East Dallas ‘Architect’ Bakes Wicked-Smart Cupcake Treats

Brooke Brooks has a full-time job as lead information architect at Southwest Airlines. Yeah, it’s a brainy thing. She’s wicked smart, but that gig isn’t what we’re here to talk about today.

We’re instead focusing on her other passion, from eyeball Jell-O shots at neighborhood Halloween parties to cupcakes the Los Angeles Times has raved about to winning cakes at the State Fair of Texas.

The East Dallas resident has a knack for baking, one that has her recognized locally and beyond.

“A while back I invented something called cupcake caps. … The LA Times picked me up, so I had a really nice piece of exposure, so now it seems like about once or twice a year, I get a call and it will be something like, ‘Can you do decorations for cupcakes for RuPaul?’”

Cupcake caps are what they sound like: detailed, decorated sweets that top your cupcakes. She’s done them for RuPaul twice, by the way, as well as the Real Housewives show and unofficial Oscar events in LA.

She’s done all without having previous professional baking experience. As she puts it, her job title means she’s “a web nerd,” and these goods are really coming from “some little lady doing this out of her kitchen.”

“But I always liked to bake, and I always liked to build stuff, so that’s where a lot of the crazy cakes come in,” Brooks says.

An example of some of those creations is a Bigfoot cake, which Brooks did for former Deep Ellum venue La Grange.

“My deal is, basically I don’t say no to anybody, if anyone asks ‘Can you…’ I’m going to say yes,” she says.

As we near Election Day, though, she has another focus: getting out the vote. She’s putting her efforts to the left side, putting little donkeys on shortbread cookies for the Funky East Dallas Democrats. It’s not the first time we’ve seen her goods in that area. We’ve seen plenty on tables at the beginning of block walks for City Council candidates.

For Brooks, it’s her way of participating (besides voting, of course).

“I think a lot of people think they have to phone bank or door knock ... I think it’s interesting that different people can contribute in different ways to political campaigns,” she says.

And as Halloween gets closer, Brooks is whipping up Jell-O shots that look like eyeballs. Yeah, it’s a weird thing to push down your throat, but they’re cool; and we can use all we can to get into the spirit even if we’re not trick-or-treating.

To get some of those little creepy cups or to get a custom order, go through Brooks’ website.