Sugarbelle Satisfies West Hartford's Sweet Tooth

There are but three universal certainties in life: death, taxes, and cupcakes are just freakin’ delicious.

So, keeping in mind that the Grim Reaper and the IRS will eventually catch up with everyone, it should come as no small relief to West Hartford residents that Sugarbelle has opened in the Center at 7 South Main St.

Sugarbelle, occupying a petite space just large enough for a display case and a payment register, deals almost exclusively in cupcakes. Delicious. Decadent. Heaven-sent. Freshly made. Cupcakes. Twenty-seven flavors of them.

The flavors run the gamut, from the basics such as the Old Fashioned, described by co-owner Kit Digges as a “Devil Dog on steroids,” to the popular Red Velvet, to Peanut Butter and Jelly, to Creamsicle.

For the 21 and over crowd, there are Mojito and even Guinness and Bailey’s flavored cupcakes.

Asking customers their favorite flavor is akin to asking parents to pick their favorite child.

Digges, for her part, finally settled on coconut.

“I think we’re unique because this is all we do, and we do it well,” Digges said. “We use the best ingredients from all over the world.” 

Digges said that she has a team of four pastry chefs who come up with new flavors. Decisions on whether to add to the menu are made by committee.

“[The staff] all have a piece in a new [flavor],” Digges said.

Because of the store’s small size, none of the baking takes place at the West Hartford location.

The cupcakes are made fresh every morning at the original Sugarbelle in Glastonbury, which co-owners Digges and Toni Cellucci bought about a year and a half ago.

The cupcakes are then trucked over to the West Hartford location, which Digges said that she and Cellucci opened recently in response to customer demand.

“The customers asked us to please come across the river,” Digges said. “We are listening and responding to the customers. They are what are driving the business. They’ve been faithful customers, so we’re trying to be faithful to them.”

And Sugarbelle is nothing if not faithful to its customers: from the person dropping in for a post-meal snack to the one who is looking for catered treats for a large corporate event.

Sugarbelle offers customized cupcakes and delivers; employees will even meet patrons at the curbside who call ahead with their orders.

“The whole transaction takes 10, maybe 15, seconds,” Digges said.

The staff, which is as equally pleasant as the wares the store offers, has the demanding task of having to taste every cupcake flavor so as to be able to give informed responses to customer inquiries.

How does one keep from becoming morbidly obese while working at Sugarbelle?

“You have to limit yourself,” said Chelsea Sullivan, a cheerful college student who was manning the counter Thursday morning. “I stay to one [cupcake] a day.”

Cupcakes are priced at $2.50 apiece, $15 for a half dozen and $28 per dozen.

The store also offers cakes and other confections, and Sugarbelle caters special occasions such as weddings, showers, bar mitzvahs, bat mitzvahs and corporate events all over New England.

“We were just in New Hampshire and Rhode Island,” said Digges, who added that the new store has been a hit, and that she and her partner are already looking to open a third location in the Farmington Valley.

“It’s going very well,” Digges said.

Don’t just take her word for it.

Several customers who walked in during a reporter’s visit said that they swore by Sugarbelle’s cupcakes.

“I like to bake, but I don’t have time to bake, so they do it for me,” said Angie Termini, who ordered two of her favorites: one lemon and one coconut. “They’re not too sweet and they taste so true. Whatever ingredients they’re using taste true. They use high-quality butter that even a non-baker would recognize.”

Jen Giacomini, a recruiter at a local accounting firm, was spotted ordering two dozen cupcakes for a corporate event.

“[The cupcakes] are excellent,” Giacomini said. “It’s so hard to find something as unique as this. Everyone to whom I’ve brought [Sugarbelle] cupcakes raved about them.”

Sugarbelle is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, call 860-652-9600 or visit www.sugarbellecakes.com.