By Jeff Martin, founder of Smallcakes Cupcakery and Creamery
When I opened the first Smallcakes in 2008, I never dreamed I would be traveling the globe to assist other people in meeting their dreams as well. Since appearing on “Cupcake Wars” and “The View,” we began franchising and grew to 170 locations worldwide. We recently expanded to Saudi Arabia, and locations in Kuwait and Qatar are coming soon.
But we are most excited about opening our concept on 30A. Before my wife Brandy and I were married, Seaside was always where we would meet friends and enjoy the beach life. Some of our best memories happened after we moved to Kansas. We were not going to let living 16 hours away change anything. We would pack the minivan and our brand new baby girl and road trip every other month for a weekend. We looked like suburban hippies.
It’s a true story that we thought up the idea of Smallcakes while sitting at Bud & Alley’s Waterfront Restaurant watching the waves over some cold beers. We said for years that we would love to open our concept down here, and when the opportunity for a space came available in Seacrest Beach, we decided to pack up and move from Kansas.
Smallcakes 30A is now the corporate headquarters, test kitchen and training facility for the entire company. We bake 18 flavors of cupcakes fresh from scratch daily and churn out 15 flavors of small batch cupcake-infused ice cream, like Lily’s Strawberry Ice Cream, named after my daughter, and Glazed Donut Ice Cream, inspired by my son Jax.
Brandy, Lily, Jax and I have enjoyed every day of the beach life. For me, traveling is so easy now. I can roll into the airport half an hour before my flights, which gives me more time to spend with my family. Our time is spent riding bikes in the morning and we finish up the day watching the sunset at Bud & Alley’s, where it all began.
Smallcakes 30A is located at the Villages of South Walton in Seacrest Beach.