Friday, January 26, 2007

Disillusioned

I, like many others have discovered and loved Crave Bakery. They make these delicious, yet pricy cupcakes. My favorite being the Princess, they were in fact the inspiration behind the cupcakes I made. But my faith in them has recently been destroyed. I feel this is info I must pass on to fellow Crave lovers... I feel deceived.

Crave does not bake their own Cupcakes, they're outsourced. I can accept that, what I can't accept is where they get the cupcakes from. I've been willing to pay the expensive price... but no longer. Their cupcakes come from SAFEWAY! I can't support that. The price markup is outrageous, and they lead us to believe they make their own cakes.

I went onto their website to see exactly what they say...

“About Crave
The initial Craving started in our Mom’s kitchen. As three young girls growing up on a farm outside High River, Alberta, Mom always had buckets of cookies in the freezer to satisfy our sweet tooth. The recipes she used are the ones we bake with at crave today. And for us, every time we bit into one of our cookies we taste a little bit of our childhood.


What made Mom’s recipes so great is she understood her baking was an indulgence for the three of us. She always used the best ingredients and loaded up the fillings. This belief in indulgence was also transferred to everything we do at Crave. Using the best ingredients and paying attention to every detail makes ever bit of a Crave Cupcake, Cookies or Cake a moment of enjoyment for a sophisticated pallet.

So after celebrating our first year baking together, and supplying cupcakes for events from birthday parties to elegant dinner parties and everything in between, we’re glad we brought these recipes in from the country. Because there’s nothing like seeing so many people enjoy baking just like Mom used to make.”

Now I’ll give them some credit... nowhere in there do they actually claim that they make them but it’s certainly alluded to. They say they bake with the recipes Mom used, I find it hard to believe that Safeway and Mom have the same recipe.

So in short... I’m not sure I can go back. The image has been ruined for me... I can’t justify the price mark up and I can make a cupcake just as good as Crave.

I have heard of Buttercream Bake Shoppe on 17th Ave, I have it on good authority that they actually make their own cupcakes. Anyone want to go with me to try it?

Saturday afternoon maybe?
L

4 comments:

Mitz said...

Where did you learn they were made at Safeway? Are you sure that info is reliable? Hey, I'm just trying to help!

Unknown said...

Have you tried the donuts at 7-11? If you get a fresh batch, they're worth killing for. Other times, they'll kill YOU. It's a risk I'm willing to take.

Laura said...

A friend of a friend has a friend who works there.
My friend Jenn went in and tried to ge them to tell her where the cupcakes are from but they wouldn't confirm Safeway. They did say they're outsourced though.

Anonymous said...

Thanks Laura! If I had never read your blog, I would still be happily anticipating a Crave cupcake. What a disappointment! Do you suppose all their stores, even the ones in Vancouver, outsource? Besides visiting Cat, that is one of the main reasons I go there. Maybe they make their own icing?