Mom and Daughter Cook Up Sweet Conspiracy

It may be the best kind of conspiracy out there. A Merrimack mother and daughter have conspired to bring something delicious to town.

On Tuesday, Lisa and Stevia Lefebvre will open the doors to Merrimack's newest business, Cupcake Conspiracy.

Baking has been a passion of Lisa's for many years, she said, and her daughter Stevia is a recent graduate from the New England Culinary Institute in Vermont.

“We wanted to do this because we just don't have anything like this in Merrimack,” Lisa Lefebvre said.

Lefebvre said she loves to bake cakes, but wanted to do something a little more accessible to someone who wants a quick, sweet pick-me-up in the afternoon and cupcakes were the perfect way to combine the two.

Having owned a Pampered Chef business for 17 years, Lefebvre already liked the idea of working with people and working with food. Having worked most recently at the Boston Express bus station in Londonderry, Lefebvre said she really want to do something else that she had owenrship of. With encouragement from her husband, and her friend Lisa Tamplin, owner of Renu Body Salon and Spa, she decided to jump in feet first.

She saw the property on June 8, next door to Renu at 583 Daniel Webster Highway, in the small plaza across the street from the Shaw's in the northern part of town. Three months and one renovation later, the Lefebvre women are excited to open the doors.

“It's like Lisa (Tamplin) told me, 'If you think about it too much, you won't do it,' ” Lefebvre said. "So I did it."

On Friday, mom and daughter were in the kitchen for the first time making 300 cupcakes to have at the one year anniversary celebration for Renu on Saturday, just three days before they were to open their own doors.

They were making carrot cake, rootbeer float and strawberry and lime stuffed cupcakes for the event. It's a different animal, making hundreds of cupcakes at a time, rather than dozens, Lefebvre said, but she and Stevia are ready to make a splash in town.

“Cupcakes are the thing right now,” Lefebvre said. “If you're going to start a business, you might as well do something that people want.”

And the buzz around town has been just what she wants.

Cupcake Conspiracy already has 166 fans on Facebook and people have been grabbing the "Coming Soon" flyers from an envelope at the door just about as fast as they can put them out. People have been posting comments asking about employment and hours, suggesting cupcake flavors and just to say they can't wait for the doors to open.

Tomorrow, the wait will finally be over.

Each day, the pair will offer six different kinds of cupcakes. The flavors will be listed on a chalk board on the wall and will be ready for purchase on the spot. They can also take orders from customers for larger quantities, and recommend that method for anyone who wants to be sure they can get what they want.

For now, as they get their feet under them, they will not be offering cupcakes for special dietary needs, like gluten-free, sugar-free or low-carb. But Lefebvre said it's something they will consider doing once they see what the demand is like for those products.

The cupcakery will also offer coffee, tea and cold beverages. Seating for now is limited to two, four-top tables, but Lefebvre said she hopes that will be something she can change once they become a little more established.

Lefebvre said she's been coming up with cupcakes based off of recipes she's found all over the place, some are adapted from family recipes and some from suggestions of things to try.

“I don't have secret recipes passed down from my grandmother, because really, everyone's grandmother's recipe is out there, is just under someone else's name,” Lefebvre said.

She said they recently tried a champagne and raspberry cupcake with raspberry curd and champagne frosting and they made a Mountain Dew cupcake that she said was a big hit among their taste testers.

Cupcake Conspiracy will open for it's first day of business Tuesday, Sept. 13, at 11 a.m.

Lefebvre said her goal is to sell out of cupcakes each day, since they bake and serve only fresh cupcakes daily.

“This is really going to be something different from anything else in town,” Lefebvre said.