Dear Miss Mamie:
Let’s agree on one thing: there’s a big difference between a cupcake and cornbread. Can we agree on that?
Well yesterday I was craving a really good cupcake. You know, the kind of cupcake that melts in your mouth like the pound of butter that was put in it. So I decided to take a ride to historic Marietta Square to visit a place called Cupcake Charm. I visited last year and absolutely fell head over heels in love with the most delectable cupcakes I ever tasted. Ahhh…thinking about them now just makes my mouth water.
BUT to my surprise, when I got to Cupcake Charm, it wasn’t there! BUG EYES Instead the store had new ownership and is now named Miss Mamie’s, Cupcakes Cakes and Such. The place had the cutest cupcake décor. And the cupcakes were cute and looked good. I picked out 6 of them and paid a $12 for my box. I was so ready to dig in. But when I bit into one of the cupcakes I couldn’t believe what I tasted… PURE CORNBREAD. NOT A CUPCAKE!
The picture above is deceiving to me. Because the cupcakes look good, but they truly don’t deliver.
My sister and I were pretty upset about these little cupcakes. For one, WHAT HAPPENED? Why didn’t they taste like cupcakes? So I had to get to the bottom of this.
I decided to call up Miss Mamie for some answers. I spoke to co-owner Ross Doyle, who explained why these cupcakes tasted so different from what I was expecting.
For one, Ross said that the previous owner used “box” cake-mix infused with Crisco to make up her cupcake concoction. The new owners instead use more wholesome ingredients made from scratch.
“A small percentage of people don’t like cake from scratch but we’re not planning on going back,” Ross said. He admits that I was not the first person to say that I didn’t like the new recipe and he swears that the mix is certainly not cornbread.
BUT IT SURELY TASTES LIKE IT!
I have eaten enough cornbread growing up with a country grandmomma to know cornbread. But anyway Ross says, “We’re proud of our product. We do something different here.” And in all fairness, everything is not for everybody, I must admit.
But here’s the deal Miss Mamie, I think you are so blinded by your French way of making pastry (having graduated from Le Cordon Bleu) that you can’t see things through. Domino’s pizza thought their pizza was great until people stop buying the crap. Then they went back to the drawing board and got a new recipe for TRADITIONAL PIZZA that people loved. People want traditional cupcakes. You can make them homemade but your current homemade recipe is TRULY awful.
I wanted so very bad to love your pretty little cupcakes, but I don’t. I can’t. My mouth is just so against it. If I eat your cornbread cupcakes, then I’ll need some fried fish and hot-sauce to help them go down.
Why would you break something that wasn’t broken? Huh? WHYYY!
If people really have their mouth set for a sweet, traditional cupcake, then that’s what they want. here’s the bottom line.
1. Your cupcakes taste like CORNBREAD, CORN MUFFINS and CORN BISCUITS!
2. I understand you have a family recipe and want a signature taste, but signature taste or not it tastes like a corn bread.
3. You are in the south! Sweet Home Central! Don’t get a cupcake shop and advertise it as American cupcakes and its Not American cupcakes! (French pastry my foot!)
Basically, on this path, Miss Mamie’s will be short-lived. People are not going to keep ordering really bad, but nicely decorated corn muffins!
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I would have been livid and turned around and taken the other 4 right back!!!! I bake from scratch all the time pastries and Bread and mine melts in the mouth!!!!!! So his explanitation is a bunch of crap!!!!! I also lived in France and not all their pastries taste like Cornbread….LOL BTW I make a mean Cornbread too…anyway…how can you mess up a Cup Cake????That is so elementry so you would think!!!! Clearly not. Send your baby Chef over there to teach them how to make a Cup Cake. If is it one thing that gets under my skin is expecting one taste and getting something aweful!!!! They should be taken to the wood shed and whipped!!!!How are you goning to mess up a Cup Cake????? That is a National Tragedy!!!!! Or at least a Atlanta Tradedy……all I can say is my my my!!!What next???
AGREE! I can make a better cupcake than them! You are SO RIGHT on the point that there's nothing worse than getting ready for one taste and them eating something totally different!UGH! That really burned me up! Thanks for commenting!
To Anonymous: You say that "we should be taken to the wood shed and whipped." Wow… really? That doesn't even merit a response.
To Ms. Smith:
As I said in our conversation over the phone, everyone has a right to their own opinion; your opinion being that Miss Mamie's broke something that wasn't broken. But let's agree upon this: your blog is just that… opinion.
Here are the facts:
1. Miss Mamie's took helm of the bakery in October. One of our first priorities was to improve the quality of the cupcakes. Since changing from what you call "the most delectable cupcakes I've ever tasted", to what you refer to as " TRULY awful", our sales have tripled in a short 4 months.
2. At the end of your blog you claim that "people are not going to keep ordering," what you describe as "really bad but nicely decorated corn muffins!" Here's the fact: 50-60% of our customer base consists of repeat customers who do just that; people who come in time and time again and order our cupcakes. These are folks we greet by name, who love our cupcakes, and who will surely be patrons of ours for years to come.
3. It is your opinion that "basically, on this path, Miss Mamie's will be short lived." Here again you are wrong. Every new day brings in more satisfied customers who inspire us to continue with what we're doing. Every new day our financial situation is bolstered with increased sales, making Miss Mamies' future as sure and solid as the day is long. And every new day is an opportunity for us to plan for what is looking like, a bakery that is here to stay for a long long time, like it or lump it.
Happy baking,
Ross
Yes, Ross, it is an opinion by a customer. And if it's working for YOU, then God speed and Good luck!
In fact, I may just have to have a bakeoff on my new talk show Real Talk with Kia Wednesday @6PM on http://www.InternetFabulous.TV.
…a bakeoff… Hmmm… Food for thought!
Hope you're up to it!
-Kia
I tried Miss Mamie's yesterday after having a wonderful lunch at Pappasitos. I always go to Cami Cakes in Buckhead but since I was already in Marietta I did a search and Miss Mamie's popped up so my bff and I decided to give it a try. When we walked in the first thing that we noticed was the lack of uniformity in the size of the cupcakes and the pile of icing that was on top. They really didn't have any appealing flavors but we were already there so we decided to try them anyway. We ended up getting 6 because they were buy 5 get 1 free.
We didn't taste them until we arrived home. We started with the German chocolate "cupcake" and immediately were disgusted. Once we chiseled through the hard layer of icing we found a dry crumbly cake that tasted exactly like EX-LAX. I let him finish that one (by finish I mean throw away) and I proceeded to taste the pistachio. It was the worst thing I have ever eaten. Again, the icing was extremely hard and the cake was dry with a very off flavor. The nuts that adorned the top were fresh.
I would not state that these "cupcakes" taste like cornbread…that would be too much of a compliment. Miss Mamie's "cupcakes" taste like stale Walmart muffins with generic, expired canned frosting.
I don't doubt that the company will be successful, it doesn't take much to please people with no taste buds who are to lazy to drive to a quality cupcakery such as Cami Cakes in Buckhead. Ross, I suggest that you and Mamie make your way to Cami Cakes so that you two can experience a moist, perfectly frosted, delicious cupcake.
THANK YOU ANON! I tried to tell these people that the cupcakes were horrible. I wish you left your name because I want them to see that real people do think those cupcakes are awful. Thanks for commenting!
Hey Kia. I dont mind leaving my name, it's Heather and I am truly a real person who loves quality cupcakes. What makes the situation worse is the server was so great we brought her back a "cupcake". Once we tasted them we wanted to call her and apologize for giving her a stale muffin.