By LINDSAY LORENZ, Register Staff Writer
Gainesville Daily Register
Gainesville —
If you’re an adult, chances are you probably remember licking batter from the spoon as Mom whipped up a batch of cupcakes for a childhood birthday party. And while cupcakes may have been a treat for tots in the past, today they’re a popular pick-me-up for people of all ages.
But forget the tinfoil liners and Tupperware containers used to tote them to the classroom. Within the last decade, designer cupcakes have warranted enough attention that some bakeries in larger cities sell the pint-sized perfection exclusively. Also popular with brides-to-be, it’s not uncommon to see that the traditional multi-tiered cake has been swapped for tiers of cupcakes at wedding receptions.
However, those looking for a sweet pick-me-up don’t have to travel far, nor do they need a special occasion.
Gainesville’s Backstage Cafe picked up on the trend in February, offering jumbo cupcakes as a way to supplement income when business was lagging.
“The fall and winter was kind of slow, and I like to bake,” said owner Anita Morris. “Because I make good cakes, I figured, why can’t I make good cupcakes?”
Morris said her three kitchen employees prefer cooking to baking, but with personal experience in designing wedding cakes, she decided to give it a go anyway.
Rising when most of Gainesville’s residents are still tucked in, Morris makes her way to California Street each day around 5 a.m. With a quiet kitchen all to herself, she begins mixing batter for the 76 or so cupcakes she serves daily.
Morris, who said she’s not good with recipes, makes her cupcakes from scratch.
“It doesn’t always turn out the same, but it’s always good,” she said with a laugh.
Last week she used an Italian cream mix for a batch of banana split cupcakes.
“Just about anything you can eat, I can make a cupcake out of,” she said.
Morris said customers often suggest new flavors and some of her flavors include red velvet, German chocolate, coconut and something known as pig pickings.
Confused customers should know the flavor pig pickings doesn’t include slop. Morris said she found an old recipe from South Carolina and explained people used to get so stuffed after pig roasts that they needed a light recipe for dessert.
After mixing the batter, Morris uses an ice cream scoop to dump dollops into jumbo cupcake trays. After about 25 minutes, the cupcakes come out of the oven and cool before Morris adds the finishing touches.
She takes a butter knife and scoops a small hole into the top of the cupcake so she can fill the centers with flavored syrups or frostings.
Once that’s done, Morris adds the details that bring her cupcakes to life.
To mimic an actual banana split, Morris quickly frosts the tops of each cupcake and adds a strawberry, chocolate and vanilla scoop of flavored frosting on top. After drizzling syrup, throwing on couple of nuts and placing a cherry on top, customers might have to do a double-take to make sure the baked good is not actually an ice cream dish.
The finished product is placed in a brown box with a transparent top and sealed with a Backstage Cafe sticker to be sold for $2.
Since February, Morris said she usually sells just about all of the cupcakes she bakes daily. She said customers sometimes order them for parties, and even give them as gifts.
“People love to eat what’s pretty,” Morris said.
And although some customers can’t get enough, Morris said she’d rather look than taste.
“I eat very few,” she admitted. “I’m a mashed potato person.”
However that doesn’t stop her from creating new varieties. In the future, Morris plans to introduce vegan cupcakes since the recipes don’t use butter or eggs. This means the fat content is low and those with food allergies can still enjoy the sweet treats.
Morris, who’s lived in Gainesville for the last 13 years got her start in the food service industry during the 1980s when a friend suggested she try catering after sampling some of her hors d’oeuvres.
She’s worked as a food service manager in Chevy Chase, Md. and spent six years at the Lake Kiowa Lodge.
“It’s fun,” she said. “It’s all about having fun.”
