I love cupcakes. When I splurge and eat out at SPIN! Neapolitan Pizza, I make it an even bigger splurge with a trip to the cupcake store around the corner. But my last trip around the corner disappointed me. Why would anyone try to compete in the growing cupcake restaurant segment and still ice the cakes with typical bakery Crisco icing? Anyone who makes cake at home doesn’t use that nasty icing. Granted, it’s cheaper, but buttercream is the most popular and flavorful. Sigh.
Anyway, my main point is that cupcakes are still where it’s at. Yes, they were so 2009-10, and food editors have moved on. But I’m not ready to move on, and neither are a few others.
- For its 40th anniversary, Starbucks launched some petite desserts, including mini cupcakes and cake-pops with 200 calories or less. The cupcakes are red velvet and vanilla bean.
- Au Bon Pain added cupcakes this winter and is considering keeping them on the menu. Flavors are french vanilla, double chocolate and red velvet at $2.99 each or two for $5.
- The largest cupcake chain, Crumbs Holdings LLC, is currently being acquired by 57th Street General Acquisition Corp. Why? “The cupcake category is a unique subsection of the burgeoning fast-casual segment of the restaurant industry, and Crumbs has emerged as the cupcake leader with significant long-term potential,” they said in a release.
So, I’m not alone in my love for the small cakes. 57th Street plans to expand the 34 Crumbs stores to 200 by the end of 2014. (They also plan to take the company public, so stockholders, be watching.)
Another compelling reason to think there’s still some cupcake power out there, consider that incidences of restaurant menu mentions of cupcakes increased 163% from 2007-10, according to Mintel Menu Insights.
And while we have our eye on cake, it’s interesting to see where restaurant cake trends are. Who can miss the rise of red velvet? Menu mentions of red velvet increased 550% in the past three years!
Chocolate cake, not surprisingly, is by far the leading flavor, followed by carrot cake, which increased 22% in the past three years. The types of cake falling a bit out of favor on menus is strawberry shortcake (down 9% in the past three years); torte (down 11%); and upside down cake (down 22%). Keep an eye on tres leches cake. It was up 90% in menu mentions over the past three years.
Tell me your favorites.
Incidences of cake mentions on restaurant menus over time
|
Q4 2007 |
Q4 2008 |
Q4 2009 |
Q4 2010 |
Number of Items |
% change from 2007 to 2010 |
|
|
# |
# |
# |
# |
# |
% |
|
|
Cake - Chocolate |
145 |
132 |
154 |
156 |
587 |
8 |
|
Cake - Carrot |
36 |
42 |
37 |
44 |
159 |
22 |
|
Cake - Shortcake |
22 |
26 |
18 |
20 |
86 |
-9 |
|
Cake - Mousse |
17 |
16 |
18 |
20 |
71 |
18 |
|
Cake - Torte |
19 |
16 |
18 |
17 |
70 |
-11 |
|
Cake - Tres Leches |
10 |
14 |
15 |
19 |
58 |
90 |
|
Cake - Pound |
8 |
12 |
15 |
12 |
47 |
50 |
|
Cupcake |
8 |
10 |
7 |
21 |
46 |
163 |
|
Cake - Upside Down |
9 |
12 |
9 |
7 |
37 |
-22 |
|
Cake - Flourless |
8 |
5 |
11 |
13 |
37 |
63 |
|
Cake - Lemon |
6 |
7 |
8 |
11 |
32 |
83 |
|
Cake - Fudge |
7 |
8 |
7 |
9 |
31 |
29 |
|
Cake - Red Velvet |
2 |
3 |
7 |
13 |
25 |
550 |
Source: Mintel Menu Insights
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