Young Cupcake Entrepreneur Building on Great Grandma's Recipes

Editor's Note: This story was originally published on Wednesday, June 19 at 6:00 a.m.

Casey Reinhardt has spent the last few years building a cupcake empire, taking a childhood spent baking alongside her great-grandmother and turning it into a confectionary powerhouse.

Today the 26-year-old entrepreneur continues to whip up new flavors and concepts for her Newport Beach-based Casey's Cupcakes.

As the founder and chief creative officer, Reinhardt started the business in 2009, and it has quickly grown with 100 employees and five locations. But her great-grandmother's inspiration is always on her mind.

"My great-grandmother and I used to spend hours in her kitchen baking together, and growing up I always enjoyed it," Reinhardt said. "As I got older I wanted to share our fun memories with everyone and decided to take her recipes and put my own twist on the light and fluffy confections making them a perfect treat."

Every month Reinhardt uses what her great-grandmother taught her to mix up a new flavor of the month ― this month it's Ravishing Raspberry Lemonade. Signature Casey's Cupcake flavors include Grandma's German Cake, Excellent Espresso, Caribbean Coconut and Reinhardt's personal favorite, Decadent Dark Chocolate.

"My great grandmother taught me to use only the freshest ingredients. At Casey's Cupcakes, we only use the freshest quality ingredients including chocolate from Belgium, Tahitian vanilla and rare Colorado peaches for our seasonal Passionately Peach cupcake," Reinhardt explained.

With fresh ingredients as the key to scrumptious cupcakes, Reinhardt said she likes to add her touch of décor and detail to make her cupcakes one of a kind. 

"I am always looking for inspiration in my travels, finding unique flavor profiles and beautiful decorations," Reinhardt said.

She urges aspiring bakers to experiment in order to make cupcakes as gorgeous as possible.

"Add whimsical decorations and glamorous touches to your cupcake like edible glitter, sugar pearls, chocolate shavings, candies and even lightly toasted marshmallows which will instantly add a touch of glamour to any cupcake," Reinhardt suggested.

Lorin Watkins stops by Casey's Cupcakes a few times a month at Fashion Island to pick up some cupcakes for her family and friends. She said they are never disappointed.

"I work nearby Casey's Cupcakes, so they always ask me to get some," Watkins said. "They are so pretty, too pretty to eat even! But they are so delicious."

It’s not just the loyal customers who are starting to take notice. Casey's Cupcakes was named the Best Cupcake by OC Weekly’s Reader’s Choice poll and one of the Top 5 Picks to visit at Fashion Island by BeachTomato.com. She also won the Food Network's Cupcake Wars competition in 2011.

Her advice for young entrepreneurs is simple, "do your research, talk to experts and learn everything about the industry." 

Reinhardt opened the first Casey’s Cupcakes in December 2009 at her parents' hotel, the Mission Inn Hotel & Spa in Riverside. She was attending Pepperdine University at the time.

Casey's Cupcakes other locations include Fashion Island  in Newport Beach, Laguna Beach, the Irvine Spectrum and Irvine Woodbury Town Center. Casey's Cupcakes also creates cupcake wedding cakes, and K-9 doggie cupcakes. For more information about Casey's Cupcakes visit caseyscupcake.com.

Have you tried a Casey's Cupcake? Tell us about it in the comments.

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