Want a Cupcake?

Hidden away, just off Camp Bowie, is a small yellow cottage called The Cupcake Cottage. It is the creation of TCU graduate Sandra Bradshaw. Once her husband retired from the Air Force, she decided to pursue her lifelong dream of owning her own business, and with lots of encouragement from her husband and three kids, she embarked on the cupcake adventure. Luckily for us, this charming family owned business opened in September of 2006 and has been baking gorgeous cupcakes since.

The cupcake trend has taken off in full force these days. Even my 18 year-old brother loves them and is not afraid to say so. I share this love of cupcakes with my brother and when my roommate told me about this gem in Fort Worth, I knew I had to go. They offer 31 flavors, baked from scratch. Their seasonal delights of blueberry, chocolate gingerbread, eggnog, holiday spice, peach, and peppermint candy cane are available November to January. The most popular flavors include red velvet, pink lemonade, lemon, pumpkin, and cookies and cream, just to name a few.

Among this delightful array of choices, my personal favorite is the peanut butter cup because they mix real pieces of peanut butter cups into the cake. The next best cupcake would have to be the double chocolate that will satisfy any chocolate craving. The vanilla buttercream icing that tops each cupcake makes them absolutely delightful, and the pure sweetness of the icing gives you the perfect sugar rush.

The shop is small and minimally decorated, making the glass case full of fresh baked cupcakes the first and only thing you see when you walk in the door. There is always someone there to greet you with a smile and help you in the complicated process of choosing a flavor. The simple sign above the register lists the price of the standard cupcakes as $2.45, which may seem pricey at first, but I would much rather pay for an amazingly good cupcake than for a mediocre $2 muffin at a random coffee shop. There is one other option: they also bake babycakes (mini cupcakes) that are almost too cute to eat for $0.95 each. I nearly always get one each of the babycakes so I can have a taste of each of the five flavors they have that day.  If more than one cupcake simply will not do, the standard cupcakes are $29.40 a dozen and the babycakes are $11.40 a dozen. The Cupcake Cottage happily takes preorders as these orders determine which  flavors will be served in the shop on a daily basis.

To find out what flavors they will be serving on the day you want a cupcake, look on their website,www.thecupcakecottage.com. Their website is a great place to see all the options they have for any of your cupcake needs. It also gives a list of other icing options that you can choose if you preorder your cupcakes. They even have blogs about their cupcakes that explain many exciting facts about cupcakes and the shop. The owner has written past blogs about her most popular cupcakes, how she decorates them and most recently she blogged about how she makes her cupcakes so flavorful.

You must be quick, as the shop opens at 10 am and closes when the last cupcake is sold. Some days they might sell out in a couple of hours; other days they stay open until the early afternoon. Luckily, you can call the cottage requesting they hold cupcakes for you so you won’t miss out on your favorite flavor.

The Cupcake Cottage
5015 El Campo Avenue, (at Camp Bowie Blvd.)
Fort Worth, TX 76107
(817) 732-5670
thecupcakecottage@sbcglobal.net