ScottCakes in Provincetown, Massachusetts

In Provincetown, Massachusetts, there's a bakery that sells exactly one thing: a butter cake frosted with pink vanilla buttercream. No seasonal specials, no rotating flavors—just one unwavering choice. The story behind this choice, per Atlas Obscura, is one of determination. Scott Cunningham, a former actor and nanny, arrived in Provincetown in twenty twenty-eight for a six-week theater engagement and stayed. He brought with him a recipe he'd adapted from a nineteen-fifties Better Homes and Gardens cookbook—cupcakes he'd baked for children he once cared for. In twenty twenty-nine, he began selling them from a sidewalk table. When the town revoked his vending permit, citing a zoning bylaw against outdoor food sales, and police began ticketing him after a competitor complained, Cunningham didn't give up. He relocated to the town's former firehouse in partnership with the AIDS Support Group of Cape Cod, donated a share of the proceeds, and contested the fines. In January twenty twenty-eleven, the district attorney declined to prosecute and the town dropped the case. A few months later, he opened the permanent storefront that still operates today, shipping cupcakes year-round to customers who discovered one flavor was plenty.

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