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Dainty and delicate bite-sized bites loaded with exotic and traditional flavors topped with thick dollops of frosting. What more could a girl want in a cupcake? This month's in-house Girls Nite Out, our staff traveled downtown to a sweet little shop filled with life and vitality. The Hot Pink Cake Stand isn't your typical bakery. Stepping into the bakery is a sensory explosion! From the beautiful pops of color to the aroma of baked sweetness filling the air to the eclectic music choices, we realized this wasn't going to be a typical trip to the bakery for day-old baked goods.

Owner Jody Carmichael has always dreamed of owning her own bakery. "Ever since college, I've wanted to open up a bakery," she explains. Smiling and laughing, Jody exclaims, "I was the little girl at the slumber parties that spent the evening in the kitchen with the mom helping her bake cookies and snacks for us girls." But, the wheels of fate didn't provide the opportunity until recently. Following Carmichael's college years, she found her creative outlet through her work as an interior designer. A chance opportunity last year to bake a cake for our publication led Carmichael to pick up her life in Myrtle Beach and move to Wilmington and seek out a space.

Finding a restored building space on Front Street, Carmichael was enchanted by the historical details and the modern elements the building offered. Knowing she wanted an open feeling throughout the bakery and the ability to interact with her customers, Carmichael's interior design skills came in handy. "I want customers to feel like they are in my kitchen. I didn't want to be stuck in the back baking while the customers visited at the bar."

Hot Pink Cake Stand's cupcakes are baked fresh daily and are available in two different sizes, minis and large. Cupcake flavors can be mixed and matched, too. Always trying new combinations, Carmichael feels that her most creative vegan cupcake to date has been a vegan pistachio and rosewater. We were each given a chance to smell the rosewater, and Tessa summed it best, "That just makes you want to stop and smell the rosewater." Additional flavors include carrot cake, cherry-vanilla buttercream, red velvet, chocolate-coconut and mango-chili!

Shades of pink and aqua festoon the inside of the bakery. A tiled bar in shades of aqua outlines the perimeter of the kitchen and oversees the comings and goings of Carmichael and her staff of four. From this bird's eye view, customers can enjoy a cup of the bakery's signature coffee from Coastal Carolina or freshly blended tea from Wilmington Tea Company. And, if it's too early for cupcakes or if customers want something different, they can dine on selections of muffins in a variety of flavors including cinnamon streusels, banana nut, and blackberry and of course, Hot Pink Cake Stand also offers vegan choices including Vegan Chai Tea. The bakery also sells fresh-baked bagels.

After arriving at the bakery and gushing over the bakery's cute appearance, we got down to business. Of course, that meant starting with glasses of wine and snacking on the tantalizing treats provided to us by Carmichael. The assortment of tasty melt-in-your-mouth cupcakes and stuffed phyllo dough were arranged on hot pink cake stands surrounded by beautiful fragrant roses. Sharing in the excitement of the evening was our publisher, Laurel Maultsby, Editor Brook Dorosko, GNO director Tessa Young, sales director Kelly Wiggins, webmaster Kristi Singer, staff photographers Matt Angell and Laurence Maultsby and fashion editor Jess James, and our families were eagerly waiting for the goodies we were sure to bring home.

Our evening was fashioned after Hot Pink Cake Stand's birthday parties for little girls or, even big girls! Before beginning our decorating, we were challenged to two different contests by our host. First leg of the competition was to see who could fill the cupcake pan with paper liners the fastest. This round of competition included Tessa and Kristi Singer. Unfortunately, Kristi's liners were unwilling to cooperate and Tessa walked away the winner. Next contest was between Jess and me. We were asked to fill the baking liners with vanilla cupcake batter using an ice cream scooper. Acting as commentator, Brook had us all giggling as we filled the liners. I definitely had the home-field advantage as this wasn't my fifirst rodeo and my ice cream scooper worked much better than Jess'.

After a quick demo from Carmichael on using fondant, we all sat down at the table to begin creating our decorations with fondant in vivid pinks, popping oranges, and celestial blues. Creativity flourished as flflowers were molded and cut with cookie cutters and three-dimensional figures like a pirate octopus begin to take shape. Edible glitter was in demand as everyone wanted to dust their creations with sparkle!

After our cupcakes cooled, we were each given a turn at icing our cupcakes using a pastry bag and tip. As our evening ended, we admired each other's cupcakes sitting on the hot pink cake pedestal. Brook said it best while examining the cupcakes, "You know, you really need to eat at least three to satisfy your cupcake desires!"