Thursday, March 23, 2008 Cupcake interview with Rachel Thebault, Owner of Tribeca Treats Name: Rachel Thebault Age: 32 Location: New York, New York Occupation: Owner & Head Confectioner, Tribeca Treats URL: www.tribecatreats.com How long have you been baking, and how did you come up with the concept for Tribeca Treats? What does it offer that sets it apart from other New York City bakeries? I have been cooking and baking for as long as I can remember and love cooking for friends. About five years ago I started making chocolate truffles for dinner parties, and soon my friends were asking me to make them for their parties and weddings. That was when Tribeca Treats was officially "born", but the concept, as it is today, slowly evolved over time. At Tribeca Treats we offer upscale comfort desserts--something that's a little more elegant, but in recognizable flavors, so our treats are suitable especially for gift-giving and entertaining. Because of that focus, we also offer our house-made truffles and chocolate bon bons as well as a variety of gift cards, high quality paper plates and napkins and specialty bakeware, which also sets us apart from our competitors.
You offer a rotating selection of your cupcake flavors, including Sweet & Salty (chocolate cake with caramel icing, topped with chocolate covered pretzels), Black Velvet, Cinnamon, S Mores Cake, Fluffer Nutter, and Cookies & Cream, among others. Which flavors are most popular? How often do you offer each flavor? Overall I think our standard chocolate and vanilla combinations are most popular, but the most asked-for flavors are definitely S mores cupcake Peanut Butter & Jelly, S'mores and Red Velvet. We also came up with a more chocolate-y version of Red Velvet, which we call Black Velvet, and that has become really popular. We generally offer our most popular specialty flavors 1-2 days per week (sometimes more) and other flavors every other week or once a month. People can custom order flavors with an order of one dozen minimum, but if you don't want 12, we also take requests for specialty flavors of the day, and if we can accommodate them we will. You recently held a customer cupcake flavor contest, selecting winners from 50 customer-submitted cupcakes. Which were the winners, and why did you choose to hold this contest? The winning cupcakes this time around were: First place - Tiramisu (vanilla cake brushed with espresso topped with cream cheese icing and dusted with cinnamon) Second place - Rocky Road (chocolate cake filled with marshmallow cream and topped with chocolate icing and almonds) Third place - Praline (chocolate cake with butterscotch icing and chopped pecans) We initially started this contest last summer for two reasons: 1. To drive traffic in the slow month of August and 2. Because we pride ourselves on having an extensive list of flavors and thought our customers would be a great source for new ideas. It was hugely successful on both levels, so we decided to make it a semi-annual event. This time around we had several hundred voters over the three-day taste-off. Because of this success, we are thinking that the next contest (this August) may be a great opportunity to charge a nominal fee for the tasting (say $5) and raise money for one of the charities we're involved with.
What s the busiest time of the day and week for you? Thursdays and Fridays from 1-7. Some Saturdays, but that depends more on the weather. You offer cupcake baking and decorating children s birthday parties, as well as catering for weddings, bridal or baby showers and other events. How far in advance should people book these? Typically about 4-6 weeks, primarily driven by when people start planning to send invitations. What have you learned about cupcakes, whether on the baking end or selling end, since you opened Tribeca Treats? I always thought that cake batter had to be baked immediately (because of how the baking powder reacts with other ingredients), but we've created recipes that allow us to make a large batch of batter at the beginning of the day and just scoop and bake cupcakes from it all day long. This helps us keep up with demand and allows us to have fresh baked cupcakes all day throughout the day. What s been the most exciting event you ve catered and what would your dream catering gig be? Most exciting was probably a multi-tier cake we did for a Lacoste Fashion Week party. Although, it was actually probably more stressful than exciting, because we had under 24 hours notice, but it was fun to see that we could work well under pressure and get it done. Peanut Butter and jelly cupcake Dream gig that's easy. Jay-Z and Beyonce's wedding (if they get married). Or maybe one of Jimmy Kimmel's Sunday football parties, as long as I would be invited. What are your favorite and least favorite parts of running Tribeca Treats? Interacting with the general public everyday is both my favorite and least favorite parts of the job. Baking is something that everyone has an opinion on, so it's natural to get complaints sometimes. If it's constructive criticism, that helps us make the business better. But sometimes people just want to voice their opinion, and I've put so much time, energy and money into the business that it's impossible not to take those comments personally. I get really upset about it sometimes, but for every mean customer we have, there are at least 10 who are so nice and complimentary. I love seeing someone smile when he picks
up his wife's birthday cake, or when kids see me around the neighborhood and recognize me as "the cupcake lady." What do you think the perfect cupcake requires? I think the most important thing is the overall size of the cupcake you don't want something so big that you feel sick to your stomach after eating it! Also, I'm a really big fan of super-fluffy, freshly whipped icing. Why do you think cupcakes have become so popular lately? I think people are so busy, they like having dessert on the go, and cupcakes are more decadent than cookies or other portable desserts. And they're just so cute!! And now for some personal questions How often do you eat cupcakes? Probably about once a day. You know, for quality control reasons. :) What's the best thing about eating cupcakes? You can satisfy a sweet tooth without over-indulging. What's your favorite type of cupcake? That changes all the time for me. The most unexpected favorites for me are our lemon cake and carrot cake. Although my all-time favorite would probably be banana fluffer nutter--we don't have it on our menu because it's too "niche," but my sister asked me to make them for her birthday, and I loved them. How do cupcakes compare/contrast to other baked goods for you? They're just so fun and whimsical--not as stuffy as traditional pastries. Is there any innovation you'd like to see made to the cupcake that would improve it for you? I'd love someone to come out with a line of high quality cupcake wrappers in a variety of pretty colors. I think that would be great for wedding cupcakes and other parties and special events.
Do you bake your own cupcakes? Or (even better) have someone who bakes them for you? I get all my cupcakes (for dinner parties, my daughter's birthday, etc.) from Tribeca Treats, so technically my staff does all my baking! What's your first cupcake-related memory? It's hard to say--i don't think I had a lot of exposure to cupcakes as a child. (I know-tough upbringing.) What's the most fun you've ever had with a cupcake? I guess I'd have to say making the banana fluffer nutter ones for my sister, because that combines all my favorite flavors. Do you have anything else to add? I'm just glad there are so many people out there who are so passionate about cupcake--it really helps demonstrate that it's not just a trend...and it keeps me in business!