The Daily Times

KupKatie’s KupKakes in Maryville has scored a coup — the company is now the sole baker of MoonPie cupcakes.

Katie Rayburn of Maryville opened the cupcake store in April 2011 at the intersection of Washington and High Streets beside Firehouse Subs and came up with the idea to bake cupcakes that taste like MoonPies.

She and husband, Tony Rayburn, a Townsend police officer, took the concept late last year to Tory Johnson, vice president of the MoonPie company in Chattanooga, and got the idea approved.

The first MoonPie was produced in 1917. Katie Rayburn started selling the first official MoonPie cupcake on Wednesday. They come in MoonPie flavors — chocolate, chocolate mint, banana, strawberry and vanilla.

To be the sole producers, the Rayburns pay a royalty to the company and have permission to use the MoonPie logo.

The cupcakes consist of cake batter baked around a piece of MoonPie in the center, with a marshmallow butter cream icing and small piece of MoonPie on top.

"We have exclusive rights to the product,” Tony Rayburn said.

“The MoonPie cupcakes are delicious — fresh, moist cake marries well with the marshmallowy goodness of MoonPie and the delicious icing makes it all just out of this world,” Johnson said.

Played with flavors

Katie Rayburn came up with the idea when she was working on advertising her business with Bob Becker of radio station AM850. The station was handing out MoonPies to listeners and she got the idea for MoonPie cupcakes.

Rayburn said she “played with the flavors for one or two days before I got the flavors right.”

The bakery produces 2,000 to 3,000 cupcakes a week, along with a variety of cake sizes.

Initially Katie Rayburn operated the business with her sister, Abbie McKinney, but McKinney now works for Sami’s Cafe in Franklin Square in Knoxville.

The cafe sells Rayburn’s cupcakes and cakes for birthdays and weddings.

“We just did a huge bridal fair last Sunday. We had 1,600 mini-cupcakes and two wedding cakes. It was all gone at the end,” she said.

Her sister helps whenever needed, including at the bridal fair.

Her top-selling regular cupcakes are peanut butter cup, lemonade and any variety of cheesecakes.

“The most important thing to me is seeing regulars come in. It tells you that you’re doing something right,” she said.

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