Americans are absolutely food obsessed! It’s become alarmingly obvious in our culture of caloric overachievers that few of us miss any meals. It’s also telling (yet seemingly innocuous) that many of the terms of endearment we use for one another are related to food. Terms such as honey, sugar, pumpkin and others are regularly used by sweet-talking lotharios of both genders.
One term of endearment which has grown out of fashion is “cupcake” which in today’s vernacular refers to a woman whose front and back body fat hangs over the waistline, giving the woman the “top of the cupcake” look. While “cupcake” may have become an intended compliment which will get your face slapped, cupcakes themselves have been reestablished as a cool, viable and in-demand dessert option. It should be pointed out that women aren’t the only gender who can acquire that “cupcake” shape (as I’m reminded when I eat too many cupcakes).
The innovative Slate Street Cafe may have reinvigorated the “cupcakes as dessert” trend in Albuquerque, but with the March, 2006 launch of Cake Fetish, Carrie Mettling (formerly an architect later to launch the much missed Rebel Donut) took it to the next step. Her tiny gourmet cupcake bakery celebrated all great things cupcake with a luscious line-up of colorful (and colorfully described) cupcakes of all varieties, each one seemingly more delicious than the other.
In 2007, Carrie sold her business to Ron and Caryn Koerner who maintained her uncompromising standards for quality and freshness. In 2011, the Harris Family (Bill and his daughter-in-law Kendall) assumed ownership and the pride of local ownership. Their “mission statement describes that pride: “You will not find any pre-packaged mixes. With the highest quality control, we hand-measure all of our mixes and whip our signature Buttercream from scratch. We are proud to create everything from milk, eggs, butter, sugar; nothing you can’t spell, just like grandma’s home baking!”
The Harris family has expanded their bakery operation, making cupcakes more widely available to Duke City denizens who appreciate dessert any time of day. The original location remains the tiny space at Albuquerque Uptown’s Encantada Squre on Louisiana. The second location is ensconced near the entrance of the sensational Tin Can Alley, one of the most architecturally unique sites in Albuquerque. You can order online from a menu listing decadent and delicious cupcakes, cakes, keto baked goods and dessert bar items. As the menu indicates, “we’re more than just cupcakes.”
Kendall and her team create their craveable cupcakes at the original location and shuttle their handiwork to Tin Can Alley. Kendall is self-taught, telling the Albuquerque Journal “Everyday, we start from scratch and push our imagination in the creative process.” In 2015, that imagination and creativity took Kendall and her team to an appearance on the Cooking Channel’s competition series, “Sugar Showdown,” a fun and intense competition series that celebrates all things sweet and delicious. Competing against professional chefs Kendall won the competition and $10,000 in the process.
The only competition in which Albuquerque’s cupcake fanatics have to engage is making sure their favorite cupcakes aren’t all gone by the time they get to Cake Fetish. These are not your ordinary cupcakes, not by any long shot. We haven’t tried them all, but those we have tried were thoroughly enjoyable–even to this curmudgeon who doesn’t like anything cloying. Yes, that includes buttercream. I scrape it off the top of the cupcakes with a spoon and give it to my Kim. Even sans buttercream, the cupcakes are fabulous. Note: Not all the cupcakes described below may be on the menu when you visit.
7 July 2007: Culinary historians know that the Mayans were marrying chocolate and chile creations centuries ago, but it’s unlikely they ever crafted anything quite as wonderful as the Hot Chocolate cupcake, a chocolate cake dipped in chocolate ganache with a kiss of red chile infused butter cream. The red chile sneaks up on you and gives the chocolate an unexpected flavor explosion. If New Mexico’s state legislature ever decides to name an official state cupcake, this one should be it.
7 July 2007: If citrus producing Florida named an official state cupcake, perhaps it should import the Creamsicle and lionize it as a wonderful representation of the freshness you’ll find in the state’s oranges. The Creamsicle is adorned with vanilla and orange swirled French butter cream. You’d swear you were eating a Creamsicle were it not for the fact that this cupcake isn’t served off-the-freezer cold.
7 July 2007: My other early favorite is called the Inside-Out German Chocolate (coconut, pecan, caramel-filled chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream topped with toasted coconut). It’s made with coconut and pecan icing then crowned with chocolate French butter cream and toasted coconut. If you’re an aficionado of German chocolate cake, you’ll be besotted by this wonderful cake.
8 November 2023: Pucker-up, the act of contracting one’s lips as in preparation for a kiss is an apt name for Cake Fetish’s intensely lemony pucker-up cupcake (lemon-filled vanilla cake with lemon buttercream and a candy lemon slice). This gem is moist, fluffy and topped with a zingy lemon buttercream. It’s got the perfect balance of sweetness and tartness. The tartness won’t purse your lips, but it will give you a memorably refreshing sensation.
8 November 2023: Living in the Boston area for two years back in my youth inculcated in me a predictable love for so many things Beantown: fried clams, lobster, the Boston Celtics and…Boston cream pie (tender vanilla sponge cake filled with silky vanilla pastry cream all topped by a glossy chocolate ganache). Cake Fetish’s Boston cream cupcake (bavarian cream-filled vanilla cake dipped in chocolate ganache with vanilla buttercream) brings back so many memories of my time in Massachusetts.
In an era in which the word “fetish” itself has connotations of deviance, it’s refreshingly delicious to know that the word can be applied to something as wonderfully delicious as cupcakes.
Cake Fetish
2665 Louisiana, N.E.
Albuquerque, New Mexico
(505) 883-0670
Website | Facebook Page
LATEST VISIT: 8 November 2023
# OF VISITS:4
RATING: 21
COST: $
BEST BET: German Chocolate Cupcake, Dreamcicle Cupcake, Hot Chocolate Cupcake, Peanut Butter Cookie,
I agree about Cupcakeology…I avoid it like the plague. I had a similar experience to TammyQ. I wanted to order a cake…identical to one I had ordered from them six months before…and the owner insisted that she could not and would not make such a cake. It was not a difficult request. Fresh berries in the middle with ganache…that was it. We got into a heated argument and I ended up going elsewhere. I really like Cake Fetish and they also have very good customer service.
I had passed Cake Fetish Cupcakes many times but finally stopped by today and omg!!! The best cupcakes I’ve ever had! Perfectly sweetened and beautiful! If you haven’t visited the bakery, you must! I will be returning often!
AVOID CUPCAKEOLOGY!!! I consider myself a cupcake connoisseur, I love cupcakes! These cupcakes were right on par with many of the other bakeries that I have visited nothing exceptional. The difference between the other cupcake stores and this one is that it is owned and operated by The Cupcake Nazi. I had a couple questions about using a gift certificate which I had purchased online and was asking the owner questions when she blew up on me! Stating that “Everyone wants something for free” and that I need to leave her store and never come back. In addition she suggested I get a refund on my gift certificates because she would not allow me to use them. She had already boxed my 2 dozen cupcakes and decided to throw my keys off of the box and put the cupcakes back in the display case. I decided to drive over to Cake Fetish where they were more than willing to help me out with my cupcake needs. While it would make for a great episode of Seinfeld it doesn’t translate very well to real life. If you are looking for a good cupcake served with a smile then stay away from here – No Cupcake For You!
I agree with Kathleen – Cupcakeology is superior to Cake Fetish. Their cupcakes are super moist and dense with just the right amount of frosting.
Three words – Just A Bite.
You have to try Cupcakeology on Carlisle just south of Indian School in Albuquerque. I think their cupcakes are better than Cake Fetish and they have a wonderful selection that varies day to day.