Despite the isolated location, the love is evident inside. Cupcakes by Paolo is a family business. The eponymous Paolo (seen here) is a third-generation baker and is assisted by his parents. They originally owned Masarap, the Filipino bakery in Churchill Avenue, and baked all the bread for their shop Lutong Pinoy in Footscray Market. Now they bake on the premises here in Ashley Street and still supply the bread for Lutong Pinoy's new owners.
There are two styles at Cupcakes by Paolo - rich, moist chocolate/red velvet bases and very light, sponge-like fruity bases. My favourite are tender chocolatey bases which are complemented perfectly by creamy swirls of frosting. My friend S loves Asian chiffon cakes and as such loves the light, fluffy texture of the fruity/vanilla bases.
A cupcake and a coffee is a pretty unreal $5. They're open from 7am if you need your coffee hit on the way to Tottenham station. The only hard thing is resisting a cupcake for breakfast!
28c Ashley Street, West Footscray
Phone: 9689 1983
Bizarre location but I'll give them a whirl! What's the coffee like?
ReplyDeleteDarn, now I want a cupcake for breakfast. Their cupcakes are certainly distinguishable texturally: very spongy, suitable for chiffon-type cakes!
ReplyDeleteBeen trying to get my greedy mitts on one of them Pandan cupcakes for a while now. Guess I'll just have to go there for morning tea. Excellent news for cupcake lovers. Bad news for personal trainers and such.
ReplyDeleteNice to see them get a write up :) My partner didn't like their coffee on opening day but he's a real coffee snob. I liked their hot chocolate - and really enjoyed the chocolate cupcake with chocolate icing.
ReplyDeleteWent back there last Saturday at about 2:30 and they were sold out - apart from one last box of mini cupcakes. But I didn't want to spend $40-odd when all I wanted was a cupcake :( Will have to get there earlier next time.
Very friendly staff.. :)
I drive past this place every day and thought of dropping in last Saturday but it didn't look open. I will definitely schedule a vist for this weekend!
ReplyDeleteI'm with Vee - cupcakes for breakfast! Bennie and I had the $5 combo - good deal! There's a lot to be said for sitting in there and watching the traffic whiz by. What with the Nepalese place across the road, one wonders: What next up there?
ReplyDeleteYou know, I tried a few of their cupcakes about 18 months ago from their stall in the market and I wasn't super impressed, and they didn't look very "pretty" - but from your photos, they look much nicer, and I think they might be worthy of another try!
ReplyDeleteI still haven't tried their cupcakes...mainly because I keep eating their Dinaguan LOL
ReplyDeleteCool, I'll visit the new store this week - looks great!
I love that you are always pointing things out right under my nose! I will definitely be stopping off very soon to give them a try. I always loved seeing their cupcakes in the unlikely market surrounds :)
ReplyDeleteMmm, those look good. I absolutely LOLed (dork alert) at the bain marie observation!
ReplyDeleteI often stop at Tottenham station en route to my man's Nan's house for dinner. Should definitely go by and support this family business.
I always, always have a soft spot for family businesses. As cheesy as it may sound, best thing about these cupcakes is that they look like they were made with LOVE... Will have to try this one day! Hope to be able to strike a conversation with the owners/bakers too! They seem lovely =)
ReplyDeleteWe stopped off yesterday and went back today. The Jaffa cupcake I had today was amazing!
ReplyDeleteHi Lauren, great post.
ReplyDeleteDo you have an email address where I am able to contact you?
regards
Nurit
Hi Nurit, it's on the sidebar under "About Footscray Food Blog".
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