Eat All About It

Trophy Cupcakes/David Dickey photos

Something like, oh, five minutes after Trophy Cupcakes opened in Wallingford Center, customers started asking for auxiliary branches in their own neighborhoods. It took a little while — two years — but Trophy #2 is now a frostings-breadth away from opening its doors in University Village, with the grand opening set for June 11. Here’s a sneak peek, from a party earlier this week. Cupcakes will be frosted and decorated in the shop’s generously-sized back room; the best spot for a sit-down cupcake fix is just outside the front door, watching kids play in the frog fountain that spouts enough water to rinse their sugary, satiated hands.

Trophy Cupcakes

I have three stories I always tell about Trophy. One is how my son was born on the Wallingford store’s opening day, and when friends brought cupcakes to the hospital to celebrate, I had to ask “Are they really this good, or is it the Percocet talking?” (I personally researched the answer. It was the former.)

The second story is how the same friends, in the ongoing friendly wars of baked-goods buffs, refer to Trophy as “a frosting delivery system.” In my book, that’s a compliment.

And, the last one is how, when the Martha Stewart show called to ask if owner Jennifer Shea could send some cupcakes for Martha to sample, the answer was no. Let Martha taste a cupcake that wasn’t perfectly fresh, one that might get melted or smashed en route? No way. Shea hopped a plane to New York, borrowed a friend’s kitchen, and dropped off a just-made batch, which won her a spot on Martha’s show. Nice that we’ve got them right here — now, in two places — whenever we want. Almost. As Single Shot’s Diane Mapes wrote on Twitter, “Do you think Trophy Cupcakes would be willing to open a third store … in my apartment?”