Cupid Approved

By Naperville Magazine
Appears in the February 2024 issue.

By Peter Gianopulos

Molly’s Cupcakes bakes in the love

When it comes to Valentine’s Day gifts, bouquets of flowers are nice, but a date night built around a smorgasbord of sweet aphrodisiacs is even nicer. James and Stephanie Jacobson, the husband-and-wife owners of Molly’s Cupcakes in Naperville (30 W. Jefferson Ave.), can offer you date-night options galore: You can sway, holding hands and sampling each other’s sweets, on a row of swinging seats near the cupcake bar. Gorge on chocolate all night long—chocolate cupcakes, brownies, chocolate pies, cookies, and chocolate-dipped strawberries. Or, during the month of February, enjoy some unconventional bubbly. While the Jacobsons aren’t pouring guests Champagne, their limited-edition V-Day cupcake is a love bomb: A vanilla cupcake infused with strawberry purée and topped with a Champagne-infused bouffant of whipped cream.

If the prospect of nibbling on a boozy cupcake that seems to have been created by Cupid himself isn’t enough, consider this feel-food fact: Prior to opening the Naperville location, Stephanie used to drive James down to Molly’s original location in Lincoln Park every single Valentine’s Day to treat him to his favorite dessert. “We loved those cupcakes so much,” James says. “Every Valentine’s Day it brings back nostalgic memories.” Time, don’t you think, to create some strawberry-Champagne memories of your own?

Photo: Molly’s Cupcakes Naperville