Mississauga Food Trucks: Curbside Bliss Cupcakes
Published October 22, 2012 at 5:00 am
Cynthia Pacheco is not your average trucker, she left her advertising career to start Canada’s first mobile cupcake kitchen which boasts over 30 different flavours and caters to men and women alike with her signature Man-Cakes. Having been open for just under 6 months, she’s a self-taught baker living the dream – her dream of sharing her cupcake bliss through recipes inspired by her family and travels. Congratulations to Pacheco who was recently awarded the 2012 Innovator of the Year Award for Canada from Bakers Journal.
Pacheco’s Mississauga connection…
Pacheco loves Mississauga and has lived in this city we like to call home with her husband and two children. She and her family came from Toronto and decided to move to the Peel Region about 8 years ago.
From advertising to baking…
Pacheco was in the advertising and marketing world for eleven years and a Michael’s decorating course was the start of her adventure into her mobile baking machine – Curbside Cupcake Bliss. Friends would call on her for any occasion such as birthdays to make cakes, fondant cakes and gourmet cupcakes. When she was on maternity leave with her son she took a part-time job at a bakery and found through this part-time gig that this was something she truly enjoyed. According to Pacheco, it is definitely a labour of love for and she is sure that she would never go back to corporate.
A man and his ice cream truck…
The food truck idea came into light a few years ago from a man and his ice cream truck who would park at the corner just outside of her workplace. She would frequently have her lunch outside and the ice cream trucker would try to lure Pacheco into buying an ice cream, but no luck for the ice cream truck because Pacheco isn’t a fan of it and she’d reply “when you start selling cookies and cupcakes from this truck, then we’ll talk.”
Curbside Cupcake Bliss is born…
Pacheco had no idea on how to start a food truck, and “not knowing how to start it was a little bit of a process” and eight months of long hours of research on how to build a truck and obtain the licensing, she came up with Canada’s first mobile cupcake baking machine. A lot of research went into it and states that when she realized that it was a possibility “that’s when the ball started rolling”.
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Canada’s first and only mobile bakery truck…
“We are Canada’s only mobile kitchen that has a bakery. There is no other bakery truck out there yet.” There are cupcake trucks out there but they don’t have equipment on the truck to bake to order. They bake everything in their store and they load the truck. Being Canada’s only mobile bakery Pacheco admits it’s an incredible process and she has to be organized and patient because she can only do one thing at a time.
You’ll be surprised what two people can accomplish in tight quarters…
“Nuit Blanche weekend (in Toronto) was a testament of how we can work in a truck together and we put out just over 2500 cupcakes that weekend. It was incredible! And it was great because a lot of the other trucks sold out, packed up and gone and we just kept on going.”
Gourmet Donuts are in the mix…
“It’s pretty exciting to be the only bakery on wheels right now and we just launched gourmet donuts as well so that’s pretty exciting too. We have our cupcake line which has 38 flavours, and now we’re doing gourmet donuts. We only have a handful right now but it’s nice to just change things up.”
Her inspirations…
What chef or baker doesn’t like playing with their food? Pacheco’s inspiration comes from playing with ingredients and travelling. She likes to see how she can incorporate different flavours into a cupcake. “And I have to admit that all the women in my family are bakers from my Grandmother, to my Mother, to my cousin…I’d have to say it’s the ladies in my family that inspire me to keep going and it also helps that they are in my corner cheering me on and helping with a piping bag when things get a little crazy”.
Signature Cupcakes…
Peanut Butter, Nutella, Salted Caramel and Dolce de Leche
Where did your signature “Man-Cakes” originate?
“I’ve been to many family functions and the dessert table is full, and all the guys are just sitting there drinking a coffee”. Surprisingly a lot of women buy the Man-Cakes, “it’s amazing and we thought it would skew towards more men, but many, many women buy them and they’ll actually request the Jack Daniels one because it’s a red velvet sponge with a Jack Daniel frosting. It’s subtle but we also keep the bottle with us so, if they want an extra shot on top we use a dripper and put a little bit more to add that extra bite for them”.
Think food truck for corporate events and weddings…
“I think businesses should be more aware that they can have a food truck come to their corporate BBQ, instead of just catering sandwiches, and to be more aware of the opportunity and just how easy it is to have a food truck come to your location. Private events are the majority of events. Wedding work has been amazing and fun because you pull up to the church, and while they (bride and groom) have gone to take their pictures, we’re in the parking lot serving everybody cupcakes and before you know it, they only have an hour before the reception. It can also be an extension of the midnight buffet for a reception.”
Curbside Bliss Cupcakes next Mississauga pit stop:
Hasbro Canada on Tuesday, October 30th from 1:00 pm-2:30 pm located at 2605 Skymark Ave.
Want more information?
Check out the www.curbsideblisscupcakes.com