Small Plates

Fairy Cakes Cupcakery

A Decade of Sweetness in Buffalo, NY

By Cherie Messore | March 05, 2020

The humble cupcake—once the darling of any child’s birthday party—soared to new relevance a decade ago. Suddenly cupcakes were more than a delicious mini-cake-for-one; they were big business. Bake shops became cupcakeries with more adult flavor combinations and upscale appeal. Cupcake shops were opening throughout Western New York, inspired by places like Magnolia Bakery on Manhattan’s Bleeker Street and Sprinkles Cupcakes in Beverly Hills. At a time when consumers were watching their waists and their wallets, cupcakes were a controlled portion of affordable indulgence.

Amongst all the cupcake boutiques that opened in the early aughts of this century, Fairy Cakes Cupcakery and Bake Shop in Buffalo has distinguished itself as one of the last specialty shops standing. Its thriving business not only rode the wave of the cupcake trend, this charming destination built a dynamic business based on sensible growth, response to customer needs and darned good cupcakes.

Founder Kelly Audette started baking for business in 2007. A good old-fashioned home cook with no formal culinary training, she began by selling baked goods at craft shows. Word spread organically. “I kept it pretty quiet,” Audette recalls, “I just wanted to see what would happen. It was successful and I started getting orders.”

When Audette began to receive orders for weddings, she asked her long-time friend and fellow baker Maureen Torpey to join her. The business kept growing, so Torpey left her position as an adjunct instructor at two local colleges and joined Audette full-time. Their first goal was to open a shop, which they did in 2009.

Small businesses are risky, particularly in food industry retail. Profit margins are slim, but Audette and Torpey were realistic about what they could do. “We knew our limits, and we didn’t take on more than we could chew,” Audette explains. “We started slow and steady.”

Eleven years later, the sweet-smelling bakery on Parkside Avenue thrives. Late in 2019, the shop expanded to include a private room for classes and parties. The shop has offered Saturday morning cupcake and cookie decorating classes for several years (they sell out quickly) and this additional space allows for more complex programs and additional opportunities for showers, parties, corporate team-building and other engagements.

Establishing their core identity as bakers of delicious, high-quality cupcakes helped to build the foundation for Fairy Cakes’ success. Their continued growth is thanks to their thoughtful openness to change and their enthusiasm for meeting consumer needs.

“We look at the trends and we’re willing to try what people ask us to try,” says Audette. The duo stays fresh by traveling (recent trips included London and Mexico) and tasting local cuisine as they go. It’s valuable, Audette notes, to “see what other places do and the flavors they use.”

Torpey adds that she is “obsessed with cookbooks and cooking magazines. We can look at recipes now and know what we’re going to change to fit our flavor profile.”

Fairy Cakes’ thriving business not only rode the wave of the cupcake trend, this charming destination built a dynamic business based on sensible growth, response to customer needs and darn good cupcakes.

Their latest success is mastering dessert tables, an in-demand wedding and party feature. Lots of small bites of different cupcakes, cookies, macaroons, cake pops and cake jewels (molded cake pops that are dusted with edible glitter) can be displayed in a fancy or more casual presentation. This variety suits the Fairy Cakes style and appeals to their staff, as well. Five full- and part-time bakers plus Audette and Torpey do all the work. The staff, Audette says, “has creative freedom and we understand we all have to balance our lives and needs.” The bonus: They all like each other.

Fairy Cakes enjoyed national fame when Audette and Torpey appeared on—and won—“Sugar Showdown” on The Cooking Channel in 2016. Customers still come into the shop to request the winning entry: a brown sugar cupcake with raspberries topped with tahini buttercream frosting, garnished with sesame brittle. This wasn’t Fairy Cakes’ only brush with show biz: Singer Vanessa Williams enjoyed a Fairy Cakes nosh when she appeared at a local casino in 2019.

Their next goals build on their successes: expanding their line for their dessert tables (“to make them more amazing than they already are,” says Audette), serving more corporate clients, and putting the final decorative touches on their party room—all while staying true to the Fairy Cakes credo that their food should be homey, delicious and fun to eat.