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Off Campus Highlight: Buttercup Cakes

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at UCSC chapter.

Dining halls just not good enough tonight? Looking for something to do to get away from campus? No idea on where to get a specific thing? Completely lost the minute you get off at the Metro Station or just looking for a recommendation? Have no fear OCH is here!

Cupcakes. It’s basically the same as a regular cake, except small enough that you can eat it all and boast that you’ve eaten an entire cake without worrying about sugar overload (not that I’ve ever done it or anything). They’re petite, they’re scrumptious, and they’re really adorable!

Buttercup Cakes and Farm House Frosting is a local cupcake shop off of Pacific Avenue downtown. Their specialty is, surprise surprise, cupcakes, and they are really good at it. This business has been owned by three generations of women, Jan Wilson, her daughter Carren Wilson, and granddaughter Hannah Wilson. You can get a cupcake for $3.50 dollars or a mini-cupcake for $2 (because a mini cake isn’t enough. When will the shrinkage of cakes end?).

(What is this a cupcake for ants? Wait on a second thought don’t answer that)

Along with regular cupcakes, they carry gluten-free and vegan flavors, which are $4.00 each.

(The display case)

Buttercup Cakes does not use any artificial coloring or flavors and they strive to use 100% organic ingredients. The flavors are changed based on the seasons as to keep using local ingredients to support the local business. This doesn’t stagnate their flavor choices, though, as they strive to bring new flavor combinations to the table. As of now they have 18 types of cupcakes ranging from their signature flavor Triple Orange (Earl grey frosting on blood orange) to Double Chocolate w/ Cider (Chocolate frosting and cider cream on chocolate) to Vanilla Lavender (Lavender blossom frosting on vanilla lavender topped w/ lavender blossoms).

 

Price Range: The cupcakes here are admittedly more expensive then getting a 12-pack cupcake set at Target. Then again, are you really going to compare these

(Yawn)

to these?

(Yum)

Unless you have a need for an abundance of sugar rather than quality cupcakes, those $2-4 dollars are better spent on a Buttercup Cupcake.

Hours:

Sun – Thurs: 10:00 am – 5:30ish Friday – Sat: 10:00 am – 9:30 pm

How to get there: From the metro station, go to Pacific avenue, cross the street, then turn right. Keep going down until you get to Locust Street, then turn left. Buttercup Cakes should be on the left side.

*Pictures from the Yelp page as well as the Farm House Frosting Website*

Clarissa Hyun is a Class of 2016 Psych major at UCSC. She hails from the birthland of the Mac, which she states is very overrated. On her spare time she draws, attempts to write, and eats. Which is totally a hobby. Yes.
My name is Geraldine Nicdao, a UC Santa Cruz '14 Banana Slug Alum. From day one, I was born and raised a U.S. Navy Brat and spent most of my life growing up in Japan. A few things that I absolutely love are steak, fashion, and travel. I am always striving to go beyond the cookie cutter and constantly defying everybody's expectations. One of my biggest accomplishments to date, would be finishing the Nike Women's Half Marathon in San Francisco 2013. Not many know this, but I also was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes and so I've had my fair challenges balancing the life of a college student and the obstacles of health. My philosophy is: "work hard and play harder" because I believe that self care is important which includes rewarding yourself for the hard work that you do- "treat yo' self!". Looking at my Instagram will give you a bit of an insight to my fun and busy bee life. One of my current projects includes the #BangingBootyProject which is a document of my goals, efforts, and strides on my own health and fitness journey. Over the next few years, I am planning to pursue a second degree in Communications and PR/Marketing.