*Baker: Stephanie of
Sweetness Bakeshop & Cafe
*Contact information: 9549 Sunset Drive, Miami, FL 33173, info@sweetnessbakeshop.net, 305-271-7791
*Flavors & Fillings: Selection includes chocolate, vanilla, banana split, caramel apple, Snickers, and margarita. For the rest of the selection go
HERE.
*Pricing: Minis $1, Regular $2, and Jumbo $3
1.
Meaning behind baker/bakery name. When we were first thinking of names for our store, we must have had a list of about 200 potential names, the one word that summed us up was “Sweetness”, our goal is to fill our customers days with a little sweetness whether it be in the form of a cupcake, cookie, gelato, sandwich, anything, we hope that just simply stepping foot in through our doors makes your day a little sweeter. Funny enough, we finally decided upon the name “Sweetness” during a 7th inning stretch of a Florida Marlins baseball game.
2.
How did you get started in cupcakes? Sweetness is a family run business, my brother and I grew up watching my mom bake, and like most kids, thought we were helping lol. About 3 years ago, my mom and I started baking & selling cupcakes out of the house as “A Piece Of Cupcake”, the time came that we were producing so much we didn’t fit in our house anymore, I was getting ready to graduate from FIU and we thought the timing would be perfect to open a storefront.
3.
What is your signature cupcake? Some think it’s our Guayabera, others think it’s our Maple Bacon or Irish Car Bomb, we don’t have one cupcake that we classify as our “signature”, we like to think that all of our 150+ flavors are our signature cupcakes, our flavor selection is part of what makes Sweetness what we are today.
4.
What is your personal favorite cupcake? Believe it or not, I really don’t eat many cupcakes, but when I do, my favorite is Chocolate Covered Strawberry or Thrilla In Vanilla.
5.
What inspires you when it comes to your cupcake creations? Everything around us plays a factor into the flavors we develop, we’re very inspired by pop-culture, we’re very into using seasonal fruits…and yes, even vegetables. One of the biggest inspiration for our flavors is actually our customers, they make recommendations and requests and we do our best to meet their expectations!
6.
One reason why cupcakes are awesome. They’re a bite sized dessert, and you don’t have to share! It’s like your own personal piece of heaven.
7.
What do you think is the future of cupcakes? It’s hard to predict, journalists have been saying for years that it’s a dying trend, but I only see it getting stronger, the key is to be unique and stand out from the rest, and I think we do a pretty good job at it.
8.
What do you think is funkiest cupcake creation? I can only speak for what’s been done in our store, there’s been some pretty crazy stuff made in our kitchens that our customers have never tasted. Such as popcorn cupcakes, it was a cupcake that literally tasted like you were eating a bowl of popcorn, we also made a buffalo blue-cheese cupcake, it was a cupcake made with hot sauce and the frosting was a blue-cheese/cream cheese frosting. Outside of our bakery, I think Bleeding Heart Bakery in Chicago, IL is BRILLIANT!
9.
What has been your biggest cupcake disaster? I don’t like to call them disasters, more like learning experiences, the first time we made our crème brulee cupcake, we actually tried torching the sugar directly on the cupcake, and well…we ended up with burnt cupcakes…needless to say we’ve re-worked that and it’s now one of our most popular cupcakes.
10.
Share one cupcake making tip. Weigh everything, it’s much more accurate than using measuring cups, and it’s also a lot quicker.
