We’re really thrilled to be featured in the February issue of Our Meadowlands (part of the South Bergenite newspaper). Click on the image above to read the full article.
*Quick note: They messed up on my mom’s name. Her name is Ann, not Jane. 
Our Twilight Cupcakes were featured on NJ.com. Due to overwhelming demand for them, we’re going to have them around most everyday until the end of the month. If you’d like to place an order for a dozen or more, let us know! Besides Edward and Jacob, we can also make Team Emmett, Jasper or Carlisle cupcakes if one dozen or more are ordered in advance.
What’s that? You can’t wait for Sweet Avenue to publish the seemingly inevitable token vegan cookbook? Well guess what! VegNews has a recipe from us that you don’t even have to pay for! Okay, technically you DO have to pay for the magazine. But that money goes to them, not us, so it doesn’t count, and you also get like 90 other pages, too!
Apparently we’re a “Jersey Triple Threat.” Sounds good, right? And yes, that burger from Counter really is that good.
Hello everyone. Cupcake Maven Danielle here with some Sweet Ave. updates.
1. We created an AWESOME cupcake this past Friday for our Magical Mystery weekly special. If you follow us on Twitter or Facebook, then you already know that it was Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough. Super yummy, delicious cookie dough baked right into the cupcake with a chocolate chip cookie piece on top. Yumtastic. It will definitely be back. I promise!
2. Wondering what we’re doing for this week’s Magical Mystery cupcake? Well… here’s some insider information: there is a slight possibility of there being a cupcake on Friday that starts with Bacon and ends with Walnut!
3. We’re diligently working on a new website design (it looks awesome), and a new cupcake menu for April. Hopefully you’ll love the new web design & also be thrilled with the cupcakes we’re bringing back, as well as the new arrivals.
4. Friday 3/27 will be the last day Mr. Irish Cream graces us with his presence. Don’t miss your last chance to taste this beer/whiskey goodness.
5. New Jersey Monthly named us Best Vegan Bakery in their newest issue. Yippie!!
Vegan Bakery
With a professed dedication to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of cupcakes,” Sweet Avenue Bake Shop makes everything from scratch daily using dairy- and egg-free ingredients and no packaged mixes or frostings. Former bankers Danielle and Jake Vance opened the Rutherford “cupcakery” (which also sells cookies) in 2007, and the shop features a different cupcake menu every day. Each creation is animal-friendly and delicious, with ingredients such as Madagascar bourbon vanilla and Belgian chocolate. We recommend the Hummingbird: spice cake with bananas, pecans, pineapple, and coconut, topped and filled with cream cheese frosting and pecans (153 Park Ave, 201-935-2253).
More soon!!
Love & Cupcakes,
-Danielle
A few months back, some of you might remember that we posted that we were in the running for “Best Bakery” in 201 Magazine’s annual Best of Bergen issue. They do this issue every year and let everyone in Bergen County cast their votes for their favorites in lots of different categories, from pizzerias and ice cream parlors to hardware stores and thai restaurants.
Well, you guys apparently got to work on voting hard because we just got the new issue this morning to see that we tied with Teaneck’s longstanding (and defending champ) Butterflake Bake Shop for Best Bakery. To say we’re thrilled would be an understatement. We know our cupcakes are awesome, and we know our customers are awesome, but it’s a really pleasant surprise to find out you guys think we’re doing that great, and we haven’t even hit the two-year mark yet! We really owe all of our success to you guys, so we really can never thank you enough for your continued support.
The guys at Pix-l Graphx here in Rutherford recently contacted us to design some custom printed cupcakes with their logo. We think they came out well, and The New Park Avenue blog posted about them as well. Check out their reaction to the cupcakes, as well as a quick profile of us on their site here.
We just got the new issue of (201) Magazine the other day that includes a feature about us in a story about various non-traditional bakeries. We were really excited to be featured, and we think the article is great. If you’re in (201)’s coverage area (most of North Jersey), you should pick up a copy and take a look!
The story is also available online. Text of the story is below.
A Taste of Counterculture
Sweet Avenue Bake Shop in Rutherford is riding the wave of cupcakes’ newfound popularity, but with a very important twist – the cakes are completely vegan (dairy and egg-free). Customers who don’t know that are often very surprised that the specialty cupcakes still taste as delicious as Grandma used to make.
Danielle and Jake Vance opened the shop in August 2007, and are assisted by Danielle’s sister, Kristina. The three pride themselves on making everything from scratch; they also serve as the creative development team.
“Someone has to taste the new flavors,” explains Jake, who admits a fondness for the red velvet cupcakes. “I was raised in Texas, and that is everyone’s favorite cake there.”
The boutique-style bakery is decorated in bright pastel colors that go well with the colorful cupcakes, which boast names like Sexy Sadie (red velvet cake) and Strawberry Fields (vanilla cake with fresh strawberry frosting filled with strawberry preserves), and are artistically displayed in glass cases. Both Danielle and Jake are graphic artists by training. “We really have an eye for what looks appealing,” says Jake, pointing to a tiered wedding cake made out of individual cupcakes that is displayed in the front window.
The couple had been vegetarians for several years when, in 2006, they decided to become vegans. At first, it seemed as though giving up dairy and eggs would mean an end to their favorite baked goods, but Danielle began to experiment with her mother’s family recipes. While growing up in Weehawken, she used to help her mother bake hundreds of trays of cookies for the neighborhood each Christmas. “She was famous for her 100 percent-authentic Italian cookies,” Danielle remembers.
Those recipes have inspired a successful line of cupcakes. “Each month since we opened, our business has grown,” notes Jake, who attributes that success to the trio’s unique product line. Since the Vances can’t buy any prepackaged mixes, everything is done right in the shop. For their raspberry lavender lemon cupcakes, for example, they use fresh fruit, and boil the lavender buds themselves to extract the flavoring.
For the upcoming holidays, pumpkin spice, apple pie, lemon gingerbread, and eggnog cupcakes will be featured – to the amazement of tasters who might not believe that they really are egg and dairy-free.
Yeah, we won another one. This time is was for “Best Cupcake” in North Jersey from the Bergen Record’s seasonal Top5 poll. Thanks (again) to you guys and your athletic voting fingers, we have another shiny thing to add to our wall of awesome.
It really does mean a lot to us that you guys keep telling everyone that we’re the best. We really appreciate it, and we hope you’ll keep it up.
As we mentioned recently, we attended Bergenfest 2008, but we never officially posted that we won Bergen magazine’s reader’s choice poll for Best Cupcakes (which is the reason we attended, of course).
It goes without saying that, once again, we owe it all to you, our massive horde of loyal customers who vote like it’s going out of style. You’re all awesome, and we love you so very much. Thanks again!
PS – we still need your votes in (201) Magazine’s poll, as well.