I had always dreamed of owning a bakery one day. I moved to L.A. straight out of college to begin a career in the film industry as a writer, producer and director. While in L.A., I met my husband, Peter, a New York-based film producer and writer, when he was in town for business. Soon after meeting him, we married and teamed up together to produce the feature motion picture, Love and Mary, a film that revolved around a woman who owned a gourmet bakery. 
Building from this idea, the two of us, along with restaurateur Brad Dorsey, came up with the concept for CRAVE in 2008. The idea was to create and sell cupcakes made from scratch with the finest and all-natural ingredients. As a child, some of my most precious memories were of baking with my mother and grandmother. Inspired by my childhood, as well as my passion for baking desserts and eye for creative design, we opened CRAVE with an open concept and visible kitchen to allow customers to enjoy the sounds, smells and laughter involved with baking.
While CRAVE began with a focus on cupcakes, drawing inspiration from family recipes, we have expanded the menu to serve bakeshop items such as cookies, brownies, bars and small-batch craft coffee. Across all menu items, we utilize only the finest ingredients such as Belgium chocolate, seasonal fresh fruits and made-in-house vanilla extract. Since its inception, we have been committed to quality. We truly care and want everyone to have the same quality experience whether it’s gluten-free, sugar-free or vegan options.
Growing the bakeshop has been a natural progression for us. We listen to the feedback from our customers, which has not only guided our evolving menu, but also our locations. Our first shop opened in Uptown Park, followed by West University and our third and largest location in The Woodlands, which functions as a dine-in bakery-coffee shop and now offers customers the opportunity to participate in a D-I-Y decorating program, Create by CRAVE. We have developed a culture and a following over the past eleven years. We wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t for our customers.
Our menu rotates daily, with a different variety of cupcakes available each day. In addition to our classic flavors such as red velvet, vanilla, dark chocolate and strawberry, some of our most popular cupcake flavors include salted caramel, carrot cake, old fashioned birthday cake, and cookies and cream. In addition to our original size, select flavors are available in mini and giant size. We also have a variety of handcrafted cupcake toppers that are available for pre-orders and are perfect for any occasion.
As we head into the holidays, we will be offering an assortment of seasonal options. Beginning October 1, we will have pumpkin loaf slices, pumpkin cupcakes and pumpkin lattes to celebrate the fall season. Dark chocolate raspberry cupcakes will be available in-store and online through October 13, followed by caramel apple cupcakes through the end of the month. Our Halloween lineup will include Krispy pops with Halloween colored sprinkles, spooky confetti cupcakes, and cupcakes and sugar cookies adorned with handcrafted Halloween themed toppers such as a mummy, Dracula and Frankenstein. 
For the first time ever, we are thrilled to share that anyone, located anywhere, can enjoy our bakeshop treats. CRAVE now ships nationally with Goldbelly; boxes of a dozen original size cupcakes ship overnight, Monday through Thursday, for $89 total including shipping.
For more information, visit www.cravecupcakes.com, call 713-622-7283 or email [email protected]. Follow us on Facebook (@cravecupcakeshtx), Instagram (@cravecupcakeshtx) and Twitter (@CRAVEhouston).
photo credit: Ailee Petrovic
