Cupcake Bakery Opens in Hellertown

Warm sugar…warm sugar…. Close your eyes for a minute and think of warm sugar.

The name itself conjures up nothing but delightful, sweet thoughts. And that’s exactly what Warm Sugar owner Amy Wardle had in mind when naming her new “cupcakery” at 1308 Main Street in Hellertown.

Warm Sugar's official grand opening ceremony was held Friday, April 15 and included a ribbon-cutting presided over by Hellertown Mayor Richard Fluck.

“It’s another great little business for Hellertown. I think Hellertown is finally becoming the place to come. I look forward to their success,” Fluck commented as he eyed up the “Tikicup,” a decadent coconut cupcake.

Wardle, who is originally from New York, moved to this area with hopes of starting a new food-related venture. Previously, she spent a decade in New York City working in publishing for Food Arts and Wine Spectator magazines.

Wardle said she also has experience as a public relations representative, having worked with many different food brands.

“Through it all I just loved to cook and bake and make people happy with food," she said at the opening. "It was just time to get out from behind the desk and do something with my hands other than make the keyboard click."

Warm Sugar will offer 13 standard cupcake flavors, plus an additional “daily special” variety.

Wardle commented that sales of her “Sugar Girls and Sugar Boys” cupcakes are already strong. The “Strawberry Blonde” cupcake has also gotten a good response from customers, some of whom have said that it tastes like strawberry ice cream.

One of Wardle’s other recommendations was for “La Copacake”--a caramel cake filled with imported Argentinean dulce de leche. She described it as being filled with "ooey gooey milk caramel and frosted with caramel butter cream and sprinkled with crispy dark chocolate pearls."

Coffee, tea and a variety of refrigerated bottled beverages are also available to complement the baked goods sold at Warm Sugar.

Wardle purchases her coffee beans from a local coffee roaster in Frenchtown that specializes in organic and fairly traded coffee. They grind the beans fresh every morning.

“We want to focus on different areas of the world, so this week we’re offering Costa Rican coffee--dark roast, light to medium roast and decaf," Wardle explained. "When that runs out, we’ll move on to Guatemala and so on. We want to do Hawaii and different African regions too."

Wardle clarified that she doesn’t see Warm Sugar becoming a “coffee shop.”

“We don’t offer public Wi-Fi here, but we do have seating and outdoor seating. We’ve had people hanging out, but we don’t see ourselves with the Starbucks’ hang-out-all-day kind of vibe,” Wardle said, adding, “I am not a barista, so I trust my coffee purveyor to supply my coffee.”

In May, Wardle said her goal is to expand the cupcake line with another offering, which is yet to be announced. By mid-summer, she again hopes to be able to expand her baked goods offerings.

When asked if Warm Sugar will also sell full-size cakes, Wardle said there are no plans to, since the business's focus is on selling the “handheld” variety of treat.

The focus, she said, “is on the small indulgence. Something you can get a dozen of for a party, and they’re fun and colorful and bright, or something that will suffice at the moment when you need just a little something sweet that will make you happy."

Even though Warm Sugar won't offer traditional cakes, Wardle is eager to cater for parties, weddings and other special occasions. They are more than happy to “cup-stomize” each event to the customers’ tastes, she said.

“We’ll do whatever you want. You can choose from our regular flavors, or we’ll do custom flavors. We’ll tint your frosting for you. We do weddings and parties, and if you have a special design, for instance, if you want a monogram on a fondant cap for your cupcake or something like that, we can do that,” Wardle explained.

Once a customer places a custom order a file is kept as a reference, so if they come back for Valentine’s Day or an anniversary the staff can recreate it to perfection.

With three employees assisting her, Wardle has been able to produce almost 200 cupcakes each day since opening. Most days she's selling out, she said.

While cutting the ribbon on her new business, Wardle stated, “We’re so happy to be here. We picked exactly the right spot. We’ve received such a warm welcome from Hellertown and couldn’t be more pleased.”

When asked what her ultimate goal was for her new business venture, Wardle joked, “to make a million dollars and retire on cupcakes next year!”