What’s a Cup Quequito?

If you live in Arizona, you are lucky. Not just because it’s one of the most geographically diverse places in the continental United States, and the skies are as blue as the turquoise waters of the Caribbean.

And not just because Arizona is my favorite place of all time—but because you are a lot closer distance-wise to a place called Cup Quequitos, in Tucson than I am. 

Once again, through the miracle of Facebook, I have found another treasure that really knocked my socks off. Cup Quequitos is a little bite of the South West— “bite”, not bit. It’s not your normal run-of-the-mill bakery.

Although cupcakes have become trendy in recent years, Cup Quequitos figured out that there’s a lot more to mini-cake indulgences than fancy frosted vanilla and chocolate bites. Dean and Deluca, and Godiva have tried to market the “gourmet cupcake”, and they will ship to your doorstep, too, but they can’t do it like Cup Quequitos can.

Cup Quequitos makes vegan cupcakes. Not just vegan, but vegan gourmet cupcakes that taste delicious—in the most unique flavors I have ever seen.

Now before I take you further on this sweet treat trip, let me preface this by saying I’m not vegan or vegetarian, so that’s not what got me going about this gourmet Southwestern cupcake bakery.  If I didn’t know from the start that these little Arizonian gems were dairy free and non-carnivorously correct, I honestly would not be able to tell the difference from one that was baked with full fledged vegan-tabooed components.

According to the website, Shanali Zeballos is the chief baker in charge. She started Cup Quequitos in 2010, but has been baking all of her life. For the past eleven years, she has been baking for her mother's gourmet Mexican restaurant, Cafe Poca Cosa, in Tucson. She also delivers a dozen and a half cupcakes to her father’s restaurant, run by her two aunts , Little Poca Cosa, daily.

The summer of 2010, while vacationing in San Francisco, Shanali and her mother, Suzana, could not help but notice all of the cupcake store fronts the website reads.  While toying with the idea of starting up their own cupcake enterprise, they thought of the name “Cup Quequitos”, which is a play on the Spanish name for “little cake”. What could be more perfect to symbolize a Southwestern version of vegan scrumptiousness!

Shanali's “Quequitos” are baked fresh daily using only the highest quality of fresh fruits, juices, and premium ingredients such as Madagascar Bourbon vanilla and Callebaut chocolate.  And let me tell you, after I took my first bite of a Lemon Orange Cup Quequito about five minutes after it arrived on my doorstep, you can taste the fresh juices used. 

Boy do fresh ingredients make a difference! I’ve never tasted a “juiced” cupcake before! The flavors burst in your mouth. There’s nothing quite like it. The lemon and orange flavors are both present and not sour. The little cakes are sweetened just right. The overall texture of these very generously-sized cupcakes is fluffy and light, and moist. And this was after travelling across the United States to me, over the course of two-and-a-half days! Regarding portion size, you could definitely split one and still be satisfied.

And the cupcake flavors are as unique as Shanali’s business’s name:  Apple Maple Bacon, Almond Pistachio Rose, Mango Tango (I never had a mango cupcake before!) S'Mores, Carrot with Pineapple, Almond Blackberry, Sweet Potato Spice, Key Lime, ChocoCinn Mole, Lemon Orange, Oreo,  Banana Ganache, Strawberry Lemonade, Pineapple Basil, Avocado Lemon, and Lemon Blueberry. These are just a sampling of the ones Cup Quequitos features. There are more listed on her website; along with mouthwatering pictures of them! 

Shanali is always inventing new cupcake flavors.  One of her newest, and the whole reason why I wanted to try a Cup Quequito in the first place, is the Apple Maple Bacon Cup Quequito. This is the only time Cup Quequitos deviates from its vegan menu. Imagine biting into a freshly baked waffle, drizzled with maple syrup, with fresh apples piled on top, and accentuated with a side of smoky bacon. It’s like breakfast in a bite, except better. This just may be the world’s first breakfast cupcake.

I was completely surprised and amazed when I took a bite, and my teeth met real chunks of fresh apple and bacon! Yes! Bacon in a cupcake! And it rocks!

This is better than chocolate-covered bacon if you’ve had that; and if you haven’t, you don’t know what you’re missing, either!

Right now I’m gloating over the fact I ate bacon in a cupcake and liked it.

Let’s talk about Oreo. If I were marooned on a "desserted" island and could only bring one kind of cupcake to eat, this would be it. I’m not a huge chocolate fan, believe it or not, but this won me over. It’s like a huge soft Oreo cookie, except with tons more cream filling—on top! It reminds me of cookies ‘n cream ice cream, but on steroids. It’s that good.

The Carrot Cake Pineapple cupcakes are infused with fresh juices and the golden raisins inside are plump, sweet, and moist. And if you want a very decadent dessert, try a S’mores cupcake, but heat it for a few seconds in the microwave first. Why? Because, the marshmallow-chocolate ooey gooeyness is unbelievable that way. This is slightly less dark-chocolate tasting than the Oreo flavor.

If you like to pair a dessert with wine at dinner, then you must try ChocoCinn Mole. This is Cup Quequitos signature Southwestern cupcake. This is dark chocolate heaven and would be the perfect pairing with a lush red wine post-dinner, like a cabernet.

My daughter loves dark chocolate so this was her favorite one. It's kind of surprising that a six year-old would like a more savory choice, but she’s not into something overly sweet and likes the contrast that the spices and bitterness give to the sweetness. I only got a bite of this one; she confiscated the rest.

Then there’s the “quequito” with purple-red icing—Almond Blackberry. I enjoyed the texture of this one a lot. I loved the crunchy almonds bits inside of this.  It reminded me a little of the crumbs on top of a crumb cake on the very top where the cupcake met the icing. The rest of the cake was moist and fluffy. The blackberry icing compliments the almond infused cake perfectly. 

Have you figured out the Cup Quequito code yet? Code? Yes, the naming scheme for those flavors described with multiple words. Shanali infuses the icing with flavor if you haven’t guessed. We’re not just talking chocolate and vanilla whipped toppings here. The first descriptive word in the cupcake name describes the flavor of the cake itself; the second or last word in the cupcake name is the flavor of the frosting. Genius, isn’t it?

Breaking the flavor code helped me figure out why the Strawberry Lemonade cupcake ‘cake’ tasted only like fresh strawberries, when I bit into that without any icing. Well, the “lemonade” part is in the icing!

Let’s talk about the cake, though. There are tiny real pieces of strawberry in this beauty. The intense flavor reminded me of strawberry jam. On my second bite when I made sure to taste the icing on top, too, I could then appreciate the light lemony flavor lingering on my tastebuds.

The Key Lime cupcake wasn’t as Key-Limey as a Key Lime pie, but I figured that’s because it’s not a pie! A Key Lime must have decided to jump into a cupcake.

The Almond Pistachio Rose one was very pleasant. Recently, I have taken a liking to rose infusions, such as rose teas. It’s just as good on top of a cupcake. The Almond Pistachio Rose confection reminded me of the Almond Blackberry cupcake in consistency and a bit in flavor, but the rose icing gave it a new dimension as it left a lovely rose aftertaste on the palette. There are also almond and pistachio pieces throughout this flavor; they are very tiny and give the taster a wonderful mouth experience.

The final Cup Quequito that I tried, I had to identify by taste alone, as its label had fallen off the chef’s choice box. It was quite fun to learn that the predominant flavors were pumpkin and cinnamon in the Pumpkin Ginger cupcake. When I normally think of ginger anything, I think of a strong taste with a bite. For some reason, the ginger icing did not bite me back and just worked.  Bravo, Shanali! This pumpkin cupcake was significantly moister than any pumpkin cake I’ve ever had. I don’t know the secret, but boy, is it good!

Obviously by the time my Cup Quequitos arrived they were not straight out of the oven warm. But could you imagine how good the Cup Quequitos kitchen smells when the chef bakes a batch of any of these!

Cup Quequitos are so pretty. Shanali doesn’t forget the details, either. She uses fondant decorations to accent the cupcakes artistically, as done with her Lemon and Blood Orange Cup Quequito—one bright orange fondant flower is placed off to the side on the fluffy pillow of icing. 

So you’re probably already thinking, I’ve got to go there and try some of these vegan delights! Well, there is no “there”. Cup Quequitos has no storefront.  Shanali takes the orders by phone or through her website.  But the good news is, if you live in the Tucson area, she will deliver your orders or you can pick them up at Café Poca Cosa; and even if you live as far away as New Jersey (or other places in the United States) she can ship your gourmet goodies to you! (when the cooler weather prevails and if you don’t mind a couple of cupcakes tossed on their heads).  Shanali is working on perfecting the shipping aspect of her business.

Shanali is the sole baker in her business, so sometimes it could take her a little while to prepare your order, but it’s worth the wait. It's first come, first served.  My original cupcake delivery was thwarted by a bomb scare at the post office out west, and then they were mistakenly confiscated by Shanali’s family members. Finally, a freshly baked batch left Tucson double-bubble wrapped with care by ‘Josh’ at the USPS, and slapped with five ‘Fragile’ stickers.

When they arrived my mailman decided to place the package on its side on my porch, so some of the cupcakes needed a cupcake hospital.  But I didn’t hold that against them; they were just as good with smooshed icing!

I discovered Cup Quequitos a few months ago and did have to wait patiently for my order, though. High summer temperatures don’t make for ideal  cupcake shipping conditions. The little cupcakes don’t freeze well, and Shanali likes to make sure that her customers experience the freshest flavors, and luscious moist texture of each cupcake she personally bakes. Maybe one day, Shanali can afford to hire some elves and they can bake batch after batch so Fed Ex or UPS will offer her a quantity discounted shipping rate so her delicious and decadent goodies can arrive overnight without costing so much and perhaps a bit less tousled on a truck.

Oh, and Cup Quequitos is very accommodating. Shanali will make your cupcake treats gluten free upon request. Flavors come by the half dozen; unless you want to leave it up to Shanali and have an assortment, chef’s choice!

I went with a Chef’s Choice package and I tell you, you can’t go wrong with that!

You can shop on her website and have cupcakes delivered right to your door in the Tucson area if you order at least a dozen. There is a small delivery charge, but you also have the option of picking them up at the big Café Poca Cosa.  Tucsonites and those in surrounding Arizonian areas are lucky because Cup Quequitos caters too! And if you’re getting married or throwing that big bash, Shanali does wedding and party consultations, too (by appointment only).

As their slogan says, “Cup Quequitos top cake.”