D uring a visit to Edible Couture on Court Street, owner Tisha Hudson’s passion was on vibrant display. Loaded cupcakes—Banana Pudding, Red Velvet Caramel Pecan, Vegan Triple Chocolate, Vegan Strawberry Coconut—filled trays behind glass. Slices of luscious-looking Strawberry Cheesecake beckoned nearby.
In a way, Hudson’s been preparing for this shop all her life. She grew up baking with her grandmother, and she says she always wanted to be an entrepreneur, often riding the No. 1 bus to the main library in her hometown of Bridgeport where she could read about all the different businesses she imagined pursuing. By the time she was an adult, life had intervened, and she’d found a career in accounting. Then, one night about 15 years ago, she had a dream in which her deceased father, lost to a drug overdose, led her to a recipe book.
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Inspired by this dream, Hudson picked up her baking bowl and spoon again. Those Banana Pudding cupcakes were the first item she made, and they were a hit. For years, friends and colleagues kept on requesting treats from her expanding repertoire of cupcakes and cakes. With her entrepreneurial spirit revived, Hudson bought a food truck and named it Edible Couture, hitting the road three years ago in Bridgeport. Word spread quickly, and before she knew it, her accounting job was a thing of the past. The New Haven storefront opened last August after Sweet Mary’s, another bakery, left its longtime Court Street address, and another area food truck owner, Vegan Ahava’s Poreya Benton, was looking for a partner to share the space.
If you’re new to the shop, ordering a box of cupcakes is the best way to sample Edible Couture’s flavors. The Banana Pudding cupcake, sporting a thick cream cheese frosting and delivering a strong smack of fruit with help from a filling of smooth pudding, was indeed a standout. “This is the best cupcake I’ve ever had!” my son exclaimed. The vegan version was equally satisfying. Its banana flavor seemed slightly stronger, which for me was a bonus, and the cake portion had just the right moisture.
As for the Red Velvet cupcakes, the vegan version was particularly good. The intense red color made the white, creamy frosting really pop. The cupcake was once again moist and had a rich flavor, not too sweet, which balanced the sugary frosting. For chocolate lovers, the Triple Chocolate cupcakes are a sure fix. Both the regular and vegan versions offered dark chocolate cake topped with a swirled chocolate frosting and chocolate chips, though the regular also boasted chocolate sauce and a slab of Hershey’s milk chocolate.
We also tried one of her cake cups, a nifty inside-out cupcake. A small order of the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cake Cup—you can also order a large or party size—came in a convenient plastic container with a lid. Inside, we found chocolate cake, creamy peanut butter, chocolate ganache, peanut butter cream frosting, and chocolate candy. It was decadent and lots of fun to eat. Cake cups come in many of the cupcake flavors we sampled as well as unique options like Party Party Birthday and Caramel Apple.
Hudson’s towering gourmet occasion cakes require advance order, and items like cupcakes, cake cups and certain cakes can be shipped, while UberEats handles local deliveries. Follow Edible Couture on social media to see when and where the dessert truck, which still serves Bridgeport, is parked.
Hudson wears many hats, from baking to sales, so you’ll likely meet her if you stop by the shop. Her husband staffs the truck and you might find her daughter-in-law helping out in the store on weekends. More than success or accolades—her cupcakes and the bakery as a whole were voted Best of New Haven in the latest New Haven Register Reader’s Poll—Hudson says what’s most important to her is that her kids see her following her passion and learn that they can too. “I tell them all the time: I don’t care what it is you want to do. If it makes you happy, do it.”
Edible Couture
129 Court St, New Haven (map)
Tues-Wed 11am-4pm, Thurs 11am-5pm, Fri-Sat 11am-6pm (NOTE: the shop will be closed while Hudson is on vacation from Sun 4/11 to Mon 4/19)
(203) 497-9659
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Written by Stephanie Wratten. Images 1 and 2, the latter featuring Tisha Hudson, photographed by Stephanie Wratten. Image 3 photographed by Dan Mims.
