A s'mores cupcake I didn't love, from House of Cupcakes

I am inclined to like all things s'mores, so when I have a s'mores cupcake that I am not that smitten with, it's disappointing. Yesterday I stopped by Cupcake Wars winners House of Cupcakes, which is a cute cupcakery in Princeton, New Jersey. I got a box of six cupcakes for $11.25 (buy 5, get one free) and I'll post about the others separately, but the s'mores just didn't do much for me. The chocolate cake was crumbly and not that flavorful, the frosting was extremely, extremely sweet and didn't taste much like marshmallow or s'mores. I don't know exactly what the candies on top are, but they were crunchy and sweet and wound up being my favorite thing about this cupcake. I know for some people the idea of marshmallow anything is just too much for them, and usually I'm the one sticking up for marshmallow, but in this case, I didn't love their s'mores cupcake. The salted caramel frosting and espresso brownie cupcakes I did enjoy though. You can visit them at thehouseofcupcakes.com and also follow them @HOCPrinceton on Princeton or on Facebook (though I'm not seeing much activity on FB).


s'mores cupcake






they also sell pupcakes (I don't have a dog, so I didn't get one)

Lemon berry brighteness at Georgetown Cupcake, plus hazelnut crunch and cookies and creme

I stopped by Georgetown Cupcake SoHo again, because SoHo is very convenient, you can't beat the $2.75 price and every cupcake I've had is delicious. I didn't love this cupcake, though I did love the look of it. I wish it had had lemon frosting because the lemon cake and lemon candy were awesome. I didn't hate the berry frosting, it just wasn't my favorite. Hazelnut crunch and cookies and creme were winners in my book. The crunch on the hazelnut crunch was a perfect texture and it was a thin layer of hazelnut frosting, just enough. Visit georgetowncupcake.com for more information.

Thin Mint crunch cupcake comes to Georgetown Cupcake in March! Plus our take on mint cookies and creme, chocolate², pumpkin spicea nd banana chocolate

I stopped by Georgetown Cupcake in SoHo on Saturday with a friend and co-owner Sophie LaMontagne told me that Thin Mint Crunch is coming back in March, so Thursday I plan to be there early to try it. I also told her that I couldn't wait on the extremely long line when I was in Washington, DC last year and she reminded me you can order ahead at georgetowncupcake.com and skip the line! Also, the other day I was there on a weekdayand they told me that their free cupcake specials via GTownCupcake on Twitter (and Facebook, each day they announce a special flavor they're giving away in a limited quantity for free) tend to last until around 1 pm on weekdays. Obviously, the earlier you arrive, the better your chance for a freebie, but a heads up.

Below is a review and photo from blogger Never Turn Down a Cupcake:

This Girl Scout cookie-based flavor is a chocolate cake with crushed Thin Mint cookies baked inside, topped with a chocolate ganache and decorated with fondant Girl Scout decorations.

Even though I'm not a fan of mint chocolate, this was really rich and tasted mostly of chocolate which I liked, haha. The little bits of cookie inside were interesting and added a nice texture to both the cake and the frosting.

And these are the cupcakes we tried: the mint cookies & creme, for sale on Saturdays, which is so so good in my and my friend's opinion (it tastes like mint chocolate chip ice cream!) and the chocolate², which is "Valrhona chocolate cupcake with a whipped Callebaut chocolate frosting topped with a fondant flower," was rich and wonderful. I ate half of it and felt like I'd gotten more than my share of very rich, thick chocolate frosting. I recommend them both!





And while I'm catching up on my blogging, I also tried pumpkin spice and banana chocolate. Both were very good. The pumpkin spice's official description is "Pumpkin spice cupcake with a maple-infused cream cheese frosting topped with a fondant maple leaf" and I can tell you that the maple frosting was unique and very good. I wasn't sure if I'd like it but it had this kick to it that made it amazing. The banana frosting was good too, though I liked the pumpkin spice better.

Banana lover cupcake alert: Bananas Foster, banana chocolate chip and peanut butter banana at Brooklyn Cupcake

I stopped by Williamsburg, Brooklyn bakery Brooklyn Cupcake today to try their new banana cupcake flavors and I loved them all! I'm not even sure which one was my favorite. I will say the Bananas Foster is less like a cupcake and more like a dessert you'd eat after a meal at a restaurant. It was warm and gooey and delicious, with the banana and rum filling all gooey and oozing out from the cake, and their deliciously light and sweet whipped cream frosting. They went around tasting various Bananas Foster desserts at restaurants, at the suggestion of a customer (yes, you have that power as a customer!) and spent two weeks perfecting this special cupcake. If you try the Bananas Foster, use a fork! That's not one you want to bite into and get all over you. It will probably be for sale on weekends, and is on sale today; call them if you want to check on that day's flavors, or visit brooklyncupcake.com or their Facebook page. All are highly recommended, and their cupcakes are $2.50 each.





The other other new banana flavors are banana chocolate chip, featuring chocolate chip banana cake and a chocolate ganache topping, and an excellent, rich, thick peanut butter frosting on banana cake. The peanut butter frosting had the consistency of peanut butter, almost, but was sweeter. All three banana cupcakes were excellent.


banana chocolate chip cupcake


peanut butter banana cupcake

Gorgeous and delicious cupcakes from Frosted in Honolulu, Hawaii

I owe you a longer post about Frosted, based in Honolulu, Hawaii, which is coming, but before I get a chance to do that I wanted to share the beautiful and delicious cupcakes I got to taste, courtesy of Frosted owner Melissa, while I was in town. They were gorgeously decorated and, without being heavy, were wonderful and rich, the kinds of cupcakes you want to finish, but don't need to finish in order to feel like you've eaten something delicious. The first three photos are by me, the rest are via Facebook, and the last photo is of custom music cupcakes, via Frosted on Facebook, by KAI-PHOTO HAWAII. Frosted does custom cupcakes and cakes and asks for several months notice for weddings. Find out more at frostedhawaii.com.

So much fun at Georgetown Cupcake, plus gluten free lava fudge gooeyness

We had so much fun at yesterday's meetup at Georgetown Cupcake in SoHo! Owners Katherine and Sophie were there working so we got to meet them, and we tried lots of flavors, including peanut butter fudge, strawberry (which was amazing and a definite favorite among us), lava fudge, black and white, red velvet and carrot. Here's a few photos; proper review coming as soon as I can.

I wanted to highlight the fact that they not only sell a beautiful gluten free cupcake, gluten free lava fudge in this case, but that it was delicious, with that liquidy chocolate oozing out from the inside, a very fresh cake (as were all of them) and delicious frosting. I hope it doesn't offend anyone who can't eat gluten, but when I like a gluten free cupcake, it's usually those where I can't tell the difference, and in this case, I couldn't at all. I didn't do a side by side comparison but I did also try a regular lava fudge and both were great. Visit georgetowncupcake.com and stay tuned here and at our meetup group for our next NYC event. I'll be hosting a Chicago cupcake meetup at Swirlz March 17th from noon-1; free cupcakes for the early birds (first dozen).

Georgetown Cupcake sisters and DC Cupcakes stars Katherine Kallinis (left) and Sophie LaMontagne (third) with Nichelle and me




gluten free lava fudge cupcake




carrot cupcake


lava fudge cupcakes


peanut butter swirl cupcakes


assorted: red velvet, chocolate on vanilla (I think this is called chocolate birthday?), black and white, strawberry

Big yellow taxi New York cheesecake cupcake at Georgetown Cupcake SoHo

I'll post later about how much I loved the new Georgetown Cupcake SoHo (see Stacie Joy's post about launch party), and more details about their blinged-out mixer, but a short post for now about their cheesecake cupcake, one of many flavors they sell. Below are details about Sunday's meetup there from 2-4 pm. One thing I love is that they have different flavors daily. I've circled the ones I want on the handout they give you, so I know when to come back for which ones. I have a feeling I will be back very often (like today, tomorrow...) because there are so many I want to try! Georgetown Cupcake, 111 Mercer Street, NYC. Visit georgetowncupcake.com for more information.





The cheesecake was good, though I'm not really a cheesecake fan, so a true cheesecake lover could tell you more. I liked the way it looked and it was smoothy and creamy. I bought this one ($2.75) mainly because I liked that it was New York specific. It was a bit crumbly, and had a graham cracker crust on the bottom. I'm not sure what the disk on top was made of but it was very sweet; edible, but I'd say leave it for decoration. If you like cheesecake, I recommend this; they also had cheesecake cupcakes with Broadway street signs on them.

Cupcakes Take the Cake Meetup
Sunday, February 19, 2-4 pm
The famous Georgetown Cupcake from the DC area has just opened a location in New York City. We are going to eat cupcakes, meet people and have fun. Georgetown Cupcake is in Soho at 111 Mercer Street between Prince & Spring Streets. Please bring cash/credit/debit card as cupcakes are a la carte. The Cupcake Meetup will be from 2PM-4PM.

You can get to the bakery by taking the R to Prince Street or the 6 to Spring Street.

And yes, the meetup page says we're full, but feel free to show up and join us, and make sure to join our group so you can keep up with all our wonderful plans. And everyone is welcome on our Cupcake Cruise August 19-26, 2012, from New Jersey to Bermuda! More details on that coming next week.

Blueberry crumble mini cupcakes at Baked by Melissa; flavor of the month!

In addition to the limited edition Fashion Week Betsey Johnson cupcakes they're selling, New York City mini cupcake company Baked by Melissa has blueberry crumble cupcakes as their special flavor for January. As always, they're $1 each, and I found it an odd flavor, good for people who adore blueberries, but not as good as their other flavors of the month, though the cake was very pretty and I like the crumble on top, for flavor and texture. Visit bakedbymelissa.com for ordering information.

Quick cupcake snapshot: Classy Girl Cupcakes

More soon on Classy Girl Cupcakes in Milwaukee, but I liked the shop and their cupcakes, including their mini cheesecake cupcakes, and I'm not even a cheesecake fan! And $2 each seems like a big cupcake bargain to me. My favorite flavor was the grasshopper (chocolate mint), which I don't have a closeup photo of, unfortunately, though the strawberry champagne was the prettiest in my opinion. They also had lots of cupcake themed items, including cupcake earrings, necklaces, onesies, Cakespy and other greeting cards, air freshener, etc. You can also find them on Facebook.


chocolate raspberry (next to a Butterfinger cupcake)


strawberry champagne


cheesecake cupcakes


coconut, peanut butter dream and Nutter Butter cheesecake cupcake


cupcake necklaces!

Lemon lime loveliness and donuts atop mini cupcakes by G.I. Cakes

I've been busy being on vacation in Hawaii so I haven't had as much time to blog about all the fabulous cupcakes I got to indulge in and the wonderful people who came out at our meetup, but I will in full this week, plus will be working on interviews with the many wonderful bakers I met, and I already am planning a return trip to Honolulu, maybe in November for my birthday.

Some of the cupcakes that most impressed me were the lemon lime mini cupcakes by G.I. Cakes. I love lemon curd, and these were the perfect mix of sour and sweet, with little candies dotting them. I kept bringing people over to these and saying "You have to try this" and delighting when they enjoyed them as much as I did! The donut mini cupcakes were also utterly adorable and delicious; I've seen and eaten donut cupcakes, but never mini ones. Also the minis were perfect for a party like that because it allowed us to sample more flavors (I ate 2 of the lemon ones though!). They can be reached at getsome at gi-cakes.com or 808-691-9122, and you can follow G.I. Cakes on Facebook and @stayfrosted on Twitter.

Does Shipping Cupcakes Stack Up? Plus, a Giveaway: Georgetown Cupcake Sends You a Dozen!

Thank you Georgetown Cupcake for the shipping and the cupcakes -- and the Valentine's Day giveaway. 

I'd always been suspicious about how well shipping cupcakes works, even though I'd had a reliable experience before.

It arrived in fine condition, bright pink and happy-looking, very distinctive. Once you see this box you won't forget it anytime soon (check out these amazing shots of the boxes arriving for the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan during "Operation Cupcake"). When I opened the box there was a foil wrap around the cupcakes:

Inside that was a small gel-type pack of ice.

And a card, although it had no information abut the cupcakes inside. No names, flavors, ingredients, nor the name of the collection, which was a Valentine's Day special. That was kind of a bummer, not sure why it was overlooked.

The cupcakes arrived partially frozen, with sticks in them to keep them in place:

A tiny bit of movement showed but for the most part the cupcakes arrived looking great!

Flavors were:

Red velvet.

Strawberry Lava Fudge.

Chocolate squared.

(I looked them up.)

The red velvets were my favorite.





Yummy and sweet cream cheese frosting with a dense moist (but not oily or greasy) cake. My cupcake-tasting partners (in crime) felt the cupcakes had a slightly alkaline aftertaste but I didn't notice.

The strawberry lava fudge was exactly as advertised:






A lava-type cake with a sweet and gooey fudge center. The frosting is also very sugary, with a fruity strawberry taste. I thought I also might have tasted some raspberry but no one else agreed with me. *sigh*

Warning: this cupcake is messy! Gooey and drippy and best eaten with a fork or spoon. Also, the frosting had a tendency to separate. Maybe due to the fact there was so much of it?




The chocolate squared was so rich and dense and obviously made with quality ingredients.






My friend took one bite and said, "Are these made with Valrhona?" Wow. Impressive. Yes, they are.  We both agreed that the cake was just a vehicle for the frosting. So decadent. And really a grain-free taste, which I think is hard to achieve in a chocolate frosting.





I love how the cupcake wrappers were decorated on the bottom:



So cute.




The cupcakes are hard to remove from their container. It's best to remove them while they are still frozen, or you will have fingerprints all over your frosting:








As an aside, Senator Harry Reid received a similar box and regifted the treats to the press! Nice move, Senator Reid. Media people love cupcakes.



Georgetown Cupcake is home to TLC's show DC Cupcakes and they are expanding soon to NYC and Boston. Excellent shipping, quality ingredients, popular TV show, busy bakeries (4 by the end of the year) -- is there anything these women can't do?!



Anyway, Georgetown Cupcake and Cupcakes Take the Cake are giving away a dozen Valentine's Day cupcakes plus some cupcake merchandise, shipped directly to your home (USA lower 48 only due to shipping restrictions). To enter, leave an email address where CTTC can contact you below, in the comment section, on or before February 6, 2012 at 5:00 pm ET.  We will choose one winner at random and contact you via email, the gifts will be shipped from the cupcakery.



The small print:

"Georgetown Cupcake ships all of its cupcakes overnight via FedEx. Due to the FedEx shipping schedule, Georgetown Cupcake cannot ship cupcakes for arrival on Sundays or Mondays. Unfortunately, we cannot ship to P.O. Boxes, APO, or FPO addresses.We do not require signature upon receipt of any shipping order. However, due to the perishable nature of our product, it is best for someone to be present to receive the delivery.

Please be aware of any specific delivery policies at your shipping destination.Georgetown Cupcake cannot guarantee delivery if we are provided with an incorrect address, or for shipping delays resulting from inclement weather.Georgetown Cupcake will provide you with a FedEx tracking number via email once your order has shipped."

Best of luck to y'all!

;)