Frosted Cupcakery

Frosted Cupcakery is located in the popular Belmont Shore area of Long Beach, at 4817 E. 2^nd St. 

Unlike many cupcake bakeries that only offer a few daily flavors, Frosted Cupcakery offers 16, including a gluten-free chocolate cupcake with caramel buttercream. They also have rotating seasonal flavors including pumpkin with cream cheese frosting.




Royal white cupcake(s) with Nutella cream buttercream
Photo taken by: Britta Garsow



 Frosted Cupcakery has a flavor of the month as well. This month they are offering an almond cupcake with toasted coconut vanilla buttercream.

One thing that Frosted Cupcakery has that many other bakeries don’t is what they call “hi-top cupcakes.” These marvelous creations are made up of two mini cupcake tops sandwiched together with a frosting center. They are priced at $1.45 each or $15/dozen.

Megan, an employee of Frosted, said that the ice cream cupcakes are one of their most popular items, and for good reason. I think the name says it all but yes, these are cupcakes filled with ice cream. These are priced at $4.95 and the flavors switch daily.

Frosted also has mini cupcakes and jumbo cupcakes available through special order only.

If you have a canine companion, then you might want to purchase a “pupcake” for 75 cents each or $2.00 for a bag of three.  

Website: http://www.frostedcupcakery.com/ 

Sweet and Saucy Shop

On the outside Sweet and Saucy Shop looks unadorned and obsolete, blending in with the rest of the strip mall shops. But once you step inside you’ll see a variety of girlish, antique décor and stunning sweets. Yes, I said stunning.




Daily assortment of treats
Photo take by: Britta Garosw

 

Sweet and Saucy Shop is a staple for Cal State Long Beach students, being that it’s located right across from the school at 6400 E.Stearns St. The employee working yesterday, Melissa, informed me that they would be moving into a bigger building soon. The update would be posted on their website, www.sweetandsaucyshop.com. Their primary location is located on Coast Hwy in Newport Beach.

           
The Bakery specializes in wedding cakes and have been featured in many magazines including The Knot, People, and O Magazine.

Sweet and Saucy Shop has a range of desserts. I was impressed with their selection of cake pops because most bakeries don’t offer them, but they have nine different rotating flavors priced from $2.25-2.50. They also offer an assortment of mini cupcakes ($1.50-1.75), which is nice when you want a little something of everything. According to Melissa their most popular cupcake flavor is the candy bar cupcake, which was absolutely delicious. However my favorite dessert they offer are the French macaroons, which can be hard to find. They offer six different flavors, including the ever popular pistachio.

Mini candy bar cupcake, chocolate peanut butter cake pops, and a vanilla bean macaroon.
Photo take by: Britta Garsow

Covering the shelves behind the display case are hundreds of antique cake stands. I asked Melissa why they had so many, she said “We use them to display the desserts, and people can rent/purchase them for their weddings and private events.” I thought this was such a special service they offer because it’s hard to find cake stands that match the décor of most weddings.

Sweet Jill's Bakery

Sweet Jill’s Bakery in Long Beach has been serving up baked delights since 1987. Jill Kinney Pharis, founder of Sweet Jill’s, started the bakery with old fashioned cinnamon rolls that she learned to bake from her grandmother. They have been the bakery’s most popular item to this day, and my personal favorite. Tiffany C. of Yelp states “Cinnabon has NOTHING on the sweet, delectable cinnamon roll Sweet Jill's offers.  Everyone knows the best part if a cinnamon roll is the soft center. Well, their whole roll is the equivalent of a soft center.” 

There are two Sweet Jill’s locations, in Seal Beach and in Long Beach. The Long Beach location recently moved into a fresh space up 2^nd street and is now located at 5001 E. 2^nd St. The new, modern location is complete with a big screen TV, free Wi-Fi and an espresso bar. There are also two locations in the Long Beach airport for those who need a tasty pastry to keep them occupied during their flight. 

Sweet Jill’s offers an extensive variety of treats including: Cakes, coffee cakes, cookies, cheesecake bars, brownies, bread pudding, croissants, cupcakes, muffins, pull-aparts, pies, breads and more. The pastries are reasonably priced, as nothing is over five dollars. They only accept cash, but they have an ATM conveniently located inside the bakery.

Top: Cinnamon roll
Bottom: Peanut butter,cookie dough brownie & Red velvet cheesecake bar
Photo taken by: Britta Garsow

One CSULB student, Will, says “whenever I’m having a bad day I go to Sweet Jill’s and get a cinnamon roll and it makes everything better.” Im sure many students at Cal State Long Beach have the same mentality.

Website: http://sweetjillsbakery.com/