We are always hard at work on new flavors, flavor combinations, holiday and seasonal items, and box assortments. Recently, the test kitchen produced "Cherry Blossom," our homage to Washington, DC's harbinger of spring – the cherry trees gifted by the mayor of Tokyo almost 100 years ago. They are in full bloom right now, and so are their namesake cupcakes. The cupcake is Meyer lemon flavor with a filling of French cherry preserves, topped with white chocolate frosting. The Meyer lemon is a bit sweeter than a regular lemon, and the zest has a faint herbal scent. When it's baking it smells a little like thyme...just lovely. I wanted to make the Cherry Blossom cupcake a symbol of the change of seasons from winter to spring. The citrus season closes with the end of winter and the summer fruit season begins with the explosion of blossoms in March/April. And a new flavor is born! I also made hundreds of these little stylized sugar cherry blossoms (pictured.) I went out to look at the cherry trees for inspiration, and found that there are many different kinds of blossoms. I tried to capture that same feeling with these little lovelies.

			We have added custom and event cupcakes to our product line-up! Originally, I wanted to start a bit more slowly and get the shop up and running before adding this option. But the demand and feedback on my custom creations has been truly amazing! We can create theme cupcakes topped with custom colors, modern flowers, hearts and many other shapes. We can provide you with a cupcake tower or use simple platters for a more sophisticated look. The photo you see here is of a cupcake tower I designed for a little girl's birthday party. This was a pretty, girly creation, but the possibilities are limitless.
	I am calling these custom creations our "Bespoke" line. My friend Rica Squires, an American who lives in London, came up with this name. I love it because it's a bit mysterious and sounds fancy. You think you know what it means, but you're not quite sure. (It's the British way of saying "custom," like "bespoke clothiers" for custom-tailored suits.) We have added images of some fun new creations throughout the website. Check it out at www.hellocupcakeonline.com.

	While you can't physically see it yet, there is quite a bit happening on the construction front at Hello Cupcake. Because the architect is also my husband, we are able to work on the project late nights, early mornings and any other time. (He just loves having a client that also lives with him!)
	So the drawings of my space are complete! It's going to be lovely, with rich colors, beautiful lighting, fun finishes and textures. One of my favorite items is the finish that will be on the front of the main counter, facing the public. It's an exquisite material from a company called modulararts (www.modulararts.com). Plaster panels fit together to make a seamless pattern. The one called "Dune" is meant to look like sand dunes, but we think it looks like ribbons of frosting! It also is a "green" material, with no VOC's or formaldehyde, so it is in keeping with our mission to make the bakery environmentally friendly. Above is a mock-up of the "coming soon" panels that will be in the windows during construction. These will be up in the next couple of weeks! They were designed by the best design shop in the universe (that's not an exaggeration – I surveyed the universe) OrangeYouGlad, of Brooklyn, NY. OYG also is responsible for the Hello Cupcake branding, website, and packaging. Check them out at www.orangeyouglad.com. If all goes as planned, expect to see us open and baking cupcakes by the end of June! Best, Penny Karas Owner and Executive Pastry Chef