Sugar Rush Orange County
This is a post written by Rachel Trotter on behalf of Sugar Rush
Thanks to Big Bite for an invitation to the sweetest event around, Sugar Rush! Vendors from all over Southern California gathered to show their artistry and skills in everything from gelato to sprinkles and popsicles to pies!
Albert’s Petite Sweets blew me away with these amazing cake pops. I couldn’t believe they were real! Darth Vader, stormtroopers and of course the Death Star are all there and as perfect as can be. Can you imagine how thrilled your Star Wars loving kid would be to see these?
Le Beaux Chocolats were both beautiful and surprising. There were many flavors to choose from, but I chose the Habanero even though I am a bit of a spice whimp. It was so well balanced! The sweet and silky chocolate flavor came through and near the end, a slow heat from the habanero warms up your throat. It was a great way to change up the norm!
Gina’s Cuisine specialized in beautiful festive cupcakes and I think she had the best pitch man of them all. Her little son was singing the praises of his mama’s delicious cupcakes. How could I resist?
For all those Martha Stewarts in the making, you can make your own creations with the many supplies available through Cake & Candy Supplies in Garden Grove. This is the perfect time of year to find all of those specialty items to make your holiday goodies truly unique.
Paloma’s Paletas are a different spin on your typical popsicle. Based on a traditional popsicle made in Mexico, Paloma’s flavors are an elevated experience. With flavors like Pineapple Mint Mojito, Asian Pear and Chewy Gingerbread, this is not a frozen dessert you will find in the freezer section. I tried the Brown Butter Walnut and it was sweet and slightly creamy with bits of walnut throughout. Definitely a must try and the cute ice cream cart and bowtie don’t hurt!
Stuffed Cookies are loaded! Each cookie is jammed with ingredients to make the cookies fun flavor pop. Cereal and Milk, which has Fruity Pebbles, and Oreo Birthday Cake are among these. I tried the Nutella Smores, which hit all the guilty pleasures button. Nutella, graham crackers and marshmallow? Yes please! Did I mention they brown the butter!?!
Joe’s Italian Ice is an OC staple! If you haven’t been, please go. They have the smoothest Italian Ice around and the flavors are spot on! I’ll tell you that Mango Tango is my favorite, but I tried the Fuzzy Wuzzy (Peach Watermelon) and I think it comes in a close second. It’s fresh and not too sweet!
If you are looking for a macaroon, this is the coolest I’ve ever seen! Puffect has the most detailed and accurate pictures of your child’s favorite characters on each macaroon. You can get Cookie Monster, pandas, penguins, even Minions, pigs and Baymax!
Not everything at Sugar Rush was sweet. Banzai Jerky needs a shoutout here because the genius of making bacon jerky cannot go unnoticed! This might have been the best thing I’ve ever had and I will be buying this for Holiday gifts. The Spicy Teriyaki was my favorite. A tiny bit of heat, but still sweet and salty with the richness of the fatty bacon. I’m drooling just thinking about it!
Gelato Paradisio was in attendance and I might have run up to their booth! Their gelato is essential to all trips to Laguna Beach for my family. The variety of flavors is amazing, but what is even better is how rich they are. They taste exactly they way they are supposed to. I mean the Double Chocolate is really doubly chocolate and the Strawberry tastes like a real strawberry (shocker!). The cherry on top is the freshly made waffle cones they churn out throughout the day that fill the store with aromas of heaven!
Meringue Bake Shop put a playful spin on the typical cupcake and turned it into a PushCake. That would be a conversation starter at any party!
Viva Los Cupcakes was in the house with cupcakes inspired by the flavors of Mexico. Churro, Tamale con Mole and Margarita were it’s featured flavors. Yes, they make a Tamale cupcake!
Candyfetti is a mixture of colors and textures to upgrade your boring sprinkles! The uses for this stuff seems to be endless. On the table as decoration, on ice cream, popcorn, cakes, cookies, pancakes, caramel apples, etc. So many colors to choose from and some made just for the holidays!
Bubba Sweets are the winners of Cupcake Wars on the Food Network. They brought in their gorgeous and tiny cupcakes that would be perfect for a tiny tea party!
Unbaked is one of those things that I probably shouldn’t have ever found out about. They specialize in making safe edible cookie dough. That means they are made egg free to make them stackable without heating! They come in a few remade flavors, but you can order with any base and mix in, so it’s completely customizable and incredibly delicious! This is the real deal and so completely worth the guilt!
All of these vendors can be found on the internet. Some have storefronts you can visit and others are internet based shipping and some are both! Check them out to satisfy your sweet tooth!
