Ciji (left) and Stephanie, of Red Velvet Cupcakery.
Name(s): Ciji Wagner
Stephanie MacGlaughlin
Age(s): CW-26
SMG-27
Location(s): CW-Reston, Virginia
Location(s): CW-Reston, Virginia
SMG-Washington, DC
Occupation(s): CW-Pastry Chef
SMG-Executive Pastry Chef
URL: www.redvelvetcupcakery.com
How long
have you been with Red Velvet Cupcakery?
CW: I have been with Red Velvet for just over a year and a half.
SMG: I started just after they opened, so
January 2012 will be three years.
How did
you begin your cupcake/baking career?
CW: I’ve wanted to be a chef for as long as I can remember but
had a hard time deciding between culinary and pastry. As I grew into my
geekdom, I decided to go to school for baking and pastry; the draw of the
science and chemistry involved in pastries was just too much for a nerd like me
to resist. After graduating from the Culinary Institute of America, I worked in
all aspects of the pastry industry—everything from large-scale wholesale
pastries to cake decorating to restaurant work. After moving to the DC area, I
started with Red Velvet and fell in cupcake love.
SMG: Well my cupcake career started by
accident. I needed a part-time job and just walked in and was
like, "Hey, do you need
help in the mornings a few days a week?" and from there it has grown
into a career.
What's
your favorite thing about red velvet cupcakes?
CW: The cream cheese icing for sure. There’s nothing quite like
the creamy, smooth richness of a well-made cream cheese icing.
SMG: We have the freedom to be creative with some of our
flavors. Yes, we have our standard flavors but then every week we get to play
with one. Sometimes it is traditional; like our grandma cake -- a vanilla
butter cake with chocolate buttercream and a Hershey hug, and then sometimes
there are crazy combinations like caramelized onion and goat cheese cake
with caramelized onion roses.
What do
you think of the competitive Washington, DC-area cupcake business?
CW: It’s fantastic and encouraging and stressful and difficult
all at once. It definitely keeps a girl on her toes to know that there are many
other options for customers out there but reassuring to know that they chose us
when they walk in the door. It forces me to maintain our standards yet keep the
creative juices flowing with new flavors and options. The competition in the DC
area gives me a great incentive to strive to be the best and know why I stand
wholeheartedly behind the product I make.
SMG: There is a lot of competition in DC,
and it keeps growing! Three years ago the cupcake scene was small, maybe four
cupcakeries, now I think we are in the 20’s for cupcakeries in the DC
metro area. I like the fact that our guests come to Red Velvet Cupcakery because they
really like the cupcakes, not just because we are the only
cupcakery. There are some cupcakeries that I have no problem going
to and enjoying whatever it is I get from there, as well as others that
I prefer not to waste my time on. It’s refreshing to hear from
our guests who has preferences where, and who their cupcake loyalty is to,
and why.
What makes
Red Velvet Cupcakery different?
CW: My first inclination is to say the quality of ingredients;
while that’s true, it’s such a generic answer. Seasonality is a big deal for
us. We make sure that our feature flavors line up with the flavors and feels
for the time of year. You’re never going to find a strawberry cupcake at our
store in January, but you better believe that we’re going to have it in June. The
other pastry chefs and I go to local farms to pick our own fruit as much as we
can for our feature flavors. That way, we support local farmers while ensuring
the freshest, highest-quality ingredients possible go into our cupcakes. I
would say that the employees make it what it is as well. We have trained pastry
chefs on staff to make the highest quality pastries. We have total artistic
control over the feature flavors we run—that’s why you’ll find everything from
the classic eggnog to sweet and salty chocolate covered pretzel to funky blue cheese
and walnut gracing our cupcake case every week.
SMG: As far as the cake goes we really do
use excellent products, European butter with high-fat content, Valrhona
chocolates, Maldon sea salts, local Virginia peanuts. In the summer/fall we can be found out on the farms picking our own fruits for our feature
flavor cupcakes; this year we picked strawberries, peaches, and
apples. Also, we do whatever we can to make an event
memorable. We are one of the only cupcakeries (to my knowledge) in the
area that will do custom work from company logos to engagement rings, baby
onesies and teddy bears, we have done purses and stiletto heels!
Do you
have any special flavors planned for the upcoming holidays?
CW: We sure do! Starting after Thanksgiving, we’ll have a
cardamom and pistachio cake with a kumquat buttercream. Then we’ll roll out the
classic eggnog cupcake, followed by a peppermint chocolate. To ring in the New
Year, we’re doing a mulled cider cupcake.
SMG: We have a feature flavor that changes every Friday. Coming up we have a take on the Girl Scout Cookie Samoa, after that our fans on Facebook can vote for their favorite spice cake we have listed and the winner will be the flavor that we make that week. The week before Christmas we have eggnog cake topped with homemade biscotti, then for Christmas we have classic combination of peppermint and chocolate. And to finish out the year we have a mulled cider to toast your friends with.
(Left to right, top to bottom: B-Day, Cookies 'N Cream, Peanut Butter Cup, Devil's Food, Cookies 'N Cream, Peanut Butter Cup)
How often do you eat cupcakes?
CW: That’s a tough question to answer. I regularly taste
cupcakes to ensure quality or if I am trying to develop a new recipe. But, eat?
I would say that I eat a cupcake for the sheer pleasure of eating one about
once a week or so.
SMG: If I see something I might like, that intrigues me, or I am in a different
city, I will have a cupcake, but not often.
What's the best thing about eating
cupcakes?
CW: The sandwich! I tear the bottom off the cupcake and put it
on the top. So, it gives you two layers of cake with the icing in the middle.
It brings me back to growing up with whoopie pies and makes me feel like a kid
again.
SMG: Feeling like a kid again; simple joy
that’s what a cupcake can do.
What's your favorite type of cupcake?
CW: Peanut Butter Cup—I have always been a sucker for the sweet
and salty combo. Tied for second would be two different feature flavors that
we’ve done—a Mexican hot chocolate or dark & stormy.
SMG: Nothing really sweet. To sit and enjoy, I like it simple, a nice vanilla or almond pound cake with a chocolate buttercream is good for me.
Peanut Butter Cup "Chocolate buttermilk cake with chocolate chips and not-too-sweet, not-too-salty peanut butter topping"
B-Day "an almond scented blonde cake topped with Valrhona milk chocolate garnished with confetti birthday sprinkles"
How do cupcakes compare/contrast to
other baked goods for you?
CW: It’s great that they can range anywhere from the rustic to
elegant and elaborate. Few baked goods and pastries have the capability of
reaching out to such a broad scope of people. Certainly, they are limited by
the fact that they are always going to be some form of cake with some form of
icing on top. But to be honest, all categories of baked goods have limits to
them too.
SMG: I like brownies, they are my weakness. As far as baking, I like bench work, rolling tart shells is a stress relief for me. And ice cream, I like to be able to play with the flavors and figure out the perfect balance for different types of ice creams.
Is there any innovation you'd like to
see made to the cupcake that would improve it for you?
CW: I keep trying to introduce more savory ingredients into
cupcakes, and I would love to see that embraced industry wide. I enjoy getting
people to expand their horizons and branch out a little bit. Savory cupcakes
are a great way to do that; it’s still something familiar, just with a bit of a
twist.
SMG: I enjoy savory cupcakes as well, so the maybe growth of that side of the industry.
SMG: I enjoy savory cupcakes as well, so the maybe growth of that side of the industry.
Do you bake your own cupcakes? Or (even
better) have someone who bakes them for you?
CW: Of course! Whenever I go somewhere, people ask for cupcakes,
and I have to give the people what they want. Unfortunately, no one bakes
cupcakes for me.
I’ve found that being in the industry, most people are scared to bake or cook
for me…very few people make that leap to give me a treat.
SMG: They wouldn’t be as much fun if I
couldn’t do the work myself. Every day that I am available to be in
the kitchen I bake cupcakes, and work on the day's prep list. But for the
times I do not get to be in the kitchen I have a team that rocks it out for
me.
What's your first cupcake-related
memory?
CW: My mom would always make cakes for my birthday growing up
that were cutouts or cartoon characters or whatever. I remember being very
young, and she made a bunny cake for me that had cupcakes for the feet and
arms. I grabbed one and vaguely attempted eating it—according to the pictures,
little of it actually made it to my mouth. She should have known that she was
making a monster by letting me play with my food at such a young age.
SMG: Oh, that’s hard…I know I
had cupcakes before this but, when I was in second grade everyone in
the class took turns bringing in cupcakes one Friday a month, we would all
look forward to that week.
What's the most fun you've ever had with
a cupcake?
CW: Isn’t that a little personal?? ;)
SMG: That’s easy, when I was in
college we had a kids day and taught them all about cookies and cupcakes and
helped them decorate what they made. Their faces and how much joy they
had when they figured out how to do it was just amazing.
Thanks, Ciji and Stephanie, for answering our questions and sharing so much about Red Velvet Cupcakery and the cupcake business in the Washington DC (or Doha, Qatar!!) area. We'll be sure to drop by for some of your signature red velvets (called Southern Belles) next time we are in the area!
Washington, DC: Penn Quarter
501 7th St. NW
Monday-Friday, 8am-11pm
Saturday and Sunday, 9am-11pm
t: 202-347-7895
Arlington, VA: Clarendon
3035 Clarendon Boulevard
t: 703-243-5660
Reston, VA Town Center
11939 Democracy Drive
Monday-Thursday, 11am-10pm
Friday-Sunday, 11am-11pm
t: 703-464-7075
West Bay, Doha
Katara - Valley of Cultures
www.redvelvetdoha.com
501 7th St. NW
Monday-Friday, 8am-11pm
Saturday and Sunday, 9am-11pm
t: 202-347-7895
Arlington, VA: Clarendon
3035 Clarendon Boulevard
t: 703-243-5660
Reston, VA Town Center
11939 Democracy Drive
Monday-Thursday, 11am-10pm
Friday-Sunday, 11am-11pm
t: 703-464-7075
West Bay, Doha
Katara - Valley of Cultures
www.redvelvetdoha.com
;)
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