Carren Dixon of Buttercup Cakes and Farm House Frosting. Photo by Christina Waters.
THEY TAKE THE CUPCAKE The cream cheese frosting on the lemon poppyseed cupcake was my favorite. No, it was the subtly cinnamon-tinged frosting on the vegan blood orange cupcake. I was standing in a tiny shop that embodied my inner 12-year-old's most cherished fantasies—a cupcake shop that specialized in gloriously rich, organic buttercream frostings. And as a lifelong cupcake addict, let me say that these frostings are absolutely superb. Superb.
Buttercup Cakes and Farm House Frosting—the tiny shop at 109 Locust St., in downtown Santa Cruz—showcases the veteran baking skills of longtime wedding cake expert Jan Wilson, her daughter Carren Dixon and granddaughter Hannah. Rows of gorgeously frosted cupcakes—and smaller “mini” cupcakes—tempt patrons lured by the sweet designs in the window. Now, as I take a second bite, I'm convinced that the stunning chocolate beet vegan cupcake is the absolute tops. Impeccable cream cheese frosting sits in plump pleats atop an intensely chocolate, yet somehow exotic, cake. And like every single cupcake in the shop, this one is topped with a distinctive bit of fruit. Fresh raspberry. Candied orange peel. Crystallized ginger. All pretty and all delicious.
The business is the next sweet step for the trio, who have been winning the tastebuds of Central Coast cake-lovers by selling their frostings at the Pescadero farmers market (they’re for sale here, too, at $9.50 for a 20-oz package). One thing led to another, as Dixon recalls. “You can't simply give people a sample of frosting, and so we began doing the cupcakes.” Dixon also reminded me that the delicate and exciting flavor variations, of cake and of frosting, will change seasonally. “Right now we're doing the Earl Grey frosting as our January specialty.”
The beautiful little cakes—minis for $2 each and full-sized cupcakes for $3.50—come in gluten-free variations too, like the wonderful sherry-spice cupcake. “It's based on my grandmother's recipe,” Carren says. The gluten-free cake has a soft but not as tender crumb—quite delicious and by no means texturally challenged, and is topped with frosting made with non-hydrogenated faux butter.
OK, now I'm sure. The Earl Grey frosting is now my favorite frosting, but the sherry spice cake is my favorite cake. Perhaps I'll see if the Farm House Frosting team is willing to combine the two…
WINE ALERT Don't bother to call yourself a pinot noir lover if you haven't sampled the 2009 Ghostwriter Pinot Noir, Woodruff Family Vineyards. It will take you for a long, terroir-driven ride. Yes, it costs $42 (Shoppers Corner), and yes, it is worth every single penny.
