All images in this article are from House of Cupcakes
House of Cupcakes (HOC) in located in the heart of downtown Princeton and a favorite locale for Princeton cupcake connoisseurs. Like many businesses in Princeton, House of Cupcakes is a family enterprise owned by Ruthie and Ron Bzdewka who are often helped out by their two sons—Rage and Riot. Due to House of Cupcakes popularity from its beginnings in the August of 2008, many Princeton collegiettes are well acquainted or at least aware of the cupcake shop. House of Cupcakes has, depending on the time of the year, day of the week, and weather, a couple hundred people give or take stop by (buying 500-800 cupcakes collectively). When there are events going on in town, business is crazy. Sadly enough, Tola and I had never experienced House of Cupcakes and decided to make the trek from Wilson to Witherspoon (a laborious journey indeed) in order to remedy this predicament.
We chose the absolute worst day to make our journey. The sky was pouring buckets of rain; however, in the midst of the rain and slush, House of Cupcakes served as a safe haven from the cold, rain, and the obvious pangs of a sweet tooth. House of Cupcakes is certainly the perfect place to visit after lecture in order to simply relax and indulge (take heed Princeton collegiettes). The store is modest, only a few stools serve as seating but Ruthie assured us that House of Cupcakes is expanding to meet the influx of customers as a result from House of Cupcakes’ recent appearance on ‘Cupcake Wars’ (February ’11).
The HOC are undoubtedly creative. Ruthie said that she finds inspiration “all over the place, wherever I go things trigger cupcakes to meet. It’s funny.” These triggering items could range from a new candy bar to tiramisu. Ruthie infuses elements from her sources of inspiration into her cupcakes, creating cupcake delicacies such as the Candy Cup, the Peanut Butter Cup, and Oreo—which also happen to be her kids’ favorites.
The creativity doesn’t end there. House of Cupcakes is working to begin a line of gourmet doughnuts, and so there is a need for more creative flavors. Thankfully, Ruthie met a pastry chef in California who is working with her to come up with new flavors; these doughnuts, like HOC’s cupcakes will be made from scratch.
We of course had to ask Ruthie what was House of Cupcake’s most interesting cupcake creation, and we were a bit surprised by her answer: “The beer one. It was made with stout beer last Saint Patrick’s day. Beer cups were used as part of the decoration and it was topped with beer frosting. And later on, the university [Princeton] got a whole bunch.” She was quick to add that it wasn’t for a study break, but we still can’t figure out why we’d need a bevy of beer cupcakes on campus. Of course, the alcohol definitely bakes off during the cupcakes’ preparation.
Unsurprisingly, the most popular cupcake flavor is Red Velvet—it outsells all other flavors 2 to 1—but Ruthie’s top pick is White Coconut. We can speak for all the cupcakes, but Tola and I respectively tried the Almond and Vanilla Riot Cupcake. As Tola described, the Almond cupcake had a strong almond flavor in both the actual cake and frosting. It was moist, and dare I say, beautiful. The Almond cupcake was very unique and Tola loved it. I found the Vanilla Riot to be Nirvana in a doll-sized cake. While vanilla cake and vanilla frosting can be seen as seen as boring, the House of Cupcake’s variation was anything but plain. The cupcake was not only beautiful but also delicious.
Oreo•Red Velvet•Vanilla Riot•Raspberry Filled
But the most important question we had to ask Ruthie was how she found herself in the cupcake business. She said, “It started years ago when I made cupcakes for my friends and their kids’ birthdays. And when cupcakes became more popular I got into the business, and it went from there. I made cupcakes for birthday parties and weddings, and I had so much work to do that I needed to find a place. I came down here [Princeton] and this place [House of Cupcake’s current location] was available the first day.”
Ruthie is originally from Edison, but often visited one set of her grandparents that lived here in Princeton. Princeton felt like home; her familiarity with Princeton and the availability of the previous bagel shop are the reasons why House of Cupcakes is on Witherspoon Street.
We certainly tried to get the behind-the-scenes scoop on HOC’s “Cupcake Wars” experience: “We’re under a confidentiality agreement, but we were contacted during the summer. I’d never heard of it [“Cupcake Wars”] but they sent us information, and we sent in a demo tape. We didn’t hear from them for weeks.” From then it was a flash; HOC received their itinerary; but Ruthie claims that it won’t feel real until she sees the episode on television. We will just have to wait until February 15th to watch House of Cupcakes and all of its Food Network glory!
Don’t take our word for it, definitely stop by House of Cupcakes today! Since our first stop by at the shop, Tola and I have returned for new delicious cupcakes through snow and slush.
You read correctly. We trudged through snow and slush for cupcakes—they are just that good!