Photo by Laura Taylor
This company serves up their treats Texas style-bigger, that is. Each confection is easily shareable, though that doesn't mean you'll want to. Cupcakes come in seven flavors, from classy like "The Standard" (vanilla bottom, chocolate top) to "24 Carrot" (carrot cake bottom, cream cheese top).
The red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting often tops the customers' list of favorites. The cocoa in the cake hints at sweetness, allowing the sugar buzz to really come from the tangy sweet layer of frosting on top. Another flavor worth salivating for is the "Michael Jackson." Though some might find its name insensitive since the star's passing, the cupcake is merely an homage to this icon. If anything, this chocolate cupcake with cream cheese frosting proves that it's more than okay to be white on top and black underneath. For those wishing for a more politically correct cupcake, try Hey Cupcake's signature "Vanilla Dream," with vanilla cake, pink vanilla frosting and sprinkles.
Because refridgerating the cupcakes in the trailer would dry out the cake, each trailer is equipped with what are, essentially, large-sized storage containers to keep the cakes fresh.
All cupcakes are served with a smile and cost $2.75 individually or a dozen for $30.25. Hey Cupcake! also offers the Whipper Snapper option, an injection of homemade whipped cream into the cupcake, which is free except for fat content.
To help wash dessert down, customers may purchase coffee, milk, bottled water of Austin's own Sweet Leaf Tea. Devoted fans can support their favorite cupcake spot with Hey Cupcake! t-shirts, hats and aprons.
Cupcakes can be pre-ordered and picked up at any location or delivered. But to get the true experience, Hey Cupcakes are enjoyed best on-site, under the hot sun along with friends and strangers who share a love for one of the best local trailer treats.
Visit Hey Cupcake! online
Q&A with Cate Smithson, Hey Cupcake! employee
Cupcake City: What’s a typical day like at Hey Cupcake?
Cate: The kitchen staff gets in at about 3 or 4 in the morning and it’s their job to bake cupcakes for the day. We make them fresh every day. Then I come in at about 8 a.m., we have to get all the orders together, package them up and deliver them.
Cupcake City: How many cupcakes do you sell every day?
Cate: For the retail trailers, on a good day, I would say about 900 cupcakes. But sometimes we get bulk corporate orders. Some people order a thousand cupcakes at a time.
Cupcake City: What’s the most popular flavor?
Cate: We have seven flavors and everybody has a different opinion about which one is their favorite. I’d say the biggest seller is the red velvet, but it changes.
Cupcake City: What do you think of the cupcake culture in Austin?
Cate: I think that for there to be a cupcake culture, Austin’s definitely a good breeding ground for it just because it’s different but it’s still a trend, and if it’s going to take off anywhere, it’s going to work here. And I think it’s working well, but I still think it’s a trend.
Cupcake City: Who do you guys see as your competition?
Cate: Competition in Austin isn’t necessarily about different cupcake companies. One person we see as our competition is definitely Amy’s because their business is so successful and they started in Austin and expanded, which is something we’re looking at doing. And also, people choose one dessert for an event, they don’t choose more than one. So just because it’s not a cupcake company, it doesn’t mean they’re not still taking our business.
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