A Love for Cupcakes
Q&A with Anna Turcotte, Co-Owner of Love Cupcakes
It’s no question the cupcake trend has swept the nation. But what about cupcakes on the move? Two Maine natives, Anna & Joey Turcotte, have taken the cupcake trend to the next level in their vintage 1960′s trailer. MainelyMara chatted with this husband & wife team to find out about all the love that went into creating Love Cupcakes.
Tell us the inspiration behind starting Love Cupcakes.
I have always loved the idea of owning my own business. I currently work as a social worker and love what I do, but was looking for something to do on the side that was not so emotionally charged. My mother is an amazing baker and has been baking with me for as long as I can remember. Cupcakes are a great way to incorporate a variety of recipes and techniques, plus they are super cute!
Your 1960’s trailer is so adorable. How did you decide to incorporate the trailer into your business?
I have some family who live in Austin, Texas and cupcakes are incredibly popular there. In fact there are a few cupcake vendors selling cupcakes from Airstream trailers, which is what inspired me to sell from a trailer rather than trying to set up shop in a storefront. I also really liked the mobile concept, which allows us to put Love Cupcakes on the road. It’s nice not being tied down to one location, allowing us to bring the party to you!
After searching for a few months, we finally stumbled upon this little travel trailer. It was a trade-in at a local RV dealership, nestled way in the back. It was perfect! It was the “Charlie Brown Christmas Tree” of travel trailers. Water damaged, leaking roof and a nice musty smell; this was definitely the trailer for us.
The pictures of our renovated Love Cupcakes trailer speak for themselves, three months of renovations and design finally paid off.
Tell us about your cupcakes. What are your most unique and most popular flavors?
Our cupcakes have been described as decadent and incredibly moist. These are unlike any cupcakes you’ll taste. We use all local ingredients whenever possible and guarantee fresh flavor. We’ve all had those dry, flavorless cupcakes masked by an overdose of frosting. Don’t ever expect that from Love Cupcakes!
Our most popular flavor is vanilla cake with vanilla butter-cream frosting a.k.a. Love Vanilla. People also love our flourless chocolate cake with salted caramel butter-cream frosting, a combination that can be created from our A La Carte menu.
Our most unique and still top-secret flavor is our very own lobster cupcake, a.k.a. Love Lobster. This one is still in the works, but I’ll tell you now, this one is going to be a hit! And yes, it’s made with 100% locally caught lobster meat.
What are your future plans for Love Cupcakes? Will we be spotting the trailer more often around town?
Our plan for the future is not set in stone, but we do have a couple locations where we’ll be setting up the trailer to sell from on a select few days every week starting in Spring 2012. These locations are going to be announced later this year.
We also cater events of all sizes, so you’ll definitely see us pulling the trailer around Southern Maine, and being mobile, we’ll travel nearly any distance if one desires!
How did you get into baking? Does Joey give a helping hand in the kitchen?
My love for baking really was result of my mother’s expertise in the subject. Her enjoyment while creating these delicious dishes and seeing the enjoyment of the ones lucky enough to gobble them down is my main inspiration.
What can I say…. Joey tries his best in the kitchen. I sometimes let him measure the ingredients and if he’s lucky, he can mix up some frosting! But in all seriousness, without his creative eye and artistic abilities, I would not have the trailer, the website or any other design element he created.
Describe what an event is like with the Love Cupcakes trailer.
Having the Love Cupcakes trailer at an event adds such a great appeal for the guests. We don’t just serve cupcakes, we serve an experience. Our trailer really does top a party off, and it’ll be remembered and talked about.
How is it working as husband & wife together? Any domestic disputes come into the workplace/kitchen?
Disputes? Huh? Of Course not….
We’ve had a few disagreements for sure, but really, for the most part, we both have our roles in this company – Joey taking care and maintaining the trailer, website and marketing needs we may have and I take care of everything in the kitchen.
What do you love most about having your own business?
I love the fact that Love Cupcakes is based around something I love to do. I look forward to every order and surpassing every new client’s expectations. We really do create some unique and flavorful cupcakes. Experimenting with different flavors and really trying to take our company in a new direction that just hasn’t been seen in Maine really excites us both.
What advice do you have for all of the young aspiring business owners out there?
If you have an idea that excites you and you believe in, make it happen. Love Cupcakes started as an idea, some sketches on paper, some thoughts typed into a Microsoft Word Document, a handful of color swatches and a whole lot of motivation to just go with it. You’ll have your critics, but those people tend to make you push harder to meet your goals.
Also, things take much longer than anticipated, so do not let these very small factors throw you off course. Whether or not Love Cupcakes becomes incredibly successful, we know at least we gave an idea a try and we’ll have a pretty sweet travel trailer to camp in!
What do you love most about Portland? Why was it a good place to start Love Cupcakes?
Portland has a great vibe overall. Joey and I love what this little city has to offer whether we’re looking for a place to eat dinner, listen to music, bar hop or see some local artwork. We feel like Love Cupcakes really fits into the uniqueness Portland exhibits. There are so many one-of-a-kind shops scattered all over. Love Cupcakes is a mesh of delicious cupcakes and art – something we believe will offer a new twist to the already thriving mix!
Thank you to Anna & Joey for sharing their love of cupcakes with all of us!
