Tuesday, May 17, 2011

It Starts with the Product


My family attended the wedding of my nephew last Saturday and the centerpiece on each table was a floral arrangement of scrumptious cupcakes. We wanted to jump straight to the desserts!

CNN at Eatocracy interviewed Candace Nelson, founder and pastry chef of Beverly Hills based Sprinkles Cupcakes.

"My thought was to take this beloved American treat and elevate it with ingredients used for special occasion cakes. Working with beautiful chocolates, vanillas, making cupcakes in other flavors than chocolate and vanilla. Something for everyone’s tastes. The idea was that if we did that, cupcakes could really stand on their own.

Prior to opening our Beverly Hills location, there had never been a retail bakery that sold just cupcakes. There were certainly bakeries known for cupcakes as we know Magnolia and Crumbs, but they are traditional bakeries. We developed a new genre of bakery. Now, you can go into towns across the country and there is a name for it, the cupcakery. That term didn’t even exist before.

The idea was to make a more sophisticated cupcake while keeping the same elements of playfulness and fun so a kid can still enjoy it. From there came the look of the bakery which was modern, sophisticated yet playful with the colors. We were lucky to work with someone who really got it. It definitely starts with the product. People appreciate a beautiful space and the artfulness of the cupcake, but it starts with the product."

Sprinkles has enjoyed its share of celebrity endorsements over the last six years which has helped to raise the profile of the company now with ten stores.