Darnella Murray is a Catapult Culinary graduate and the founder of Darnella Darling Delights, but to many, she’s just “the cupcake trapper.” Five years ago, she took a chance on her dream and has been making a name for herself throughout Pittsburgh ever since with her festive cupcakes, pound cakes, and other sweet treats.
Reigniting a Decades-Old Passion
Murray’s entrepreneurial journey all started with a fundraiser that ignited a decades-old passion.
“I had a dream of owning a bakery 20 years ago when I graduated from Le Cordon Blue Institute of Culinary Arts,” Murray remembered. “When I came back home, my dad was like, ‘I think you better go get you a job,’ so my dream died. Fast forward to 20 years later, I said, ‘Let me see if I still know how to bake.’”
And bake she did. After taking in around $800 at the weekend fundraiser, Murray quit her job the next Monday and never looked back.
“That was the last day I ever worked for anybody in my life,” she said.
With little more than her faith and a relentless drive behind her, Murray started selling her sweets on street corners, at events, through word-of-mouth and anywhere else she could entice people to try a bite. She soon got her products into a few local stores, including Salem’s Market in the Strip District and Scotty’s Market at Carnegie Mellon University.
Even with this initial success, Murray recognized that there was more to learn and began enrolling in various entrepreneurship programs that could help develop her business further. Catapult Culinary was one of those programs; Murray joined our first Catapult Culinary cohort in 2021.
Overcoming Challenges Through Community Support
She didn’t know it then, but the program would provide her with more than technical and business support. When her mother passed away, it helped her get through a difficult personal time as well.
“They were there for me,” Murray said. “I wanted to throw in the towel on my business. There was so many days that I had to push myself, and Ms. Lachelle or Tammy [Lachelle Bell, Catapult Director of Entrepreneurship and Tammy Thompson, Catapult Executive Director] would send me an email just because they didn’t see me in the streets. They would tell me, ‘Darnella, you got this. Just keep going.’”
That encouragement and support led Murray to also take part in Catapult’s homeownership program and Guaranteed Basic Income Pilot, to ensure she’s doing all she can to build a successful future for herself and her nine-year-old son.
Murray now operates her business out of Catapult’s commercial kitchen space in Bellevue, provided in partnership with Allegheny Health Network. Catapult graduates can access the space at a fraction of what it would cost to rent a normal commercial kitchen. This allows them to grow their emerging businesses without the stress of steep overhead.
These days, Darnella Darling Delights can be found all over Pittsburgh and beyond. Whether Murray is serving cupcakes from her food truck, shipping orders nationwide, or showcasing her treats on prime time—most recently in season 10 of Carnival Eats on the Cooking Channel—her reach continues to grow. Now, she’s setting her sights on a permanent brick-and-mortar location to call home and hopes to hire staff to help her keep the momentum going.
When reflecting on her journey so far, she said it all boils down to putting one foot in front of the other and trusting in the opportunities God gave her.
