How do I love cupcakes? Let me count the ways. However, I have not perfected the cupcake baked from scratch. Enter Frosted Robin Cupcakes, whom I had the pleasure of visiting a couple of weekends ago. They are located in Seaport Village, right on the San Diego Bay. My son already found the decor enticing with the cow bench outside. But inside, I found lovely decorated cupcakes that I hoped were just as good as they were beautiful.
Rather than try to figure out what would suit my tastes that day, I asked what would be a good choice for a first timer. The house specialty was the Cayman Spice Cupcake, described as “coconut milk infused, cinnamon and nutmeg cake, coconut buttercream icing and cinnamon sugar sprinkle.” Oh my! I absolutely love spiced baked goods such as pumpkin pies and the Eggnog cookies I baked last Christmas (recipe found here). I can say with certainty that the Cayman Spice Cupcake did not disappoint. The cupcake itself was moist, while the spice added the extra kick. The coconut buttercream icing was light, fluffy and not too rich. But I’m most anxious to try the other exotic sounding flavors such as Caribbean Carrot, Lychee Rose, Mango, Sweet Potato and Pineapple.
Owner and manager, Sheree Harrison graciously took the time to answer a few of my questions on how she got started, why cupcakes, and what makes Frosted Robin Cupcakes a unique cafe experience!
What made you decide to start your own business?
Having progressed to the role of Global Director of Marketing for a major international law firm, I had been very successful in my corporate career and I was ready for a new challenge. My first love has always been art and I also love food, so the cupcake industry offered me an opportunity to create delicious treats that I could also design to be little works of art.
Why cupcakes?
[Sorry, got ahead of myself. See response above.]
What made you move to San Diego?
I had been travelling to San Diego over a course of about three years to attend a Marketing Partners Forum in Carlsbad and I fell in love with the city. It has everything my family and I love; the ocean, cool and sunny weather, mountains… I guess, all the things that everyone loves about this beautiful city.
Is it easy maintaining a business here and in the Cayman islands?
The cafe in Cayman is actually owned by one of my best friends. We’ve licensed the trademark to her, so we provide her with marketing support and any other support she may need.
What do you like best about what you do?
I love seeing people’s faces light up when they walk in the door and see our display case full of little, delicious, works of cupcake art. We all have fun, childhood memories of cupcakes at birthday parties and family celebrations. I love being able to take our customers back to those times when you could just enjoy the simple pleasure of sinking your teeth in to a cupcake. We do tea parties now as well and providing the big tea party hats, boas and costume jewelry has that same beautiful effect of transporting people back in time. Grown women become silly little girls again, it’s great!
