Countless Bettie fans agree that she was one sweet treat. And now... (drumroll, please!).... you can find the cupcake cafe that Bettie inspired if you're in and around the Saratoga, NY area.
Photographer Lorraine Murphy, the lead Bettie, opened Bettie's Cakes, which targets a selection of mouth watering treats that recreate "a wholesome feel and glamour of the ’50s."
Are your taste buds tingling? Read more about this endearing threat to your waistline here:
Printed in The Saratogian, local news, sports and weather serving the Saratoga Springs, N.Y. region
Published: Monday, November 23, 2009
http://www.saratogian.com/articles/2009/11/23/news/doc4b0a16ad51a0d014569525.txtPasted below is the article in case the newspaper moves or deletes the text. Also below is an overview about Lorraine Murphy which ran in All Over Albany.
In the Biz: With cupcakes, kicking back to an earlier eraBy MAREESA NICOSIA, The Saratogian
What’s the color of bubblegum, sounds like a sock hop and smells like strawberries and cream?
It’s Bettie’s Cakes, Saratoga’s latest cupcake café to open in the Downstreet Marketplace, and it comes with a retro twist.
In the newly renovated space at 454 Broadway, customers can cure their sweet tooth in authentic-looking vinyl booths while a jukebox plays ’50s tunes. Soda pop, root-beer floats, soft serve and, of course, freshly baked cupcakes are served by “Betties” — waitresses wearing saucy hairdos and colorful aprons.
Owner Lorraine Murphy is the lead “Bettie,” and works alongside her husband, John, and her 13-year-old daughter, Shawnee, in the shop.
She says her purpose through the cupcake café is to “try to bring back a wholesome feel and glamour of the ’50s” by appealing to families and children.
“It’s about family coming together to have that quality time,” she said Sunday as the café filled up with parents and their small children clamoring over their favorite flavor of frosting.
The couple said Saratoga is, to them, a prime spot for such a specialty business.
“A lot of people are addicted to cupcakes,” Murphy said. “The kids can come in and virtually design their own cupcake.”
The Murphys, who live in Clifton Park, have established themselves as entrepreneurs in the area — Lorraine as an artist through her pinup photography makeover service, First Impressions in Clifton Park, and John with Core Physical Therapy in Guilderland.
They run Bettie’s with pastry chef Molly Hartley and a small crew, who produced about 1,000 cupcakes of all sizes Saturday for the store’s grand opening.
Message cakes for special occasions and birthday-cake-sized cupcakes are available in addition to cupcake sundaes, mini cupcakes, cookies and themed merchandise designed by Murphy.
Another facet of the business is a mobile cupcake café the Murphys plan to set up in Guilderland this December. Hot drinks and baked goods from the Saratoga shop will be sold out of a restored 1963 double-decker British bus, which could travel throughout the region from event to event, Murphy said.
Bettie’s Cakes is open from noon to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and from noon to
11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. For more information, call 894-1179 or go to
http://www.bettiescakes.com/index.html.
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From
http://alloveralbany.com/archive/2009/11/23/cheesecake-and-cupcakesCheesecake and cupcakesposted Nov 23, 2009
This didn't click in our heads until this morning: Lorraine Murphy, the owner of the new Bettie's Cakes in Saratoga, is the local photographer Lorraine Murphy who takes pinup photos.... From our interview with her earlier this year:
I just like the classic beauty of the pin-ups. They were so gorgeous and curvy. I like that the women could be curvy. The 50's were exciting -- the sexuality -- it's kind of like a tease -- not showing the whole thing. I like the hint of suggestion.
I think because it's very period -- it's not everyday -- it's more fun. It's something very different but still classy. I didn't want to do nude or boudoir photos. Retro is more fun anyway. You're going back in time. You put on wigs from the 1950's -- it's fun to go back in time to the glamor days
The new cake shop, of course, has a 1950s aesthetic.
And one of the inspirations for Murphy's pin-up photographs: Bettie Page. Yep, with an "ie."
