Coco’s Lip-Smacking Cupcakes

If Lip-Smacking was a flavor, it would definitely be one of the ingredients Coco would use in baking her cupcakes.

At a minimum, Nicole Green, who goes by the name of Coco, owner of Coco’s Lip-Smacking Cupcakes in Lakewood, bakes 800 cupcakes every week. She sells them at her shop on Paramount Boulevard, at Candlewood Avenue, and distributes them throughout the entire region, thanks to large custom orders.

Coco taught herself how to bake cupcakes from scratch back in 2013. Her micro-business took off and in 2018, she invested in a small food truck. Her cupcakes were still a big hit when the 2019 pop-up trend blew up and the rest has been history. It took her a whole year to open up her brick and mortar, but in October 2021, her dream came true and with the help and support of her friends and family, she opened the doors to her own bakery right here in Lakewood.

“I’m proof that you can go from a home-business, to a pop-up, to a food truck to a brick and mortar, all we need is an opportunity,” Coco said. “Baking from scratch is a tedious process, but the responses that I get from people about my cupcakes, makes it all worth it. I think people can taste how much time and effort goes into baking every cupcake,” she added. “I hope people can taste the quality ingredients and the love that goes into every cupcake.”

Cupcake flavors include: Snickers, German Chocolate, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Vanilla Oreo, Chocolate Oreo, Red Velvet, Vanilla, Fruity Pebbles, Carrot Cake, Double Chocolate, Salt- ed Caramel, Chocolate PB Pretzel, Lemon, Chocolate Pecan, Reese’s, Strawberry Lemonade, Sock-It To Me, Pumpkin, Peach Cobbler, S’More’s Special, Eggnog, Watermelon and a Breakfast Specialty Cupcake, which includes bacon.

Coco said that she loves to be able to offer customers with a variety of flavors. Her favorite is the Double Chocolate Cupcake, but her biggest seller is her Red Velvet Cupcake. “That’s been everybody’s favorite since 2013,” she said. “I have all these other fun flavors and everybody always goes back to the red velvet. Still, I can’t thank my customers enough - they’re the reason why I’m here.”

What sets Coco’s cupcakes apart from other baker’s cupcakes? “Their taste lives up to their name,” said Coco. “Each one is lip-smacking and rich in flavor. Everything I bake is made from scratch. When you bake from scratch, it tastes so much better than eating a cupcake made from a box. You can taste the difference, and most importantly, all of my frostings are made from scratch, too, so they’re not overly sweet. People love that and honestly, I love seeing how happy my cupcakes make them.” ♦