Sprinkles - Living Up to Its Hype?

The other day I was thinking about what started my cupcake obsession. I have always loved cupcakes, but I think what began my so-called "obsession" was Sprinkles Cupcakes. The first time I tried one of their cupcakes was heavenly. So it is a huge surprise to me that I hadn't officially reviewed Sprinkles.

I have mentioned before that my trophy for completing a triathlon is a trip to a cupcakery. This weekend was no different. Since our race was in Newport Beach, it only made sense that we went to Sprinkles. I invited my triathlon friends to come along. My friend Donny is seeing what all the hype is about.

I love that anxious feeling I get when I am trying to see what flavors they are offering for the day. I am rarely disappointed (unless it is the end of the day and there are slim pickings).

Sprinkles weren't the only cupcakes that I tried that day. I also visited Bristol Farms, which is in the same shopping center as Sprinkles. I went home with five cupcakes. I would have to do an entire Ironman to burn off all of those calories!

Since I am critiquing cupcakes, it seemed only fair that I try cupcakes that I hadn't eaten before. I chose Key Lime (the flavor of the month), Red Velvet (I had to get my favorite all-round cupcake), and Chocolate Marshmallow.

Key Lime: I was expecting something along the lines of Key Lime pie, but I was surprised at how tame the key lime taste was. The cupcake was a key lime cake with key lime-vanilla frosting. The cake didn't need to have more key lime flavor, but the frosting definitely did. My mom, who is a big key lime fan, was also slightly disappointed, but that didn't stop her from eating the cupcake. Besides my suggestion of a more flavorful frosting, the cake was moist, the frosting was sweet, overall making it a good cupcake.

Chocolate Marshmallow: I went out on a limb with this one because I would never normally buy this kind of cupcake. I like thick, creamy frosting, something that this cupcake lacked. The cake was a dark Belgian chocolate and the frosting was marshmallow cream covered with bittersweet chocolate ganache. Although each part of the cupcake was good by itself, this was not a good combination for the typical cupcake. I like ganache...I had it on my wedding cake, but it was a filler, not a frosting. The marshmallow cream reminded me of the cream in the center of a Ding Dong, not my thing. I had three other people taste this cupcake and they all agreed that it was nothing special.

Last, but certainly not least, the famous Sprinkles Red Velvet Cupcake. This is one of my favorites cupcakes ever! Sometimes I forget how great it is until that first bite. I am then reminded that I should have only bought red velvet cupcakes. The cake has great moistness, the frosting is the perfect amount of creamy cream cheese, and the satisfaction is divine.
So thank you Sprinkles for helping me swim, bike, and run faster! You never disappoint!