When Cupcake A La Mode’s owner and executive pastry chef Lisa Clark made her first foray into the world of the baking arts, her equipment consisted solely of an Easy Bake Oven.

That attempt may have been less than a success, but nearly 30 years and three locations later, it’s safe to say Clark has made her playtime make-believe into a full-blown career. I popped by her Roseville cupcakery on a recent afternoon to see (and taste) for myself how this Midwest-based enterprise fared in a competitive West Coast market. After making my selections, I settled down and gazed at my little works of art: Marshmallow Fondue and the aptly named Chocolate Obsession. First, the Marshmallow Fondue—a chocolate cupcake sprinkled with semisweet chocolate, a swirl of marshmallow buttercream, graham cracker crumbs and topped with a chocolate-covered graham cracker. It is, after all, summertime, and with no campsite in my foreseeable future, this s’more-like confection was a delicious substitute to my lack of available bonfires. The Chocolate Obsession featured a chocolate cupcake topped with rich, chocolate buttercream and was covered in dark chocolate shavings. Ah-mazing. I skipped out with my leftovers, sticky-fingered and nostalgic for the Easy Bake Oven that dominated the imagination of my own youth, when any and all dreams were possible. Cupcake A La Mode, 1455 Eureka Road, Suite 120, Roseville. 916-788-1911, cupcakealamode.com.