Features Column

Rejoice, treat lovers: There are two cupcake shops in town

Weekend!Food: Taste

By liz colie gadberry

The Portland Tribune, Aug 17, 2007, Updated Oct 30, 2009

SARAH TOOR / TRIBUNE PHOTO

Cupcake Jones’ version of a s’more is a gooey delight.

Shortly after my youngest sister moved to New York City in 2000, she called me to say that I simply had to open a cupcake shop in Portland.

She was adamant about it (she’s often adamant), telling me there were lines around the block at Magnolia Bakery in the West Village. She even FedExed me a box of Magnolia cupcakes to convince me.

I was flattered she thought I could pull it off. I’m quite a good baker, but I had a baby at the time, and I’m kind of lazy.

Four years later my daughter went to preschool, and I started to explore the idea of opening a cupcake shop in my hometown. Four months after that, Saint Cupcake (407 N.W. 17th Ave., 503-473-8760, www.saintcupcake.com) opened.

I don’t mean I opened Saint Cupcake. Someone else did. (This isn’t an inspirational tale.)

I visited and was relieved that I hadn’t launched my own place because I couldn’t imagine my cupcakes tasting as delicious as Saint Cupcake’s. So I gave up my (sister’s) cupcake shop dream and moved on with my life.

Two years later a new cupcake shop has entered the scene here. Cupcake Jones (307 N.W. 10th Ave., 503-222-4404, www.cupcakejones.net) debuted last month next door to Ben & Jerry’s in the Pearl District.

Of course, I had to check it out. Cupcake Jones is itsy-bitsy, clean and cute. Framed photos of kids and dogs eating cupcakes decorate the main wall. There’s a little display case filled with you-know-whats and a very short counter where you order. The people working at Cupcake Jones are superfriendly.

The main difference between Cupcake Jones cupcakes and Saint Cupcake cupcakes is that the ones at Cupcake Jones are filled.

For example, there’s the Pearl – white velvet cake filled with vanilla pastry cream and frosted with vanilla butter cream icing.

The Downtown Cupcake Brown is filled with sour cream chocolate ganache and frosted with fudge icing. The Mimosa – orange yogurt cake filled with orange champagne pastry cream – is frosted with champagne butter cream.

Perhaps using all that filling is expensive, because another difference between Cupcake Jones and Saint Cupcake is the price. Cupcake Jones charges $3.25 for a regular-size cupcake and $1.50 for a mini, while Saint Cupcake charges $2.25 for the regular and $1.25 for the mini.

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