What were your favorite desserts growing up?
Cupcakes of course! I was always trying different flavor combinations and even had my first job in a bakery at age 13 but I couldn't master the box string machine.

When did you start baking?
I have always had a ferocious sweet tooth and although I haven't had any professional training, baking has always been my passion. I was constantly baking growing up and my parents were good sports because they always told me it was delicious. Maybe it was, but I am sure there were plenty of experiments in there!

When did you decide you wanted to turn baking cupcakes into a business?
I did a lot of baking and I saw how happy it made people so when Jason and I started to talk about opening a business together, opening a bakery seemed like the perfect way to combine both skills and our passions. There was a whole feel and experience we wanted to achieve so it very much informed the kind of desserts I made and the look of our stores. We really wanted a neighborhood bakery reminiscent of our childhoods. We opened our first CRUMBS Bake Shop on the Upper West Side in 2003.

If you didn't open CRUMBS, what would you be doing?
For six years prior to opening CRUMBS I was working as a lawyer doing political and legislative work for the New York City Council, so had we not taken this leap of faith of opening our own business I'd likely still be doing something in that industry.

What makes CRUMBS so different from other cupcake bakeries?
When we opened our stores, cupcakes were vanilla, chocolate, lemon, or strawberry, maybe with sprinkles. We were really the first bakery to create cupcakes with cool fillings, frostings, and decorations that had never been done before. Vanilla Coconut was one of my first creations consisting of vanilla cake frosted with rich vanilla cream cheese frosting and topped with just the right amount of sweet shredded coconut. While we made a variety of baked goods, it was our cupcakes that sold out every day, so we decided to expand and continued to grow our cupcake selection. Our gourmet cupcakes have now become the industry standard.

What influences the new flavors you create?
I am constantly testing out new flavors and drawing inspiration from my kids, employees and our loyal fans to develop new varieties. I spend a lot of my time baking on my own to try out new flavors, which are constantly being created. Luckily, I could snack on sweets all day, since part of my job is to taste every new flavor, and not just a bite!

What's your favorite cupcake flavor?
My favorite flavor at the moment is the Milkshake cupcake which is a marble cake filled with vanilla cream cheese frosting mixed with chocolate sandwich cookie crumbs topped with vanilla cream cheese frosting and a chocolate cream cheese frosting swirl edge with chocolate crunchies.

What's the most interesting flavor combination?
For me, it's the salt and sweet combination. Everyone loves the Sea Salt Chocolate cupcake, but it's not a combination I naturally gravitate towards. I like my sweet and salty separate.

What is your favorite secret ingredient?
My favorite secret ingredient is vanilla bean. I add it to a lot of recipes in small enough amounts that you don't immediately recognize it, but the subtlety of its taste enhances the overall flavor.

Besides cupcakes, what's your favorite food to bake/cook?
My favorite thing to bake other than cupcakes is apple pie. I make a killer one. My favorite thing to cook is Indian food. The spices are the most amazingly fragrant and delicious in the world!

What is one rule or value you try to instill in all your staff?
I try and instill in my staff to be happy and friendly, because it is contagious for everyone, customers and co-workers alike. Also, I try and remind my staff to put things in perspective. A seemingly bad situation can in retrospect be a life changing opportunity depending on your perspective.

What's your best baking success?
My greatest baking success has been the red velvet cake and cupcake. It is hard - harder than you would think - to get just the right combination of ingredients. You need to be able to taste all of them but in varying intensity. It took years to get it just right.

What is your best baking tip for a home enthusiast?
Don't be afraid to get creative and think outside the box. My greatest flavor successes were mixing unlikely ingredients and trying new techniques.

What should customers look forward to in the cupcake future?
More fun flavors and more locations to come and visit us! We'll also be introducing a new limited edition cupcake this fall for a great cause. We've teamed up with the National Breast Cancer Coalition to introduce the Pink Ribbon cupcake which will be available from October 1st -16th in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month. We hope you'll indulge your sweet tooth and join us in supporting this worthwhile cause!