Voice of the Mid-Columbia | Kennewick, Pasco and Richland, Wash. |
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closeWednesday, Oct. 28, 2009
It's all in the name -- Cupcakes Bakery and Deli
Loretto J. Hulse, Herald staff writer
Cupcakes -- those beautiful mini cakes -- have long captured the love of Americans young and old.
There have been books written about them. They've been featured on magazine covers. Bakeries from New York to Seattle devote their display cases to showcasing dozens of the tiny treats. And there are blogs and websites singing the praises of the cupcake.
"Cupcakes are a fun indulgence," said Milli Banks-Boggan, owner of Cupcakes Bakery and Deli in Kennewick. She opened her business this summer and is already on her second case of 10,000 cupcake pan liners.
She and her two employees bake 20 dozen a day, plus special orders. Some of those are for weddings, she said.
"They've become very popular. Some have a large cake plus the cupcakes, others opt for just lots and lots of cupcakes," she said.
Banks-Boggan has always had her finger in the culinary pot. She's taken cooking and baking classes and attended the International Culinary Course in Louisville, Ky.
But she said she really learned at her father's elbow. He owned the Dew Drop Inn Cafe at Lewis and Main streets in Pasco.
"When I was 6 years old, my dad let me bake my first cake. It was a disaster. I'm much better now," she said with a grin.
Some of Banks-Boggan's other food-related endeavors include catering, baking and decorating wedding and other special occasion cakes, creating a line of seasonings and rubs, baking and selling sweet potato pies, and making and selling pizzas.
By day, Banks-Boggan is an insurance and financial services agent independently and with Farmers Insurance Group.
But during evenings -- and whenever she can get away from her office -- you'll find her in the kitchen at Cupcakes.
"It's hard to keep me out of the kitchen. I like to cook and like the food business," she said.
Banks-Boggan said she got her start in cupcakes when she entered her banana split cupcake recipe in a Kraft food contest.
"I didn't place but my name went out on the internet and I began to get calls for cupcakes," she said.
A woman she met at the Pasco Specialty Kitchen -- a commercial kitchen on Fourth Avenue -- encouraged Banks-Boggan to go into the cupcake business.
"I did, and did well, so I began looking for a place of my own," she said.
Cupcakes Bakery and Deli is at 308 W. Kennewick Ave. It is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.
Its website is www.cupcakesbakeryanddeli.com, and the phone number is 582-8200.
"But if you need to pick up an order earlier or later, just call -- we can usually work something out," Banks-Boggan said.
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