So Dee-lish

Last week was my nephew's spring break. My dad and nephew came out for a bit of skiing, snow boarding, and cupcakes....of course. They were given the roles as our first guest taste testers which they took very seriously. We tried out So Cupcake here in Salt Lake City and all I can say it was so dee-lish. As of right now it is my favorite cupcake place in SLC. We tried seven different mini cupcakes: Blueberry, Red Velvet, Peanut Butter, Lemon Poppyseed, Keylime, Carrot Cake, and Cinnamon. My Dad enjoyed the moist cake and the cream cheese icing. He really liked the Keylime- he said it had enough lime in it without being too bitter. He also liked the peanut butter, carrot cake, and red velvet. My nephew liked the peanut butter, lemon poppyseed, and carrot cake. My favs were the lemon, carrot, and surprisingly the red velvet. We all agreed that the carrot cake was probably our top fav. All the cupcakes had wonderful bright colored sprinkles. On the sprinkle scale we give it a 4.5.

Greensboro's Maxie B's

On our way home, we stopped in Greensboro to see the site of the first "lunch counter sit in", one of many events that prompted the start of the Civil Rights era. Four men, sat at a Woolworth's lunch counter waiting to be served for hours. Of course, they never expected to be waited on, but the powerful message they conveyed has left a mark on history. I can't say the same about Maxie B's. The store was very cute, lots of comfortable, cushiony chairs, fancy lamps and wall decorations. I ordered a simple chocolate cupcake with buttercream icing. It was so tasteless, I may as well of been eating a paper cupcake. I couldn't even finish it, which NEVER happens. Billy had better luck with his hummingbird cupcake. It was a combination of different fruits with a cream cheese icing. It compares with banana bread. He also had a pumpkin chocolate cupcake. He said the cake was a bit dry, but the bits of chocolate chips within the cake helped a little. He also just didn't care for the overall pumpkin flavor, but liked the cream cheese icing. These cupcakes were also refrigerated, but they offered to warm them up. I'm not sure what they did, but it sounded like they blew a hair dryer on them for 30 seconds. It helped the temperature, but then the icing would slip off. My cupcake gets 1/2 a sprinkle and that's generous. The hummingbird gets a 3 1/2 and the pumpkin, 3 sprinkles.

Chapel Hill's Sugarland

My husband and I headed to Chapel Hill, NC for a research project he is doing. Of course, this included my own research as well....cupcakes. We found a place called Sugarland right along the main strip. It was the first time I came across a refrigerated cupcake. A sign said to wait a few minutes before eating it so it could become room temperature, but really, who does that with cupcakes? We ordered the Guiness Chocolate cupcake since St. Patrick's day had just passed. We couldn't taste the actual Guiness; instead it seemed to bring out the flavor of the chocolate. It was deeper and richer, which I like. There was a good icing to cake ratio too. The only downside to this one was the cool temperature. I'm giving this cupcake 4 sprinkles.

Desperate and possibly addicted

February I (Courtney) went home for a long over due trip. I am from a small town in Southern Indiana. My sweet little hometown however does not have the luxury of a place dedicated to cupcakes. Sigh. The closest place would be a 2 hour drive- not to say that I would not drive that in an instant, I just ran out of time.

My parents however understand my dedication/ addiction to cupcakes. They fortunately knew just where to take me. In Bloomington there is a place called Angel B's. They specialize in cakes of all types and according to their menu they have the best cupcakes in town. They bake small batches throughout the day so they are fresh. They also have a variety of flavors but the day I went they had the good stand bys- chocolate and vanilla. I ordered one of each and they were placed in a nice pink to-go box. The cupcakes had the prettiest pansies on top, the icing was light and not too sweet. The cake was moist and had nice flavor. We thoroughly enjoyed them and would give Angel B's a 4 on the sprinkle score. And I am comforted to know that next time I go home I know exactly where I can get my fix.