Wait, aren’t cupcakes dead?
Apparently not quite yet. Icing on the Cupcake opened a new Midtown outpost at (1730 J Street) yesterday, taking over a chunk from the former Gifted Gardener space.
It’s been a long and windy road for the Rocklin-based company. It launched in 2007 and once had five locations in the area before filing for bankruptcy in 2013. Somehow, it managed to reopen its Rocklin bakery, and it recently opened another location in Folsom (2379 Iron Point Road in the Folsom Gateway Shopping Center).
The Midtown edition feels a little sterile–plain pink walls, checkerboard floor, no seating–and doesn’t exactly scream, “Come buy all these tantalizing sweets!” but there are tantalizing sweets all the same. Naturally, icing on the Cupcake primarily sells cupcakes. They’re moist, loaded with buttercream and come in more than 10 flavors every day ($2.95-$3.35). Also available: mini cupcakes known as “babybites” ($1), mini pies ($3.45), cookie sandwiches ($2.75) and brownies and blondies ($3).
Meanwhile, another bakery known for cupcakes closed in Pavilions: SusieCakes. SusieCakes’ layered cakes, whoopie pies and cheesecakes were wonderful, if a little pricey. If you were a fan, there are a few locations still open in the Bay Area.