Interview with Candace Nelson of Sprinkles

Last week we were so excited to get an invitation to interview Candace Nelson, the founder and pastry chef of Sprinkles Cupcakes, the world's first cupcake bakery. Learn more about Candace HERE.

The conference call included a select few cupcake bakers, bloggers, cupcake lovers and what seemed like a Who's who of the cupcake world; including CakeSpy, My Baking Addiction, The Cupcake Project, Serious Eats, The Cupcake Caldron, of course ourselves; Bella Cupcake Couture and more.

There are so many wonderful Q&A's:

• Where do you draw the line between cupcake vs. muffin?
• What do you see in the future for Sprinkles? Cookbooks?
  
• Have you ever been starstruck by a celebrity?"
• Whats the most disgusting cupcake you've tried?"

We wish we could share them all; however the list with answers is to long to include. However if you'd like a copy, please email us at info@bellacupcakecouture.com and we'll send them over.

Here is one of the questions we asked:

Carrie of Bella Cupcake Coutures:
On last night’s show you highlighted savory ingredients, and the salmon cupcake looked absolutely amazing, I wish I could try it. I’ve started to see this trend more and more, is there a favorite savory ingredient you like best? And have you ever done wine pairings for cupcakes?

Candace: People have asked us to do wine pairings at Sprinkles all the time, and unfortunately we don’t have our liquor license, but it sounds delicious to me! [laughs] And your question was about savory cupcakes in general? Because it certainly is a trend in the industry towards more savory cupcakes, and we saw it last night with salmon and bacon, and we’ll continue to see it throughout the season. I’ve been kind of slow to do that at Sprinkles, but we did just come out a salty caramel made with sea salt, and it was an overwhelming hit. I really think people are craving that right now. They’re kind of like, they’ve got their sweet, plenty of options in the sweet department, and they want something with a little bite to it. I think there’s definitely a lot of that interest going on.

Candace serves as a permanent judge of the new Cupcake Wars series (Tuesdays at 9pm/8c). Cupcake Wars is cupcake vs. cupcake in Food Network’s tastiest competition yet!

Overview
Each week on Cupcake Wars, four of the country’s top cupcake bakers face off in three elimination challenges until only one decorator remains. The sweet prize: $10,000 and the opportunity to showcase their cupcakes at the winning gig. Whether a special Ace of Cakes anniversary celebration, a star-studded magazine party or an A-list celebrity golf tournament, these Cupcakes Wars really heat up. Candace Nelson (owner of Sprinkles Cupcakes) and Florian Bellanger (chef and co-owner of online macaroon company MadMac) serve as permanent judges with a third rotating judge each week, and Justin Willman hosts.

If you watched the first episode, you know we have some "sweet & savory" adventures ahead of us on the show. The premier showcased a savory selection of ingredients which many of the contestants were up for the challenge.

However it was "Sweet." victory for Hollis Wilder owner of Sweet! by Good Golly Miss Molly. She sure knows how to put on a show. She created a salmon and lemon-scented cake concoction which many thought would be an improbable concept. However the judges thought it was divine! Way to go Hollis! And Thank You Candace for the wonderful opportunity to speak with you and sharing your insights. You're an inspiration!