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Coppell Student Media

The official student news site of Coppell High School

Coppell Student Media

The official student news site of Coppell High School

Coppell Student Media

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October 26, 2023

Seniors McCracken, Burgess launch cupcake business

Seniors+McCracken%2C+Burgess+launch+cupcake+business

By Kristen Shepard
Editor-in-Chief

What do you get when you combine seniors Alex McCracken, Shelby Burgess and their love for baking cupcakes? McCupcakes: Coppell’s newest student-run cupcake business.

The idea to start a cupcake company first came to McCracken and Burgess when they realized how much their fellow classmates were baking for their obligations as Football Flirts, Diamond Dolls, Sideline Psychos or other team support groups. This demand for baked goods, along with the positive reviews of McCracken’s cupcakes in the past, served as the foundation for the new business.

“I love to bake, but the idea of baking every single week before a game as a Football Flirt becomes quite a hassle,” senior Caroline Overman said. “This could save me a lot of time.”

mccupcakes project 2 from Delanie Majors on Vimeo.

Burgess and McCracken came together when they realized how their unique skill sets would benefit their project. Burgess, who intends to pursue a career in marketing, accounting or business, plans out the orders, controls the ordering of supplies and writes receipts to customers when they receive their orders. McCracken takes care of most of the baking and pursues new and challenging cupcake recipes.

“We already have a great plan in the works for McCupcakes,” Burgess said. “We want to get our service into brochures at local birthday party venues, so that when parents planning birthday parties will order cupcakes from us instead of a grocery store.”

Senior Alex McCracken checks the status of a batch of cupcakes, to be sold for their cupcake company, McCupcakes. Photo by Sandy Iyer.
Senior Alex McCracken checks the status of a batch of cupcakes, to be sold for their cupcake company, McCupcakes. Photo by Sandy Iyer.

So far, Burgess has ordered dozens of cupcake boxes, stickers and even business cards to promote McCupcakes. McCupcakes has launched a website, Twitter and Facebook since its conception. All of these platforms are used to make announcements about flavors and deals and to communicate with buyers.

“I was extremely proud of Shelby when she came to me with this idea,” parent Debbie Burgess said. “When Shelby showed me a website that looked like it was done by a professional, I was very impressed. I thought ‘I can’t wait to see where this goes’’’.

Since its start in September, McCupcakes has proven that it has many aspects that will push it to become a success.

“Our orders are already busy. When we were purchasing supplies at Office Max, we told the cashier that we were starting a cupcake business, and he placed an order for a dozen cupcakes on the spot,” Burgess said. “Cupcakes are a hot item, and the demand is much higher than you might think.”

On the baking side, McCracken has months of experience in baking cupcakes, and is able to produce cupcakes that taste delicious and look professional to compete with other cupcake businesses in the area. If the appearance is not competitive enough, the prices are what really sets McCupcakes apart.

“We charge $1.25 for each cupcake, or $6 for a box of four,” McCracken said.  “Our prices are very reasonable, and that is perfect for a student audience.”

McCracken gets many of her cupcake ideas from Pinterest, and is always looking for new challenges, recipes and flavors. Each week, McCupcakes features a cupcake flavor as “Flavor of the Week”, though they do take special orders for parties and events, the weekly flavor is what will be provided for athletes in gift bags.

Last week’s flavor was Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, a chocolate chip cupcake with a cookie dough center and a doughy buttercream frosting. This week, the flavor of the week is chocolate, with the buyer’s choice of either a vanilla, peanut butter or chocolate buttercream frosting center.

“We bake almost every night at my house,” McCracken said. “Shelby and I have three classes together, so we see each other for three hours every day at school. It is a good thing we get along, or we would get sick of each other.”

With over 200 cupcakes sold as of late September, McCupcakes is only in the beginning stages of business, and McCracken and Burgess are already proving they have what it takes to push the business to success.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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