Store opening Friday
Cupcake Love taking the venerable sweet to new levels
Solana Beach will soon be home to a new bakery specializing in those adorable little desserts known as cupcakes.These aren’t your plop-some-mixture-in-a-tin variety of cupcakes though; this is a new breed of gourmet delicacies offered by Cupcake Love, set to open this Friday.
“They’ve been really popular for probably a good six or seven years now,” said owner Ilene Lamb of gourmet cupcakes, noting the success of the Sprinkles chain. “I think people like them because you don’t have to share them, they’re a lot less messy than a cake, you don’t have to cut them…they can be individually decorated. I think they’re really fun, and I think people remember them from their childhood.”
Cupcake Love will feature 12 flavors daily, some of which will be rotated out. The bakery will have a vast array of flavors available, including red velvet, carrot, lemon, chocolate, vanilla, coconut, gingerbread, spice cake, cinnamon swirl, strawberry - even a cosmopolitan-flavored cupcake called “Girl’s Night Out.”
“Really any flavor that someone can imagine we can create,” said Lamb. Cupcakes will be available in both the regular size and minis, which are called “love bites.”
“I like them because I can eat more than one flavor and not feel too guilty,” said Lamb. Next year a jumbo-sized cupcake may also be launched she said.
As well as serving walk-in customers, Cupcake Love will do special events and custom ordering, and will deliver within the greater San Diego area.
“That will probably be the most fun that we will have in the bakery,” said Lamb, “really taking someone’s idea or their theme and creating cupcakes that will fit in perfectly into what they’re doing.”
The store will also carry several cupcake-related items, such as an extensive line of cupcake platters and tier stands, which can be either rented or purchased. There will also be a line of butter cream-flavored hand creams and lotion and a selection of candles, including the sparkler variety. Lamb described her candles as “not just the candles that you can pick up at the grocery store, very different, very unique.” Other items include candleholders and hand-designed picks that can be inserted into cupcakes, along with various party supplies.
Lamb brings business expertise to her cupcake shop, having 13 years experience in retail marketing. Most recently she was with Simon Property Group doing business development and marketing.
“I think my years in retail marketing for shopping centers gives me experiences in public relations, advertising, special events, all of the needed marketing experiences needed to make a bakery a success,” she said.
Because the launch of Cupcake Love is coinciding with the upcoming holiday season, Lamb anticipates in the coming months her business will do quite well.
“Holidays are perfect for cupcakes,” she said. “Everybody’s going to be having their holiday parties, they’re going to be hosting dinners, they’re going to going to events, going to parties. It’s a great hostess gift, so I would imagine November and December it’s going to be very, very crazy - in a good way.”
Cupcake Love will open Oct. 30 and is located at 437 S. Highway 101, Suite 106/107. Hours will be 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. on Sundays. For more information, go to
or call (858) 755-5506.