If you’re looking for haunted home-baked treats this Halloween you may not need to look further than Auntie M’s CupCakes. Based out of a home in Mangrove Village, Auntie M, aka, Melanie Bahr Al Daboos makes cupcakes that are good to the last crumb.
Melanie grew up in the suburbs of St. Louis has been fooling around with frosting for more than 18 years. “I took a cake decorating class once, which helped me with piping and basic techniques,” she says. “The rest of my skills are self-taught.”
When Melanie moved to Abu Dhabi fifteen years ago, she brought all her cake decorating tools along with her. At first Melanie only used her talents to celebrate her children’s birthdays. With five kids, that was already good practice. When they saw what she could do, her friends started requesting her cupcakes for their kids’ parties. But it still was not for profit. Then, by a twist of fate, she was encouraged to go into business for herself three years ago when she wanted to help her niece buy her first car.
“I was trying to think of ways to earn some money to send to her. At the same time I attended a baby shower. I made ducky cupcakes and another friend said, ‘these are so good! You should sell them. I’ll help you find clients.’ It was like the answer fell out of the sky.”
Auntie M’s was born and friends ordered and then their friends began ordering too. The business began to take off, and six months later she was able to send her niece the money for a car.
These days she cannot believe people pay her to do what she loves to do. “It never feels like work,” says Melanie. What makes her cupcakes so different? She says there are a few things that set her cupcakes apart.
For one, her cupcakes come in more flavours than just chocolate and vanilla. Her most popular cupcake is carrot cake and the most original flavour is chocolate covered cherry. Yet her caramel toffee crunch and red velvet are among her top winners.
Melanie realized early on that when cakes are completely covered in fondant, people often do not eat it. Fondant, she realised, can be too sweet and can often ruin the taste of the cake. So she frosts her cupcakes with good, old-fashioned butter cream and only uses fondant as decoration.
A scrap-booker at heart, Melanie has developed cake-decorating skills using many scrapbooking techniques and accents. Her style is whimsical, fun and very colourful. “I want people to see my cupcakes and recognize them as mine,” she says. The result is a cupcake that you cannot decide whether or not to eat or frame!
For Auntie M’s Cupcakes go to instagram: auntiemscupcakes
