Cupcake crazy.

Byline: Emma Williams

This summer has been the season of the cupcake. Last month Britain held its first National Cupcake Week, and in August a baker in Detroit baked his way into the Guinness World Records by creating the world's largest cupcake. The cupcake that weighed in at 555kg was over 1m tall and consisted of 800 eggs and 90kg each of sugar and flour. It took 12 hours to bake and, once frosted, was estimated to contain a whopping 2mn calories.

Baking on a smaller scale has been inspired by the release of a cupcake-themed cookbook by Martha Stewart. Since its publication, various cupcake clubs have sprung up across the world with the aim of making all 175 recipes in the book. The Middle East has not escaped the craze either. Fadi Jaber, who was recently credited by The New York Times as being the person responsible for bringing cupcakes to this region, lived in an American compound in Saudi Arabia while attending school. As a child he always preferred the sweet treats made by his American friends' mothers to his own mother's traditional pastries, such as baklawah. After quitting his job in marketing and enrolling on a course at the Institute of Culinary Education in Manhattan, Jaber opened up Sugar Daddy's bakery in Jordan. He now has additional shops in Beirut and Dubai, and other cupcake bakeries have opened across the Gulf.

In Oman, the trend has taken longer to gather pace, but three companies in Muscat that specialise in cupcakes have noticed an increase in people wanting the cakes for everything from weddings to product launches. Mariam al Mandhari, who is based in MQ, started The Cake Factory in 2008 after a mishap with her wedding cake. She thinks her company is successful because, "People crave sweets. There are many festive celebrations and very limited places to get cupcakes and cakes made in a creative way. People want something new, creative and different."

Janan Abdullatif from Sweet Sensations in Al Khuwayr said, "Cupcakes are cute and very practical as they are easy to transport and you don't need utensils to eat them." Maryam Mohamed agreed with her. Maryam, who is part owner of Bake n Cake in Muscat, the company she runs with her sister Fatma, added that it is the flexibility of cupcakes that makes them so popular.

These women started their companies, some part-time and others full-time, after encouragement from their families and friends. The Cake Factory, Sweet Sensations and Bake n Cake are currently run from their founders' homes, although the women have different plans for bakeries and cafAAs in the future.

Flavour trends in Oman vary. The three companies have cooked up innovative flavours, such as pomegranate-infused 'Red Velvet' cupcakes, while during Ramadan, sticky date cupcakes with cream-cheese frosting helped to keep more traditional buyers happy. While cookies and cream, peanut butter, pistachio and strawberry flavours all remain popular, all of the cupcake-makers that TheWeek spoke to said that vanilla remains the most predominant choice, with chocolate close behind. The three companies also offer treats such as brownies, cheesecakes, cookies and other themed or specially customised cakes, but the menu of flavours varies, leaving room for their individual flair to shine through.

Mariam from The Cake Factory said, "I never thought there would be this much demand for cupcakes. It defiantly increases with every passing day." Bake n Cake only started making and selling cupcakes after the number of customers requesting them grew significantly, and Janan of Sweet Sensations estimates that currently around 90 per cent of her orders are for cupcakes. These companies prove that cupcakes are taking off in the sultanate - and if the rest of the Middle East is anything to go by, it's a trend that is here to stay.

Apex Press and Publishing

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