In 2008, an unusual shop opened in Amman that initially confused most locals who passed by. The bright pink storefront and inviting windows tempted many to peek inside, but what they saw only added to their confusion – what appeared to be curiously colored muffins lined the vanilla white counter.
In reality, these “muffins” were nothing less than the Middle East’s introduction to the cupcake. The latest American fad would succeed so quickly that today we can find cupcake bakeries cropping up in most major Middle Eastern cities.
But it all started with the bright pink storefront in this glitzy Jordanian neighborhood of Abdoun. Fadi Jaber - the store’s ambitious, pastry-loving owner – had recently graduated from the Institute of Culinary Education in Manhattan. When he came to Amman and opened Sugar Daddy’s, he by all accounts had opened the first bakery in the region that specializes in cupcakes.
We can trace Fadi’s story back to 2004 when Fadi visited the renowned Magnolia Bakery in New York. Brought there by a friend, the purported vanilla-frosted vanilla cupcake inspired him to quit his job and take up the art of baking. However, maybe Fadi’s true inspiration springs from his childhood in Saudi Arabia - Fadi distinctly recalls preferring the American treats his friends brought to school over the traditional Arab desserts of qatayef and knafah. According to other accounts, Fadi simply saw a market opportunity – you couldn’t find a real gourmet pastry shop in Amman until the opening of Sugar Daddy’s.
Whatever the root of Fadi’s inspiration may be, there is no denying the success of his cupcakes. Initial skepticism gave way to an outright craze that keeps his 13 employees busy baking upwards of 400 cupcakes in 12 different flavors every day of the week. A large portion of Sugar Daddy’s revenue comes from walk-in customers that usually buy between one and a half dozen cupcakes. But an increasing number of catering requests can turn a relaxed day at the bakery into a chaotic one – Google once put in an order for 1500 cupcakes, requesting each to be delicately decorated with the company’s logo in frosting. Not even Google, however, can compete with Valentine’s Day; Fadi claims that he once personally piped 2000 messages on cupcakes for the holiday.
Having spent his personal savings to open his cupcake store, Fadi decided to raise much-needed capital by franchising his brand. Fadi sold his recipes and the right to operate under the company name to interested investors, and today two Sugar Daddy’s locations cater to the population of Beirut. According to the company website, plans are underway to open another branch in Dubai.
Although Fadi Jaber receives credit for introducing cupcakes to the MENA region, other investors have hardly been idling by the sidelines. Rather than allow Sugar Daddy’s to corner the market, American cupcake chains have outlined an aggressive plan to expand to the Middle East.
In fact, Magnolia Bakery, the pastry shop whose cupcake originally inspired Fadi, made its international debut in the Dubai Mall in 2010. To the shock of even Magnolia’s owner, the cupcake shop was an overnight success. Magnolia’s reputation preceded its arrival, so to speak, and the internationally-savvy population of Dubai ensured that the bakery had no shortage of customers. Within a few years, Magnolia Bakeries could also be found in Kuwait, Qatar and Lebanon, and in 2013 the Magnolia Bakery CEO expressed his hope to build an additional 300 stores in international locations.
Even Sprinkles, the bakery from Beverly Hills known as ground zero for gourmet cupcakes, decided to try its hand at the MENA region. In 2012 the legendary cupcake maker announced its plans to open its first Middle Eastern location in Kuwait, followed by new stores in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
It’s hard to know if gourmet cupcakes will become a permanent fixture at the Middle Eastern table, especially when up against classics like knafah and qatayef. In the meantime, however, the cupcake invasion continues. This author must admit that – having recently experienced Sugar Daddy’s himself - this is not an invasion he intends to resist.