Ever Tried A "CupKate"?

Kate Hall used to think she would grow up to be the first woman to be President of the United States, but now she wants to be the queen of cupcakes.

The plucky 11-year-old Clinton girl launched her own successful cupcake business “CupKates” over the summer, pocketing about $250 from the sale of cupcakes at the snack bar at Guilford Racquet & Swim Club, where her mother Beth is assistant manager.

She also has donated about $220 from the sale of her cupcakes, lemonade and her handmade beaded bracelets to the Rally for the Cure, a breast cancer fund-raiser held last month at the Guilford club.

In her latest show of goodwill, she has donated two dozen jumbo cupcakes as a raffle prize in a fundraiser Sunday for a Guilford tennis team that is raising funds to compete at Nationals on Sept. 23rd.

“I love cupcakes - they’re awesome,” said Kate, a sixth-grader at Our Lady of Mercy School in Madison. “Sometimes during breaks during the school day, my friend and I will look at cupcake books and just go 'wow' over some of the cupcakes.  I’ve decided that I really want to be a baker when I grow up.”

Kate’s love of baking began when she was about four years old when she would help her father, Matt, make birthday cakes for her family, which also includes her older sister Emily, 15.

Searching for a way to stay busy and make some money over the summer, she approached snack bar manager Colleen Phelan of Killingworth and asked if she’d be willing to sell her cupcakes.

Kate said she was willing to give Colleen 50 percent of her proceeds, but she was able to keep $1.50 of every $2 cupcake sold.

Though she has made some cakes and cupcakes from scratch, Kate said she usually uses Pillsbury cake mixes and frosting because it is a time-saver, tastes good and saves her money.

“It’s the cheapest mix out there and I have to pay for it,” Kate explains. “And I don’t have time to make cupcakes from scratch because I’m so busy between my sports and homework.”

Kate said she loves every aspect of creating cupcakes, from mixing the ingredients to creating unique decorations with frosting. One of her favorites over the summer was a stars-and-stripes themed cupcake to mark the Fourth of July. Another favorite is her red velvet cupcake topped with cream cheese frosting.

Beth Hall said the business was her daughter’s idea, noting she did everything on her own, including coming up with the catchy name. She said the only things Kate wants for her birthday next month involve baking, including a cake leveler and some fancy decorating tools. 

“You should see her in the cupcake aisle of the store,” Beth Hall said. “It’s like her sister when she’s in the shoe aisle.”

Besides cupcakes, Kate said she loves school, particularly math and English. A straight-A student, she placed first last year in 5th grade in the Knights of Columbus Spelling Bee, a statewide contest for Catholic school students. She notes that she has always loved business and has been negotiating with people since she was a little girl.

“I’ve always done that with my sister,” Kate said. “She would want to give me a makeover and I’d say, ‘Well, if you give me a makeover, you have to play cards with me for a half an hour. I’ve just always been that way.”