By Susan Shinn
sshinn@salisburypost.com
The foodie trend that’s swept both coasts is now sweeping into Salisbury: cupcakes.
Oh, not the cupcakes Mom whipped up from a mix and slathered with a can of frosting for your ninth birthday.
No, these cupcakes are decidedly more sophisticated, both in flavor and in design.
These are cupcakes for grown-ups. And Caniche Bake Shop is hoping they’ll sell like, well, you know.
“We’re trying to catch the cupcake craze,” says Leslie Dunkin, bakery manager. “People might not eat a big piece of cake, but it’s a portable little sweet that’s fun. It’s brings back feelings of your childhood. It’s a comfort.”
The bakery’s current cupcake selections include Catawba Mud, a concoction of nuts, marshmallows and chocolate patterned after a Mississippi mud cake; red velvet; and chocolate chocolate.
“We’re going to carry certain flavors every day,” says Lesleigh Drye, Caniche’s co-owner with Missie Alcorn.
Those flavors include vanilla, chocolate, red velvet and carrot.
Then, following the format of Caniche’s tea room, special flavors will be promoted each month ó pumpkin in October, cranberry, orange and coconut in December, for example.
Drye seems especially enamored with Oreo and Reese’s cupcakes ó and really, who wouldn’t be?”For Halloween,” she says, “we’ll have cupcakes decorated for that holiday.”
The specialty cupcakes feature flavors more unique than what you can find in the grocery store bakery, Drye says.
(And thanks to extensive research, we can tell you that they taste as good as they look.)
“For so long,” Dunkin says, “cupcakes were a kid thing. Now they’re for adults.”
People are so health-conscious, Drye says, that cupcakes represent a bit of portion control.
“Anything in moderation,” she says.
Drye notes that there’s definitely a trend in serving cupcakes at weddings ó and the decorations have become much more elaborate.
Caniche offers cupcakes with ladybugs, flowers, butterflies ó even miniature banana splits.
Cupcakes at Caniche are priced between $2.50 and $3.50 a piece, depending on the elaborateness of the decoration.
They’re perfect for baby showers, wedding showers, birthdays ó whatever occasion you desire.
“The possibilities are endless,” Dunkin says.
Caniche officially launched its cupcake business during OctoberTour weekend over on Bank Street.
“We probably sold 200 cupcakes,” Drye says. “People there on Saturday came back on Sunday to get another one. There’s so many cute things you can do with cupcakes. It’s absolutely amazing.”nnnTo learn more about the cupcakes at the Caniche Bake Shop, call 704-638-5522.