Yum? Yuck!

Now that my little donkey is almost 2 years old and fully appreciates sweet stuff, it was time to initiate her into the world of cupcakes.  Too bad our first choice was not a good one.  We stopped at one of many cupcake shops in Cincinnati, Ohio, a place called Yum.  She has not yet developed a distinguished taste for chocolate, and devoured her sub-par chocolate/chocolate mini cupcake.  I had an ice cream sundae (flavored) cupcake that I ate maybe two bites of and my man had a chocolate peanut butter cupcake.  His was the best of the bunch, but still nowhere near as good as it should have been.  Overall, Yum disappoints.  I give it 1 sprinkle, and that's only because the shop was cute.

Cupcake Delivered

I must say I have my man well trained.  This past weekend he went to Seattle for an Aquathon and instead of being completely focused on his race he was focused on cupcakes!  During his adventure he found Cupcake Royale.  Not only did he find it but he took pictures and brought home a cupcake for me to taste test.  Yes I think he's a keeper.  But anyway back to cupcakes... he brought home the Blueberry Brown Betty which happens to be their featured flavor of the month.  I have to say even with travel time it was quite good.  The cake was a moist dense cake with blueberries scattered in it.  The frosting was cinnamon with crumble on top.  It was all very good.  I do think there could have been more blueberries in the cake and a few of them were chewy which could have been due to the cupcake's travel adventure but still very good.  I will give it a solid three sprinkles.

California Cupcakes

My man and I took a trip to California to drive up the coast.  We flew into Los Angeles, drove up the coast and flew out of San Francisco.  And of course made time for some taste testing!

Forget the sight seeing of the city, this girl had priorities, and you know my first stop was Sprinkles in Beverly Hills.  I was quite eager to give this place a try since it is touted as the world's first cupcake bakery and the creator is of course one of the judges on Cupcake Wars.

I got carrot cake and my man got cinnamon sugar.  The place was very busy and the store front was cute and tiny.  My carrot cake was pretty good but I was disappointed because the carrots were long shreds and there were lots of them!  I felt a bit like I was eating a salad rather than a cupcake.  But it was moist and had a nice flavor.  The cinnamon sugar was more of a muffin with cinnamon and sugar sprinkled on top.   But it was moist and also had a nice flavor.  Sadly, the cupcake ATM at the store seemed to be having a few malfunctions so was not able to try it out.  On a sprinkle scale I will have to give them an average score of 3 sprinkles.

Next up Crush Cupcakery in Santa Barbara.  This cute little spot was half cupcake bakery and have cafe. I tried out Strawberry Blush.  As I was ordering and taking pictures I soon found out that this little spot was on Cupcake Wars two different times.   Each time they placed 2nd.  Kind of cool to begin with a Cupcake War judge and follow up with a contestant.  Strawberry Blush had a nice strawberry flavor.  You could see bits of strawberry in the icing.  Another score of 3 sprinkles.

 Up next was San Francisco.   My man and I spent two days there which allowed for two more stops.  Our first stop was Kara's Cupcakes located in Ghirardelli Square.  Of course I had to go for the Ghirardelli Chocolate.  The chocolate cake was the best I have ever eaten.  Amazing flavor and incredibly moist.  The icing was rich and had a bit of a pudding consistency.  On the sprinkle scale I will give it a 3 1/2 for the amazing cake.

 

Last stop was American Cupcake.  This spot was also half bakery and half cafe.  The cafe specialized in carnival food.  They had so many unique flavors like pixie stick and cotton candy I opted for animal cracker.  It consisted of red velvet cake, lemon icing, and an animal cracker, of course.  The red velvet cake was not good at all.  It had an unusual flavor and was dry.  The lemon icing was nice and had a light lemon flavor.  Apart the cake and icing were not very good, but when you paired them together they actually tasted like an animal cracker.  For that, and their creativity, I will give them 3 sprinkles.

 That concludes my most recent taste testing trip.  In June Anne and I meet up again.  Stay tuned for more cupcake tasting adventures!

Good to be Queen

The other day I was surprised by my man who brought home a box of cupcakes from The Queen Bee Bakery Co. Two women that work with my man so thoughtfully decided to share their recent delivery from The Queen Bee. Of course there were no complaints from me! I have to say right off these have moved up the list to one of my favs! The box contained six mini cupcakes- red velvet, caramel, coconut cream, key lime, strawberry, and chocolate3. They all had filled centers which I have to say made me nervous but they were so good! The key lime and strawberry were probably my top favorites. The icing was nice and light, not too sweet, and you could taste real strawberry and lime. The caramel was so rich that you could taste the butter which I am sure was used in making it. And the red velvet actually had a nice flavor which is surprising because I have yet to be impressed by any red velvet. The Queen Bee does not have a store front yet but can be visited at Tai Pan Trading which I may just become their newest frequent shopper! The sprinkle score....do I dare give it a 5...I think so especially since I am still thinking of them!

So Cupcake is a Truckin'

Recently my man's work had 'Take Your Kid to Work' day which included a visit from So Cupcake's cupcake truck. I could not pass up the opportunity to finally check it out even though I have already reviewed their cupcakes some time ago. It was great fun pulling up and seeing this pink truck in front of my man's office. They sell their full and mini sized cupcakes along with ice cream. I so enjoyed walking up to the truck and ordering my strawberry cupcake. The cupcakes still taste the same but the truck added another element to the experience.

Sugar Plum's Gets a 1st Time Visitor

My daughter turned 6 months the other day. How appropriate that we happened upon a cupcake place that very day. It is called Sugar Plum's Cupcakery in Mason, OH and is the satellite location for the main bakery in Milford. Her grandma, grandpa and I stopped in with her to celebrate her 1/2 year mark- and to initiate her into the cupcake world. We chose 4 cupcakes: Pink Lady (tasteless), Cincinnati (think German chocolate), Lemon and Blueberry (pretty tasty) and Chocolate Chocolate (the favorite). The cupcakes weren't the best I've ever had and they were skimpy on the fillings, but overall not a total disappointment for my daughter's first cupcake place. We give it 3 sprinkles. She gives it some drool.

Sunshine and Cupcakes

Recently I had to travel with my man to Florida. I am proud to say I did a little taste testing while I was there. First stop was the Cupcake Spot in St Petersburg. I ordered the Berry Squared and Better Thans. Berry Squared was a strawberry cake with raspberry cream cheese icing. Better Thans was a chocolate chip cake also with cream cheese icing. This may be a shock but I couldn't finish the Berry Squared cupcake. The icing had a weird taste and was just not that good. The Better Thans on the other hand was decent. The cake reminded me of my partner in cupcake crime's chocolate chip muffins she would fix in college. However the icing made me think of icing from a can, not bad, but not impressive. Cupcake Spot was just average for me. I give it 2.5 sprinkles.

Next stop Frosting ETC in Tampa. This stop I found beautiful creatively flavored cupcakes with

a very passionate and nice cupcake worker! After MUCH deliberation I chose Champagne Pear Bellini, Guinness Beer, and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough. I so wanted to love these cupcakes but once again they did not do it for me. Champagne Pear Bellini, which I was informed has won awards and has been reviewed by food critics. Maybe my taste buds were out of order that day but the cake, which had chunks of pear baked in, had no flavor. The icing on the other hand had a nice sweet, salty and smooth flavor. Next up was Guinness Beer which was the cupcake worker's fav. Once again the chocolate cake had no flavor but the icing was de-lish. Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough had the same story- tasteless cake and amazing icing. The icing I think actually had cookie dough mixed in! I was content eating the icing and forget the cake! So Frosting ETC gets only 2 sprinkles.