By: centraljersey.com
Ruthie and Ron Bzdewka, proprietors of House of Cupcakes on Witherspoon Street, still do not know what initiated the call from the Food Network asking them to submit a videotaped audition for its show, "Cupcake Wars." But they responded, and within hours the required three-minute video was on its way.
The upshot? On Tuesday, Feb. 1, at 9 p.m., we can watch House of Cupcakes go up against three other "cupcakeries" from around the country to compete for $10,000.
They had a blast making the video, Ron Bzdewka reports. "We made it starting 11 p.m. that night. We used our 15-year-old video camera, only to discover that it was so outdated the video wouldn’t download onto our computer! So, by the following night, we had purchased a new camera, I had learned new software, and we winged and shot a whole new piece."
At this point in time, the couple is not permitted even to say whether the taping (in Los Angeles) has taken place, much less disclose the outcome. But there’s reason, beyond local boosterism, to be rooting for them. As their two young sons announce in the video (viewable on YouTube), should House of Cupcakes come away the winner, they intend to donate the entire amount to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
"Having two little boys and loving them as we do, there is nothing worse to us than a seriously ill child," Ruthie Bzdewka says. "St. Jude’s turns no one away and let’s parents stay with them the whole time. What comfort that must be not only to the child, but also the parent." The boys, Rage, 10, and Riot, 6, have cupcakes named for them among the roster of 30 revolving and ever-expanding varieties of cupcakes offered each day at their parents’ shop: Chocolate Rage and Vanilla Riot.
Ms. Bzdewka, who is 40, grew up in the New Brunswick, but spent a lot of her childhood in Princeton, where one set of her grandparents lived. She and Ron have been married for 20 years and live in Somerset. They opened House of Cupcakes in August 2008.
"Before that, we had been in retail for 15 years – we owned two party stores," she relates. "Then I had the kids and wanted to stay home, so we sold the stores." When her youngest entered preschool, she was ready to reenter the workplace. "I thought, well, I have always liked to bake and my cupcakes are always popular with friends and family, so I experimented on them for six months."
When she was satisfied with the results, the couple began looking for a location. "I decided to check out downtown Princeton, and the very first day I looked, I found this spot. I called Ron, we negotiated a lease, and here we are."
In fact, "here" is in the process of expanding. House of Cupcakes, which, on average, sells 600 cupcakes a day (and 1,000 at last spring’s Communiversity) and also carries muffins, cookies, brewed coffees and teas, smoothies, and bottled soft drinks, has leased the approximately 600 square feet at the rear the shop that had once been the kitchen for Abel Bagels. That space will become the new bake center, virtually doubling the display and cafe space up front, which is getting a makeover that Ms. Bzdewka expects to have completed by the end of January. Even so, House of Cupcakes remains a family business. "My 10-year-old loves to work behind the counter, talking with people," she says. "My husband and I are together here, baking, all the time." She estimates they work seven days a week, eight to 10 hours a day "in back or up front." The shop has four other full-time employees, who serve the walk-ins as well as corporate and institutional customers such as the cafeteria at St. Peter’s University Hospital in New Brunswick.
Cupcakes are baked throughout the day, with leftovers donated to area soup kitchens. The Bzdewkas also support numerous local church and nonprofit groups, with especially strong ties to Special Olympics.
Ms. Bzdewka makes a point to stock products of other local family-run businesses, such as Grover’s Mill coffee and Princeton-based Bai drinks. In the fall, apples for her gourmet candy apples come from Terhune Orchards, and her cupcakes feature milk and butter from Trenton’s Halo Farms. "We use as much local as we can because that’s how we made it in this business: With local support."
Whether House of Cupcakes makes it through the three grueling rounds of elimination challenges to emerge victorious on the Feb. 1 "Cupcake Wars" episode remains to be seen. But the Bzdewka family already considers themselves winners.
OATMEAL COOKIE CUPCAKES WITH ORANGE CREAM CHEESE ICING House of Cupcakes, Princeton
3-3/4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats, separated
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup oat bran
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1-1/2 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed light brown sugar
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream
1-1/2 cups raisins (optional)
1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
Orange cream cheese icing, recipe follows
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line 3 standard muffin tins with paper liners. 2. In a medium sized bowl, whisk 2 cups of the rolled oats with the flour, oat bran, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon to combine. Set aside.
3. In a separate bowl, using an electric mixer set to medium high, cream the butter and both sugars until pale and fluffy, Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is smooth, scraping down sides of bowl if needed. Beat in vanilla. Adjust speed to low, add the flour mixture, and beat until combined. Beat in sour cream. Stir in raisins by hand, if using.
4. Transfer 2-3/4 cups of the batter to a small bowl and into the small bowl stir the remaining 1-3/4 cups oats and the coconut. Set this coconut mixture aside, reserved for topping.
5. Fill each cup with 2 to 3 tablespoons of the plain batter, top with 1 to 2 tablespoons reserved oat-coconut batter. Bake in the preheated oven, rotating tins halfway though, for 18 to 20 minutes, until golden. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes. Top with Orange Cream Cheese Icing.
Orange Cream Cheese Icing
4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperaturePinch salt2-1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar, sifted
2 teaspoons grated orange zest
2 teaspoons orange flavored liqueur or extract
In a medium sized bowl using an electric mixer on medium high speed, beat together cream cheese, butter and salt until creamy. With mixer on low beat in confectioner’s sugar 1/2 cup at a time. Increase speed to medium – high, beating light and fluffy. Add in orange zest and liqueur, beating steadily until mixed. Refrigerate frosting for 30 to 60 minutes to firm frosting.
Makes 36 cupcakes.
