Philadelphia may already be known as home of the cheesesteak, but could it soon be known as home of the cupcake?
Cupcake baking has become big business in the area in recent years, with cupcake trucks popping up on local streets and several hometown bakers even winning Food Network’s “Cupcake Wars.” But in Philadelphia, is there enough cupcake love to go around?
Preschool teachers Lily Fischer and Erin Bailey found their true calling in 2009, when they started their local cupcake business, A Cupcake Wonderland. Last summer the Philadelphia duo competed on the Food Network’s popular bake-off competition, “Cupcake Wars” and won. The Bollywood-themed bake-off had them creating a six-foot elephant loaded with cupcakes, and then came the subsequent notoriety. According to the Northeast Times Star, Fischer recently moved her booming cupcake business out of her home kitchen and into a bigger space at the old Globe Dye Works building on Worth Street.
Ditto for Dia Doce. Last month the mobile cupcake business triumphed on “Cupcake Wars.” The Spring City based business– known in the area by their telltale bright green truck– nailed the show’s “100th Anniversary of the Girl Scouts” theme with a gluten-free, vegan Thin Mint cookie-inspired cupcake. Since then, Dia Doce’s truck stops have been known to sell out, and that special dietary needs niche isn’t hurting. Owner Thais DaSilva told the Daily Local News that 50 percent of the company’s cupcakes are gluten-free and vegan. “We can cater to everyone’s diet,” she said.
But it’s Buttercream that pegs itself “Philadelphia’s Original Cupcake Truck.” The revamped postal truck can be found at stops throughout the Philadelphia area, boasting cupcake flavors like banana with Nutella butercream frosting. Buttercream’s owner, lawyer-turned-cupcake-entrepreneur Kate Carrara, told Woman’s Day, “I knew the cupcake truck was an idea of the moment, and if I didn’t get there first, someone else would.” Two months later she was cruising Philly streets in a used mail truck she bought on Craigslist and peddling cupcakes at LOVE Park.
The editors at Philadelphia Magazine have their own idea of the area’s best cupcake. In their most recent “Best Of” issue the magazine’s critics turned up their noses at all the newfangled, eclectic cupcake combos and went more traditional, voting Washington Crossing’s Colonial Farms as their favorite. The magazine cited the basic chocolate, vanilla and red velvet cupcakes as the best in Philly.
But perhaps no one can top this special cupcake, offered by Cupcakes Gourmet. The Main Line couture cupcake shop boasts a $55,000 red velvet cupcake that includes an 8-carat diamond engagement ring from Warwick Jewelers. The sparkling cupcake can be special ordered year round and can even be scaled down with a smaller diamond. Just be careful where you bite.
