Sweet Bites

What inspired you to add a cupcake company to Southcoast Catering?
Southcoast Catering has been in business since 2009. We specialize in catering lunches to pharmaceutical reps. Shayna’s Gourmet Cupcakes began as a need to satisfy the request of our sales reps. The cupcakes were just an extension of our catering business.

Your customers asked for cupcakes?
Yes. In the beginning, our lunches included a cookie platter for dessert. As time went on, our repeat customers asked if we could supply something other than those “boring cookies.” My daughter Shayna, who loves to bake, suggested cupcakes. The rest, you could say, was history.

Does Shayna work for you now?

Cupcakes are all the rage now. What happened to cake?
Our cupcakes are slightly smaller than you’d find at other gourmet cupcake shops. Our customers comment that they are “just the right size” and “not too overwhelming.”

So, you think people prefer them for their size. Will you do smaller cake pops too?
People assume that since we make cupcakes, we also make cakes and cake pops. The cupcake business has grown out of need and it’s still in its infancy right now.

What’s the one cupcake that people always ask for and rave about?
The cupcake that gets the biggest “wow” is our Coffee Buzz. It’s a chocolate cupcake with a coffee-mascarpone filling, topped with espresso butter cream frosting.

That sounds amazing. What’s your favorite cupcake?
I also love the Coffee Buzz, but also the Almond Razzle Dazzle – almond cheesecake with raspberry cream filling and a meringue topping with raspberry drizzle and almond slivers. My wife Robin makes the filling; it’s her secret recipe.