Sugar Babe Cupcakes

There’s another new cupcakery in town, and this one is opening up shop on the Northside of Bethlehem in the former Attic thrift shop at 14 W Broad St.  Sugar Babe Cupcakes, piloted by baker Angela Malpedo, hopes to open by mid-December.  Formerly running solely as an online business, Malpedo decided to make the jump to storefront.

With the recent cupcake craze (see the opening of Warm Sugar and Blondies in the valley, and the plethora of nationwide shops/TV shows), Malpedo is throwing another hat in the mix.  She says  she received frequent orders for cupcakes, so that’s  what she decided to focus on, noting that she specializes in Italian cookies, as well.  One thing that sets her business apart from the others?  A portion of her proceeds goes to a new charity/organization each month. 

I had a chance to sample a few cupcakes that will be making their way into the shop, including Plain Jane (chocolate cake, vanilla frosting with sprinkles), Happy Jack (pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting and cinnamon sugar), Pretty in Pink (strawberry cupcake, strawberry frosting), Good Day Sunshine (orange creamsicle cake, vanilla frosting and sprinkles), Serendipity (chocolate cake, peanut butter filling with chocolate frosting and a peanut butter cookie), and Ruby, a red velvet with cream cheese frosting.  The cupcakes were great, fresh, and more importantly, not overwhelmingly sweet.  The biggest downfall of the amazing cupcakes at Warm Sugar is that they’re just too damn sweet, and to eat a whole full-sized one takes a lot of power to get through the richness. 

The cupcakes from Sugar Babe were very flavorful without making your teeth hurt from all of the sugar.  The Good Day Sunshine, for instance, was so orangey I was surprised.  Cream cheese frosting has always been a personal favorite of mine so I sure can’t argue with putting it on cupcakes.  In addition to cupcakes, the shop will also serve up brownies and cookies, as well as muffins on the weekends. 

According to Malpedo, she made the jump from website to storefront due to growing her business for the past year and a half.  She says the move hasn’t been easy, but with the overwhelming response to her baked goods she knew it was time to open a store to increase her availability and visibility.  She adds, “It has always been my dream to open a bakery, so I am very exited about this.”

So what about the future?  When asked about a cupcake truck, Malpedo said she was originally looking into a food truck versus a storefront, but there is certainly still a chance for a mobile cupcakery in the future.  Inquiring about crazy flavor combinations, she noted that a lot of people have been requesting some sort of pickle pastry, so that may be in the works.  (May we suggest a pickleback-based cupcake?)  In any case, look for the storefront to open in a few weeks, pending everything going smoothly with city permits and the such.