The Gem of Poplar Street: Whipped Sweet Shoppe
Layered Birthday Cake
During the more recent history of Hazleton, a gem has emerged on Poplar Street —and with good reason, it’s very popular. In a once-upon-a-time nook of a mail depot, the Whipped Sweet Shoppe sprung up not so long ago, bringing us a new kind of fairy tale. This one is totally real!
It is not your everyday sweet shop—not by a milestone! The shop entices with exotic cupcakes, cannoli, unique chicken pot pies, stuffed soft pretzels, and specialty cakes that are beyond mere earthling special. They are heavenly special.
Never ordinary-special, these creations take the word “special” into another dimension entirely.
For my daughter’s graduation, I ordered yes, a cake, embellished with the Penn State Nittany Lion logo. Later in the year, for her 23rd birthday, we ordered an orange cake, something that brought pure sunshine into November.
You can order cakes large and small, spanning an amazing array of different flavors and designs. Made from scratch, the pastries and other baked goods are not just delicious —they are genuine works of art. Nothing grocery- store- bought can match this artisan quality.
Our latest cake appeared for Maria’s birthday, an opulent chocolate layer cake filled with raspberry purée and crowned with fragrant vanilla cream cheese icing. The cake was decorated with fresh berries and two bands of golden flakes, edible glitter. The raspberries, blackberries and strawberries atop the cake were also softly glittered.
Not only was the cake a work of art, it was light in texture, and sweet, but not overly sweet.
Have you had icing that was so sweet that you became sweet-flushed after eating it? Or maybe you just couldn’t stand the killer sweetness, with tons of sugar replacing actual flavor? Bleck! Sometimes you can detect what seems like an artificial, chemical taste or a lingering bad aftertaste with mass-produced grocery store cakes. Yes, your grandmother would not approve.
Nothing from the Whipped Sweet Shoppe EVER tastes that way. Each creation lands in the Goldilocks’s ‘just right’ zone. You will not be sorry and will never go back to the store-made (or should we say ‘robot-made’?) cakes again. Think natural and pure. That is our motto.
So, the next time you are in Hazleton, strolling along Poplar Street, treat yourself to something sweet or savory, and you will not be disappointed.
I recently had a chocolate mousse-filled cupcake. After eating one, I felt as if I could have eaten a half-dozen— it was so extraordinarily good.
The shoppe is open Thursdays through Sundays, but get there before 4:00. Getting there early assures that you have access to the best variety, starting at 11:00 AM. While priced above store averages, everything sells out quickly — and again, with good reason. There is nothing average about what is offered for sale there.
The only way you will be sorry is if you don’t venture in and find your dream-edible creations. The aroma of the place alone is enough to set one’s senses a-tingle.
One of Hazleton’s finest new businesses offers you the chance to sample and savor what you might only find in someplace faraway and metropolitan, as in New York or Philadelphia.
Here we like small and sparkling, as in diamonds. That is the way we do it in Hazleton.
There is no need to battle headache traffic to get this quality.
The Whipped Sweet Shoppe experience is simply unforgettable! And it is right here, Hazleton readers. Celebrate.
You can find them on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/whippedsweets112/
© Wayne Funk, 2018