Pink Diva Cupcakery's New Digs!

My friend Cassi has been operating Pink Diva Cupcakery, a vegan cupcake bakery, for a few months now. She started out baking special orders and catering events. And then she moved into Midtown Crossing Grill, a vegan-friendly pizza pub, where she leased space to bake and sell cakes.

And today, Cassi officially announced that she'll soon be getting her very own bakery space! Memphians are surely familiar with the original location for Deja Vu Vegetarian & Creole Restaurant at 936 Florida Street. Well, Chef Gary has closed that location since he's opened a larger, more centrally located Deja Vu on South Main. And Cassi will be leasing the space on Florida! Here's a picture of the building (with her scooter gang outside!). It still needs some power-washing, a new sign, and paint. But it's almost ready.

Over the past week, her friends (myself included) have been helping her paint some purple window trim with bright pink paint — her signature color. But we were under strict orders to keep the new location under wraps until today because Cassi wanted to announce it at her Divas Day Out event. She gathered her most loyal customers at the new location today for a little party and announcement. Here's Cassi drinking out of her giant fishbowl glass when the crowd thinned out.

The Divas Day Out party was $15 at the door, which bought you all-you-can-eat cupcakes, appetizers, and booze. She made one of my favorite cupcakes — Sweet Potato Mango. The cupcakes are made with mashed sweet potato, so they're very moist. And they're stuffed with a sweet mango puree!

And there were also boozy Bluff City Blueberry cupcakes, which were stuffed with vodka-soaked blueberries. I somehow failed to photograph those at the event today, so I swiped this picture from Pink Diva's Facebook page.

On the savory side, we had Crostini with Guacamole.

Black Bean Dip with Tortilla Chips.

And Pam's famous Asian Slaw with Tofu. God, this stuff is so good.

And there were Cucumber Slices with Tofutti Cream Cheese and Tomatoes.

Cassi used Memphis-made Pyramid Vodka to spike the pink lemonade punch. I had a few glasses. I took a picture of the punch, but then I accidentally deleted it. Oops!

There was a silent auction to help Cassi raise start-up costs for the new space. The auction included gifts from Co-Motion Studio (where I take hula-hooping lessons), Pyramid Vodka, Philip Ashley Chocolates (yes, he makes vegan chocolates!), and more.

Of course, I bid on the Co-Motion stuff. I won an entry to a hula-hoop class and one of Co-Motion's hand-made hoops. By the way, this tiny hoop was for display only. The hoop I won will be a regular-sized hoop that I'll pick out from the store. I need a new hula-hoop like I need a hole a my head, but hey, a girl can't really have too many hoops.

Pink Diva Cupcakery should be open in the new location in about a month or so. I'll keep y'all posted here! But until then, you can still find Cassi slinging cupcakes at Midtown Crossing.