A new dessert shop has come to town and you do not want to miss out — give Bonkers Cupcakes a try! Conveniently located in the heart of downtown Fairfield at 1618 Post Road, Bonker’s finds its home next to some other top notch eateries.
A family-run business, Bonkers is owned and operated by Kris and Michele Stevens and their son Michael. Together, Kris and Michael began their journey to Bonkers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to this, the father-son partnership worked together at Kris’s software company. But right before the start of the pandemic, they sold off the company’s main product.
Computer and technology software to cupcake shop owners may not seem like a natural career jump, but for Michael, he always felt a passion for baking.
“So we’ve been bakers, we’ve always baked at home,” Michael said. “We just thought, ‘well, we’re going to try something.’ You might as well try something that people tell us we’re good at.”
Michael added, “Nobody ever said to me when I served them a cupcake, ‘Don’t quit your day job.’”
During the pandemic, the Stevens family brainstormed their next career moves.
“We were kind of trapped in the house during the beginning of COVID asking ourselves ‘What should we do and what do we want to do next?” Michael said. “‘What kind of business can we run that would make us happy?’”
Luckily for the Fairfield community, this family’s search to mix passion with career ended them up with Bonkers Cupcakes!
The menu at Bonkers changes each day with some signature staples you will always be able to order.
“I feel like the standard flavors are basically the chocolate, vanilla, red velvet and carrot cake,” Michael said, adding that they “usually have banana.”
For frosting you can find flavors like chocolate, salted caramel, coffee and cream cheese.
But owner Michael likes to mix things up and finds his inspiration for new and fun flavors in his everyday life.
“Like you saw today, I had green tea [frosting], just because somebody walked in yesterday and ordered a green tea,” Michael said. “And then I was like ‘Ooh! Green tea frosting, it could be good.”
He added, “That’s all the thought that went into that one — and it ended up being pretty good.”
Bonkers has big plans ahead. The idea of the cupcake shop for Michael was to be a late-night snack option and be featured on delivery apps such as Uber, with plans of having their own delivery truck — like their very own Bonkers cupcake cart.
“It’s going to be like an ice cream truck, you’re going to be able to download an app and then you’ll be able to hail the cart if it’s close to you,” Michael said. “You’ll be able to pick from a pre-curated selection and pick your cupcakes up from the back of the cart.”
Adding, “We’ll also have [coffee] in the back of the car, so if you’re studying late at night, hopefully we’ll be there for you.”
He compared it to a cupcake version of Insomnia Cookies. “It’s kind of our vision for the place to be a family friendly place during the day and to do late night delivery at night for when some people just want some sugar,” Michael said.
One of the best parts of the job for Michael is getting to see his work make people so happy. To accomplish this, Bonkers has such a large variety of options to accommodate all different kinds of dietary restrictions and allergies. One of the main ones being that Bonkers is an entirely nut-free establishment.
Aside from this, you can find gluten-free and vegan options too! We tried the vegan chocolate buttercream and then compared it to the regular Italian chocolate buttercream — both were equally amazing and delicious. Bonkers makes sure that just because someone has a dietary restriction, they will not have to compromise flavor to accommodate their restriction.
“If I ever failed to manage to get one of those [dietary restrictions accommodated] on the menu, and then a little kid comes in and can’t have a cupcake, I have to immediately jump into action,” Michael said.
Michael noted that they have vegan buttercream ready to go if someone would like that, but if they want a specialty flavor, “and they’re willing to wait a moment, [Michael] can usually whip it up, and if anybody’s willing to wait, then I can usually do it.”
In addition to cupcakes, you can order sheet cakes in advance at the store, with pies soon to come. You can also call ahead to the store to see which flavors are available that day.
Bonkers is open everyday from noon to 8 p.m. Be sure to stop into the shop and try out one of their delicious cupcake flavors. Whether you go for a classic flavor or jazz it up by choosing one of their unique speciality cupcakes or frostings, you can’t go wrong here.
Learn more about Bonkers on their website or by following their Instagram @bonkerscupcakes.
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