Fat Cupcake: the Charlie, peanut butter cup in the center

Fat Cupcake, with its shop on SE Woodstock and two more out in Happy Valley and Oregon City, is easy to file under birthday errands until you go in for the cupcake the owner herself points you to, the Charlie. It's chocolate cake with a peanut butter cup baked into the center, peanut butter buttercream and a ganache drizzle. Anjelica Otness says on the homepage that she's been making it since the first day the ovens were on, so that's the one to order.

Otness opened the first Fat Cupcake on September 1, 2014. She writes that her mom used to say "Life is unpredictable, eat dessert first," and that friends and family always told her she'd open a bakery, and then she did. Five years later there were three shops, and there still are, in Lents at 8730 SE Woodstock Blvd, in Happy Valley at 13203 172nd Avenue Suite 170, and in Oregon City at 19273 Molalla Avenue. The Portland shop has moved, and its own banner says it relocated 15 blocks east to Woodstock and 87th, so make sure you're headed to 8730 Woodstock and not an old address. If you're already in the car, call (503) 775-0731.

Start with the Charlie, and after that, browse the rest of the named cupcakes, like Daisy Hayes (white cake, strawberry mousse, vanilla buttercream), Lemon Doodle, Raspberry Rex, Suit & Tie with sea salt and caramel drizzle, White Velvet and Black Velvet. The shop says flavors change daily, so call the location you're driving to and ask what they have.

For a whole cake there's a separate cake menu with The Executive, The Breakup, Pretty and Pink, Lemonade Stand and Marion Monroe. Fat Cupcake is a mixed bakery where buttercream is the default, and it isn't a vegan bakery or a dedicated gluten-free kitchen. The shop labels two cupcakes "Vegan & Wheat Free," vanilla cake with vanilla frosting and chocolate cake with vanilla frosting, in original size only, plus two cakes, vegan vanilla and vegan chocolate. Wheat-free isn't the same thing as dedicated gluten-free, and the kitchen is shared, so if you need a dedicated kitchen, there's a separate list on this site and Fat Cupcake isn't on it.

You can book a wedding cake or cupcake tasting at the SE Portland shop on 87th and Woodstock for $20, in store or to go, by calling. Skip email for orders, since the contact page asks you to call or come in. Happy Valley is (971) 224-4286 and Oregon City is (503) 518-0110. The hours listed for Happy Valley are Monday through Thursday noon to 6, Friday 11 to 6, Saturday 10 to 3, and closed Sunday, and Oregon City is Monday through Thursday 11 to 6, Friday 10 to 6, Saturday 10 to 3, and closed Sunday. The Woodstock hours on the same page have overlapping Saturday entries, so call the Lents shop to check before you go.

The Charlie is the cupcake that keeps regulars coming back. If the labeled vegan cupcake is sold out, there isn't another vegan cupcake to fall back on. Head to Woodstock if you're on the eastside, or to Happy Valley or Oregon City if one of those is closer, and call in your order instead of emailing it.

The essentials for each shop are on the Fat Cupcake in Lents, Happy Valley and Oregon City pages.