Cupcakes, anyone?

BY Denise Clay

The Buttercream cupcake truck is back in business and doing fine.

From a bacon, egg and cheese sandwich to start your day to a plate of jerk chicken and rice and beans to end it, nearly every cuisine has its own food truck here in Philadelphia.

To that list, you can also include dessert. Armed with a menu that includes cupcakes ranging from Red Velvet to Peanut Butter to Dulce de Leche, the Buttercream cupcake truck makes its way around the city, sharing cupcake goodness with everyone from radio disc jockey to newspaper reporters to students needing a little comfort food in the middle of finals week.

The truck is the brainchild of Kate Carrara, an attorney who decided that if the choice was taking (depositions) or baking (cupcakes), cupcakes had the edge. She bought a truck, modified it, and took her snacks on the road, according to her husband, Andy, who sometimes works in the truck.

"This is the first cupcake truck in the city," he said. "She had originally thought about starting a bakery, but she opted for a truck."

But while she opened a truck because she figured it would be easier to negotiate than a bakery, easy turned out to be relative, Andy Carrara said.

A trip on the Buttercream website takes you through the odyssey the couple went through to keep their cupcakes from going flat.

That quest included battles with the City of Philadelphia’s Licensing and Inspections bureau, licensing issues, and problems getting one simple question answered: Where can we park the truck?

The truck makes stops all over the city, including Temple University, radio station WXPN, the Philadelphia Inquirer building and LOVE Park in Center City.

But if you’re not there when Buttercream makes its weekly visit to your section of the city, you’re out of luck until the next week.

"We only go to each stop once a week," Andy Carrara said. "Doing it that way makes it more special. If the truck were there every day, you would take it for granted. This way, you can’t."

Buttercream’s cupcakes are $2 each or six for $10. To find out when Buttercream is coming to your section of the city, you can call 267-505-7486 or follow the truck on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/Buttercreamphl.

Denise can be reached at nuttyprofessor64@gmail.com