Sprinkles Cupcakes, the spark behind the explosion of haute Southern California cupcake shops, is expanding its sweet empire to include a string of “ATM” cupcake dispensers and premium ice cream shops.

The next stop for the company’s latest venture, Sprinkles Ice Cream, is Orange County.

The first scoop shop – home to cupcake sundaes, ice cream sandwiches and red velvet waffle cones – debuted in May next to the chain’s flagship Beverly Hills store. In the spring, the second shop is slated to open next to Sprinkles Cupcakes in the Corona del Mar Plaza. It is taking over the space once occupied by Gelato Paradiso, which closed more than a week ago.

“We love desserts. That’s why we got into cupcakes,” Sprinkles co-founder Charles Nelson said. “There are always things we wanted to explore, and ice cream was one of them. We’re really excited to bring ice cream to Orange County.”

Nelson and his wife, Candace, a judge on Food Network’s “Cupcake Wars,” debuted Sprinkles Cupcakes in 2005. A year later they opened their second cupcake shop in Newport Beach. Of their 10 locations, Newport Beach remains the second busiest.

Sprinkles Ice Cream is focusing on flavors and ingredients to set itself apart from competitors, Nelson said. The slow-churned ice cream, which contains 14 percent butterfat, is made daily in a Los Angeles commissary and uses ingredients such as single-origin chocolates from Tcho in San Francisco, and dairy from Straus Family Creamery in Northern California.

“We take (the same) fresh marshmallow cream inside the cupcakes, and put it into the (Rocky Road) ice cream,” Nelson said. “It’s a creamy river of marshmallow going through it.”

Roughly 12 flavors are available daily with some seasonal specials rotating. On some days, the Beverly Hills store sells about 1,000 scoops, Nelson said. Top-selling flavors include red velvet, salty caramel, Rocky Road, vanilla bean and Cap’n Crunch.

Besides selling ice cream by the scoop, the menu features whimsical concoctions such as the uber-trendy ice cream sandwiches (with 4-ounce scratch-made cookies), shakes, sorbets and cupcake sundaes. Unique menu items include red velvet waffle cones and red velvet cake crumbles.

“The red velvet is crazy,” Nelson said of the popularity of the red velvet waffle cone.

Another high demand item is the Sprinkles Sundae. It contains the bottom part of a Sprinkles cupcake, a scoop of ice cream (your choice) and the top half of the cupcake, with frosting.

“That is by far our most popular item,” he said.

Nelson’s favorite? “We love the Sprinkles Sandwich – two unfrosted cupcake tops with ice cream in the middle. It’s like an all-in-one birthday cake.”

Nelson said plans are under way to open ice cream locations in Dallas, Las Vegas and Atlanta. The latter two will have “ATM” cupcake dispensers, introduced this year in Beverly Hills. The 24-hour vending machine allows fans to satisfy their cupcake cravings round the clock with the swipe of a credit card.

The Newport Beach shops will not get a dispenser because there’s no space. However, Nelson said, Orange County can expect a cupcake ATM soon.

“We’re looking,” he said. “The ATM is definitely coming to Orange County.”

Address: 952 Avocado Ave., Newport Beach. (Same center as Bristol Farms)

Cooking demo with Cathy Thomas and Nancy Luna

Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market is hosting a holiday cooking demonstration Dec. 13 at the Sur La Table kitchen in Costa Mesa. Ten Register subscribers who write in will be chosen to attend. Invited guests will get to sample holiday dishes and experience hands-on cooking with Fresh & Easy Chef Cyndi Perez and Register food writers Cathy Thomas and Nancy Luna.

How to enter: Write in and let us know why you need to attend this cooking class. Email your stories (100 words or less) to Thomas at cthomas@ocregister.com or Luna at nluna@ocregister.com. Winners will be notified by Dec. 10.

Contact the writer: nluna@ocregister.com