Frostings Cupcakes Opens in Lake Forest

July 1, 2009
Scott Mindeaux, Editor

11 Disguised Foodies commented on this...

Well they are finally here. It’s been a little over 2 months since we found out that Orange County was going to be host to a new cupcake bakery. Frostings Cupcakes in Lake Forest will open tomorrow, July 2 with a larger celebration on July 4th. They’re baking batches, wiping down the counters and cleaning the windows.

Owners Janel Mitchell and John Frank couldn’t be more excited! The idea and concept has been growing for over a year and finally a space that fit their criteria finally opened up. Thai Spice was the former tenant in that space and unfortunately wasn’t doing well in The Orchard Shopping Center at El Toro and Rockfield. Janel, an artist, clothing designer and now cupcake master is excited to open the doors at 7am tomorrow. I asked them if they were nervous and Janel just had a big smile on her face and said she was more excited than nervous.

The place is very well designed with custom woodwork, soaring display glass and customer fixtures to display their goods. John Frank owns a construction company that specializes in the food services and has designed and built quite a few restaurants here in Southern California. The ceilings are tall so it feels very spacious. Everything down to the light fixtures and wallpaper were picked out by Janel and John. They had these light fixtures that when explained to me, I agreed, looks like creme brulee. Everything in the place is branded tastefully with their 5 petal flower design.

Frostings will be featuring 8 permanent cupcakes with other selections that will change based on what day of the week it is. I was told that the “birthday cake” is a cupcake I need to be in for. In addition to their cupcakes they will also have a selection of “breakfast” cupcakes and also feature a signature line of cookies, 8 in all. So what better accompaniment to a cupcake than some coffee or tea. Frostings also features a full beverage bar with fresh roasted coffee, espressos, lattes and loose teas – sodas and juices are also on hand. I was lucky enough to taste some of the coffee and honestly, was one of the smoothest cups of coffee I have had.

I was very lucky to walk away with a sample of the Red Velvet cupcake as well as the Simply Vanilla cupcake. When I got back to my office, a few cupcake aficionados and myself tested Janel’s cupcake recipes. First off the Simply Vanilla. The cake was very moist and the frosting didn’t overpower the cake. The icing was not too sweet (the way I like it), but distinctive. A bite yielded the flavor of the cake which surprised me. I could actually taste the cake part. Most places inundate you with sweet frosting and that’s pretty much what you get. There is a good balance of frosting to cake and that goes a long way for me. The Red Velvet (my favorite of any cupcake place) took the prize. The cake was firm but not dense and the ratio of cream cheese icing to the cake was just right. Great job on the cupcakes. My coworkers agree. At $3.25 a piece they are competitively priced to the “other” cupcake places.

Everything is made from scratch and with high quality ingredients. Even the cupcake “bling”, the 5 petal flower, is made by hand. They were also very careful to make sure they had a great coffee and tea supplier as well. They will have beverage specialists to make sure you have the best brewed coffee and that your tea steeps perfectly. So stop by tomorrow and have a sample for yourself – have a cup of coffee or tea and sit at one of the many outdoor seating options. While you’re there you can also pickup a t-shirt or accessories designed by Janel herself. Not only does she have t-shirts, but workout pants, aprons, bags and even jewelry. In addition there are mugs, travel mugs and various tea infusers. She even has bling on one of the travel mugs! Janel and John had the right combination of business saavy and they know what customer they are looking and catering to. With a great location, lots of foot traffic and the fact they are adjacent to the freeway gives them the ingredients for success. Congrats John and Janel! See you tomorrow for my breakfast cupcake!

Frostings Cupcakes
23624 El Toro Road, Suite D
Lake Forest, CA 92630
949-458-1337
www.frostingscupcakes.com

880 views

11 Comments »

foodielover said:

My brother picked up a variety and brought them for dessert. I found most of them to be very dry.

# 22 July 2009 at 2:51 pm

Mr. Right said:

its just like foodie in disguise said. vons and ralphs. the subtle differences are what make each unique. we all have a sweet tooth we must indulge. why worry so much about the knicks and knacks. if you enjoy what you eat, than smile. I am a chef, we take pride in knowing people enjoy what we create. so try the red velvet from frostings. its our pride and joy. and i make a quadruple batch everyday. so please. let your sweet tooth loose.

# 19 July 2009 at 4:12 am

AD said:

Why does KATHY sound so bitter? It’s only cupcakes!!! Are you associated with Sprinkles or something? You can’t say Sprinkles is the best unless you have eaten every cupcake out there in this whole wide world. I have tried Sprinkles and they are overpriced and they put too much frosting and the frosting is way too sweet. I agree with FoodieInDisquise.

# 16 July 2009 at 6:28 pm

Scott Mindeaux, Editor (author) said:

That’s great! I’m glad that you got a chance to at least try the cupcakes. What would you suggest they use for their topping?? Their branding for everything in the shop is based on that 5 petal flower design, down to the wallpaper in the shop. Sprinkles has yet to open shop in South County, so when they do, there will be some good competition. For now they are about 15 miles apart by car so I don’t think anyone will be hurting here. As a South County resident, I’ll be going here. However, if I ever find myself in that part of Newport, I”ll probably still stop by Sprinkles. As for your ideas on how they could differentiate themselves from the competition, please let Vons and Ralphs in on it too, cuz we wouldn’t want too many grocery stores either – they’re just too similar! :) Just kidding.

# 6 July 2009 at 9:00 am

Kathy said:

Yes I’ve been to Frostings. Still think Sprinkles is better. As for the balance between cake and icing Sprinkles is perfect. Because Frostings may offer a few different things they still are offering different cupcake on different days.They coundn’t come up with something not so close to the dot that Sprinkles has on the top of their cupcakes? Will still drive to Newport Beach for Sprinkles.I haven’t tried all fo the cupcakes but I have tried the Red Velvet of both and I will tell you that Sprinkles is the best.

# 6 July 2009 at 8:05 am

FoodieInDisguise (author) said:

Thanks for stopping by the blog. I’m just the editor of this food blog, not the owners of Frostings. You directed your comments at me – so, I’ll take the time to answer. They more than copy SPRINKLES, they go further. Frostings isn’t out to dominate the cupcake world, they are two people who just wanted to do something different for themselves. If you haven’t actually been there, you should go and TASTE the actual cupcakes. While I have been a fan of Sprinkles in the past, I hate driving down to Corona del Mar, even worse all the way up to Hollywood – plus I find their cupcakes to be all frosting and no cake. Frostings has really put the effort to make sure their cupcakes actually taste good and has a good balance between cake and icing. You can actually taste the cake, not just the icing.

Sprinkles doesn’t have a full beverage bar and doesn’t offer seating inside or outside. You also can’t get WiFI there. Sprinkles also doesn’t have breakfast items and doesn’t have coffee to go with it. Bonus – they are right off the freeway, easy in, easy out.

Go down there and at least try it before you blast them. A little competition never hurt anyone, if anything it should make them want to do better – who ever that may be.

# 5 July 2009 at 12:29 pm

Kathy said:

You even copied SPRINKLES having different flavors on different days and your little flower is close to the dot SPRINLKES has on the top of their cupcakes. Do you not have any of you OWN ideas?

# 5 July 2009 at 8:37 am

Kathy said:

Can you say they copied SPRINKLES. Get you own idea Frostings.

# 5 July 2009 at 8:11 am