Spun Sugar

I’m very guilty of turning to Amazon prime for most things, but when I needed a theme-​specific item for a cupcake order I’m doing I had no choice but to go local because of a time crunch. I’m so glad I did. I called the store before driving down just to see if they would have anything I could use (lazy millennial theme continues), and Coco not only knew right away what I should get, she offered to email me a pic of the item (which she did within two minutes of hanging up with me). I called back and said it was perfect, and she set it aside at the register for me – probably good because then I could make a beeline for the counter and not spend $$$$$$$ picking up one of everything in sight.
Long story short, customer service is above and beyond, selection is drool worthy. I can’t speak to prices, but the plastic mold I bought was ~$ 2.50 so I felt okay. Also, IF prices are slightly higher (not my personal experience, but some reviews touched on it) I’m happy to pay them to support an awesome local business. Thanks Spun Sugar, and thanks Coco!

I decided to come to spun sugar because it’s much closer to me than the other baking stores. So that was a huge positive for me! I came in late afternoon after leaving work early to stock up on supplies for my weekend orders. I walked in and the two employees just glared at me, which was a negative for me already. And I just started browsing through the store because I had never been. The two stars I’m giving are definitely for the variety of stuff they have. So again that was a positive for me. When I started to go grab everything I did need for my orders, I saw the prices and was absolutely shocked! They’re very high. Very high. I noticed the fondant was very expensive, food coloring very expensive, chocolate prices every expensive. The only thing that lined up would be the boards and boxes. Long story short I will not be shopping here. The employees were rude, the prices are very high and it’s not worth your time! I will stick to the other baking stores!

If you make homemade candy or other sweets, and want the right packaging material and/​or ingredients, you cannot do better than this store for selection of merchandise.
However, like most businesses in the Bay Area, some of the employees there do not seem very knowledgeable about the merchandise or eager to help customers, even when they are just standing around.
But the selection is so exceptional, I’ll still give it 5 stars.

My favorite place to go. I am a regular customer that loves this store. I just wish they had earlier or later hours during the week. I sometimes have to leave work early and book it to the store before they close.
The store has many selections. I pass up Michael’s and Walmart because of the quality and customer service.

I’ve been wanting to check this place out for a while but never got around to actually doing it.
But anyway, I needed some candy melts and sticks for some party treats and didn’t have time to get over to Michaels so I decided to try Sugar Spun out.
Some of the older reviews are pretty atrocious but I didn’t experience any problems with service or anything else. There was only 2 workers at the time but they each asked if I needed help with anything without hovering over my shoulder.
There’s plenty of stuff in this tiny shop and I wish I took some more time to look around. Things are organized and there are lots of usually hard to find baking things available. They don’t seem to have much of the commonly found baking things like icing however.
Sugar Spun is cute, a littly pricier than I would have liked, but excellent for those hard to find things. I’ll be stopping by again to grab some chocolate molds and cookie cutters.

I have said it once and I will say it again, I freaking hate coming to this store. I always leave with a bad taste in my mouth because the service here sucks. They have these two young girls at the front of the store who just eyeball you throughout your entire shopping experience. The welcome was dry and never once was I asked if I was finding everything OK or if I had any questions. I hate the fact that I dropped a bunch of money at the store yet I feel like crap every time I leave. Why doesn’t the owner care about its customers? I have seen a couple reviews stating the same thing and yet nothing gets done. We Bakers need to get together and open up a friendly baking store here in the area and shut this place down. Coming to a sweet shop should be sweet and exciting, instead it is sour at best.

To start off, at 5:40 PM ON 02÷18÷15, I parked in a parking lot that had no signs restricting parking to customers only of the businesses located along one side of the lot (photos I took prove this contention). In fact, the larger of the two businesses (on the street corner) sat completely vacant; the smaller business was relatively narrow.
At 5:45 PM, two women came out of the small business: locked their back door, then carried a few things to another building running at a right angle to the street-​side of the lot; both got in their car, then one screamed at me for parking in the permit-​only handicap spot in the parking lot littered with their trash from their building. They threatened to phone the police to have our car towed as they raced out of the parking lot.
Their business was closed; the business next to them (that had a rear door which opened onto the parking lot) is sitting completely vacant. Ours was the only car remaining in the parking lot.
My wife burst into tears at their treatment.
Reluctantly, I moved the car and looked for another handicap spot in the vicinity.
That someone who just closed their business for the night would begrudge use of a handicap spot to a driver and his dying, wheelchair-​bound wife, is unthinkable.
Berkeley residents love to crow about how much they love one another, how politically-​correct they are, but only in practice when the patience and tolerance of others they demand applies to them. Their intolerance is cynical, unthinkable, prejudiced, heartless, mean-​spirited, and most politically incorrect.
I spoke with the local and county police departments: fortunately, I videoed these two with my cell phone as they screamed in near hysteria at me about use of the handicap spot in the parking lot behind their now-​closed business. I will be in contact with a police department Community Service Officer to file a formal complaint against the business, its owners, and the two women; further, speaking with my attorneys, I have instructed them to file a punative lawsuit against the business and its owners.
My wife felt shattered by the experience.
Shame on you two. Don’t your hearts have compassion for your fellow man? Or your fellow woman?
Until these two individuals write a public apology, to my wife, and have it printed in all Bay area newspapers, we are asking the good people of California to boycott this business.

Cake decorating shop in Berkeley.
Came here on a walk while exploring.
First thing that drew my eye were all the super cute cupcake liners right as you open the door. Lots of bring colors and patterns. Why I didn’t just grab a bunck because they were adorable, right there, and I had never seen them before, I keep kicking myself over.
The space is spall, but they have it neatly crammed with goodies. Chocolate moulds, coloured sugars, fontants, stands, spatulas, food coloring, etc.
At the register, they had a counter with some chocolates and baked goods.
Right off of onr of the main streets in Berkeley.
I know I will be in the area again, so I think I will pick up some polka dot cupcake liners.
You should too!

Hello pastry chef heaven!
I feverishly drove around Oakland searching for acetate sheets. East Bay? Nope. Cash N’ Carry? Hell no! Fearing the inevitable modern day necessity of online shopping, I gave it one more go and Google searched.
Boom! Spun Sugar. Gave them a little ring and when they said they had acetate sheets, I’m sure I crescendo-​ed all up in their ear, «Awesome!» and drove my happy ass to Berkeley. They had everything every pastry chef, baker, confectioner could hope for: candy boxes, tart and pie boxes, tart pans, tools, baked goods, food color gels and powders, 10# blocks of Guittard, Guittard chocolate individually bagged from wholesale, acetate sheets, fondant, molds… everything!
And their prices are more than fair for retail. Make it happen cap’t and get your tuchus down to Spun Sugar and browse around.

They sold mini cupcake holders (12 cupcakes) for $ 1.10 each.
They were out of a lot of Americolor Soft Gels. They sell those for $ 3 a bottle. You might as well order it off Amazon for ~$ 1 a bottle.
They had a large variety of cupcake liners. They were all reasonably priced.
I purchased a passion fruit compound. I hope it works and tastes yummy.
Other than that, the employee’s attitude needs some adjustment. There were 2 employees in that store. One was completely unhelpful and the other girl just seemed annoyed with my questions…

Spun sugar used to be my go-​to local store for all my baking needs. They always had what the supplies I needed and I enjoyed supporting a local business.
However, their selection and quality had decreased noticeably of late. The last three times I have been there they did not have stock of the items for which I was shopping; shelves were empty and disorganized. They were completely out of meringue powder and almost all of the AmeriColor food colorings the last two times I shopped! I had to resort to Michael’s and Hobby Lobby as I was on a time crunch.
I will be ordering online the next time I need supplies and not wasting my time with a useless trip to Berkeley. Too bad.

This is a great spot for any decorator that needs what they can’t find at michaels or joanns. They have satin ice fondant, which I love, and an array or cake boards, you only buy what you need, not an entire pack! The owner is lovely! I could not find something in her shop and she referred me to another local Berkeley shop.

I came here when I was getting ready to bake a birthday cake, and found absolutely everything I needed. Odd-​sized pans, cake boards, came boxes, piping tips, candles, sprinkles, etc. The prices are reasonable, and you can pick up boxes for anywhere from a quarter to a couple of bucks. Cake boards are pretty cheap, too. Buy your pastry decorating items here and you’ll save money by not paying those ridiculous markups at the grocery store.
I’d recommend this place to newbies and seasoned bakers alike. Whether you’re hunting down materials for a special project or just trying to find a box for some homemade holiday truffles, you’ll find what you need here.

I in got over my head with a cookie project — making wedding favors. I started with a stencils and royal icing, but couldn’t get the royal icing consistancy right to make it work. So i thought, I’ll airbrush it in… so I bought an airbrush online and it seem to work fine, but after 10 mins the thing just stops!!! The wedding is Saturday morning, its Wednesday and 80 cookies need to be decorated & packaged (and I work on Friday). I Emailed Spun Sugar and ask if i could buy or rent an airbrush. The price for the airbrush was more than I wanted to spend and the online company offered to send me a new airbrush. So i went into store to get more airbrush colors. But i found so much more!
The morning i walked in I was completely stressed out! I work, am going through the «change» and hadn’t had a good night sleep since I started this project :(… My poor husband, I’m surprised he didn’t throw me off the Bay Bridge!
Anyway, I found EVERYTHING, i needed here! SOLUTIONS: great tools, already mixed royal icing — just add water! And a really understanding staff member who help me put things in prospective… its a cookie!
BEFORE YOU START ANY COOKIE PROJECT STOP AT SPUN SUGAR!!!
I will be signing up for classes!
8÷12÷14 — After reading a review from Jesse E. There was a staff member who came in from the backroom, she was the one who had all the answers and pointed out that they had pre-​mixed royal icing. The young lady behind the cash register was clueless!

Reading the reviews I was a bit excited, unfortunately I think I set my hopes a little to high, selection was just ok. Here I’m saying just ok only because I normally go to sugar and spice in DC and their assortment is at Least 3X better. Here I thought sugar and spice prices were a little high. Spun sugar took the prize on that.
Plus side the lady at the counter was very nice.
Happy bankings everyone!

It wasn’t until I started culinary school that a place like this became such a necessity in a chefs success.
They have everything you could ever need or want. .edible glitter, molds galore, cake rounds, flavoring, food coloring. .I mean everything.
At the height of my Pastry career I searched out every bakery supply store within 100 miles and this one beat them all out.

I’ve always loved this store because it’s the nearest one from my house… though it’s probably 30 — 45 minutes away. But they have everything I’m looking for when I’m in the mood to bake. Good prices in comparison to Joanns or Michaels. It is a good long trip though.
Great selection of different packaging boxes but not enough mini cupcake liners. I always buy the brown mini and standard ones and they run out so fast. They always have the very tiny ones, more for like serving truffles.
It’s a very small location… it gets too packed easily.
I do like the fact that they have a little parking space in the back… (You would appreciate this if you’ve driven to Berkeley before… so hard to find parking sometimes)
Great customer service. I’ve been here more than 10 times already and each time I come in, the people that work there were super nice. They will answer any question and will even help you find the particular item you are looking for.

Best place ever! I always go here for my chocolate fountain. My first favorite item is chocoa white fountain & fondue chocolate, no need to add oil, just melt it and put it on my nostalgia chocolate fountain. My second favorite item is AmeriColor oil candy color, this item is to color my chocolate fountain whatever color I want like purple. Chocolate fountain using just chocolate is boring, so getting white chocolate mix oil base food coloring of any color you want will make your chocolate fountain fun and colorful.

I love baking and I’ve wanted to visit Spun Sugar for a few months now. What do you know, I needed a flavor compound and powdered egg whites the best place for those things is Spun Sugar!
Its a tiny shop on university with a dessert bar and every baking utensil and ingredient you’ll ever need. Its all packed into that space and organized perfectly. I was able to get my flavor compounds, powdered egg whites and even almond flour! (Way better than the stuff at Trader Joes).
Now I’m itching for more flavor compounds, I only bought pistachio!

Ran across this place recently when frolicking around Berkeley one fine weekend afternoon, and let me tell you, it’s one of the best finds in a long time! Being a dessert afficionado and a prolific baker, I was literally in heaven.
Spun Sugar is stocked with unique cupcake liners in more shapes, sizes, colors, and designs than I’ve ever seen! In addition to a plethora of food colorings and flavors, raw chocolates from several premium brands (including single origin varieties!), fondant, boxes, cookie cutters, baking tools/​equipment, and many, many other goodies! I was literally a kid in a candy store… what to buy… what to buy?!
I’m glad this place isn’t super close to me, else I’d be in here spending way too much money on a regular basis! Good stuff. Real good stuff.