By Peter Covino

Entertainment Editor

In England they eat fairy cakes, in Australia, it’s a patty cake but no matter what you call it you will be pretty hard pressed to find a cupcake better than the sweet little cup of heaven served up at Sugar Magnolia in downtown St. Cloud.

The shop, which also serves muffins, coffee, lattes and frappes, celebrated it’s first anniversary recently and for cupcake lovers all over the county, that is cause for celebration.

Kristina Liss, owner of the shop, also is the commander of the cupcakes.

The shop opens at 7 a.m. each morning (Monday through Saturday), but Liss has already been making cupcakes for two hours by then.

Liss should be a familiar face to downtown St. Cloud shoppers. She operated the Starbucks at the St. Cloud Hotel and also ran an antique shop for several years before devoting the better part of each day to the cupcake.

They may be just cupcakes sitting  in that window display case, but  if you have a sweet tooth, each little decorated piece of cake is a work of art.

Each day, there is an assortment of regular flavored cupcakes, but at least one specialty cupcake depending on the whim of the cupcake creator.

If you want to know the “flavor” of the day, check out Liss’ Sugar Magnolia Facebook account.

Wednesday of this past week, the cupcake of the day was German chocolate. Tuesday was coconut. Monday was Not So Little Debbie. The Facebook postings also are a good place to find out the coffee flavor of the day (Irish mocha cream, gingerbread and choc-o-lantern were some of the recent offerings. The site also lists the daily cookies of the day such as chocolate crinkles or pecan sandies.

It’s hard to believe so much work goes into each one of these little cakes, piled high in icing, but working on a new cupcake flavor is very much a trial and error experience, said Liss.

Her red velvet cupcake, one of the shops more popular flavors, was an ongoing process. She changed the recipe and ingredients around five times before getting it just right.

And she got it right. The red velvet cupcake was awesome.

A Sugar Magnolia cupcake is priced right at $2.50 for a cupcake she describes as jumbo. Comparatively, one of those truly decadent chocolate caramel cupcakes at the new Karamell Kuche  (Caramel Kitchen) at Germany in Epcot will set you back $3.95.

Liss also likes to help the community whenever she can and often has a Cupcake for a Cause, where five-cents from each “Cause” cupcake is donated to charity. This month it is breast cancer, last month there were special cupcakes for Alzheimer’s.

The cupcake/coffee shop has a roomy enough, relaxed atmosphere, with art on the walls (from local artists and it is all for sale). There is even a laptop computer for customer use. The shop has free wi-fi for guests.

In addition to cupcakes and cookies, there also is a variety of freshly made muffins. And yes, it is all fresh. If the cupcake supply starts running low, Liss will be back in the kitchen making more, while Nate Jasmine, tends the counter.

The coffee menu, which also has varying flavors, includes fresh brewed coffee (small $1.75,  medium $2, large $2.25); latte or cappuccino (small $2.75, medium $3, large $3.25); frappe (small $3.50, medium $3.75 large $4) and flavored latte (small $3, medium $3.25, large $3.50).

Sugar Magnolia is at 1035 Pennsylvania Ave. The shop also caters cupcakes to order for special  occasions and parties. For more information call 407-891-0155.