It’s smaller than a cake, bigger than a cookie, but just as delicious as both and becoming quite the trend. Cupcake boutiques are an overnight craze that has finally come to Sacramento.

In the last few years, cupcake boutiques have popped up everywhere, including Babycakes in New York City, Sugarbabies in Houston, and the Frosted Cupcakery in Long Beach.

Cupcake Craving, the new cupcake boutique in Howe ‘Bout Arden shopping center (2100 Arden Way), opened on October 8, and business has been “phenomenal,” said one of the owners, Eileen Peebles.

Despite campus rumors, Peebles is not a Country Day parent, but met her Cupcake Craving business partners, David Cisneros and Michael Jacobsen, while volunteering at Mariemont Elementary School. As soon as the trio met, they started brainstorming for their new business.

“We visited [cupcake stores] and tasted a lot of cupcakes. We went through cookbooks from 60 years ago and books that are current. We actually baked off a lot of cupcakes and tasted them,” Peebles said.

The three selected the bakeries based on reviews, articles in newspapers, magazines, blogs, and references from friends.

Additionally, all the ingredients of Cupcake Craving cupcakes are kosher because many friends and family members affiliated with the boutique are Jewish.

By the time they finished, they had 14-16 flavors in mind for the opening.

Now, Cupcake Craving has 17-18 flavors daily—an easy task with an oven baking 525 cupcakes every 24 minutes.

The assortment of flavors is diverse, ranging from their most unusual, “Monkey Mania” (a banana cupcake with caramel filling and cream cheese frosting,) to the most purchased, Red Velvet (a dark red and rich chocolate cupcake).

Other unusual flavors include “Lemon Boost,” a cupcake filled with lemon curd and topped with a choice of lemon meringue or lemon butter cream frosting; “Koo-Koo for Macaroons,” a coconut cupcake topped with a choice of fudge drizzle or coconut butter cream and coconut shavings; “Bavarian Dream,” a white cupcake filled with custard and dipped in rich fudge; and finally “S’more Galore,” a rich chocolate cupcake with a marshmallow center dipped in fudge and dusted with a graham cracker topping.

The special November flavor is an orange cranberry cupcake dipped in fudge with a dollop of whipped cream.

Sugar-free cupcakes are also offered, but these have been the “slow movers” according to Peebles. Besides the sugar-free option, all the flavors have been doing exceptionally well, she said.

The majority of the cupcakes cost $2.50. The three sugar-free flavors are $3. There are also mini versions of the cupcakes for $1.50.

Currently, calorie counts are unknown, but Peebles is awaiting the nutritional analysis from the recipes that have been sent in.

According to Peebles, cupcakes have advantages over other sweets, which have made them trendy.

“A cupcake is just one individual portion, so you can go indulge today with a Mint Chocolate, but tomorrow, if you’re craving a lemon, you can come get a Lemon Boost. It’s a way to get a great taste without having to commit yourself to huge calories or a huge product,” Peebles said.

Aside from selling cupcakes to walk-in traffic, Cupcake Craving caters baby showers, wedding rehearsals, and corporate events. They also bake customized cupcake cakes for birthday parties.

Cupcake Craving can even print logos on the cupcake frosting.

The boutique has been popular among students like sophomore Brianna Makishima, who bought cupcakes for her 16th birthday party.

“I brought home some samples of ‘Red Velvet’ and ‘S’more Galore’ and my family loved them and they were cute, so I decided to use them for my birthday. They were really popular at my party. A lot of kids had seconds and thirds,” Makishima said.

Sophomore Caitlin McNally was one of Makishima’s guests.

“They were the Balenciaga of cupcakes,” McNally said.

Cupcake Craving serves a diverse clientele, from teenagers to older people. Everyone wants a piece of the new sugary trend.