Photo: Jaiden van Bork

“I sort of think of myself as being in the business of spreading joy,” says local cupcake-maker Scott Cunningham. His iconic cupcake shop, ScottCakes, is a beacon of fun and whimsy on Commercial Street—but it isn’t just any old bakery. With a light and moist base topped with stunning pink frosting, the simple yet beautiful “ScottCake” is the only offering you will find here. But for Cunningham and his customers, this delicacy made of “butter, love, and pink” is all you need.

Cunningham, a former actor and nanny from New York, came to Provincetown with a show in 2008, intending to stay only six weeks, but soon realized he had found a new home. He says the original vision of ScottCakes came to him through meditation, where he had the idea to begin selling the cupcakes he made in his nanny days on the streets of Provincetown. Operating as a street vendor for a few years, Cunnigham quickly rose to local fame, making headlines as the “Cupcake King of Commercial Street.”Despite having a valid vendor’s license, Cunningham was repeatedly ticketed by the local police and found himself preparing to litigate the matter in court. Ultimately, the case was dropped, but ScottCakes became the talk of the town, and though he was tempted to end his cupcake endeavors there, Cunningham realized he was far from finished, eventually setting up shop in the space he has now occupied for over a decade.

“It was not what I expected to be doing [for] a living,” says Cunningham, “but it’s worked out really beautifully.” For those skeptical of how great one cupcake can be, the poster on the wall says it all: “Shut up and have a mini.”

ScottCakes
353 Commercial St.
508.487.7465
scottcakes.com