My Bigger Cupcake

When My Little Cupcake [1] opened its first brick-and-mortar bakery in Essex at the start of this year, owner Michelle Trudell [2] told Seven Days, “It’s so funny, everyone thinks it’s a franchise.” If all goes well, by August 1, the crazy-cute cupcake store will be well on its way to becoming just that.

That’s when Trudell and her business partner, Stephanie Lacayo, are hoping to open the second My Little Cupcake on the corner of South Winooski Avenue and College Street in Burlington, where H&R Block once resided. Why such a quick expansion? “If we didn’t do it, someone else would do it. So why not do it?” says Trudell.

Stone Soup [3], a few doors over, needn’t worry; there won’t be much competition for the café’s brownies and cookies. Says Trudell, “We’re gonna keep the focus on cupcakes.”

The Burlington location will also have an espresso machine so customers can pair coffee drinks with any of the 70 or so rotating flavors of mini-desserts, including Trudell’s newest addition, banana-peanut butter-chocolate chip.

People put off by the ultra-pink aesthetic of the Essex location may be more comfortable at Burlington’s My Little Cupcake. The walls will be mostly exposed brick with one giant mural, probably done by the artists who decorated the walls in Essex, New Duds [4]. In keeping with the slightly more grown-up vibe, Trudell says she’ll most likely bake full-size cupcakes every day to satisfy larger appetites. Another attraction will be later hours. Trudell is hoping to stay open until 8 p.m., two hours later than the Essex location.

Though Trudell says she won’t expand as quickly next time, she has her eye on the prospect of opening My Little Cupcakes in Montpelier, Stowe and possibly St. Albans. A future franchise, indeed.