Sprinkles ATM: Heaven in 90210

Waiting in line

This is why I’m fat: Sprinkles ATM. Better known as an “ACM”, or Automated Cupcake Machine. This little beauty is the newest kid on the Santa Monica block, and let’s just say it is definitely not disappointing.

As I am sure most of you know, Sprinkles Cupcakes (the founder of the cupcake bakery craze) as installed a 24 hour cupcake dispenser right next to its brick-and-mortar shop on

S. Santa Monica Blvd.

The idea started back when Candace Nelson (the founder of Sprinkles) was preggers and would have the late night cravings for a icing topped dessert at midnight. Ingenious! Thus, the idea for the cupcake ATM was conceived!

Cupcakes at $4 a pop, and an extra 75 cents for each box

 Slowly, I have been turning more and more into an old lady. Trying to go to bed before 10, so that we can wake up early to run kind of puts a damper on being a night owl. In my attempt to spice things up, I decided that we should take a little trip down to the 90210 zip code and try out this God given machine.

Pulling up to the store front we were not greeted by a glowing pink display of ATM love, but by a block-long line. Apparently it has been dispensing out up to 1,000 cupcakes a day, when it only holds 600, at one point breaking down. I heard that there were lines for the ATM even when the bakery itself was open and ready to serve. This was going to be good.

Lemon Coconut, Pupcakes, Irish Chocolate

We parked and began our wait. When you’re in a line at 10 o’clock on a Friday night to get a cupcake from a vending machine, you have my approval. Instantly the people behind us started up a conversation, so the hour and a half actually went by pretty quickly.

Eventually it was our turn with the candy colored machine. Selecting through all of the full colored pictures of the various cupcakes that lingered behind the glass wall was a bit overwhelming. We were both under the impression that they would have their full day menu, plus some, available for purchase. However, they did not have the vegan red velvet listed. After that wait though, we weren’t walking away empty handed.

Irish Chocolate

Ch’en got two little pupcakes, a sugar-free cake with “yogurt” frosting (they had a doggie menu!!) and the hubs and I split an Irish Chocolate cupcake along with the Lemon Coconut.

We carefully loaded them back into the car, made Ch’en take a back seat and headed home. Brewed up a cup o’joe decaf and indulged. Oh sweet-glorious-universal-of-cupcake-love, they were amazing.  

Lemon Coconut

  The frosting-cake ratio is always the best at Sprinkles. The perfect amount of lemon infused butter cream frosting dipped in fresh shredded coconut on a Madagascar bourbon vanilla cake. This is one of my favorites by far. The Irish Chocolate was like having Darby O’Gill dance inside my mouth. Belgian dark chocolate cake with a swirl of Baileys Irish cream cheese frosting and a cute little shamrock to adorn the snow white covering. And not that I am proud of this, but I did try a little nibble of Ch’en’s (I had to make sure he would like it!) and it was quite tasty too!

The line may be long, but every bite is worth it. Now time for a run!