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There's just something about a cupcake that gets people excited.
Perhaps now more than ever. More and more, cupcakes are replacing
traditional cakes at birthday parties and other special occasions.
Even weddings.
Just
ask Dianne French, who owns French's Cupcake Bakery on 17th Street
in Costa Mesa. It's not uncommon for her shop to fill orders for
as many as 1,000 cupcakes in one day.
"A
lot of brides today are paying for their own weddings, and cupcakes
are a lot less expensive per serving than a traditional cake,"
says French, who has owned the cupcakery with her husband, Jerry,
for 31 years.
"They can still get up there in price, depending on how fancy
you want them to be. But typically, they're going to be much less,
and they are still beautiful."
And because they are-by nature-single servings, you can accommodate
your guest's tastes and dietary needs in a way that can't be done
with a traditional cake.
"We have a lot of recipes for vegans-we make a wonderful
butter cream without eggs," French says. "Maybe you
only need one serving. Maybe you know the best man is a diabetic,
so you make one cupcake with no sugar. It gives you more options
than you have with a traditional wedding cake."
With a selection (about 20 varities) of such exotic flavors as
Southern Coconut Sour Cream, Killer Chocolate, Lemon Blueberry,
Champagne and Mimosa (the house favorite) filling the bakery case
each day, French's single serving treats are selling like hot
cakes.
"Sometimes
customers will come in the afternoon, and they'll want to know
why we don't have any of the Champagne cupcakes out, and we have
to tell them that they're sold out," French says. "We
have to explain to them that if they're going to come later in
the day, they'll have to call ahead and reserve, so we'll be sure
to have the flavor they want."
...article
continues in Orange Coast magazine, March 2007 |
