Feature Story - Lenora Muhm

A Cupcake a Day Keeps the Doctor Away
Or, in the case of Sara Sara Cupcakes, a cupcake keeps the doctor close.
18 year old Sara Brinson passed away suddenly on April 9, 2007 of sudden cardiac dysrhythmia. Her family decided to open Sara Sara Cupcakes in Oklahoma City in her memory.
Sara’s love of cupcakes was the inspiration for Sara Sara Cupcakes, which is welcoming a new store in Edmond, opening Thanksgiving 2010.
“Whatever came out of the oven, she decorated. That’s what she really liked to do,” Sara’s father Michael Brinson said.
The bakery offers 18 flavors of artistically decorated cupcakes, and well as seasonal flavors. Among the most popular are the Crimson and Cream, a red velvet cupcake with a cream cheese icing, and the Cowboy Carrot, carrot cake with toasted walnuts and cream cheese frosting.
“I always get the Blueberry Honey. It’s really really good,” Andrew Nguyen said.
Nguyen, an Oklahoma City resident and frequent customer at Sara Sara, is showing his visiting cousin one of his favorite places in Oklahoma City.
“The quality of the product is what makes it different than anybody else. You can buy a cupcake a lot of places, but these are actually an art form,” Michael Brinson said.
All proceeds from Sara Sara t-shirt sales go to the Sara Caroline Brinson – Children’s Heart Research Fund, which supports the University of Oklahoma’s Heart Rhythm Institute.
Why Cupcakes?
Fellow Oklahoma City bakeries Cuppies and Joe and Green Goodies join Sara Sara in the growing trend of cupcake bakeries.
According to Jennifer Latson of the Houston Chronicle, “bakers say it's because they offer a little taste of luxury, and a lot of sugar, for a relatively low price.”
“I think it started out as a trend, but it’s here to stay,” Dana Brinson, Sara’s mother, said.
A growing number of people are choosing cupcakes over a traditional cake for celebrations.
“You think of the usual occasions, like holidays, but there’s always a birthday, someone’s getting married, someone has a shower,” Dana Brinson said. “One big cake that has the same flavor, there’s no variety. People come to us for variety. ”
Even companies like Merrill Lynch buy Sara Sara cupcakes for meetings.
The Future of Sara Sara
“I used to go out in a Sara Sara t-shirt, and people would always stop me, assuming I worked there,” Dana Brinson said. “But now we are gaining notoriety, people hardly ever stop me. They just think I’m someone with the t-shirt!”
The bakery is opening a new store in Edmond, but is keeping its focus on quality and community.
“We are committed to doing what makes sense for the community,” Michael Brinson said.
The new bakery will maintain the charm of the original, and is being built in a remodeled house.
And of course, Sara Sara will be an ever present reminder of the young women who inspired the bakery.
“Everyone here feels Sara’s spirit," Dana Brinson said.