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st CupcakesTPG NEWSPAPER
December15, 2009
FROM-SCRATCH-BAKING:RETURNING TO AN ART FORM
Starz Cupcakes Sparkles in Capitola
Entering Starz Cupcakes at 1420 41st Avenue (next to Yogurt Delite) a visitor is struck with the bright and clean shop, the dazzling full color menu on a giant screen and the display case. Oh, the display case: it’s filled with 18 different types of cupcakes artfully cradled in colorful parchment paper, each one luscious-looking and calling to you.
When the surprise of so much deliciousness settles down and the brain begins to process again, one realizes that a full service coffee bar is available for your order of a hot cup of java including almost every flavor of Torani Syrups for flavored coffee or an Italian soda. This is a fun place … let’s stay.
Owners Lisa and Connie Brighton come by their kitchen “creds” naturally. On the side walls of the shop hang several black and white photos of Lisa, her children, including Connie, and their extended family going back to Lisa’s great, great, great grandmother, Elizabeth Virginia Wilkeson. She came to California on a wagon train at ten years of age, unaccompanied, in 1843. She came with recipes from her mother and grandmother and is the first of her family to become a professional baker.
Elizabeth gave birth to Nancy “Minnie” Crabtree-Arthur, who also became a cook and baker and gave birth to Hazel Crabtree who became Starz owner Lisa’s great grandmother. Lisa Brighton learned to bake as a toddler in Hazel’s kitchen, learning her alphabet at the spice rack and turning out her first creation, a peach cobbler, at the age of four. Lisa’s own daughters learned to bake as children also and her youngest daughter, Connie, is co-owner and the executive baker at Starz. Connie has become extremely inventive with the old family recipes and has come up with ones of her own so that Starz features 143 distinct varieties of cupcakes with new ones coming on board all the time.
It has come to Starz Cupcakes’ attention that there are many folks who cannot eat cake, or cupcakes for that matter. Those who are diabetics, the gluten intolerant and Weight Watchers are officially out of excuses. Prepare for a huge treat: the Starz gluten free chocolate cupcake. It is tender and flavorful, not at all like the cardboard conglomerations that pass for gluten-free baked goods. Starz Cupcakes has created a great blend of 8 to 10 different types of flours to produce a fine, gourmet cupcake… with zero gluten. They can make just about any type of their special recipes into gluten-free cupcakes, but chocolate is the one most requested. Call or email for other gluten-free options.
Connie Brighton, who is in charge of product development, is a diabetic. When she was 14 months old, she was diagnosed. None of the experts expected her to live past 2 years of age. Connie, a true miracle, is alive and well, enjoying the adventure of working beside her mother at Starz Cupcakes.
Lisa and Connie are proud to offer a delicious cupcake that is the equivalent of two to three points for those on the Weight Watchers program depending on the frosting. Now there is a dessert that truly satisfies yet keeps the dieter from going over on points. Guilt-free and indulgent at the same time.
So, How Do They Taste?
The chocolate frosting comes from a recipe passed down from a great grandmother who cooked for See’s Candies over 80 years ago. The frostings melt in your moth in the first two seconds. As the flavors spread, the cake begins to melt infusing the entire mouth with a crescendo of sensations. The senses of smell, taste and touch all contribute to a thoroughly satisfying encounter. To experience the thrill, go to Starz Cupcakes with friends and buy several different kinds. Cut them up in halves or quarters so everyone gets to sample several cupcakes at one time.
Chocolate lovers will find a large variety to choose from: Triple Chocolate Chunk, SnickerLicious, Chocolate Peanut Butter and Starz Butterfingers for example. During October and November there were pumpkin pie cupcakes made from fresh pumpkins. In the weeks before Christmas there are sensational seasonal offerings: Eggnog, Candy Cane Lane, Elf’s Chocolate Peppermint Bark, and Mrs. Claus’ Hot Cocoa… and more!
Lisa says, “We are taking baking back to an art. It will take you back to an era you might have forgotten about, to baking like your grandmother or great grandmother used to do with that non-preservative taste.”
From-scratch-baking is labor-intensive and requires more costly, fresh, preservative-free, natural ingredients. Most cupcake bakeries use mixes. The Starz difference is that they will not compromise on quality and the difference is easy to appreciate when you take that first bite.
You’ll find Starz Cupcakes at 1440 41st Ave. Suite B in Capitola and look for their cupcakes at Yogurt Delite, the Capitola 41st Ave. Theater, Scotts Valley Cinema, Surf City Coffee in Aptos and Scotts Valley, the Fish Lady in Soquel and in Safeways in Scotts Valley, on Mission Street, and on 41st on Sunday evenings and Mondays. Starz is also looking for more locations, so call if interested.
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Good Times Home Restaurant Reviews
Wednesday, 21 October 2009 10-12
Karen Petersoen - Dining
Let Us Eat Cake
Two little girls perched atop silver stools enjoying an after-school treat. Forks full of frosting, the youngsters were admiring the handiwork of Starz Cupcakes.
On any given day, 15 of the more than 100 cupcake flavors are available. The regular size is $2.95. All are made from scratch and contain no preservatives. Beverages include coffee drinks, juice, and regular, chocolate and nonfat milk. If you want a fancier cupcake, a variety of sprinkles are available at the counter.
Hours of Operation:
Open: Tuesday - Thursday: 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Friday & Saturday 10:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Sunday: 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
We are closed Mondays
Starz Cupcakes has now opened our very first "Satellite" Location inside Yogizmo on the westside of town at 1717 Mission Street. How does our Satellite location differ from our other locations that sell our cuppies? Well... our Satellite location carries all 19 flavors just like our main store on 41st Avenue; including gluten free, diabetic and Weight Watchers. Our customers have made the requests and we have heard you loud and clear so out of respect for you, our customers, your options await your arrival, so stop in today at Yogizmo on Mission Street and have a Starz Cupcake and guess what... it's called one stop shopping, you may also want a yogurt as well.
Starz Cupcakes
(831) 464-8911
Email your questions or orders to: info@starzcupcakes.com
