Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

PubCakes mixing things up

Craft beer-infused dessert biz going in a new direction

I met Navy linguist-turned-pro baker Misty Birchall at a San Diego Brewers Guild meeting in 2010. Despite being a local craft beer journalist, it seemed more people at the meeting were familiar with her than me. Of course, I didn’t have delicious beer-infused cupcakes to my credit. Apparently, nothing can cement one’s image in peoples' minds like sugary, IPA-spiked buttercream!

Since our first meeting, Birchall’s business, PubCakes, has risen quickly, gaining notoriety among the county’s craft beer sect, opening a shared storefront with Treehouse Coffee Co. (7229 El Cajon Boulevard, College East), appearing at events around town, in craft beer-centric books and periodicals, and even scoring time on the Food Network competitive cooking show Cupcake Wars. It was fun to watch such a positive evolution based on sheer determination and extremely flavorful desserts.

PubCakes seemed unstoppable, but apparently, frosting isn't bulletproof. Birchall is vacating the beer garden-equipped storefront (quite the value-added for a dessert dealership), a development that will be recognized in tandem with PubCakes’ second anniversary during an event from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday, February 2. Details about the event are provided in the accompanying graphic.

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/jan/24/38965/

Seems odd for one to celebrate an anniversary the same day they close their sole retail outlet, but this is not the end of PubCakes. Birchall is currently kicking around ideas to restructure the business. Currently, that includes adopting a catering and events-only model or going into the beer cake mix business.

This year, in lieu of a birthday cake, my wife surprised me with a dozen PubCakes which my revelers and I promptly devoured (with beer, of course), so both plans have merit. Birchall’s personal favorite is the mix idea. Her plan is to take her base recipes and package them with pre-made frostings and fillings so that customers can make them at home. They will be available on the Pubcakes website as well as at various farmers markets.

“If you aren’t succeeding doing one thing, you have to change or it will go away,” says Birchall. “I know people are going to be disappointed, but I’m just happy that PubCakes will still be around. You’ll find me at beer festivals, and it looks like Treehouse Coffee and I are working out a partnership so that at least a couple of the flavors will still be available.”

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all

Previous article

Poway’s schools, faced with money squeeze, fined for voter mailing

$105 million bond required payback of nearly 10 times that amount

I met Navy linguist-turned-pro baker Misty Birchall at a San Diego Brewers Guild meeting in 2010. Despite being a local craft beer journalist, it seemed more people at the meeting were familiar with her than me. Of course, I didn’t have delicious beer-infused cupcakes to my credit. Apparently, nothing can cement one’s image in peoples' minds like sugary, IPA-spiked buttercream!

Since our first meeting, Birchall’s business, PubCakes, has risen quickly, gaining notoriety among the county’s craft beer sect, opening a shared storefront with Treehouse Coffee Co. (7229 El Cajon Boulevard, College East), appearing at events around town, in craft beer-centric books and periodicals, and even scoring time on the Food Network competitive cooking show Cupcake Wars. It was fun to watch such a positive evolution based on sheer determination and extremely flavorful desserts.

PubCakes seemed unstoppable, but apparently, frosting isn't bulletproof. Birchall is vacating the beer garden-equipped storefront (quite the value-added for a dessert dealership), a development that will be recognized in tandem with PubCakes’ second anniversary during an event from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday, February 2. Details about the event are provided in the accompanying graphic.

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/jan/24/38965/

Seems odd for one to celebrate an anniversary the same day they close their sole retail outlet, but this is not the end of PubCakes. Birchall is currently kicking around ideas to restructure the business. Currently, that includes adopting a catering and events-only model or going into the beer cake mix business.

This year, in lieu of a birthday cake, my wife surprised me with a dozen PubCakes which my revelers and I promptly devoured (with beer, of course), so both plans have merit. Birchall’s personal favorite is the mix idea. Her plan is to take her base recipes and package them with pre-made frostings and fillings so that customers can make them at home. They will be available on the Pubcakes website as well as at various farmers markets.

“If you aren’t succeeding doing one thing, you have to change or it will go away,” says Birchall. “I know people are going to be disappointed, but I’m just happy that PubCakes will still be around. You’ll find me at beer festivals, and it looks like Treehouse Coffee and I are working out a partnership so that at least a couple of the flavors will still be available.”

Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

The Inquisitive Tongue: Nanette Wiser's Good Dish

Next Article

Save Room for Dessert at Blueprint Café's Happy Hour

Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader