Charlestonian Cupcake Craze

By Meredith Murphy

Sugar: Located in the heart of Cannonborough at 59 Cannon Street is Sugar bake shop, a petite little store selling vintage-inspired baked goods with ample amounts of flavor. Sugar opened their doors in November of 2007, and despite the recession, their business has doubled since opening.
Owner of Sugar Bakeshop, Bill Bowick, explained that everything they make in the shop is made from scratch. Cupcakes, cookies, tarts, and cakes are made fresh in the morning and are never on display the next day. All of their cupcakes are made with organic flour and eggs gathered from a local farm. The bakers at Sugar truly believe that using organic staples in their baking positively affects the way the flavors come out.
Bowick’s favorite cupcake is the “1, 2, 3, 4” cupcake. This cupcake is their classic yellow cake base that consists of 1 cup of butter, 2 cups of sugar, 3 cups of flour, and 4 eggs. It is topped off with vanilla crème icing and fresh sugared blueberries. Leah, one of the bakers at Sugar, found it very hard to select her favorite but ultimately decided that her all-time favorite cupcake is their lemon butter crème cupcake with a lemon-cured frosting. Sugar b Bakeshop’s top-selling cupcake is their vanilla butter crème cupcake- a simple yet delicious indulgence. On Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays Sugar sells cupcake specials. They rotate these bite-sized culinary masterpieces so that their customers will always have a new and unique experience upon entering their bakeshop. The first popular cupcake special is the Lady Baltimore cupcake. Inside this cupcake is a raisin and fig filling soaked in sherry liquor. Cake batter is then poured over the filling so that the soaked raisins and figs get sealed in the core of the cupcake as it bakes. Once out of the oven, the Lady Baltimore receives its final touches with a lemon meringue 7-minute frosting and finely chopped walnuts.
The brownie cupcake is another delicious special, baked with hints of coffee bean and thickly iced with dark chocolate mocha frosting dusted lightly with sea salt. Another unique special is their hummingbird cupcake made with a banana, pineapple, and pecan cake then coated with a sweet layer of butter crème frosting. Lastly, their classic special is their red velvet cupcake. It is baked in the most beautiful deep shade of red complemented with a mouthwatering crème cheese spread on top.
Bowick believes that the craze for cupcakes is mainly due to the fact that they are so portable and represent one perfect dessert serving. Additionally cupcakes give one the ability to decorate and have fun- people can make cupcakes into anything they want them to be. Bowick, for instance, enjoys decorating their cupcakes to have a particular organic and rustic edginess. Ultimately, cupcakes serve a dual purpose, for they are versatile treats and outlets for creative expression.

Cupcake: Located at 433 King Street, sits Cupcake, a cheerful looking bakeshop offering lots of yummy-sounding flavors like praline, rocky road, mocha chip, and much more.
Kristen, owner of Cupcake, got the idea to open the shop after a trip to New York City. There she visited famous cupcake bakeries such as Magnolias, Crumbs, and Billy’s Bakery. When she returned to Charleston, SC she was inspired to open up a cupcake store of her own. Now there are three Cupcake bakeries on the map, for there are two new locations, one in Mount Pleasant, SC and another in Columbia, SC. Business at Cupcake has been excellent, especially in the midst of summertime and Spoleto. When their shop on King Street first opened, locals all predicted that their business would go under, however quite the opposite seems to be true. The bells on top of their entry door ring joyously all day as waves of customers flourish in and out till closing at 10 PM. Cupcake’s most popular cupcake is their red velvet cupcake. In addition to the red velvet people seem to highly enjoy their lemon blueberry, peanut butter banana, and white chocolate raspberry cupcakes. Their cupcakes are baked with no preservatives and are 100% natural. Their cakes are baked every day and are topped off with their signature mound of icing.
John, a co-owner of the bakeshop, explained that they pride themselves on creating only the freshest cupcakes. He explained that it is easy to walk into our local Piggly Wiggly grocery store and walk out with a twelve-pack of birthday cake cupcakes for a low price. What people don’t always realize is that those cupcakes are packed with preservatives such as Crisco and lard, which is why one can keep them alive and edible in their kitchen for up to a week and a half.
When buying a box of cupcakes at Cupcake, you truly get your money’s worth. Although their cupcakes are individually priced slightly higher, customers are paying for top notch quality cupcakes that are baked with all natural butter, crème cheese, sugar, flour, etc. Unlike grocery store bought cupcakes, their cupcakes only last a day or two after purchase, but since they are so good people have no problem polishing them off before they reach their short expiration date.

Jestine’s Sweet Shop: Two years ago Jestine’s Sweet Shop opened their doors to customers to enjoy freshly baked goods of the south in the heart of the Market District. Due to their location at 54 ½ Wentworth Street, they particularly attract a variety of tourists who dine in their co-restaurant, Jestine’s Kitchen. When folks are all through eating their breakfast, lunch, or dinner at Jestine’s Kitchen, waiters often suggest they go to their sweet shop around the corner to satisfy their sweet tooth craving.
Unfortunately, Jestine’s Sweet Shop only offers one kind of cupcake, and that is their classic red velvet cupcake. Kesha, manager of Jestine’s Sweet Shop, said they used to sell a variety of cupcakes but only the red velvet cupcakes were the ones that sold. On the bright side, they do make up for their lack of cupcake variety with their selection of baked goods such as moose and coconut crème pies, blondies, birthday cakes, and magic bars.

Baked: This little bakeshop is an ode to simplicity in baking, which is why their name is simply titled ‘Baked’. Matt, the owner of Baked, wanted to open a bakery that celebrated American desserts beyond the average cupcake, hence why their slogan is “Forging new frontiers in baking since 2005”. Due to their slogan, some of their cupcakes and cakes have tiny toy reindeer placed on top of their delicious sweet icing.
Their location in Brooklyn, New York opened first, and then another Baked shop popped up at 160 East Bay Street. Ever since the owners of Baked opened their doors to the public they have been nationally recognized and featured on the Martha Stewart Show, the Today Show, the Food Network, and the Style Network.
Their cupcakes come in all sorts of interesting flavors. For example, they have perfected the grasshopper cupcake. This cupcake has a chocolate cake base with a mint ganache filling, then is layered and topped with a crème de menthe buttercrème and mini chocolate and mint sandwich cookies.
Another cupcake that the owners of Baked say “You gotta have!” is their malted Cupcake, for it is a fluffy malted flavored white cake layered with milk chocolate whipped ganache topped with malt balls.
Their popular cupcake with customers is their oopsy daisy cupcake, a chocolate layer cake filled with a peanut butter mousse covered with a peanut butter buttercrème.
The cupcake that has won many awards and has been featured in many notable publications such as ‘O' Magazine, Food and Wine, and Bon Appetit is their sweet & salty cupcake. It has stolen people’s hearts with its dark chocolate cake infused with a salty caramel, adorned with a caramel chocolate ganache and topped with fleur de sel. The list goes on and on- definitely worth your time to stop in and try a new flavor out.