Cupcake bakery grows with two Woodlands locations

Almost any type of cuisine can be found along The Woodlands Waterway, and cupcakes are no exception since Terese Yates opened a second location of Frost Bake Shoppe there this spring.

Yates was a stay-at-home mother for 17 years before she opened the original Frost two years ago in Indian Springs.

"There were no other bakeries in The Woodlands when we moved here three years ago, and the only place to get a cupcake or cookie was at H-E-B," Yates said. "I love to bake and cook, so it seemed like the thing to do."

Yates chose to open the second location on the Waterway to reach a new clientele.

"I felt like the store we have in the back of The Woodlands is our neighborhood bakery, but up front we thought a lot of people didn't even know about us in the back," she said. "Because of the tourism, cultural events and meetings, it seemed like the Waterway was the best place to add that second location."

Yates rotates 35 cupcake flavors throughout the year, which range from toffee crunch—a chocolate cake with caramel butter cream sprinkles with Heath Bar crumbles to lemon raspberry. The strawberry cupcake is the most popular, followed by the red velvet and signature chocolate dream flavors, Yates said.

"[Chocolate dream] is like a gourmet Ding Dong or Hostess," she said.

In addition to the cupcakes, Yates bakes decorated sugar cookies, sheet cake brownies, cakes and cookie cakes.

The new store offers the same cupcake flavors as the original location, but since parking is limited in the area, there is an option for curbside pick-up. The decorations are also similar to the Indian Springs store, but Yates added jars of nostalgic candy and new furniture.

"We jazzed it up a bit with the crystal chandeliers and bar stools," Yates said. "We wanted it to be different and unique but still keep the old-fashioned theme, since that's what we tout ourselves as."

Last year, Yates was asked by Food Network to try out for the show "Cupcake Wars," and her episode premiered in August.

"The publicity for the store was great and still is," Yates said. "It definitely put us on the map. We get people coming from all over who want to take a picture of the store because they saw us on 'Cupcake Wars.'"

Although Yates expanded, she has no desire to incorporate or leave the area.

"That's why I didn't choose a franchise," Yates said. "I wanted to make my own decisions and have the company reflect who we are and our personalities and characters."

Seasonal flavors

Owner Terese Yates rotates various cupcake flavors each season. She will have several flavors going into the summer months.

• Lemon
• Lemon raspberry
• Strawberry lemonade
• Margarita
• Key lime

Frost Bake Shoppe, 25 Waterway Ave., Ste. 150, 6777 Woodlands Parkway, Ste. 304, The Woodlands, 281-298-7474