The specialty cupcake trend is arriving in South Portland by way of another trend – food trucks – when Love Kupcakes opens soon in the parking lot of the Bull Moose store in Mill Creek.

Opening within the next several weeks, the food truck will offer a variety of artisanal, vegan and gluten-free baked goods, from cupcakes to whoopie pies and cookies to petite pies, between April and December each year. The South Portland spot is the third location for Love Kupcakes, which has a permanent booth at the Portland Public Market House and another seasonal trailer that operates in the Old Port.

Love Kupcakes is owned by Amy Alward, a financial planner with an office in South Portland. All the goodies for sale are baked daily at the company’s commercial kitchen at the public market.

The bakery trailer received Planning Board approval last week, but still needs a waiver from the City Council in order to operate within 500 feet of another licensed food establishment – in this case, the Wendy’s restaurant, which is located across Waterman Drive from Bull Moose.

As in her other locations, Alward plans to hire staff to run the bakery, which will be open daily, between 7 a.m.-7 p.m., April 1 to Dec. 31.

“When gourmet-type food trucks start showing up in your city, it means two things – there is a foodie culture and market demand, (along with) a healthy level of entrepreneurship and risk-taking,” said Josh Reny, South Portland’s assistant city manager and economic development director.

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He also noted that in recent years, “the Mill Creek and Knightville area has seen several new food establishments (open), with more on the horizon, including a new brew pub. It’s becoming a really hot area.”

Reny added that with the completion of the Mill Creek Master Plan last year, “there are a lot of opportunities for enterprising entrepreneurs or real estate developers” looking to locate in South Portland’s downtown area.

“Greater Portland has become a renowned foodie destination and it’s now a regional trend,” he said. “We need to embrace this as part of our regional brand as we market this area throughout the country and around the world.”

Alward said what makes Love Kupcakes different is that the company uses all natural ingredients, many of which are sourced from local farms, particularly the fruit.

Love Kupcakes also uses Kate’s Butter, made in Arundel, eggs from free-range chickens and organic cane sugar. The company also recently began making its own Madagascar bourbon vanilla.

Alward chose to partner with Bull Moose, a locally owned chain offering music, movies, books and more, because, she said, “we love Bull Moose and everything that they represent. We are excited that they wanted to work with us on this project.”

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She added, “I love the Knightville-Mill Creek area and we have fans who have asked if we would be opening up a location where they could pick up our baked goods without having to cross over the bridge” into Portland.

While she’s now a financial consultant, Alward has many years of restaurant experience, including helping her mother bake desserts for the former Stockpot Restaurant in Portsmouth, N.H.

She started Love Kupcakes because she wanted to continue her mother’s legacy.

“Although she’s passed, I can feel her presence in our passion to bring artisanal baked goods to the greater Portland area,” she said.

Love Kupcakes got started three years ago, but is already making a mark in the local foodie scene, Alward said. In addition to cupcakes, she said, the new South Portland location would also offer “mouthwatering doughnut holes,” ice cream sandwiches and coffee.

Tex Haeuser, the city’s planning director, said this week that while the Love Kupcakes unit “looks like a food truck, it’s staying in one place, so it’s (considered to be) a stationary vending unit.”

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Under South Portland’s code of ordinances, such businesses require Planning Board approval, with the main concern being traffic circulation and pedestrian safety.

Haeuser is not sure what it means that Love Kupcakes is coming to town, but did say, “I hope it’s an indication of a trend to more interesting design in all aspects of the built environment in Mill Creek and in the city as a whole.”

The Love Kupcakes unit is a “retro canned ham” concession trailer that is 15 feet long and 7 feet wide. It will be parked in the southeast corner of the parking lot at Bull Moose, which is the location furthest from the store’s front door, according to the project description provided to the Planning Board.

On its website, Love Kupcakes said the company’s mission is to provide its customers with “the most memorable cupcake experience of their lives. Using only the highest quality ingredients, our experienced pâtissiers develop fantastic flavor combinations using seasonal and locally sourced ingredients.”

For instance, among the special spring and summer cupcake flavors are
blueberry maple, vanilla strawberry and raspberry basil. In addition to its retail baked goods, Love Kupcakes also creates wedding cakes and other special desserts made to order.

When asked about the choice of her company name, Alward said, “Everybody loves a cupcake.”

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A closer look

Love Kupcakes, a baked good vendor, plans to open a new location in South Portland’s Mill Creek district. See www.lovekupcakesinc.com for more information about the company and its menu.

Love Kupcakes is bringing its artisanal baked goods to South Portland’s Mill Creek.

Specially flavored cupcakes made with all natural ingredients top the menu at Love Kupcakes.