Name: Shayrin Badillo & Cristina Valdes
Age: 26 & 27
Location: Coral Gables, FL
Occupation: Cupcake Entrepreneurs
URL: www.cupcakesnouveau.com
How long have you been baking, and when did you come up with the idea Cupcakes Nouveau? Why did you decide to focus exclusively on cupcakes?
We both fell in love with our Easy Bake Ovens as children and grew up baking and creating in our homes. We were both interested in developing a creative business together and our shared love of baking came up. We decided on cupcakes because we wanted a fun and whimsical business, and nothing brings a smile to people’s faces like cupcakes.
You call your cupcakes "gourmet couture" cupcakes -- what does that mean to you?
We use fresh, high quality, gourmet ingredients in all our made-from-scratch cupcakes and frostings. We consider our cupcakes “couture” because every cupcake is uniquely designed for our customers’ occasions with exceptional attention to detail. We take great pride and joy in going above and beyond our customers’ expectations. There is nothing like the “wow” reaction you get when you unveil your hard work.
What is the importance of style and glamour when it comes to your cupcakes?
We both share a love of haute couture fashion and we wanted to bring a little bit of that glamour and style to our cupcakes. We provide a bit of unexpected elegance to a usually “cutesy” treat. Our designs are both appropriate for a children’s birthday party as well as a formal wedding.
How did you settle on the flavors you offer, and how much testing goes into each one?
Our list of flavors in progress continues to grow exponentially. Our new recipes go through a rigorous trial phase before we decide to add them to our ever-expanding menu. We are very scrutinous of the products we put out there, so we go through several test batches before deciding on just the right balance of ingredients.
We, of course, create a lot of flavors that we personally love. But we also listen to our friends, family, and customers to determine what they would like to see on our menu. Some of them are fantastic, and others, like meatloaf cupcakes with mashed potatoes icing and chives sprinkles, we decide to pass on.
Is there anything specifically "Miami"-esque about your cupcakes?
Being Miami natives definitely factors into not just the flavors we select, but also the actual ingredients we use. It’s no secret that there is a large Hispanic population in Miami, and being Cuban-American ourselves, that is reflected in our menu with our Romeo & Juliet cupcakes (Guava filled cupcakes with a hint of almond, topped with a Cream Cheese Frosting) and our Caramel Bonbon cupcakes (Homemade Dulce de Leche filled vanilla cupcakes with a Swiss Meringue Frosting).
We also need to take the all-year-long, extreme heat and humidity into consideration when developing our recipes. We can’t complain about a year round golden tan, but melted frosting is not fun.
You offer some filled cupcakes. What are your secrets for getting the filling just right?
Well, we can’t give away our secrets but we’ll just say it took practice, practice, practice. Developing the fillings themselves involved the usual trial phase. Additionally, each filling has its own unique consistency and figuring out just how and when in the baking process we filled our cupcakes took some trial and error to get just right.
Which of your flavors are most popular?
It’s a little hard to pick the most popular because they all get a lot of requests. But if we had to pick the cupcakes that get the biggest “wow, what other event could I order these cupcakes for” reaction, we would have to say the Romeo & Juliet (Guava and Cream Cheese) and the Chocolat Chic (rich chocolate cake, creamy center, and buttercream frosting).
You also offer the people the opportunity to create their own cupcakes, choosing which cake, filling and frosting they prefer. Do people like being given this option? What's the most interesting combination you've seen?
When we came up with the “Create your own couture cupcake” option we were very excited to see what flavor combinations our customers would come up with. Surprisingly enough, they tend to choose cupcakes from our “Signature Collection” much more often.
You also do catering and special events. How far in advance should people book you for large orders?
The earlier we begin to design and develop your personal cupcakes the better. For very large and/or detailed designs and orders we prefer at least 2 weeks notice. For smaller or less detailed designs, 1 week is usually enough notice.
You also offer cupcake cakes for $60. Are those popular with children's parties? Do you find that you can be more creative with the larger surface area of cupcake cakes?
We love the idea of a cupcake the size of our heads, but more often than not, customers specifically seek out the standard size cupcakes. Pull-apart cupcake cakes (created from individual standard size cupcakes) tend to be popular for children’s birthdays, and it’s usually for the boys. They are just more hassle-free for parents with 30 boisterous children to attend to.
What would your dream event or client be?
With our love of both cupcakes and fashion, we would love to cater to events such as Fashion Week parties, the Grammy’s, and the Oscar’s. With that kind of budget and style, we could create some amazing cupcake presentations.
What's been the most interesting event you've catered?
We catered a huge charity event called Arroz Con Mango, which translated directly into rice with mango. For those of you that don’t know, arroz con mango is a Cuban phrase that means something like “what a mess.” Kind of like when everything in life gets crazy and out of control and you look at the situation you say “que arroz con mango,” “what a mess.”
Anyhow, Arroz Con Mango is an annual charity event for the League Against Cancer. This year it was held at Opium Gardens, a popular nightclub on South Beach. Can you imagine trying to cater an event in the middle of a hot (temperature wise), trendy, outdoor South Beach nightclub? It was insane! There were people and frosting everywhere. I know our cupcakes were really pretty and tasty but the guests were so drunk I don’t think it mattered much anyway.
What are your busiest times of the day/week?
There is no way to predict when we will be busy, but when it rains it pours. We are solely catering events at this point, so we don’t have a storefront yet. All of our business comes from word of mouth and people tend to talk. We’ve been steadily busy since conception, but it seems our events come in
Is there a typical Cupcakes Nouveau customer?
The only common denominator is a love of couture cupcakes. We have catered weddings, baby showers, bridal showers, corporate events, children’s birthday parties such as paintball and rock star birthday parties, adult birthday parties, Halloween parties, holiday parties such as Thanksgiving, Noche Buena (the Hispanic Christmas Eve celebration), Christmas, and Chanukah parties -- you name it, we’ve probably done it.
Do you plan to introduce new and/or seasonal flavors?
We are constantly developing new recipes. We released our Autumn Spice cupcake in time for the Thanksgiving season. Some recipes we will be releasing soon include: Roasted S’mores, Tres Leches, Monkey Bread, and Coffee Toffee.
Why do you think there's been so much interest recently in cupcakes? What do you see as being the "next big thing" in cupcakes?
Cupcakes have metamorphosed into a gourmet and sophisticated treat. Recipes now appeal to more refined palates and the design and decoration is more artistic and elegant. Everyone seems to be ready for something a little more edgy and chic than the tired tiered cake.
The “next big thing” in cupcakes is Cupcakes Nouveau. We have combined style and quality and created something our customers can’t get enough of. We have drawn from our heritage, our hobbies, and our talents to create a little cup of indulgence, which brings a smile to faces young and old.
And now for some personal questions…
How often do you eat cupcakes?
It depends how often we bake. We have at least one cupcake from every batch we bake. We get to splurge in the name of quality control.
What's the best thing about eating cupcakes?
The fact that we can eat cupcakes instead of brussel sprouts. Cupcakes are the perfect amount of yummy goodness to satiate your sweet tooth cravings. And since we’re adults and we bake them ourselves, we get to satisfy our cravings whenever we want with the best cupcakes around.
What's your favorite type of cupcake?
The edible kind. We have a sweet spot for all of our cupcakes. For me (Cristina) it’s between Chocolat Chic and Romeo & Juliet. For me (Shayrin) it’s between Vanilla Elegance and Romeo & Juliet…and Cookies-n-Cream, and Coconut No. 5.
How do cupcakes compare/contrast to other baked goods for you?
We love baked goods and cupcakes alike. This is why we tend to combine the two to make our very own recipes. For example, we took our love of Cuban guava pastries and created the Romeo & Juliet cupcake and our love of Key Lime pie to create our Southernmost Point cupcakes.
Is there any innovation you'd like to see made to the cupcake that would improve it for you?
We believe innovation evolves in the recipes and presentation. Our biggest wish, though, would have to be an amazing tasting fondant. Why is that so hard?
Do you bake your own cupcakes? Or (even better) have someone who bakes them for you?
We bake our own cupcakes. Sometimes with a cocktail, and always for some reason listening to Shakira.
What's your first cupcake-related memory?
Easy Bake Oven – isn’t everyone’s?!
What's the most fun you've ever had with a cupcake?
When Shayrin accidentally sat on an order of cupcakes. The funniest part is, she didn’t even notice until I told her.
Do you have anything else to add?
Cupcakes Nouveau would like to thank you for your time. We hope you enjoy our cupcakes and Happy Baking!
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