Reasons Aplenty for Cupcake Shop's Acclaim

By Loraine Page
FOOD AND BUSINESS WRITER

Editor’s Note: The Advance is pleased to welcome its newest writer, Loraine Page, who will be shining a light on local eateries and more! What better way to start than a piece about everyone's favorite, cupcakes!

A shop called Sweet Reasons Dessert Kitchen in Central Park is known for more than the pizazz in its delicious cupcakes. The owners themselves have a little show biz story to tell.

As long-time customers know, husband-and-wife shop owners Lenny and Juli Schafer flew to Hollywood 11 years ago to compete in the Food Network's "Cupcake Wars." A big watch party was held at their Locust Grove restaurant Clearwater Grill when the episode aired.

They made it to the finals! Unfortunately, the show then got cancelled. Though there was a hint it could start up again, it never did and the couple didn't get a chance to go past their first-runner-up title. But still, it was a pretty exciting adventure.

"When we got to that final round, they chose the other team," Juli recounts, "but they edited our spot so beautifully it looked like we should have won."

At Sweet Reasons, a bit of Hollywood still exists in the cupcakes themselves. Each week the shop features three new Cupcake Guest Stars, whose season, so to speak, lasts from Monday through Sunday.

Guest Stars are additions to the cupcake menu, which consists of about 10 staples--or "dailies," as Juli calls them. The dailies are the steady diet, the ones that customers know and love and can count on year-round.

The three weekly Guest Stars, however, add variety and surprise. They often reflect holidays, seasons, or cultural interests. Juli, the marketing guru of the enterprise (and "not a baker") likes to pitch the ideas. When the movie version of the Broadway musical Wicked comes out, she'd like witches Glinda and Elphaba, pink and green, represented. In the past, Willy Wonka and Dukes of Hazzard have shown up as Guest Stars.  

Creation of Guest Star cupcakes involves a tweaking of base recipes, a playing around with the arrangements of icings, cake, and filling.

The three weekly Guest Stars can be tantalizing, and possibly outlandish--but always delicious. Have any been a tad out of the ordinary? Maybe these two: a jalapeño corn bread cheddar with a lime butter cream, and a chocolate brownie with a goat cheese center and walnut butter cream.

The Guest Stars sit atop the right-hand shelf in the shop's glass display case, and are described on a menu board.

Upcoming Guest Stars for Thanksgiving week are Apple Pie, Caramel Pumpkin Pecan, and Pumpkin Roll.

But at Sweet Reasons, the dailies are no slouches. Each of them have drawn substantial followers. Reviews on Google hint at the idea that all the cupcakes are praise worthy: "Their flavors do a delicate balance of song and dance on your palette," said one happy customer, and  "...like what are they even doing to make the cupcakes so moist and so perfect?" said another.

The most popular dailies? Immediately, Juli pipes up, "Velvety Red."

Described on the menu as a red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting, local fans of red velvet cakes have heaped approval upon it.

Other top picks from the dailies lineup are Black & White, a chocolate brownie cake with a with a chocolate chip cheesecake center and a cream cheese frosting, and Lemon Love, a lemon cake with a whipped lemon center and lemon buttercream frosting. This became a year-round daily since many people like lemon flavor.

Julie wants to give recognition to Velvety Red Raspberry Cheesecake, which is also very popular. It is also one of their very own creations, and "You won't find it anywhere else in the country," she says. It is a raspberry-infused red velvet cake with a New York cheesecake center and raspberry cream cheese frosting.

Besides her husband, who is a baker, almost since birth, what is the source of Sweet Reasons' popularity. "It's the purity of the ingredients," Juli responds. "We don't use shortening or preservatives, which is why our cupcakes are best eaten the same day." And baking occurs every day, right there in the shop.

Other wholesome ingredients that go toward making the cupcakes so special are cream cheese, real vanilla, and Dutch process cocoa.

Lenny Schafer is at the heart and the origin of Sweet Reasons cupcake shop.

The story goes that he began working in the restaurant business when he was 16. He and his wife purchased the Clearwater Grill in 2005. They were buying the restaurant's desserts from food companies but they weren't very good, and they were very expensive.

So Lenny decided to employ his childhood inclinations to bake — he started with an Easy Bake Oven when he was six — and began making cheesecakes and other desserts for the restaurant. Thus was the origin of the family's dessert chain.

Around 2009 and 2010, the economy took a downturn and Lenny began coming home stressed, recalls Juli. "He would just sit and watch Cupcake Wars on TV to relax."

One day, he turned to her and said, "We could do this." And thus was born the family's cupcake business.

Next came their debut at a wine festival in Orange County. "He baked all night," Juli recalls, "and when we got there we sold out quickly. The next day we doubled what we took with us and people came back — not to go to the festival but to buy our cupcakes."

So his cupcakes had something special? "Yeah," she says, "they're delicious."

Then they opened a temporary pop-up shop at Spotsylvania Towne Centre. That was a success, so then they opened up a little cupcake shop next door to their Locust Grove restaurant.

"And for the next eight months," Juli recounts, "people drove out to us to buy cupcakes and they said, 'Will you come to Fredericksburg? Please, come to Fredericksburg!'"

So, in 2011, they came to Fredericksburg.

Since their arrival they have moved a few times, but now are in a perfect place, according to Juli. Since they are in a corner building, customers can easily pull up next to it and staff will bring their orders out to them. All they have to do is order online and then call the shop to let them know when they arrive.

So, a question. Does Lenny still bake? Well, there are staff bakers now, but Juli says yes, he will sometimes bake desserts for events at the restaurant. And the baking team does still follow his recipes. "Little tweaks happen here and there," says Juli, "but they all come from the same basic recipes.

"But," she adds, "he does still find his way to the kitchen whenever he can."

And Juli herself, has she ever baked a cupcake? "I was never a baker," she says. "I'm more of a savory cook." She admits that over the years she has baked a batch or two of cupcakes, and has certainly done her share of frosting the cupcakes."

As she looks back over the years since the cupcake business began, she waxes sentimental over the long-time customers. She jokingly calls them the OGs. "When I'm here at the shop and I see them coming in, I remember the conversations I've had with them, and how I've gotten to know them. I've met some really wonderful people here."

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Sweet Reasons Dessert Kitchen is located at 1911 Carl D. Silver Pkwy. in Fredericksburg. The bakery has inside and outdoor seating and sells cupcakes, cheesecakes, cookie platters, bars, and various drinks. The website address is sweetreasons.com.

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