What do you get when you combine sinfully sweet treats, sultry fashion, and a sexy songbird….

…Two Parts Sugar and the L.A. Cupcake Challenge, of course!!!  On February 20^th the cupcake innovators of Two Parts Sugar will be teaming up with Kitchen Couture and Sugar Cat Studio to compete for the title of best cupcake in all of southern California as they go head to head with 18 other bakeries and cupcake winner hopefuls.

This year we are hoping to leave a lasting impression on the competition with our signature flavors & unique presentation. While yes, we are ultimately there to win, we really wanted to focus making it fun for everyone. We decided to play off of “Two Parts” Sugar…one part “naughty” one part “nice”.   Our booth will not only feature fun & sweet cupcakes, but we will be bringing “sexy back” with a very special guest who will help glam up the competition.  We will be hosting special guest & recording Artist Jo De La Rosa (formerly of Bravo’s The Real Housewives of Orange County and Date My Ex).  The up and coming artist will help us showcase our delectable treats – essentially putting the “icing” on the competition.  Every woman can relate to the naughty and nice side of their personalities.  Even the sweetest person is capable of being a little mischievous at times, and our concept is to deliver something that most people can relate to.” Our love of cupcakes and quest for fun, plus De La Rosa’s captivating charm promises that spectators won’t be disappointed.

From the cameras to the stage

Jo De La Rosa is best known for her starring role on the BRAVO mega hit “The Real Housewives of Orange County.”  Jo starred in seasons 1 and 2 of the show where she played herself as the sexy newcomer to the gate-guarded and ultra-exclusive community of Coto De Caza.  With the popularity of her character, Jo continued on, landing her own show on BRAVO called “Date My Ex” in which fans got to watch the misadventures of her dating life as she moved to L.A. to pursue her career in music.

With pop culture’s high demand of reality television, recording executives took notice of Jo’s singing and dancing talent on the show and offered her a record deal, transitioning this Latin beauty from the cameras to the stage.  Jo’s first album, Unscripted, was released in summer of 2008.  Jo is currently back in the studio writing and working with producers on her second album.  Her new single, “A Good Thing” is due to come out in Spring 2010 with a brand new music video. She is also the new face for the Fall 2009 handbag collection of Rough Roses which is featured on numerous billboards and buses throughout the Los Angeles and New York areas.

Don’t forget to pick up your tickets here!

Mark your calendars!

Grab your Gucci, slip in to your Betsey Johnson best, and bring your appetite because the L.A. Cupcake Challenge is back and this year the competition is going to be fierce! Nineteen of the ‘best of the best’ cupcake masters will gather in Los Angeles at the Renaissance Hotel on the 20th of February to display their top-secret cupcake recipes with hopes of winning the title of the tastiest cupcake in all of southern California! 

Kitchen Couture and Sugar Cat Studio will be joining Two Parts Sugar who will be bringing some “sinfully sweet” treats (and a little bit of fashion) to the challenge. In 2009 Two Parts Sugar took 2nd place in the “Best Traditional” category for their Raspberry Red Velvet cupcake, and this year we are coming prepared with more than just mouth watering delectable’s. In preparation for their 2010 battle, we have been busy preparing two new cupcakes especially for this event. Their special ingredient? Two parts sugar (of course) consisting of one part naughty and one part nice…a sinfully sweet combination that is sure to leave a mark on the competition. We have a lot planned for this year,  including a very special announcement which will be made on January 11, 2009…We are bringing lots of fun to this challenge and are hoping to walk away with a victory and, of course, bragging rights for the best cupcake in all of Southern California! You can read more about last year’s competition here.

I have never gotten so many requests for the same themed cake! I had 4 Yo Gabba Gabba cakes within a week! I LOVE YGG so I was happy and thrilled to do them all. It was so fun coming up with different designs to please each customer. I really wanted to make each one unique…a cake is something special and i love when I can make something special and unique for someone who is equally special and unique. This cake was for 2 year old Sadie. 

We incorporated the signature starburst with a happy birthday message and the bottom tier was decorated with each character made out of fondant.

I have to admit…I walked into Jillian’s (Sadie’s mom) house and I was totally scoping it out for ideas for my daughter’s birthday party the following day! She had all kinds of cute decorations for the party. She put Sadie in a homemade YGG shirt with Foofa popping out of a cupcake (that’s where I got the idea to incorporate a cupcake into my girls shirts). The cake went perfectly with all she had set up for the party. Such a fun cake to do.

Thank you again for the wonderful cake!!! We had SOOOO many compliments and comments on it! And then there was almost an all out war on who got the first character slice!

-Jillian, Sadie’s Mom

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SADIE!

That’s right, Football season is upon us and with the Super Bowl right around the corner you don’t want to be tackled at your party because you forgot to order your cupcakes early. We’ve got cupcakes to represent any team. Anything from team colors in icing or sprinkles, to helmets and footballs, to more elaborate team logos! Here are a few of the cupcakes from last year. 

Steelers vs Cardianls

Falcons vs Broncos

We’d love to hear from you! Let us know if you have any questions or would like to place an order. 

One of my 3 little cupcakes turned 2 today! My middle child Anabelle celebrated her birthday today. Actually, the real celebration was Sunday. We threw her a Yo Gabba Gabba party and proclaimed that our Ani was turning “TWO”dee (one of the characters names is Toodee). I have to be honest, there were lots of really cool ideas running through my head for the cake and decorations, but things are just way too busy, I had to hold back a little (actually a lot) in order to even get a party together. I pulled an all nighter the night prior to the party and while I was content with the outcome, I had so much more I would have loved to have done. So here’s a peek at the festivities! 

My little Ani on Halloween dressed as Toodee…we used this picture in the invitations.

I was swamped with work and a new baby and moving, so didn’t get to ordering any themed party decorations. Yo Gabba Gabba is SO hard to find in stores. So, 2 DAYS BEFORE the party I ran to find something that would work…heres what I did:

I was able to find bubbles in some of the colors of the characters and just added some of the simple facial features and POOF! they all came to life. The bubbles were a hit with the kids, but messy. I applied the same idea to the goodie bags, party hats and buckets for centerpieces. I was going to do the same to all the balloons but ran out of time! On a side note, I asked my 3 year old what kind of party she wanted, response: a Foofa party!

Here’s what the cake table looked like almost complete:

Here’s a shot of the cake!

So, the original plan was to do a 4 tier cake…each tier was going to have one of the Gabba lands as the background and the coordinating character on each tier with Toodee on top holding a ballon and the Yo Gabba Gabba starburst somewhere. Well, it was either a huge cake (with tons of leftovers) and no decorations, or a small cake and decorations. I opted for the tiny cake with cupcakes…much easier! I had a slight catastrophe with the liners…the all began to separate from the cupcake…solution: ribbon tied around each cupcake. 

I got SO many great shots of my angel on her big day, and I really tried to limit the number I posted.  Here’s my Ani enjoying her cupcakes! If you look closely you can see the shirt i made her is Toodee holding what else? A CUPCAKE!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANABELLE!

Last week we had an order for some too cute cupcakes. Little Adam was turning 2 and his mom wanted cupcakes to match the party decor (plates/napkins, etc.). How fun! So we worked out all the details and she sent over a photo of the decor. Here’s what we came up with:

This was my first time attempting to swirl the icing colors…it was a little heavy at first and I feared there’d be kids running around with dark blue tongues (which I’m sure they’d love). We did 3 dz cupcakes, each with swirly blue frosting (the “water”) and chose some cute elements off the plate to decorate each cupcake with. We were very pleased with how they turned out! 

“Thank you for the yummy cupcakes! They were definitely a big hit!” 

Tiffany…Adam’s mom

First, can I say WHAT A YEAR! One year ago this month I embarked on the journey that is cupcakes.

While yes, a majority of the business was in my hands, from baking, decorating, and flavor concepts, to marketing, blogging, and even clerical….by NO means did I do it alone. I’ll try and make it quick, but here is where my gratitude lies: I am blessed to have help from my NUMBER 1, my husband. Thanks for ALL the PATIENCE and SUPPORT. My now three daughters Alicia (3), Anabelle (2), and Angelica (1 week)….they have no idea what lies ahead in the cupcake world! My Mom and sisters who have been there to help with baby sitting, taste testing, and creative ideas. My Dad, who is my voice of reasoning. My genius of a brother and sister who help in all creative aspects from packaging, marketing and website design. Ruth my beautiful model. Kitchen Couture for partnering up with us to bring you a couture line of aprons exclusive to Two Parts Sugar. Sugar Cat Studio for partnering with us to bring you couture cupcake wrappers. Dan Silberstein for getting us in last minute for last year’s LA Cupcake Challenge. The ENTIRE Super Delicious Team, Food Network and Ren Messer for believing in me! Katie B for graciously extending a hand to someone in need. Andy Ortega Photography for some amazing photos. The awesome bloggers out there….Zen Cupcake, Bake And Destroy (Natalie),Cupcakes Take The Cake, The Cupcake Activist, and anyone else who has helped spread the cupcake word. The CUSTOMERS……without you we would not have a place in the kitchen! Thank you to anyone and everyone who has crossed our path and helped to get us where we are today! 

So, as I was saying….This time last year we launched our website and life has been madness (in a good way) ever since. I have to admit, being a wife…no wait, a coach’s wife,  raising 2 children (now 3) and running a business is no easy feat. There were many times I wanted to give up, but my stubbornness wouldn’t allow me to. In the past year we have whipped up lots of cupcakes, cakes and treats, and have learned lots along the way. Our favorite moments of the year include participating in the arthritis walk to help spread the word about amazing kids like Faith who suffer from Juvenile Arthritis. Almost as rewarding, our blog was featured in the OC register, we took second in the LA Cupcake Challenge in the best traditional category, and auditioned and earned a spot on The Food Network’s CUPCAKE WARS (due to air December 27)! Needless to say it has been quite a BIG first year of baking for us!

This post is just to let all of our supporters, customers, family and friends how much we truly appreciate EVERYTHING! Also, to let you all know we are NOT slowing down! We have lots of aspirations for 2010! Some of our newest features include….a “make-over” for our website, new packaging exclusive to Two Parts Sugar, our “shop” which will include couture aprons and cupcake wrappers, new gourmet treats added to our menu, and much, much more! Events where you can find us: The Food Network’s CUPCAKE WARS, air date December 27, 2009…..The LA Cupcake Challenge, February 20, 2010…..The Arthritis Walk May 16, 2010! Please keep checking back for the latest, and if you have an event you’d like us to participate in or would like to place an order let us know!

twopartssugar.com

Yes, you heard right…we absolutely LOVE Kitchen Couture and all it represents! For those of you unfamiliar with Kitchen Couture, they are a mother and daughter team, Dalyne Easley & Michele Fox that create beautiful couture aprons! You can read their story here! We LOVED their aprons so much, we HAD to have some made exclusively for Two Parts Sugar! This is one of our coordinating mommy/daughter aprons. Complete with cupcake and butterfly prints,hidden pocket, and princess tulle!

We really wanted something unique and AMAZING! Since children are a HUGE part of my life, I wanted to be sure to include some children’s aprons. We went with a few different styles to coordinate with the “mommy” aprons. They turned out fabulous! I can’t wait to get our “shop” up and running to be able to bring you the opportunity to get your hands on one of these exclusive couture designs! Keep checking back for the latest! A BIG thank you goes out to Kitchen Couture for some amazing designs!

AND…a big THANK YOU to Zen Cupcake for the post!

So many things going on in the next month!

This week we have a 3 tier Yo Gabba Gabba cake, a Colette Peters inspired 3 tier Sweet Sixteen cake, a 3 tier chocolate wedding cake with 2 dz coordinating  cupcakes, and 12 dz gourmet cupcakes! A lot of work, but can’t wait to work on each order!

We are also working to revamp our image, just a bit. We are working on updating our site with lots of eye catching elements…including new flavors, packaging and a few other new things Two Parts Sugar will be offering. We are truly excited to be in the process of all of this. All just in time for our big 1 year anniversary! Yes, we have been at this cupcake madness for 1 full year this December!

That being said, December holds A LOT of BIG milestones/events we will be experiencing….new image, flavors, and other goodies…our 1 year anniversary, the airing of The Food Network’s CUPCAKE WARS, and Two Parts Sugar owner Monica Serratos will be welcoming baby girl #3 Angelica! We will keep you posted on all things to come and hope you all like what we’ve come up with!

New packaging!

We welcome all feedback! If you have any questions or comments feel free to contact us here!

We have been working extra hard these last few months coming up with unique designs and working on some things you will be seeing here shortly. I can’t tell you the struggles, long hours (and I’m talking LOOOONG hours…like way too many overnighters), and set backs we have been faced with….but along with that has come some AMAZING opportunities. As many of you know we have been cast on The Food Network’s Cupcake Wars and couldn’t be more honored. While yes, that is probably the high point in our careers thus far, there are more things that we are proud to have been a part of. Even the smaller things…..from having the opportunity to create cupcakes for customers with AWESOME themes, to being featured on different blogs, to learning about and participating in the Arthritis Walk, just to name a few. We value every order that comes through our kitchen and truly appreciate all the well wishes and support from EVERYONE! That being said…we couldn’t be more thrilled to see our Sex and the City (which I have never seen and actually called it Sex in the City until I googled it!) cupcakes featured on Zen Cupcake! Be sure to check out the post and read the very kind words that were written about Two Parts Sugar.

Here’s what Selena (our  customer) had to say:

Hello! I requested these Sex and the City cupcakes from Monica. I’m telling you…I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect cupcake for our themed party! Not only were they adorable, they were OH SO tasty! Even the NY skyline was tasty.  Monica, you are so wonderful! Your talent is such a gift. I will rave about these for a while. 

Thank you Selena for the kind words! Wishing you the best with your first born…Sam!

We’d LOVE to hear your feedback…or if you have any questions or would like to place an order you can reach us here.