Article about Cupcakes, the Comfort Food!

Spring/Summer 2009

February 2008

July 2009

February 2009

Scottsdale Downtowner
May 2008

The Cupcake Sisters

We were featured in Phoenix Magazine's Best of the Valley Issue

Best Cupcakes:

CupCakes

If your sweet tooth can no longer be satisfied by cookies and ice cream, relive your childhood with a trip to CupCakes at the Hilton Village Shops, Decorated like a candy shop and chock-full of creamy, dreamy cupcakes, like the 'party animal' and the aptly named, caramel-infused 'bliss' CupCakes will send you straight to sugar nirvana. 6137 N. Scottsdale Road, Ste. B105, Scottsdale, 480-656-3816

We were featured in the Phoenix New Times
September 27, 2007

Gourmet cupcakes are the nation's sweetest dessert fad. But until earlier this year, the Valley hadn't caught on to the trend. So when sisters Stephanie and Lindsay Esparza, originally from Orange County, decided to open a business together, dealing in the sweet treats seemed like a no-brainer. After consulting with a pastry chef friend back in California, they came up with 18 original, top-secret recipes (including one vegan cupcake) and opened up shop in Scottsdale's upscale Hilton Village shopping center. They've sold out of cupcakes almost every day since they opened their doors. Though the sisters face some competition with other cupcake shops opening around the Valley, they say they aren't worried — they view a little sweet competition as a good thing.

Check out the rest of the article here

SISTERS CRAVE BIG BITE OF TRENDY CUPCAKE CRAZE

ANGELIQUE SOENARIE,
The Arizona Republic

Topped with frosting and sometimes sprinkles, the moist and sweet cupcake is a big hit everywhere. In 2005, the cake market was worth more that $5 billion, and it's growing, according to the Market Research.com. In Scottsdale, some cupcake shops give the products trendy Hollywood names. Check out a chocolate cupcake stuffed with a creamy chocolate filling called Rich and Famous. It has a golden air-brushed coating. That's Stephanie Esparza's favorite. Her sister Lindsay Esparza's favorite is Les Deux, a rich chocolate cake filled and covered with peanut butter frosting and dusted with Dutch cocoa.

The sisters opened Cupcakes in April at the Hilton Village shopping center. So far, the two have sold about 11,000 cupcakes, Lindsay said. "Basically we wanted to open a clothing boutique," Stephanie said, but Scottsdale is saturated with boutiques. So, the two Arizona State University graduates waited for another business opportunity. Then the cupcake phenomenon caught their attention. The sisters' cupcakes are stylishly different. The swirled heap of creamy frosting makes them look like ice cream on a cone. A Hollywood cupcake is made with a red cocoa cake frosted with fluffy cream cheese and dusted with gold luster. A cupcake cost $3.25 at the chic store, where birthdays and other celebrations can be held for children. "I want them to walk out feeling like they've had the best cupcake they've ever had," Lindsay said. Cupcakes * 6137 N. Scottsdale Road. * (480) 656-3816.

Cupcake shops bake specialty treats in Scottsdale by Julie Janovsky
June 27, 2007

Compared with an entire slice of cake, the diminutive desserts “don’t feel so abusive,” says CupCakes customer Dirk Vandeventer of Scottsdale, who, along with son Tyler, 17, bought vanilla and chocolate varieties for his wife.

What’s New // Cupcakes
By juliestone

“Now you can have your cupcake and eat it, too,” say Stephanie and Lindsay Esparaza, two sisters from Orange County who originally moved to Arizona to attend ASU. Stephanie and Lindsay majored in family studies and criminal justice, respectively, but like so many college graduates, their jobs have little to do with what they learned. More...