Sprinkles Cupcakes
Corona Del Mar Plaza
944 Avocado Ave
Newport Beach, CA
949.760.0003
www.sprinklescupcakes.com
Remember how you’re supposed to love all your children equally no matter what? No matter that your older unemployed-but-you-don’t-know-because-she-is-too-chicken-poop- to-admit-that-the-college-and-graduate-educations-you-paid-for-were-a-waste gives you a handmade card and a stapler that she accidentally forgot to give back to the employer she used to work for, and your other daughter, who has already given you a grandchild, also gives you an all-expenses-paid two-week trip to Europe with an obnoxious wad of spending cash on the side? Stapler. Europe trip. You love them both the same, right?
I know my parents love my sister more. I just know it, even though it wasn't really a stapler. It was...oh, never mind.
But I am okay with that. Really. I am. Just expect to hear a lot about it on the blog for the next month or so. Therapy is too expensive.
My sister gave them the trip, so in order to prove to my parents that they didn’t waste their DNA on me, the least I could do was take them to the airport. Granted, I had no idea that their flight from LA to Rome departed at 7:30 AM, which meant we had to be at the airport by 4:30 AM to suit my Dad’s militaristic punctuality, which means we had to leave from their house in Fullerton by 3:45 AM, but hey, that’s the loving, thoughtful kind of daughter I am.
Clearly, there way no way I was going to drive from my apartment on the Westside to Fullerton to pick my parents up at 3:45 AM because that would mean I would have to stay up all night and leave my house at 3 AM. I stay up all night, sure, but I can’t drive in the dark. I drove down to Orange County the day before and spent the afternoon with my sister because I love her and because I adore her and because I miss her so much ever since she moved to Irvine.
And because I love her.
And because maybe she was the perfect sister who gave a trip to my parents and I secretly wanted to go to her house and move all the perfect spices in her wonderfully loving cabinet around so that when she is looking for her perfect pepper to add to her perfect chicken soup for her perfect dinner with her perfect husband, she will be confused, ok?!?!
Nah, I really do miss my sister. She used to live two blocks from me. I am going through a bit of extended withdrawal.
We basically spent the afternoon doing what normal, close, close-in-age sisters do when they get together. I blogged from her computer! Oh yeah, and we played with her baby, my niece, who is quite possibly, no bias I swear, the cutest baby in the universe. Most of my family says she looks a lot like me.
We also had lunch, after which my sister brought out a tiny box of Sprinkles Cupcakes. She fell in love with Sprinkles Cupcakes at her birthday party and again at our other sister’s bridal shower last year. "When did you have time to drive up to Beverly Hills for Sprinkles Cupcakes?" I marvelled at how truly incredibly insanely perfect she is. She told me how excited she was that they had opened a bakery in Newport Beach, just a few minutes from her new house. Yay. Sprinkles in Newport. Apparently, my sister doesn’t read my blog because Sprinkles Cupcakes are as dry and tasteless as sawdust and covered with an embarrassingly thick layer of frosting that is so over-saturated with sugar that the crytals don't even dissolve into the butter, giving it a sandy texture. Sawdust and sand.
However, I split a Red Velvet Cupcake with her, hoping that perhaps Orange County had made some changes.
No changes! Exactly the same! Sprinkles Cupcakes from Newport Beach tastes just as bad as Beverly Hills!
I have two additional comments about Sprinkles Cupcakes and the whole Cupcake Craze in general. One, I am of the firm belief (hope?) that cupcakes were a fad, and the fad is fast fading. Please, don't think I have something against cupcakes; I don't. I am just a little tired of the unqualified fanaticism for them. Sure, they will never truly go out of style, for we never thought skinny punk rocker jeans from the ‘80s would ever come back, but they did. However, for now, the craze is over. There will always be room on a bakery shelf for cupcakes, but the idea of all cupcakes all the time is on it’s way “auf.”
This leads to my second comment about cupcakes, which, we have already established somewhere a long time ago, is a craze. It is a buzz-worthy thing. It is a “trend.” I have just posited that cupcakes’ trendiness is waning. However, it is waning in LA, and if The OC’s strinking resemblance to Beverly Hills 90210 is any indication, then cupcakes will suddenly become very popular in Orange County. OMG. The parallel is too perfect with respect to Sprinkles Cupcakes, which started in Beverly Hills and opened in OC! (Maybe I will write a book about this – don’t steal my idea!)
You see, I now have this theory about LA and OC and how “hype” travels. Trends start in LA, and because Orange County is somewhat limited by the perfectness of their gated community planning and the very large multiplexes that seem to suck the life and character out of everything, trends, like traffic on the southbound 405, takes a long time to travel to OC. Everything eventually moves from LA to OC, but it just takes time. Traffic, the Walshes, and now, Sprinkles.
It won’t be long, though, before Orange County actually realizes that Spinkles is just hype and that the cupcakes don’t taste very good.
And then what?
Be on the lookout for “The Real Housewives of the Inland Empire” on Fox next year!
** a year ago today, it was the kickoff of wedding week **
Anonymous says
Gorgeous Blog! Looks like you enjoy posting overly long 'articles' just like me!
I can't stand sprinkles either but they do look gosh darned cute.
Thanks for a great read!
Freya x
Sylvie says
You're just absolutely nuts! But I love your humor. You say/write all those things we all wish we had the nerve to say out loud. I've never had Sprinkles and probaly never will if I have to spend the money on them. I owe that to you. Write on Sarah.
Anonymous says
That Sprinkles in OC will soon be a Pinkberry.
Foodie Universe says
I don't think the trend is fading yet...Susiecakes in Brentwood just opened in July. Triplecreme thinks they're better than Sprinkles. Have you been?
dorkie says
i'm glad to see someone sharing the same sentiments as myself on the OC. no character whatsoever.
sarah says
freyaE: they're longmostly because i ramble...but hey, we're not being graded :)
and yes, they ARE cute, but cuteness can cover up bad taste for only so long. i mean look at mary-kate and ashley.
sylvie: hi sylvie! aw, i miss you! thanks for stopping by! and yes, IF you have a cupcake craving, well i am QUITE SURE you could bake them yourself :)
anonymous: i think it will be a beardberry. or a pinkpapa. wow, both of those sound really naughty.
foodie universe: well, i think the "ONLY CUPCAKES" is starting to fade. sure there will laways be cupcakes...look how long we've had ding dongs!
dorkie: the sad thing is, my sister AND parents live there, and there is a possibility that my other sister may move there, and who knows? what if i have to end up there, too?!??!
*eh* even if i DO move there, i will just whine about it ;)
foodiemama says
serious lurker here...can't wait to try those recipes...we have a place in belmont shores that makes great cupcakes too! can't remember the name but they are yummy!
foodiemama says
oops..meant to say try the restaurants...not sprinkles though. (have a busy 2 yr old cramping my writing out a proper post!)
FoodZealot says
I agree, Sprinkles is no bueno. I don't have a problem with cupcakes per se, but as a trend, they don't have any legs.
Keep fighting the good fight-
~Tad
FoodZealot says
I agree, Sprinkles is no bueno. I don't have a problem with cupcakes per se, but as a trend, they don't have any legs.
Keep fighting the good fight-
~Tad
Chubbypanda says
Sarah,
Just come on down to Irvine. We've got good eating here too. Then you can be BoOC. (^_^)
- Chubbypanda
joanh says
yes, I don't get the Sprinkles craze either.. I was quite excited to try them and even brave the line on a weekday afternoon, but I also found them really dry and NOT the "best cupcakes" I've had BY FAR. I guess the pretty frosting and packaging hypnotizes people? For a good red velvet cupcake, I'd much prefer Auntie Em's or Doughboys, though those are both a trek from West LA.. definitely baking my own.
sarah says
l.a. cheesemonger: sprinkles cupcakes in oc is not enough to get me to move there. or keep me away.
foodiemama: don't worry, i knew what you were talking about! restaurants, recipes, reading, rock climbing...you know, they're all the same ;)
foodzealot: thanks, t! i agree with you completely about the cupcakes "trend."
chubbypanda: Best of OC? i dunno, that would be a very small blog. ;) just kidding. i don't hate oc as much as i perpetrate; it's just fun to release negative energy from myself. :)
joanh: yes, i suppose i still do need to try auntie em's and doughboys' cupcakes, but hey, both of those places are closer than sprinkles in newport beach!
sarah says
l.a. cheesemonger: sprinkles cupcakes in oc is not enough to get me to move there. or keep me away.
foodiemama: don't worry, i knew what you were talking about! restaurants, recipes, reading, rock climbing...you know, they're all the same ;)
foodzealot: thanks, t! i agree with you completely about the cupcakes "trend."
chubbypanda: Best of OC? i dunno, that would be a very small blog. ;) just kidding. i don't hate oc as much as i perpetrate; it's just fun to release negative energy from myself. :)
joanh: yes, i suppose i still do need to try auntie em's and doughboys' cupcakes, but hey, both of those places are closer than sprinkles in newport beach!
Anonymous says
Sprinkles is too corporate, all the girls working look miserable, its just not how a bakery should be..and they are way too over rated.
white on rice couple says
Love the new site! I browsed through your restaurant index (which is FABULOUS!) and I landed here...
Can I say that I can't stand this fad? I totally agree with you. Yesterday one of my staff members "gifted" us at work with a red velvet from Sprinkles. It was my second (and last) time eating it. After that, I am even more convinced that my $3.25 is better spent elsewhere.
Anonymous says
I live in the OC (Dana Point) and I too hate Sprinkles. Why people are so crazy over that place I will never understand. I do, however, love cupcakes. Mainly because you can decorate 12 to 24 little cakes instead of 1 big one which means more fun! Im hoping that it's not some sort of fad, but I do hope these corporate bakeries (Sprinkles- Im talking about you!) are a fad that dies quickly. Bakeries shouldnt be so commercial, they should be fun!