The Cupcake Chronicles

I see that it has been an embarrassingly long time since I’ve posted anything on my blog...and for that I apologize. I started this blog a year ago when I was deep in a slowdown at work and had lots of time to sit in coffeehouses and tap away...but fortunately for me, work picked up and I became too busy to blog.

This being the post-holiday season, work has once again slowed down, so here I am sipping coffee and eating a chocolate chip cookie, with time to spare and thoughts to share (ugh...I’ll tried to be wittier from now on and less cutsey).

The thoughts I’d like to share mostly concern my experiences last summer, when I started a new business on Block Island, Rhode Island, where we have a summer home. Baked on the Block was a way for me to continue baking all summer while enjoying our summer house and maybe even make a buck or two, or at least cover my expenses, which I’m pretty sure I did (my husband would love for me to do the math so that I can be absolutely sure, but I hate math).

To sum up: twice a week I sold my goods from a card table at the Block Island Farmers Market, which is a delightfully homey, though also unabashedly commercial, enterprise that showcases mostly crafts—locally made t-shirts, wooden cutting boards shaped like the island, and so forth—but also includes some local produce, honey, and of course, baked goods. I was the only vendor who concentrated on cupcakes, and I really had a blast.


I mostly made two types of cupcakes—chocolate and vanilla—topped with chocolate or vanilla buttercream. I started out selling lobster-shaped decorated cookies that were adorable but didn’t sell very well and since they were terribly time-consuming to make, I stopped making them (the advantage of being your own boss—deciding the menu). I changed items around according to sales and availability, and by the end of the summer the menu consisted of cupcakes, granola, cinnamon buns, blackberry muffins (we had a bumper crop of blackberries on our property), and chocolate cake that I sold by the slice. I also filled special orders for cakes and cupcakes.

Did I make money? Sure, though I’m not sure how much of a profit I made after expenses and figuring in the time I spent baking, making buttercream, decorating, packing and unpacking, transporting, and cleaning up.

Was it worth it? Very much so, even if I made very little money. I used to think that I wouldn’t enjoy baking for people other than my family and friends, but that is most definitely not the case. Baked goods make everyone happy, including the baker. Even during an especially hot summer, when I dripped sweat in my unventilated little kitchen, I was happy to be doing what I loved in a place that I love so much.

The farmers market itself was truly enjoyable and one of the best spots I can imagine for people watching. I so enjoyed watching parents allow their little kids to pick out a cupcake, then watched the kids push their faces right into the buttercream, often licking the cupcake clean and leaving the cake part to their parents. I also enjoyed meeting other vendors, especially my neighbor at the Wednesday market who sold seaweed salad and baked, crunchy seaweed snacks (sounds strange but really pretty delicious). And of course, nothing made me happier than when someone stopped by my table and told me, “I LOVE your cupcakes/cakes/granola/muffins/cinnamon buns!”

I had a cupcake-themed apron that I wore all summer and people started calling me “the cupcake lady.” I considered that a great compliment.

People still ask me if I enjoyed running my baking business, and I often mention that I was a great learning experience. On that subject I would like to list some of the many things I learned:

• In fairly intense summer heat, buttercream holds up for about an hour before it starts to melt and ruin whatever it’s on. For reasons I am not sure I understand, chocolate buttercream (simply vanilla with cocoa added to it) melted much more quickly—wish I knew why.
• Also for reasons I don’t quite understand, cupcake liners will sometimes pull away from cupcakes, making them look messy. After much research and experimentation, I found that if there wasn’t an abundance of fat in the batter (so I used low-fat yogurt instead of full-fat yogurt in my vanilla cake) and if I made sure the cupcakes were thoroughly baked, this pulling-away was much less likely to happen.
• If you’re going to sell baked goods in the morning, it makes sense to sell at least some breakfast items. Hence the addition of cinnamons buns and blackberry muffins to the menu.
• Ingredients ordered in bulk or from wholesalers will save you a bundle (I’m still working on this one).
• Before baking, cinnamon bun dough needs a solid hour to rise at room temperature after spending the night in the fridge...so I was up at 6:00am on market day (not that I’m complaining).
• Not everyone adores chocolate...there are lots of people who prefer vanilla cake AND vanilla buttercream.
• Giving out samples/tastes of your wares is a good thing...within limits.

I am planning to open Baked on the Block next summer as well, and I am already looking forward to it. I have been spending time thinking about my menu, what I may change and/or add, how I will acquire cheaper ingredients without compromising quality, and whether or not I will advertise in the local paper. I kept track of my equipment and ingredients last summer so I have a good idea of what I will need to buy for next summer, as well as what I already have (like a lifetime supply of six-pack plastic cupcake holders).

So if you happen to be on Block Island next summer on a Saturday or Wednesday between 9:00 and 11:30am, come on by the Baked on the Block table, mention this article, and get a free cupcake!