The Cake Girl Launches Crave’n Cups Nationwide, Expanding Award-Winning Bakery Brand Beyond Tampa

Nationally featured chef and entrepreneur Kristina Lavallee transforms The Cake Girl’s award-winning recipes into handcrafted 4 oz cake jars available for nationwide shipping

TAMPA, Fla. — Award-winning chef, cake artist and entrepreneur Kristina Lavallee, founder of Tampa-based The Cake Girl, announced the nationwide launch of Crave’n Cups, a new dessert brand bringing The Cake Girl’s award-winning recipes to customers across the country in handcrafted 4 oz cake jars.

Available now at cravencups.com, the launch marks a major step in the continued growth of The Cake Girl brand, transforming recipes that have built a loyal following in Tampa into a shippable product designed for national e-commerce, gifting, wholesale and future retail expansion.

Each 4 oz Crave’n Cup is handcrafted by The Cake Girl team using the bakery’s award-winning recipes, layering real cake and frosting into an individual dessert that can now be shipped nationwide.

“For years, people have discovered us through television, social media and national food publications and asked how they could get our cake if they didn't live in Tampa,” said Lavallee. “Crave’n Cups finally gives us a way to bring what we do to people across the country. These are our recipes, made by our team, just in a format that can travel.”

From Tampa Bakery to National Food Brand

Lavallee's entrepreneurial journey began in 2008, baking from home before expanding into a dessert truck and eventually opening The Cake Girl’s Tampa storefront.

Since then, Lavallee has built a national reputation as a cake artist, chef and baking expert. Her recipes, baking expertise and work have been featured by major food and lifestyle outlets including PARADE, Simply Recipes, Southern Living, Eat This, Not That!, Chowhound, The Kitchn and Tasting Table, along with national television appearances on TODAY, Food Network and Fox & Friends.

Her work and entrepreneurial journey have also attracted national attention beyond the food world, including features in PEOPLE and Entrepreneur.

That growing national audience created an opportunity — and a challenge.

People across the country were discovering The Cake Girl, but the bakery's signature cakes and desserts were primarily available to customers in Florida.

Crave’n Cups changes that.

“We didn't want to create a completely different product just because we wanted something we could ship,” Lavallee said. “The idea was to take what people already love about The Cake Girl and make it accessible in a new way. We're growing our reach without changing what got us here.”

Award-Winning Cake — Now in a 4 Oz Cup

Crave’n Cups launches with a 4 oz individual size, featuring layers of real cake and frosting handcrafted by The Cake Girl team.

Initial flavors include Cookies N’ Cream, Cookie Butter, Unicorn and Red Velvet, with additional flavors planned as the brand grows.

The 4 oz format was developed with expansion in mind, creating opportunities that go far beyond traditional bakery sales.

In addition to nationwide direct-to-consumer shipping through cravencups.com, Crave’n Cups is positioned for growth through corporate gifting, wholesale, retail and automated retail.

“Crave’n Cups allows us to think much bigger than the four walls of a bakery,” Lavallee said. “We now have a product that can be shipped, gifted and eventually discovered in retail locations across the country. Someone doesn't have to live near our bakery to become a customer anymore.”

Turning Award-Winning Recipes Into a Scalable National Product

The launch represents a new growth engine for a company that has steadily expanded from a home-based business into a recognized bakery brand.

The Cake Girl launched its franchise program in 2024, creating a pathway to bring its bakery concept into additional markets.

Crave’n Cups creates a different kind of opportunity.

Rather than requiring a new bakery location to reach a new customer, the product allows the company to enter markets through e-commerce, gifting, wholesale and retail distribution.

Together, franchising and Crave’n Cups are part of a broader strategy to transform what began as a Tampa bakery into a multi-channel dessert company with national reach.

For Lavallee, however, scaling the company cannot come at the expense of the product itself.

“Growth only works if you protect what made people fall in love with the brand in the first place,” Lavallee said. “There are real people in our kitchen making these desserts. Every Crave’n Cup is handcrafted by our team using recipes we've spent years perfecting. As we grow, that's something I never want us to lose.”

From Tampa to Doorsteps Across America

Nationwide shipping also addresses something The Cake Girl has increasingly encountered as Lavallee's national food and media presence has grown.

A reader discovering one of her baking tips in a national food publication or a viewer seeing her on television no longer has to be in Tampa to actually taste something created by her team.

Now, they can have it delivered.

Consumers can visit cravencups.com, select their flavors and have Crave’n Cups shipped directly to their door.

The brand is also targeting the growing gifting market, with options for birthdays, celebrations, employee appreciation, client gifting and larger corporate orders.

Retail expansion is also ahead as the company works to bring Crave’n Cups into additional sales channels and locations.

“This is one of those moments where you look back and realize how far you've come,” Lavallee said. “I started baking cakes from home, then we built a food truck, opened a bakery, launched franchising and now we're shipping our desserts across the country. To think about where this can go next is incredibly exciting.”

Crave’n Cups Available Nationwide Now

Crave’n Cups are available now for nationwide shipping at cravencups.com.

Consumers can order directly online, with gifting and corporate order opportunities also available.

Additional wholesale, retail and distribution expansion is planned as the brand continues to grow.

About Crave’n Cups

Crave’n Cups is a dessert brand created by the team behind Tampa-based The Cake Girl. Featuring handcrafted 4 oz cake jars made using The Cake Girl’s award-winning recipes, Crave’n Cups brings layers of real cake and frosting into a convenient format created for nationwide shipping, gifting, wholesale and retail. Crave’n Cups are available for nationwide shipping at cravencups.com.

About The Cake Girl

Founded by award-winning chef, cake artist and entrepreneur Kristina Lavallee, The Cake Girl is a Tampa, Florida-based bakery specializing in custom cakes, cupcakes and specialty desserts. What began as a home-based baking business in 2008 evolved into a dessert truck and later a brick-and-mortar bakery.

Lavallee has become a nationally featured baking expert, with her recipes, expertise and work appearing in leading food and lifestyle publications including PARADE, Simply Recipes, Southern Living, Eat This, Not That!, Chowhound, The Kitchn and Tasting Table, in addition to national television appearances on TODAY, Food Network and Fox & Friends.

The Cake Girl continues to expand through franchising and new consumer brands.

Media Contact

Rebecca Brooks, brookette@brookspr.com The Cake Girl / Crave’n Cups

https://cravencups.com/pages/press-media