MARCH/APRIL 2009

Femme Fatale

Three women bakers take on the cupcake.

By April Stamm

photo courtesy of Visual Mercenary

Did the cupcake hypertrend begin with those four facets of television femininity, or did the confection’s July 2000 cameo on Sex and the City simply turn an already blossoming resurgence of the homespun into full-blown craze? In the last decade or so, simple, hearty, comfort food has practically overtaken the food world. Whether it’s a backlash to the simultaneous rise of molecular gastronomy, with its chemical and technological bells and whistles, or a movement against the excesses of the fine dining scene, foodies have been embracing short ribs, grits, cobbler, potpie, and all things conceivably made by someone’s great-grandmother. Steeped in nostalgia and luscious in their use of simple ingredients, cupcakes are the sweet poster child of this food wave.

Unlike some of the more savory icons of the hearth movement, however, there is something about cupcakes that seems to grab feminine attention. Simply check out the cupcake bakeries and restaurants specializing in the miniature sweet in most cities and you will be amazed to find how many are owned and/or run by women. Is it that women are more prone to be overcome by the sweet nostalgia of the dessert? Are women more likely to open a business that naturally lures patrons under the age of 13? Is there something sensual in the decadence of cake, frosting, fillings, and toppings all eaten out of hand, that strikes a chord with women?

Three women, from three very different parts of the country, all have such a soft spot for these wee cakes, that they’ve made them their lives. Pamela Jenkins owns The Cupcakery, selling nothing but her special cupcake creations, with locations in Las Vegas and Frisco, Texas. Sweet Mandy B’s in Chicago is Cindy Levine’s bakery, offering a wide assortment of nostalgic baked treats, with a particular focus on cupcakes. In New York City, Marlo Scott owns Sweet Revenge, a café, lounge, and bar that caters to an adult crowd, serving up international wines and beers with savory bites, while devoting her sweet side solely to cupcakes.

Pamela Jenkins, The Cupcakery, Las Vegas and Frisco, Texas

	photo courtesy of Pamela Jenkins

Among the glitter and glitz of Las Vegas, reigns The Cupcake Queen, Pamela Jenkins. Not just a cute moniker used on her website, Jenkins is commonly referred to as Cupcake Queen, Cakes, or Cupcake throughout Las Vegas.

After growing up in Jacksboro, Texas, then studying in New York City and abroad and pursuing an acting career in The Big Apple, Jenkins decided in 2004 to change it all up and take a chance in Las Vegas. While working as an assistant to Golden Nugget owner Timothy Poster, Jenkins began to hatch a cupcake plan. She left Poster after a year and started construction on her dream, The Cupcakery. As her bakery was being built, Jenkins worked as a bartender for close friend Michelle Dell at her famed Hogs and Heifers Las Vegas outpost. Jenkins went from dancing on the bar to baking in her very own bakery in about six months. To promote her new bakery, Jenkins did everything right in true Vegas style, going to all of the right parties, chamber get-togethers, and charity events, making a name for herself and her bakery. However, as she will tell you, as important as selling an image and creating a buzz are, the best PR comes when people dive in and taste one of her scrumptious cupcakes.

photo courtesy of Pamela Jenkins

Just as Jenkins is no ordinary baker, The Cupcakery’s cupcakes are not your average children’s birthday party fare. With names such as Coco Frauline (dark chocolate cake stuffed with traditional German Chocolate cake filling and topped with five layers of chocolate ganache and rolled in pecans) and Tickle Me Pink (white cake topped with vanilla buttercream tinted a perfect pink), these cupcakes are whimsical, sexy, and even a bit cheeky. Each creation is its own. Unlike other bakeries, The Cupcakery does not have one signature frosting method. Each cake is dressed to suit itself, whether it is the simple, sleek lines of the delicate pink frosting on the Tickle Me Pink or the nearly obscene thickly looped piping on the Chocolate Passion (rich chocolate cake topped with chocolate frosting).

By all accounts, Jenkins is the first name in cupcakes in Las Vegas and now Frisco, Texas (a suburb of Dallas). Her particular brand of fun, sexiness, and honest to goodness yumminess makes her worthy of her regal title.

Cindy Levine, Sweet Mandy B's, Chicago

There are children aplenty, with blue, pink, and yellow frosting dotted with sprinkles smeared on their cheeks, at this always packed bakery. Inviting yellow and white striped awnings out front draw passerbys inside, where vintage baking equipment decorate this comfy throwback of a bakery. Replete with an old stand mixer standing in as a door prop. Serving not only cupcakes but also a full line of sweets and baked goods, Sweet Mandy B’s is the epitome of childhood nostalgia. From its interior to its playful and scrumptiously sweet offerings, including rainbow frosted cupcakes, whoopee pies, and dessert bars (such as lemon and rocky road), this bakery brings out the child in everyone.

Levine opened her store in 2002, after long dreaming of having a cozy neighborhood food shop. Her original plan for a soup depot was pushed aside when Levine realized that that the sweets that she’d been making for years to the rave reviews of her family and friends might really be her calling. Surveying the Chicago dessert scene at the time, Levine realized that nothing like her vision of a good old-fashioned bakery specializing in the desserts of her youth existed in The Windy City.

Now, after Sweet Mandy B’s seven year tenure, Levine is still thrilled by the look on customer's faces when they step into her bakery and gaze upon the offered delights.

photo courtesy of Visual Mercenary

Marlo Scott, Sweet Revenge, New York City

In 2007, Marlo Scott, a hard working cog in the machine that is corporate America, having been passed over for promotions and pushed to her limits, was finally rewarded...by being laid off. Luckily, the years of serving her corporate master had helped to nurture a plan in Scott’s mind. If this particular moment, jobless and facing possible financial devastation, wasn’t the perfect time to follow that dream, when was? So Scott acted upon her fantasy and went to work in her tiny West Village apartment kitchen, creating recipes, trying flavors, and tweaking that twinkle in her eye into a full-fledged cupcake, beer, and wine bar.

photo courtesy of Visual Mercenary

Opened in July of 2008, Sweet Revenge is a spot that defies common categorization. It’s a neighborhood bar/lounge with nibbles to accompany the drinks. It’s a warm inviting coffee shop. It’s a cupcake destination. In a fairly tiny space, even by New York City standards, Sweet Revenge manages to fulfill each of its callings, and all with a worldly flair. If you are in the mood for an Argentinean malbec, you could certainly pair that with a savory cake full of chorizo sausage, Manchego, and scallions. If you prefer something sweet, you can take advice of the cupcake and wine and beer pairings list and match your malbec with Sweet Revenge’s namesake cupcake, a peanut butter cake with a chocolate ganache filling and peanut butter buttercream frosting.

The best revenge is living well, and Marlo Scott and her hip, grown-up Sweet Revenge are living it up in style.

At least for these three women, and countless other cupcake creators out there, the cupcake craze is not just a fad highlighted by some well-healed fashionistas on HBO, and it’s far from dying. Cupcakes aren’t about being trendy, but rather simple delight. The delight can come in many forms to many different people, but in the heart of these bakers and entrepreneurs, the cupcake and the joy it brings are here to stay.