Which had Sprinkles Cupcakes fan Julie Cleeland more excited Wednesday in Thousand Oaks: a chance to meet founder and “Cupcake Wars” judge Candace Nelson or a chance to buy one of Nelson’s frosted gourmet treats without driving to another area code?

“It’s pretty evenly matched. I love how you can actually taste the ingredients in her cupcakes, and he loves to watch her on the Food Network,” Cleeland said, referring to her son, Jake Cleeland, 12, as they waited outside the only Sprinkles between Palo Alto and Los Angeles.

Cleeland, who lives in Simi Valley, picked up a box of assorted flavors for members of her carpool and a gluten-free cupcake for Jake, who has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair.

Located at The Promenade at Westlake, the cupcake shop is the 13th in the chain started in 2005 by Nelson, an investment banker turned pastry chef.
That number excludes a franchise site that opened last year in Kuwait. It also excludes the 24-hour cupcake ATM Nelson had installed next to the bakery’s original location near Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills.

“To our customers who have been driving to Beverly Hills, this gives us a chance to say thanks and, ‘We’re here to save you some gas,’ ” Nelson said with a laugh before posing for photos with customers.

Sara Cebulski, general manager of the Thousand Oaks store, said about 40 people were waiting outside when the doors opened at 9 a.m.

A steady stream of patrons passed through the line and into the small retail space just inside the glass door until about 2 p.m., when Nelson arrived for an announced two-hour appearance. The crowd then swelled to more than 80 people and the line began to snake past Barnes & Noble next door.

“You’d think they were giving them away,” a woman said in response to a passer-by who asked what was happening.

Decorated with colored sugar-paste dots to identify flavors, Sprinkles cupcakes are $3.50 each or $39 per dozen. Sugar-free, yogurt-frosted cupcakes for dogs are $2.50. The chain also sells frosting shots for 75 cents, cupcake mixes for $14 and T-shirts for $25 to $40.

On opening day, tickets valid for $100 gift cards redeemable at Sprinkles or the shopping center were baked into 20 cupcakes for random distribution. No ticket holders had come forward by midafternoon, Cebulski said, adding that most people were buying cupcakes to take home and eat later.

The Thousand Oaks Sprinkles is not the only bakery in the area to claim a connection to “Cupcake Wars.” Less than a mile away, Sweet Arleen’s Cupcakes & Bread Puddings, opened by fellow banker-turned-baker Arlene Scavone in 2009, is a three-time champion of the culinary competition.
Nelson has served as a judge on the show since its premiere in 2010.

Sprinkles Cupcakes is at 180 Promenade Way, Suite A. Call 370-5306 or visit http://www.sprinkles.com.