Susie Cakes: More than just cupcakes

When new bakery Susie Cakes opened its swinging glass door in Newport Beach’s Westcliff Plaza on April 29th, it was inevitable that it would be compared to the infamous Sprinkles Cupcakes located just three miles away in the Corona del Mar Plaza.

Both bakeries are imports from Los Angeles, both bakeries pride themselves on their decadently frosted cupcakes, and both bakeries cater to an affluent clientele willing to pay $3+ on a single baked good.

As a frequent devourer of Sprinkles’ red velvet and carrot cake cupcakes, my tongue was primed to give Susie Cakes’ much-lauded cakes a test drive. This past weekend, armed with cups of iced tea from neighboring Kean Coffee, my fellow blonde sweet-toothed partner in crime and I descended on Susie Cakes with visions of red velvets floating in our heads.

Tucked in the corner of a strip mall, right in the shadow of organic baby food purveyor pomme bébé, Susie Cakes is easy to miss from the street. There is no line angling out the door, there are no young children milling about complaining to their mothers about being “too hot” or “too tired” to wait 30 minutes for an afternoon treat, and there are no red-faced fathers losing their patience to pick up the three dozen cupcakes they ordered for their child’s birthday party.

Susie Cakes doesn’t announce itself – it’s a neighborhood spot that caters to a quieter crowd of locals with a taste for the contents that fill (or used to fill) their grandmothers’ cookie jars.

Upon entering the immaculate space, my friend and I immediately gravitate toward the chocolate mint cheesecake and lemon bar samples set out in little cups next to the long glass display case. While I’m typically turned off by the heaviness of cheesecake, Susie Cakes’ version is light and refined rather than cloying and oppressive. The chocolate mint flavor is surprisingly delightful – a refreshing way to awaken my taste buds for the impending cupcake.

Despite our intentions to both order red velvet cupcakes, as we admire the other treats lined up in the case, we can’t help but begin to question our original decisions. Thick seven-layer bars abundantly dressed with chocolate, butterscotch chips and coconut beckon me from the top shelf, and the Whoopie Pie, a decadent treat composed of two chocolate cookies sandwiching a vanilla frosting center, shamelessly flirts with me. I try to turn my attention back to the rows of perfectly frosted cupcakes, but the individual glass cake cases cannot be avoided with their moist multi-layered German chocolate, classic marble, vanilla celebration, strawberry confetti and Southern red velvet cakes. I stand frozen in place – struck dumb by all the tantalizing ways I can ruin my diet. My friend is similarly paralyzed as she hems and haws over whether to get the individual-sized cheesecake, the chocolate peanut butter cupcake or the object of our quest, and the perennial favorite, the red velvet.

Since there are no impatient patrons tapping their wristwatches behind us, my friend and I have plenty of time to debate the merits of the various sweet treats before finally settling on our orders. We find a spot at one of the two-person tables in the bakery and carefully unwrap our packages. Our eyes glisten with lust as we size up the red velvet cupcakes that have been carefully blanketed with soft peaks of tangy cream cheese icing. I feel like a little girl as I lick errant icing from my fingers and eagerly dig into the bright red cake with my plastic fork. My friend and I sit in silence as we savor each bite of the moist, yet light cake. Mere minutes later, only crumbs are left on our paper plates. Mere moments after that, the plates are completely bare.

As we exit the bakery, I pause a moment at the door to take one final look back at the quaint bakeshop. I smile as I watch an elderly couple contemplating their order in much the same way my friend and I had just 10 minutes prior.

“The red velvet is really good.” I tell them with a smile, before joining my friend outside.

Was it Sprinkles’ good? The jury is still out. I may have to go back for a few more rounds before I can make my final verdict. And maybe next time I’ll try the seven-layer bar. Or the Whoopie Pie. Or the…

Susie Cakes

2043 Westcliff Dr. No. 104

Newport Beach, CA 92660

Telephone: (949) 646-6881

Hours: Mon-Sat 10 am – 7 pm