Our final day of cupcake tours in New York took us to a couple of unexpected stops. First thing in the morning we planned to go to Cupcake Cafe, however met a couple of friends out front of Baked by Melissa. I didn't even see the store there, until my friend asked if it was on our tour.
I noted in Baked by Melissa that all of the cakes were mini bite sized
cakes, which was a welcomed change from a lot of the other stores we had
been to in previous days. We found that we had started to struggle
through the cupcake stores and bakeries as we couldn't finish our cakes.
To have bite sized as an option was wonderful news for our hips and
taste buds.
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| Inside Baked by Melissa |
We were only going to have one each, and Steve sent me in
with the stipulation of "mint chocolate" which is not one of my
favourite flavour combinations. However, when I went in I noticed that
the best way to buy these bite sized beauties was in a box of 3. So
that's what I did. I went with the Choc-mint, Cookies & Cream and
Chocolate fudge cupcakes. They were all so delicious! The cakes were
moist and full of flavour with just the right amount of frosting. They
were decorated in a very cute and sweet manner. Our only criticism is
that after devouring them, we wished we had more.
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| Chocolate fudge, cookies & cream and Choc-mint cupcakes from Baked by Melissa |
Our next stop for the day was Cupcake Cafe. I had read (on another blog) that it was one of the must do's
in any New York cupcake tour. Upon entering Cupcake Cafe we almost had
to search for the cupcakes. We finally found them towards the back of
the store, and the flavour combinations were nothing exciting at all -
simple chocolates & vanilla.
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| Inside Cupcake Cafe |
Our next stop for the day was Cupcake Cafe. I had read (on another blog) that it was one of the must do's
in any New York cupcake tour. Upon entering Cupcake Cafe we almost had
to search for the cupcakes. We finally found them towards the back of
the store, and the flavour combinations were nothing exciting at all -
simple chocolates & vanilla.
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| Chocolate cupcake with Chocolate frosting from Cupcake Cafe |
They were all
decorated beautifully, but they all looked identical. I have a feeling
this is their trademark, their decorating technique. They had piped
butter cream flowers on top of each cake which was really beautiful.
However anyone that knows me, knows that as important as it is for a
cake to look pretty, it needs to taste fantastic as well. Unfortunately
the cake tasted days old, was very dry and heavy and was easily the
worst cake on our whole tour. It was so disappointing.
After a week in New York, we moved on to Washington DC. On
our first day of arrival we made it our mission to go to Georgetown
cupcakes. Now I've watched quite a few episodes of 'DC Cupcakes' and
really like the show - but I've always been funny about the owners. When watching the show I watch how they do some things and think "There is an easier way to do that! Why are they doing it like that?!" I love TV shows about cakes and cupcakes, so watch
it simply for that reason, but couldn't really stand watching the
presenters... I'm certain its just me! So with an already established
negative feeling towards the shop, I didn't have high expectations.
However staying in DC for the week, I would've been crazy not to go and
check it out.
When we got there, the line was all the way up the street but
that didn't deter us from getting into "DC Cupcakes". They had a
'bouncer' on the door, and as people left he let more people in. It was a
great way to do it - you didn't feel rushed whilst in the store and it
gave us plenty of time to look around and take photos. Whilst in the
line outside, one of the staff came out and handed us all menus for what
was available. That way you could be prepared to place your order when
you walked in. I have to say the selection was impressive. Some
selections are always available, and some available on a roster system -
changing by the day of the week. We decided on one each - Steve went
with a simple vanilla cake with chocolate frosting, and I went with the
lava fudge cupcake. Once we got inside though, we noticed there were a
couple of added flavours that weren't listed on their menu. One looked
too irresistible to leave behind, so we ordered an extra flavour -
German Chocolate.
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| Inside Georgetown cupcakes |
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| The beautiful display of cupcakes at Georgetown |
They had a good concept for an ordering system: you placed
your order, paid the money and waited for your order number to be
called to receive your cakes. It worked a treat, and was very fast! We
walked around the corner of the store and could see through the glass
panels and into the kitchen. This allowed us to take photos and watch
the bakers hard at work. They had an amazing production line, and
definitely gave me a lot of ideas for how I would do it, if and when I
open my own cupcake shop. It was so clean in the kitchen, considering
how many cakes they were pumping out. And they were pumping them out!
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Behind the scenes at Georgetown cupcakes
check out all those trays of cakes!!! |
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Behind the scenes, cupcake production line!
Georgetown cupcakes |
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The production line in action!
Georgetown cupcakes |
After Georgetown cupcakes, we went for a wonder through
Georgetown and stumbled across another 'Sprinkles'. Yes we had already
tried out the Sprinkles in NYC, but what harm would there be in trying
the DC branch? Plus it's a good way to see if its just the individual
stores that are producing amazing cakes, or if its the whole of
Sprinkles.
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| Display cabinet in Sprinkles - the same as NYC! |
We ordered a Red Velvet and a Chocolate Marshmallow cupcake. There were
the same cakes we had seen the previous week in New York and I was so
tempted to get the Salted Caramel again, but wanted to try a new
flavour.
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| Inside Sprinkles - cupcake cabinet!!! |
When we got back to our room, we opened up our goodies boxes, and first
compared the German Chocolate from Georgetown cupcakes, to the Chocolate
Marshmallow from Sprinkles. The cakes were both amazing - they were
light and fluffy, yet moist and flavourful. The frosting on the German
Chocolate was so fresh that it had already started to slide off the cake
- it was fluffy and rich and not too much coconut, which I really
loved. The Chocolate Marshmallow had a lovely surprise of a gooey
vanilla marshmallow centre and a light coating of ganache
frosting. They were delectable and I had started to realise that
Georgetown cupcakes was more then I had originally given it credit for.
Next we compared the Lava fudge cake with the Red Velvet cupcake, which
pretty much sealed the deal for me. It was a close call, however I had
made my final decision on which cupcake shop was my ultimate favourite
in the whole trip.
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| Chocolate Marshmallow cupcake from Sprinkles |
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| German Chocolate cupcake from Georgetown cupcakes |
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| Red Velvet cupcake from Sprinkles |
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| Lava Fudge cupcake from Georgetown cupcakes |
Sprinkles cupcakes were amazing, and they were equally as good in DC as they were in NYC. They were
full of flavour and soft and moist. Their cakes were just as good as
their frosting's and were finished simply. Sprinkles became Steve's
favourite. I however favoured Georgetown cupcakes far more! Their
flavours were real, you could tell just from one bite that they used
quality ingredients, and they advertised the fact they do too. I love
this, I am all about good quality ingredients. Their frostings were
fluffy and luscious and each cake was so fresh, it was just amazing.
They finished each cake beautifully and they almost invited you to dive
in and devour them. I am so looking forward to my visit to DC again next
year, just to go to Georgetown cupcakes again!
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| Vanilla cupcake with Chocolate frosting from Georgetown Cupcakes |
