The ‘Subway of cupcakes?’ Build your own homemade dessert at this new DFW bakery
A trauma nurse with a longtime love for baking has opened the “Subway of cupcakes” at 3601 SW Green Oaks Blvd.
Ginger Midkiff of Arlington had thought about opening a bakery for years, especially at the behest of people close to her. Midkiff took up the hobby to create birthday cakes for her first daughter, and kept with it as she added five more children to her family and built a loyal following.
The timing was almost perfect when she stumbled across an empty Arlington storefront last spring. Midkiff was heading to New York for pandemic relief work through early July 2020, but felt called to the spot nestled between a doughnut shop and Pizza Hut.
“God said, ‘That’s going to be your bakery,” Midkiff recalled. “I said, ‘Well, OK ... if it’s still there when I get back, that’s where I’m going to open.’”
The store remained bare, and Midkiff said she was the only person to apply for the spot — a former Subway that closed shortly before the pandemic shut down business as usual. Around a year later, she opened Under the Icing, a walk-in, build-your-own cupcake shop that she calls the “Subway of cupcakes.”
“It was just something really fun and a really cool concept that nobody else was doing,” Midkiff said. “They do it with everything else nowadays. Why not cupcakes?”
Under the Icing is a family operation. On Friday, Midkiff’s mother, Gina “Mema” Pahal, guided customers through the cupcake assembly process, drizzling strawberry syrup and sprinkling toppings she pulled from a custom condiment bar. Midkiff had to order a custom cooler, as the usual bars, built for salads and sandwich toppings, made the icing too hard to pipe.
Midkiff and Tristen McKenzie, Midkiff’s best friend and the store’s general manager, prepared a custom wedding cake order. The couple who ordered the cake were one of the store’s first clients, and ultimately invited the team to their ceremony. Under the Icing was also a featured vendor at a River Legacy Park fundraising event Friday evening.
As her customer base grows, Midkiff said she wants her business to serve the community. This month, Under the Icing rolled out a donation center to benefit different organizations or people each week.
“Make a phone call and tell me that you need us, and we’re going to stick you in somewhere,” she said.
Its inaugural cause is Train a Dog — Save a Warrior, a nonprofit that pairs veterans with service dogs. The store will also offer leftover cupcakes to first responders, and free cupcakes on Veterans Day to those who have served.
The shop is open from 9 a.m. through 6 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays and rolls out seasonal flavors such as pumpkin cheesecake and maple bacon.
Baking up more business
Midkiff is still working full-time and overtime as a nurse as the pandemic continues. She said she’s looking forward to a more normal schedule, as well as growing the business. Her faith guided her in opening the shop, and it has inspired her to open more in the future.
“For whatever reason, (god) put on my heart, ‘You’re going to have five stores in five years,’’ Midkiff said. “I was like, ‘OK, I don’t know how I’m going to do that, but if that’s his plan, that’s what we’re going to do.’”
Midkiff relies on McKenzie, who helped open and and helps run the store. McKenzie said she’s watched the store go from barely making a profit to gaining regulars and contending with crowds. Thursday through Saturday have become busy ones for the business, McKenzie said, while she’s noticed steady business Tuesday mornings.
“It’s nice watching it grow and turn into something,” she said.
Midkiff’s family also helps with the store. She described her husband as the bakery “taste tester,” and her children, ages 5 through 14, occaisionally lend a hand. At least one has shown an interest in further pursuing the business.
“This is for the community, but this is also for our family,” Midkiff said. “This is something that hopefully, I’ll be able to pass down to one or more of them one day.”
