Misty Birchall hasn’t just taken the world of craft beer and food pairing to a whole new level; she’s pushed it into a whole new dimension. By combining some of San Diego’s most beautifully crafted beers into its most delectable cupcake creations, Birchall has delivered a piece of heaven itself to America’s Finest City with her business, PubCakes.

 
After spending 6 years in the U.S. Navy as a linguist Birchall, a San Diego native, decided to move back home in search for a change. Upon arriving back home she fell head over heels in love with craft beer and discovered her new “home away from home” in her now favorite local beer bar, Toronado.

Being a fan of baking, she found a recipe for a Guinness cake, which she transformed into her famous Irish Carbomb…blending Guinness chocolate cake with Irish cream frosting & chocolate whiskey ganache. After making extra cupcakes and giving them to friends one evening at Toronado, Birchall says, “…It sparked an obsession.” It didn’t take long before Birchall was working on new recipes focused around some of San Diego’s best craft beers. It was then that PubCakes was born.

PubCakes then found a space at Treehouse Coffee Co. on El Cajon Boulevard which served as the storefront where the cupcake and beer magic took place. Birchall’s sweet creations were not only welcomed, but also highly sought after. At beer events all across San Diego, craft beer fans with a sweet tooth showed up demanding her many original desserts, which include: The Top Ten Cake made with Karl Strauss Tower Ten IPA, cayenne caramel cherries and ancho chilies, The Super Pretzel (my personal favorite) made with Green Flash Double Stout, pretzels, peanut butter and chocolate, and of course the ever-popular Portzilla, made with Stone Smoked Porter, coffee ganache and caramelized coconut.

PubCakes has since moved out of the El Cajon Blvd location, but that doesn’t mean Birchall isn’t doing BIG things. By big, we mean astronomical. Birchall has found a way to deliver the actual cake mixes themselves to fans looking to recreate the classic beer cupcakes at home. At the moment, you can find these cake mixes at local farmers markets in La Mesa, Hillcrest and North Park every week.

But that’s not all. With a brand new Kickstarter campaign, Birchall is looking to fund the ability to deliver her cake mixes far and wide. Her Kickstarter campaign looks to raise $2,500 to help fund all of the necessary permits as well as the state regulated labels and packaging. The dollars donated will be rewarded with fantastic incentives, including a custom tee shirt by San Diego beer artist Craft Beerd, personalized beer tour with Birchall serving as host, and of course the cake mixes.

The campaign, which went live to the public on August 5th, reached its preliminary goal in blazing time. Didn’t get a chance to help fund the goal? Don’t worry because there is a brand new and even more exciting stretch goal presented. When the amount of $5,000 is reached, Birchall plans to put the funds toward packaging and selling her AleSmith Speedway Stout Chocolate Sauce. A recipe she has yet to share with the general public. Yes, you seriously read that correctly. A chocolate sauce made with AleSmith Speedway Stout and Callebaut Cocoa, which also happens to be dairy free.

PubCakes continues to deliver dreamy craft beer inspired desserts to San Diego beer fans and plans to send them nationally soon. To learn more about Misty Birchall, PubCakes and the Kickstarter campaign, click the appropriate links. Oh, and look below for a full interview with Misty herself. TBZ!

 
First off, the question you probably get more than any other question ever… Why beer and cupcakes?

I used to bake the birthday cakes at my old office job because I was the best baker there. Around this time I got really into craft beer, primarily at Toronado SD. Remember those $3 pint nights where you could get a Delerium for $3? Yeah, I drank a lot of good beer. Anyway, I found a guinness chocolate cake recipe online, and made the first version of the Irish Carbomb Cake, and made cupcakes with the extra batter. This sparked the obsession. From that day on I started making cupcakes with craft beer, and primarily locally brewed San Diego beer. I would bring the cupcakes to Toronado on Monday nights give them away to people at the bar.

What was the transition like moving out from Treehouse Coffee, to now selling at Farmers Markets and onto the cake mixes?

When my lease ended with Treehouse and I had to close my doors, I was honestly burnt out. I had decided to get a job and work for someone else, because that’s easier right? So that’s what I did… but I was never really happy. And then I did a PubCakes event that I had scheduled before the shop closed. And I was happy again. That’s when I decided to start doing the farmer’s markets. Honestly, the Craft Beer Cake Mix has been a plan of mine since I started doing the markets. And I’ve found that I have more fun working the markets than I did running the shop. It’s a lot less stressful, and a lot more fun getting to talk to everyone.

Tell us about the new Kickstarter campaign, and for those who are unaware what the funding will go towards.

The initial $2,500 will cover the costs of CA state permits required to sell pre-packaged foods retail, approved food labels, and packaging. Currently, I hand stamp each bag, I’ll be able to start having them printed with the stretch goal I’ve recently added of $5,000. I will also start selling an AleSmith Speedway Stout Chocolate Sauce that I have developed. This funding will cover canning supplies, ingredients, and packaging.

How did you come to the idea of PubCakes mixes for people to make at home?

In the shop, when we would prepare our cupcake batters, the first thing we would do is measure out the dry ingredients for each batch. Once we had done this, making the cupcake batter was a snap. That’s really what made me realize people can make them at home, and not just some preservative-filled fake cake mix, but gourmet cupcakes simplified down so that anyone can make them.

What can you tell us about your experience on Cupcake Wars? How was the experience?

Cupcake Wars was a different experience. You can’t really tell in the episode, but Kailtin and I rocked it. She and I were done baking before all of the teams, and even cleaned up our space. We work very efficiently together.

They have invited me to come back and compete every season since, due to the whole voted off due to an ingredient I use in all of my cupcakes. But you know, I think one time on reality TV was enough for me.

What have been the most popular PubCakes to date?

Hands down, the most popular cupcake is The Portzilla. It is made with Stone Smoked Porter, chocolate coffee ganache, and caramelized coconut. The people who love this cupcake don’t even care about the other flavors. My personal favorite is the ManzaNeed It, made with Manzanita Brewery’s Gillespie Brown Ale Cake, with black pepper and Nutella buttercream. I also love the Half Nelson… made with Alpine Nelson IPA cake, grapefruit zest, lemon curd filling, and vanilla milk frosting.

So, what exciting things can we look forward to you from PubCakes in the coming future?

I don’t know… I’m still really excited about the Craft Beer Cake Mix. I think that selling the mix in shops around the country would be the most exciting thing to me.

But I am also obsessed with beer caramels as of late, so we’ll see what comes out.

Please finish this sentence… Cupcakes and beer are a perfect combo because…

This is hard!!! hahaha… I know so many reasons.
— because I said so.
— because they make everyone happy, cupcake lovers AND beer drinkers.
— because the introduce craft beer to a new audience in an entirely new way.