Cupcake bakery tempts Logan with sweet treats
Almond Joys, Cookies ‘n’ Cream and Kit Kat aren’t only candy bars—they are cupcakes, too.
Temptation Cupcake takes every flavor imaginable and packs it into one delicious cupcake. They serve six every-day flavors as well as some unique flavors.
Owners Taylor and Derek McMurdie, who opened Temptation Cupcake May 9, have a wide variety of unique flavors including strawberry lemonade, pina colada, banana split and chocolate mint.
“We came up with the idea ourselves,” Taylor McMurdie said. “I was going to be the baker but then I remember that I’m not a good cook! So my husband is the baker and I am his assistant.”
The McMurdies owned a few other businesses, including a salon and a hunting club, before they opened Tempation Cupcake.
“Opening a business is a big production. Though we have done it a few times, it is still a lot of work,” McMurdie said.
And work is exactly what it took to open Temptation Cupcake. Derek constructed the whole inside of the bakery, from installing the wood floor to the detailed woodwork on the counters. He also spent a year perfecting his cake recipes.
Derek learned how to cook from his grandmother, who he said is a good cook herself. He goes into the bakery every morning at 6:30 to ensure his cupcakes are baked fresh daily.
“My husband is really a go-to guy, he does it all,” McMurdie said.
Most of the bakery’s business comes from in-store sales. However, they do cater weddings, birthdays and other events. The catering business has started to speed up in the past couple of months for the bakery, McMurdie stated.
Last week, the bakery was preparing for a big wedding. McMurdie said it was so comical trying to get everything ready, she thought they could be on the Food Network show “Cupcake Wars”.
“Customer service is a big thing here. We take the time to really get to know our customers and make it a fun experience,” McMurdie said.
“It’s a really fun environment to work in. Also, I have been to cupcake bakeries in New York and Temptation cupcakes are different than anything I have ever had,” said Mel Maudsley, an employee at Tempataion.
McMurdie said this is because Temptation cupcakes bakes from scratch and makes fresh cupcakes every day. They use unbleached flour that is enriched with vitamins and minerals and use only the best ingredients for their cupcakes.
“We are actually doing a lot better than I thought we would,” McMurdie said. “There were people waiting for us to open and we even have people from Salt Lake come to try our cupcakes.”
Becky Olsen, cupcake enthusiast and food blogger, said she noticed a trend in cupcake shops when she moved back to Provo from New York in 2008.
“Sure I’d loved cupcakes before, but my eyes were opened to the cupcake culture. I was living, eating and breathing in the cupcake Mecca,” Olsen said.
Since the start of Olsen’s blog, utahlovescupcakes.com, “cupcakeries”—as they are called in the trade—have popped up on the map from St. George to Ogden and now to Logan with Temptations Cupcake.
These bakeries have everything from mini-cupcakes, vegan cupcakes, gluten-free cupcakes and now cupshakes, cupcakes blended into a shake, Olsen said.
“I travel all over the United States to try new cupcakeries and though I may be a bit biased, I’d say Utah is one of the best places to get a cupcake,” Olsen said.
Olsen said she has tried about six different flavors from Temptation Cupcake, and black ‘n’ white and vanilla squared are her favorites.
“I think what separates Temptation’s cupcakes from the rest is their light frosting. I like how it is not too sweet, it doesn’t bog you down. It was refreshing to find a cupcakery that doesn’t kill your palate with loads of sweetness,” Olsen said.
—chelsee.niebergall@aggiemail.usu.edu