Hey there, Cupcake!

[mrB]

quote:
Cupcake craze enters Tulsa market

Heather Caliendo
The Journal Record
August 14, 2008

TULSA â€" In times of economic struggles the simple taste of cupcakes can bring back warm memories of carefree times.

Cupcakes date back centuries and still have the same simple ingredients of butter, sugar, eggs and flour.

But in recent years, cupcakes have transcended child’s play to appear in upscale bakeries across the country. From coast to coast, bakery owners capitalize on the dessert craze by choosing to open a store dedicated exclusively to cupcakes.

Cupcakes are miniature cakes, but Doreen Durano hopes her cupcake store will not have miniature sales. All of her cupcakes are made from scratch, and she calls each confection a little piece of heaven.

“Food just conjures up incredible memories of celebration â€" every wedding, birthday, have a cake,â€? said Durano, owner of Kupcakz. “Cupcakes are just miniature things and when you look at a cupcake it’s a miniature cake. Everyone seems to love miniature things.â€?

Before venturing into the small business world, Durano had aspirations to be a chemical engineer, but when that didn’t work out she decided to fall back on her baking skills. She studied at the Culinary Academy in San Francisco and cooked at the Ritz Carlton in Las Vegas.

After her boyfriend saw The Cupcakery in Vegas do gangbuster business, he suggested to Durano she should open her own cupcake specialty store. Durano was afraid another cupcake store might not be successful and was concerned about the price it would cost to open a business in Vegas.

Pamela Jenkins, who opened The Cupcakery in Las Vegas two years ago, said it was a tough process to launch the concept of a bakery solely dedicated to cupcakes. She said at least three landlords rejected her. Once she was able to find a spot, she said the first day the store opened its doors she sold out of cupcakes, proving to her she was fulfilling a niche.  

“Our quality is the difference, anyone in the world can jump on a trend and be the next big thing,� she said. “But if the quality of the product is not there, it never will be.�

Durano became intrigued by the idea of opening her own bakery, and since she had twin daughters living in Tulsa, she decided to open her store here. It took about a year to draw up a business plan and come up with all of her recipes.
Durano anticipates her 1,600-square-foot space will be open within in the next couple of weeks.

“Opening a cupcake shop, the first of its kind in Tulsa seemed to be a natural thing to do,� she said. “Our goal is if the city can support it to open two or three here and one in Oklahoma City.�

Though the city appears to have a lack of cupcake specialty shops, Lindsey Stewart, owner of Hello Cupcake, has been producing her specialty cupcakes since April. Right now she is working at a private kitchen, but is looking to move into a store when she finds the right space.

She said word of mouth and her Web site have helped her generate orders every week for her cupcakes.

“I get orders almost three to four times a week, so it’s kind of building,� she said. “I could have nothing and then I have a huge order. But it’s been pretty steady for the past four months.�

While the city has gone from lacking cupcake specialty bakeries to possibly having two, Stewart said she is not worried about the competition factor. She said the taste of her cupcakes allows her to stand apart.

Jenkins, who is getting ready to launch a third store in Dallas, said she doesn’t think the recent cupcake craze will end anytime soon.

“I think there are going to be so many cupcake stores open in the next few years it’s not even funny,� she said. “People are just tired of getting everything at chains, when you get homemade you get something pure.�

Copyright © 2008 The Journal Record All Rights Reserved
101 N. Robinson Ave., Ste. 101, Oklahoma City, OK, 73102 |
P.O. Box 26370, Oklahoma City, OK, 73126-0370 | (405) 235-3100
415 S. Boston Ave., Ste. 101, Tulsa, OK 74103 | (918) 295-0098
http://www.journalrecord.com/article.cfm?recid=91344

Omitted from the article:
7135 South Mingo Road, Tulsa, OK  918-322-6373 http://kupcakz.com

[Steve]

Well, I am a natural-born cheapskate, so cupcake mania completely escapes me.  Why buy a basic no-frills bakery item that you can make 20 times cheaper at home?  When I buy bakery sweets, I want something out of the ordinary, something I would not normally bake myself, or something made with ingredients that would not be economical for me to make myself.  The cupcake craze is just silly, IMO.

[inteller]

ah, I see it is the Cold Stone Creamery of cupcakes.

In Las Vegas, where disposable income flows like the fountains at the Bellagio, The Cupcakery can do bery well.  Here?  Give me a break.

6 mo and gone.

[Steve]

I agree Inteller, but in retrospect, Starbucks has made a fortune selling cups of sugar water with a little coffee thrown in, although they are recently scaling back on operations.

Cupcakes used to be the staple of boy scout meetings, kiddie birthday parties, and PTA fundraisers.  They still are nothing more than that to me.  Since when did they become luxury baked goods worthy of premium prices?  6 mo. and gone is probably optimistic, especially in these inflationary times.

[inteller]

quote:Originally posted by Steve

I agree Inteller, but in retrospect, Starbucks has made a fortune selling cups of sugar water with a little coffee thrown in, although they are recently scaling back on operations.

cupcakes don't have caffiene either.

[AngieB]

Sprinkles Cupcakes are the big thing in Beverly Hills and I think they were one of Oprah's Favorite Things or she recommended them at one time. If Oprah likes cupcakes, we must ALL have cupcakes!

[safetyguy]

Amen!! You can buy the kits/mixes at Williams Sonoma and make them yourself. The red velvet is my favorite. They are really rich, but really good.

I believe that Sprinkles has a location in Dallas, and I can't wait to try it when we move there in the near future!

[joiei]

quote:Originally posted by safetyguy

Amen!! You can buy the kits/mixes at Williams Sonoma and make them yourself. The red velvet is my favorite. They are really rich, but really good.

I believe that Sprinkles has a location in Dallas, and I can't wait to try it when we move there in the near future!

Dallasfood.org has some talk about Sprinkles, some good some bad, and they do talk about other cupcakes bakeries in Dallas that you might want to check out if your into cupcakes.

[rwarn17588]

I first encountered such a store in Albuquerque called Cake Fetish two years ago.

It's since expanded. The reason they're popular is you can buy a bunch of varying flavors for parties.

As for those who claim to be able to make their own, let me know whether you've produced a margarita-flavored cupcake first.