About us
My baking journey started over 20 years ago, when my Dad was diagnosed with diabetes. Portion control is key to helping to maintain blood sugar levels and cupcakes seemed a viable option. However, my Dad wasn’t satisfied with just cake and frosting. Thus, the idea to add surprise fillings in the center made them more palatable for him and offered the ability to create a plethora of flavor combinations.
My Mom was a passionate baker when I was a kid. I remember those cake decorating and candy making classes she took at the City of Chino. The apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree.
My first filled cupcake was the Devin Ding Dong. It is chocolate cupcake with malted milk creme filling, chocolate frosting and crushed malt balls on top. It was affectionately named after my nephew for his famous respond to this creation. When Devin took his first bite of the cupcake, I asked for his opinion. No words were spoken, just another bite was taken. After the second bite, Devin exclaimed, “it’s better than a Ding Dong, Aunt Trace”.
The first sugar free cupcake was Milan’s strawberry lemonade. It is a sugar free lemon cake, fresh strawberry filling, lemon frosting and a strawberry on top.
To make a filled cupcake, the cake is baked and then using some type of tool (corer, knife, spoon, etc.) cake is removed to make way for the filling. This is time consuming and a waste of cake. Well, maybe not for some. Some use the scooped cake for cake balls / pops. That sounds good and I would say the same thing, but I’ve probably only made cake balls 3 times in my life. Too time consuming and messy. Much respect for those that do make them.
There had to be an easier way. Although, I had the idea to figure out a different method, the seed for the concept was buried decades ago.
In 2022, I attended a birthday dinner for a friend. I decided to bring cupcakes to celebrate. My friend was thrilled about us getting a small group together, as she didn’t typically celebrate her birthday. The restaurant staff was fawning over my cupcakes. It had gotten to the point that the bartender brought the birthday girl a drink in an attempt to barter for a cupcake. We obliged him with a few. This created a little sprout in that concept seed.
Ramall and I started testing all types of ideas and prototypes. Ranging from chopsticks, PVC caps with gravel, silicone plugs and so on. Ramall said the tool needed to have legs to stabilize it.
After many trials, attempts and prototypes, our fully functional cupcake tool was created.
We struggled to find a name for our new invention. We are avid wine drinkers, looking at the shape and how its removed, the Cupcake Cork seemed like the most logical name.