Cupcakes from C'est Cupcake

When Kat Dennings and Beth Behrs, the stars of CBS sitcom 2 Broke Girls, amused audiences at the People's Choice Awards last week, the duo somewhat comforted the anxious hearts of their avid fans who are facing the completion of Season 3. The story of two waitresses saving up to open their own cupcake shop has been a huge hit in China, where it is the most viewed US show on streaming site Youku.

Cupcakes have long enjoyed popularity in the West, but in Shanghai there are only a few spots that specialize in the childhood-treats-turned-trendy-eats. The Global Times journeyed around town and found the best bakeries to satisfy the cupcake cravings of the sweet toothed.

C'est Cupcake

"The most interesting thing about cupcakes is they are quite fun," said Jennifer Lee, the owner of C'est Cupcake (Room 102, Bldg 11, 3911 Hongmei Road, 6242-7914, http://www.cestcupcake.com/). "Individually, each one can be an artisan cupcake, but they can also make up a larger picture when you put all the cupcakes together."

A former designer, Lee has an eye for beautiful color combinations. "I like desserts and I like being creative," said Lee, who studied painting and calligraphy from a young age, and studied fashion design and interior design in New York. "I get the inspiration for cupcake designs from daily life when I am traveling, going shopping in flower markets, and even painting my nails."

Specializing in couture cupcake design, Lee offers a number of interesting cupcakes of various shapes and can decorate them with bespoke designs to cater for different themes or events, like birthday parties, weddings and press conferences for fashion brands. After the popular animated film Despicable Me 2 hit local cinemas this month, "many customers come to me to order Minion-themed cupcakes," she laughed.

Some of her customers also propose peculiar requests. "Once a customer wanted a feeling like 'walking on clouds,'" Lee recalled. "So I made cupcakes using a sky blue color, drew a rainbow on top of the cupcakes, and made white, fluffy icing like clouds."

Classic cupcake flavors from the boutique can be purchased at their store on Hongmei Road, or be delivered within the Inner Ring Road by ordering online or by phone. Reservations are required if you want a special design or you would like to order more than 36 cupcakes.

Cupcakes and a lovely takeaway box from Lollipop Bakery Photos: Cai Xianmin/GT

Lollipop Bakery

When Hong Kong-born Londoner Lexie Morris moved to Beijing to study Chinese, she was disappointed to discover that the Chinese capital was cupcake-free. "Even today, cupcakes are rarely seen in Beijing," said Morris, who opened her cupcake business Lollipop Bakery four years ago, and expanded to Shanghai in early 2013. "In Shanghai the situation is better, but still there are only a few places offering cupcakes that taste good," she said. "The cupcake craze has spread from the US to the UK, and I thought, why not China? Why is it not me bringing it to China?"

Although cupcakes are beloved for their dainty appearance, Morris said she attaches more importance on taste rather than looks. "Being delicious is the first thing I care about, but they should also look good," she said. "I want to present people with authentic British cupcakes."

Freshly baked daily, each Lollipop cupcake is swirled with frosting. When the icing melts together with the cake in your mouth, it is sweet but not cloying. The bestselling flavors are red velvet, chocolate and vanilla. In addition to a selection of classic flavors, Lollipop offers a new flavor every month. For the coming Spring Festival, Morris said they will have kumquat-flavored cupcakes, as kumquats are a traditional festive fruit for Chinese New Year in Cantonese regions. Besides regular-sized cupcakes, the bakery also offers mini cupcakes, which are cute and convenient to take away.

Cupcakes from Lollipop Bakery can be purchased at Pantry (205-1 Wulumuqi Road South, 138-1871-9543), or Sumerian Coffee (415 Shaanxi Road North). You can also e-mail shanghai@lollipopbakery.cn, call 156-1899-8253 or visit http://www.lollipopbakery.cn/ to place an order.

Homemade cupcakes by Cecilia Yu Photo: Courtesy of Cecilia Yu

Make your own cupcakes

In fact, it's easy to make cupcakes even for kitchen novices. Housewife and home baker Cecilia Yu contributes a homemade recipe for honey chiffon cupcakes below.

Ingredients (for 12 cupcakes): white sugar (60 g), three eggs, low-gluten flour (60 g), honey (20 ml), milk (50 ml), vegetable oil (45 ml), one lemon.

Method:

Separate the egg whites from the yolks, and put whites in a large clean bowl.

Squeeze a few drops of lemon juice into the whites, add sugar and beat with an eggbeater until it becomes stiff and glossy. Cover with film and set aside in the refrigerator.

Add the honey, oil, milk, and egg yolks to the flour, and beat the mix until well blended.

Preheat oven to 170 C. Fold one-third of the egg white mix into the batter, then add the batter to the remaining whites and mix.

Pour the batter into cups and bake in the oven for about 10 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the cakes comes out clean.

Leave to cool and decorate the cupcakes with a swirl of frosting or top with fruit.