someone else. Eventually, I wanted to put my time into something I could love, something that I knew would make other people happy and something my family could be proud of. Since baking and desserts have always been an important part of my family, it seemed the perfect fit when the cupcake phenomenon started picking up. We opened as Houston’s
first cupcake specialty bakery
in 2007.
why cupcakes?
I think there’s something comforting about the cupcake, plus the thought that it’s a perfect portion and you’re not wasteful with an individual dessert sized just for you. A cake tends to require an event, a gathering, otherwise there’s going to be leftover cake on the counter for days, but a cupcake says I am treating myself… and maybe someone else if they’re lucky.
what makes a sugarbaby’s cupcake stand out?
Simply put, our cupcakes are the real deal — baked from scratch, no mixes or cake bases — and the ingredients we use are top-notch. We change up our flavors to keep the flavors in tune to the seasons and offer our customers a variety. And each Sugarbaby’s cupcake is its own little work of art. We take pride in creating desserts that are as appealing to the eye as they are to the stomach.
inspiration for flavors
We take a lot of inspiration from the seasons — richer or warmer flavors like spice and chocolate in the winter and cooler, citrus-y inspired flavors in spring and summer when the fruits are at their peak — but many times we’ll just try something new on a whim to make things a little less predictable.
bragging rights
Our cupcakes have been featured nationally on “A Moment of Luxury with Bill Stubbs” and on the former “Wild About Houston” segments with Lara Bell and Roseann Rogers. Former Houston Rocket Shane Battier loves our red velvet, and we have had repeat visits by
rapper Bun B. We’ve also been featured in Southern Lady magazine and American Way (American Airlines’ travel magazine), and were named a Nickelodeon’s Parent Pick winner two years in row.
most popular/signature cupcake
Our most popular cupcake is our Velvet Rouge or red velvet cake.
most exotic cupcake
St. Arnold Chocolate Stout, Spicy Mexican Chocolate, Butterbeer, Coffee & Donuts, Pina Colada, Strawberries & Champagne.
