Ava's Cupcakes Archives

It might seem to us like cupcakes have been around forever, but as with any food recipe it has its own unique creation story. As cupcakes is our namesake at Ava’s Cupcakes, we thought it fitting to share this sweet piece of history. Therefore, our latest blog dives into the history of cupcakes!

History of Cupcakes – When Did This Sweet Treat Begin?

What is now known as a cupcake all began with the first ever cupcake recipe called “A Light Cake to Bake in Small Cups” by Amelia Simmons. It appeared in the first American cookbook written by Simmons called American Cookery.

This original cupcake recipe includes much of the common ingredients today, such as:

Sugar
Butter
Flour

However, it also includes an assortment of less common ingredients we would find in today’s cupcakes. Those include:

Wine
Rose Water
Nutmeg
Cinnamon
Currants
Emptins (basically hops)

After this original cupcake recipe, it took a couple decades for the term cupcake to actually appear. The first documented use of the term cupcake was used in 1828. It appeared in Eliza Leslie’s Receipts cookbook, Seventy-five Receipts for Pastry, Cakes, and Sweetmeats.

Important Dates in the History of Cupcakes

Below are some quick dates to know in the history of cupcakes.

1871: Second ever cupcake recipe published with more ‘familiar’ cupcake ingredients.
1919: Hostess introduces ‘The Cupcake’, it’s first snack cake.
1920’s: Cupcakes are iced for the first time (in only vanilla or chocolate icing).
1940’s: Malted icing is available for cupcakes.
1947: D.R. “Doc” Rice is assigned with redesigning cupcakes and creates a look similar to today’s cupcakes.

From Then to Now: Cupcakes Today

Today cupcakes are so popular there is even a show dedicated to bakers fighting to see who makes the best. What show are we talking about? Food Network’s Cupcake Wars, of course! The delectable contest show currently boasts 1.6 million viewers. Cupcake Wars is important in the history of Ava’s Cupcakes as well since our owner, Michelle Spell, won on that very show! You can thank that show for birthing our cupcake flavors of Banana Guava, Apple Pie, and Chocolate Truffle.

Ava’s Signature Flavors History

If you’ve visited our stores or website, then you probably have noticed we have 12 signature flavors. Since this is a history of cupcakes blog, we wanted to share a little history on our signature flavors and how they came to be.

The Signature flavors became the Signature 12 after our doors were open for 12 months. While there was no connection between the 12 months and the 12 flavors, it just happened to be the 12 most sought-after flavors. Additionally, people would always ask, which flavors do you recommend? It became obvious very quickly that most people love variety. Plus, they seemed to love the idea of a sampler pack filled with our best sellers. Since 2012, those 12 flavors have made up our Signature Sampler!

History Lesson Is Done & It’s Time to Pick Up Ava’s Cupcakes Today!

Now that your mouth is watering from reading all about cupcakes, are you ready to actual enjoy some of the best? Then, stop in at our Clemmons or Winston-Salem locations and pick up your favorites today!

You can find or contact our stores at:

Clemmons:

Address: 1483 River Ridge Dr, Clemmons, NC 27012
Phone: (336) 283-9021

Winston-Salem:

Address: 1539 Hanes Mall Blvd, Winston-Salem, NC 27103
Phone: (336) 999-7178

For those not living or visiting the Piedmont Triad in North Carolina, we ship our one-of-a-kind cakecups anywhere in the continental U.S. Visit our e-store to view and order those as well as some other shippable sweet treats.

Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and Instagram for our latest menu updates, contests, and specials.

Did you know our delicious products ship nationwide? You can enjoy the best Ava’s Cupcakes has to offer at home no matter where you live in the continental U.S. In our latest blog, we share all about our e-store, products available, and online ordering for nationwide shipping.

Ready to enjoy some amazing desserts in the comfort of your own home? Let’s talk sweets then!

What is our e-store?

Our e-store is our website where you can see and order all our amazing treats that ship nationwide. You can access our e-store by clicking this link.

Do all Ava’s Cupcake’s desserts ship nationwide?

We’ve created a special line of desserts with shipping in mind. You might not find the same products on our e-store as you would our in-person stores, but they are equally delicious!

Here is a full list of the products we sell online:

Check out this previous blog to learn more about our unique cakecups.

Cookie Doughs

We have three cookie doughs available for sale. Those are:

Ava’s Invisible
Chocolate Chip
Strawberry Chip

All three flavors are available in 16- and 32-ounce containers. The 16-ounce container yields approximately 12 to 15 cookies. Whereas the 32-ounce container yields approximately 24 to 30 cookies.

Pop these in the oven and enjoy a soft cookie that melts in your mouth!

Buttercreams

Enjoy our infamous and scrumptious buttercreams on your very own desserts. Our buttercreams for sale include:

Classic Vanilla
Ava’s Chocolate
Lemon
Cookies & Cream
Strawberry
Cinnamon

All flavors above are available in 16-ounce containers. You can purchase sets of 2 or 3.

Filings

Our exclusive and legendary fillings are the perfect complement to any dessert. You can use them for cupcakes, cakes, empanadas, or ice cream.

Available flavors include:

Banana Guava
Apple
Lemon

Each of the flavors above are in 16-ounce containers. You can purchase them in sets of 2 or 3.

Cookie Boxes

We sell our colossal cookies in a box set. Each box set contains a dozen cookies. Our cookie box flavors available are:

Chocolate Chip
Ava’s Invisible
Strawberry Chip
Sprinkle

Additionally, you can also purchase a sampler set that contains three of each cookie.

Online Ordering

We’ve tried our best to create an e-store that is as easy as 1, 2, 3. These quick three easy steps are the way to get our delicious desserts delivered right to your door.

Visit our e-store and decide which dessert you’d like to purchase.
Select the flavor and size (if applicable) from the dropdown menu on the product page and add to your cart.
Visit your cart and complete the checkout process.

It’s that simple! We accept credit cards and money orders as forms of payment. Once you fill out the required information on the checkout process you will submit your order. Then, simply wait to receive your amazing treats!

Get ready to enjoy Ava’s Cupcakes at home no matter where you live!

Place your online order today in our e-store to receive our unique and amazing desserts! Be sure to find us on Facebook and Instagram for our latest product updates and specials.

Want to know the secret to serving cake at your cookout or outside at the pool this summer? Ava’s Cupcakes has figured it out! Our unique cakecups are the perfect summer dessert that won’t melt in the summer heat! Fortunately, you can have your cake and eat it too.

Plus, our cookout-inspired cakecup sampler pack ships anywhere in the continental U.S.! Not to mention, it includes some delicious cakecup flavors!

Ready to learn more about this amazing summer dessert?

Cookout Cakecup Sampler

Ava’s Cookout Cakecup Sampler

Ava’s Cookout Cakecup Sampler is filled to the brim with fun summer flavors. This sampler pack has 12 cakecups with three of each of the four below flavors.

Key Lime Pie – Vanilla cake with graham cracker crust bottom, lime curd filling, vanilla buttercream, garnished with graham cracker crumbs.
Cotton Candy – Cotton candy cake topped with cotton candy buttercream.
Smores – Chocolate cake with a graham cracker crust bottom, vanilla buttercream, garnished with graham cracker crust, marshmallows, and a chocolate square.
Watermelon – Watermelon cake, watermelon buttercream, garnished with chocolate chips.

They fit perfectly into your family cooler and are easily kept on ice. Therefore, cakecups are sure to be a hit at your summer cookout or BBQ!

Click here to purchase this cookout-inspired cakecup sampler pack online. Remember they ship anywhere in the continental U.S.!

Price: $59 (plus shipping)

Cookout Cakecup Sampler

All these flavors are also available* for sale individually in-store at both our Clemmons and Winston-Salem stores!

Individual Cakecups $3.89 Each

*While supplies last.

Order Cookout Cakecup Sampler Today!

Purchase your cookout cakecups today and enjoy them outdoors, even in the summer heat! You can purchase online, by clicking here. Also, you can pick up the individual flavors in-store at either Clemmons or Winston-Salem.

Every cookout needs a dessert! Therefore, you won’t want to miss our other amazing cakecups this summer. Those include our Exclusive Wizardry Box and Patriotic Cakecups Sampler.

Cookout Cakecup Sampler

Be sure to follow us on Facebook & Instagram for our latest menu options, specials, & contests!

Want to know the secret to serving cake at your cookout or outside at the pool this summer? Ava’s Cupcakes has figured it out! Our unique cakecups are the perfect summer dessert. You can have your cake and eat it too, without it melting in the Summer heat! Check out our Summer Cakecups options below.

Summer Cakecups – Two Fun Options Available!

We have not one but TWO great summer cakecup sampler packs!! Plus, both sampler packs ship nationwide!! So, you can enjoy Ava’s no matter where you live in the continental U.S.

Patriotic Cakecup Sampler

The Patriotic Cakecup Sampler features Ava’s best-selling Signature Sampler adorned with patriotic sprinkles to celebrate America! Therefore, it’s perfect for the 4th of July or Labor Day weekends.

It features our 12 signature sample flavors:

Banana Guava
Apple Pie
Classic Vanilla
Ava’s Chocolate
Lemon Drop
Cookies & Cream
Peanut Butter Cup
Red Velvet
Ava’s Carrot
Chocolate Salted Caramel
Vanilla with Chocolate
Chocolate with Vanilla

Patriotic Cakecups

Click here to purchase this festive cakecup sampler pack online.

Say Happy Birthday America with this patriotic-themed dessert! You can also close out the summer on Labor Day weekend with these sweet treats.

Price: $59 (plus shipping)

Don’t wait too long! The last day to order for nationwide shipping to receive for 4th of July is Tues., June 28th!

Additionally, all these flavors are also available for sale individually at both our Clemmons and Winston-Salem stores! Individual Cakecups are $3.89 each.

Ava’s Cookout Cakecup Sampler

Ava’s Cookout Cakecup Sampler is filled to the brim with fun summer flavors. This sampler pack has 12 cakecups with three of each of the four below flavors.

Key Lime Pie
Cotton Candy
Smores
Watermelon

Ava’s Cookout Cakecups

They fit perfectly into your family cooler and are easily kept on ice. Cakecups are sure to be a hit at your summer cookout or BBQ!

Click here to purchase this cookout-inspired cakecup sampler pack online.

Price: $59 (plus shipping)

Plus, all these flavors are also available for sale individually at both our Clemmons and Winston-Salem stores! Individual Cakecups are $3.89 each.

Ava’s Invented the Way to Enjoy Cakes in the Summer Heat!

Ava’s Summer Cupcakes are the ideal summer treat for the entire family. Everyone’s sweet tooth will be satisfied. Also, they keep nicely in the cooler at any cookout, camp out, or poolside outing.

Be sure to follow us on Facebook & Instagram for our latest menu options, specials, & contests!

Ava’s Cupcakes has so many dessert options to help make your graduation party extra special and sweet! If on the hunt for graduation desserts, then look no further than Ava’s Cupcakes! Our latest blog covers all the amazing options we offer for honoring your graduate at a memorable party. Already know what you want or inspired by this blog? Place any graduation orders by calling our Clemmons store at (336) 283-9021.

So Many Sweet Ideas to Celebrate your Graduate!

At Ava’s we offer so much more than just cupcakes, we are truly your dessert one-stop-shop. This is especially true for major celebrations and holidays, such as, graduations. We know this is an important time not only for the graduate but their loved ones as well since it’s a major accomplishment! Our staff places all the love and care into every graduation order as if it were our very own graduate we were celebrating.

Below are some popular graduation desserts. Each is customizable for colors to match your graduate’s school colors.

Cupcakes

Obviously, cupcakes are often a must in our shop for so many occasions! Therefore, we often get custom orders for cupcakes.

Some ideas on what to do for graduation cupcakes are:

Cupcakes in graduate’s school colors
Adding a graduate flag into cupcakes (you can purchase these online or in-store)
Graduation cap on top of cupcake (we can do this and even put different colored tassels)

Below is a quick photo gallery of some graduation cupcake options.

Cookies

Our namesake might be all about cupcakes, but we also make and sell custom sugar cookies. These are perfect for any graduation party. The graduation cap picture below shows the perfect graduation cookie for your graduate. Like our cupcakes, we can customize these tassels with different colors too.

Graduation Desserts - Cookies

Cake

Next, a traditional cake is always a great option for any party or celebration. We can create any custom cake you desire for a graduation party. Pictured below is one for Ava’s Cupcake’s owner’s son Isaiah!

Graduation Desserts - Cake

Dessert Bar

Can’t decide between the three amazing desserts listed above? Never fear, that is what dessert bars are for! A dessert bar incorporates numerous types of desserts and provides a wonderful, sweet mix for party guests. Everyone loves that there is something for all tastes on a dessert bar.

Order Your Graduation Desserts Today!

Are you ready to celebrate your graduate with some amazing, sweet treats? Call our Clemmons location today at (336) 283-9021 to discuss your ideas and place your orders.

Be sure to follow us on Facebook and Instagram for our latest news, updates, contests, and specials!

Are you searching for the perfect treat to celebrate your favorite teacher or nurse? How about your amazing mom for Mother’s Day? May also is a time to start thinking about celebrating your favorite graduate. Finally, another family-filled event to consider choosing some great sweets for is Memorial Day. Ava’s Cupcake’s May Menu will not disappoint. We have something for every important occasion this month!

May Menu Options at Ava’s Cupcakes This Month

Mother’s Day Treats

Celebrate Moms with Ava’s Cupcakes’ Sweet Treats! 🧁😍🌸

Cakecups

First, our Cakecups can be shipped to moms around the country!

Moms will love our delicious Signature Cakecup Sampler Pack! It includes the following flavors:

~Ava’s Chocolate 🍫
~Classic Vanilla 🧁
~Vanilla with Chocolate 🍫
~Chocolate with Vanilla 🍫
~Lemon Drop 🍋
~Carrot 🥕
~Red Velvet 🧁
~Banana Guava 🍌
~Apple Pie 🍎 🥧
~Cookies & Cream 🍪
~Peanut Butter Cup 🥜
~Chocolate Salted Caramel 🍫 🧂

Price $49 (Plus shipping)

The last day to order and receive for Mother’s Day is TOMORROW, Tuesday, May 3! Click here to order.

Cake & Cookies

If you live in the Piedmont Triad, then be sure to pick up some of our in-store sweet treats for your mom! We have flower sugar cookies and ‘Mom’ chocolate cupcakes that are available starting Fri., May 6 in Clemmons and Winston-Salem!

Our Mother’s Day cake also a great way to tell mom you love her! It’s available in cases or by special order in Clemmons only!

Teacher’s Week

Gift Your Favorite Teacher Sweet Treats for Teacher’s Week! 🍎

Are you looking for a special way to celebrate your favorite teacher for Teacher’s Week? Or are you a teacher looking for a way to treat yourself after a long year of hard work?

Teacher’s Week is this week and Ava’s Cupcakes has the perfect treats for teachers!!

Our unique, individual Cakecups are only $3* next week for teachers!

*Must show teacher or student ID for discount.

Chocolate Truffle Cakecup

Plus, we also have apple-shaped sugar cookies in honor of teachers.

Teacher's Apple Sugar Cookie

Finally, any order placed by or for a teacher Monday, May 2 through Friday, May 6 will automatically enter that teacher for a chance to win a $25 Ava’s gift card!

Nurse’s Week

More details coming soon on offerings for Nurse’s Week, which takes place May 9 – 13!

Celebrate Your Graduate

Looking for a sweet treat for your favorite graduate? We’ve got you covered with special graduation-inspired cookies or cupcakes.

Graduate Cookies

Call (336) 283-9021 to place orders for Clemmons or call (336) 999-7178 to place orders for Winston-Salem.

Memorial Day

This year, we will offer a patriotic Americana cake and star sugar cookies. Pictured below you won’t want to miss having these sweet treats at your holiday cookout.

Ava’s Cupcakes – Head Over This Month to Celebrate The Many May Occasions Happening!

Call (336) 283-9021 to place orders for Clemmons or call (336) 999-7178 to place orders for Winston-Salem. Click here to place online orders for cakecups.

Be sure to follow us on Facebook & Instagram for our latest menu options, specials, & contests!

Like most of us, you likely love baked treats. Who doesn’t love cupcakes, cookies, and other sweet treats?! But, have you ever thought, what is it like to own an NC bakery? Now that you are curious, we have those answers for you. Michelle Spell, owner of Ava’s Cupcakes, shares a little bit about what it is like to own Ava’s Cupcakes and their upcoming plans. Read on to learn more about this wonderful local business, with locations in Winston-Salem and Clemmons.

What sets you apart from other bakeries in North Carolina?

“I believe it is our approach to what we do. While we use the finest ingredients and are proud of our scratch made menu, we truly do place our priorities on people first, product second, and we let the profit handle itself.”

Now that you just celebrated your 11^th anniversary, what lessons do you feel were the most important you owned while owning a bakery?

“The most important lessons I have learned are those that taught, and continue to teach, me how to be a better leader and a better person each day. From learning to slow down to simply listening more intently, I’ve learned a lot over the years. My only hope is that I don’t have to repeat any of the hard lessons!”

Do you have any fun or funny bakery stories you can share?

“There are quite a few. One that we always laugh about was when we first opened our New Jersey store. We were working around the clock, with lines out the door. I needed to rest so I went into a closet and using a roll of paper towels as a pillow, I slept like a baby. When I woke up, I went right back to the kitchen! To this day, we laugh about how we all took turns sleeping in the closet during that frenzy!”

What is next for Ava’s Cupcakes?

“Ava’s Cupcakes has had so many amazing opportunities over the years. But recently, with the pandemic, even more opportunities have come our way. This includes a chance to reach homes all over America with our latest and greatest product, Ava’s Cakecup! It’s everything our famous cupcakes are and more! Ava’s Cakecups are shippable, resealable cakes in a cup, and they are going to take the dessert and edible gift world by storm!”

Check out and even order Ava’s Cakecups by clicking here. These sweet treats are perfect for any occasion and are currently shipping anywhere in the continental United States!

Bakery - Spring Dessert

As a business owner it’s important to get some downtime, so what are some of your favorite NC destinations?

“Asheville, I love the Biltmore! I love Charlotte too. But truly, Winston-Salem has so much to offer that we don’t stray very far from home!”

NC Bakery - Michelle Spell

Stop in Today to Visit This Amazing NC Bakery

Ready to try out Ava’s Cupcakes for yourself? Then, stop into our Clemmons or Winston-Salem locations today for some amazing desserts! Be sure to follow us on Facebook and Instagram for our latest menu updates, contests, mouth-watering photos, and much more!

Our Easter Menu is here! From Easter egg sugar cookies to our Easter Sampler Cakecup Box, we’ve got your sweet tooth covered!