No Such Thing as Too Much of a Good Thing

Last week led us down to San Diego for a wedding. So you know what that means.....a trip to Elizabethan Desserts. If you know me, you know that Elizabethan Desserts is my favorite cupcake shop of all time. Anytime I get the chance to visit, I don't pass it up. If you've been there, you know why.

On this day I made good use of my visit and grabbed as many cupcakes and sugar cookies I could carry. I knew I wouldn't have a problem "getting rid" of them.

Desmond had his first taste of the deliciousness of Elizabeth Desserts. I thought he would just eat a bite or two, but he ate the entire cupcake (his was Churro). That's my boy!

Race Rewards

You know me and my race rewards. My all-time favorite race to do (Oceanside 70.3) happens to be just a few miles from my favorite cupcake shop -- Elizabethan Desserts. Makes for great motivation for a half-Ironman. My only disappointment was that there were no sugar cookies. BUT I managed to cleaned out the shop by taking the last 20 cupcakes. Hey....they are good and I knew my family would enjoy too. Thanks Elizabethan Desserts!

Oh How I Love Elizabethan Desserts

It's no secret that Elizabethan Desserts is my favorite cupcake shop. I shout their praises whenever I get the chance. Recently my girlfriends and I took a daytrip down to San Diego. I couldn't drive past Encinitas without stopping by my favorite place. This was their first time and I promised them they would soon love Elizabethan Desserts too.

A cupcake parking spot just for me.

Follow the rules or no cupcakes for you!

I came home with an assortment of flavors. By the time my husband and I devoured them, I realized that I didn't get enough! Flavors chosen: Chocolate Toffee (my new favorite!), Churro, Monkey Business, Cot-n-Kandy, Grasshopper, Beeze-Kneeze. 

My friend picked the Mustachio cupcake for her hubby. I couldn't resist posting the photo.

There was no way I was leaving without my beloved sugar cookie. I've never tasted a sugar cookie as delicious as this. I have seriously had dreams about this cookie...it's that good.

#1 on My Top 10 Cupcakes of All Time

This is the end of my list, my favorite cupcake shop of all-time.

I constantly get asked, "where can I find the best cupcakes?". Wow, it's just so hard to narrow it down because I've tasted so many delicious cupcakes. But I did. You can check out all of my reviews under the tab "Cupcake Reviews." It's now time to reveal the new list for The Cupcake Activist's Top 10 Cupcakes of All Time! This list will be constantly changing, as there are so many cupcakes I have yet to try.

#1

CUPCAKE SHOP: Elizabethan Desserts

LOCATION: Encinitas, CA

FAVORITE FLAVOR: Chocolate Toffee: chocolate cake with caramel buttercream, dipped in milk chocolate, and sprinkled with toffee

I discovered this quaint little shop in 2008. It's nestled within a nursery in Encinitas, CA. I call it heaven on earth! When I stepped inside the bakery, I immediately knew this was the place, the place that I would recommend as THE BEST CUPCAKE SHOP!

These cupcakes are definitely different than any other cupcake I've tried before. The difference is that these cupcakes are more like desserts in a cupcake shape. Elizabeth Desserts has differentiated themselves by going beyond the traditional cupcake idea. They also have the BEST sugar cookies. I'm craving one right now as I type this. Yum! I love their cupcakes and always stop there when I'm in the area. You should too! You can check out my full reviews here and here. I recommend them to everyone who asks where to get the best cupcakes. And that's why they are #1 on my list!

Elizabeth Desserts
155 Quail Garden Dr.
Encinitas, CA 92024
Open Tuesday-Sunday 10am-5pm
760-230-6780

My Race Reward Tradition

It's become a tradition for me to eat cupcakes from Elizabethan Desserts after my Half-Ironman 70.3 California race in Oceanside every year. The race is just a few days away (Saturday) and I'm planning on continuing my tradition of getting cupcakes from my favorite cupcake store of all time. (Yes you read that right. I picked Elizabethan Desserts as #1 on the list of My Top 10 Cupcakes of All Time.)

So watch out! I'm planning on cleaning out the store because I'll have quite an appetite after swimming 1.2 miles, biking 56 miles, and running 13.1 miles.

My Top 10 Cupcakes of All Time: #1

This is the end of my list, my favorite cupcake shop of all-time.

I constantly get asked, "where can I find the best cupcakes?". Wow, it's just so hard to narrow it down because I've tasted so many delicious cupcakes. But I did. You can check out all of my reviews under the tab "Cupcake Reviews." It's now time to reveal the list for The Cupcake Activist's Top 10 Cupcakes of All Time! I'm sure this list will be ever-changing, as there are so many cupcakes I have yet to try. Enjoy the last day of 2010!

#1

CUPCAKE SHOP: Elizabethan Desserts

LOCATION: Encinitas, CA

FAVORITE FLAVOR: Monkey Business - moist vanilla-banana cake with cream cheese frosting and caramel drizzle






I discovered this quaint little shop in 2008. It's nestled within a nursery in Encinitas, CA. I call it heaven on earth! When I stepped inside the bakery, I immediately knew this was the place, the place that I would recommend as THE BEST CUPCAKE SHOP!

I went against my instincts and tried a flavor I wouldn't normally have picked. PERFECTION - the best cupcake I've ever eaten! I dream about the Monkey Business cupcake all the time. But that cupcake isn't the only good one, everything I have eaten from Elizabeth Desserts is delicious!

These cupcakes are definitely different than any other cupcake I've tried before. The difference is that these cupcakes are more like desserts in a cupcake shape. The cake in Monkey Business is not the same as the usual consistency of a "normal" cupcake. Elizabeth Desserts has differentiated themselves by going beyond the traditional cupcake idea. I love their cupcakes and can't wait to go back soon! You can check out my full reviews here and here.

Elizabeth Desserts
155 Quail Garden Dr.
Encinitas, CA 92024
Open Tuesday-Sunday 10am-5pm
760-230-6780

My Race Reward

A few weeks ago I raced in my second Half-Ironman race (California Ironman 70.3). Although it was one of the hardest races I've ever completed, I had a great day. I improved my time from last year and recovered sooner. Of course, after the race all I could think about was getting over to Elizabethan Desserts to claim my prize--a Monkey Business cupcake!

We got there just before closing time and thankfully I was lucky enough to get the last Monkey Business cupcake. Phew! I also picked up a few cupcakes to share with my family.
Cupcake count: Red Velvet (2), Monkey Business (1), Chocolate Raspberry (1), Elvis (2). I also picked up a sugar cookie and wished I didn't have to share with my husband. It was awesome! The frosting was so buttery sweet. I am definitely getting one of those again next time.

Time for Elizabethan Desserts!

Last year I competed in my first Ironman 70.3. It was a long, exhausting day that ended with a trip to my favorite bakery, Elizabethan Desserts in Encinitas. Well worth swimming 1.2 miles, biking 56 miles, and running 13.1 miles.

In five days I will be doing it all over again! Swimming, biking, running, and eating cupcakes from Elizabethan Desserts.

Fingers crossed that I will be lucky enough to score a Monkey Business cupcake!

The Best Cupcakes Ever!!

I can't emphasize this enough--Elizabethan Desserts makes the best cupcakes I have ever tasted!!!

As I mentioned a few days ago, I paid a visit to Elizabethan Desserts after my Ironman 70.3 race two weeks ago. I had been looking forward to going there for months. I even emailed the store to make sure they would have my favorite cupcake. If you are ever in the Oceanside/Encinitas/San Diego area, please stop here and enjoy cupcake greatness!

Chocolate Toffee
(tastes like a Milk Bordeaux)

Rosie's Red Velvet
(with white chocolate cream cheese frosting)

My favorite cupcake:
Monkey Business
(banana cupcake with white chocolate cream cheese,
topped with caramel)

Ironman 70.3 = Elizabethan Desserts

Saturday I competed in my first Ironman 70.3 (aka: Half Ironman). This is my fourth season of racing in triathlons. Wow, what a day! After swimming 1.2 miles, biking 56 miles, and running 13.1 miles, I was exhausted! (By the way, I finished in 6 hours, 12 minutes.)


My post-race tradition is that I get to eat a cupcake (or two or three). This serves as my motivation during the race. Of course I was excited about this race because I knew we would be going to Elizabethan Desserts after. But after I was done, I just wanted to go to sleep. We still got my cupcakes anyway. Pictures to come!

Photo

Return to Elizabethan Desserts

Saturday was a pretty big day for me! I raced in my first olympic-distance triathlon. My husband promised me that if I finished in less than three hours, he would take me to Elizabethan Desserts in Encinitas. My goal for the race was three hours and five minutes, so that would mean finishing five minutes faster than I thought I could. I guess the motivation worked! My final time was 2 hours, 48 minutes, 50 seconds.

Elizabeth Desserts is located in Sunshine Gardens Nursery in Encinitas. I had been there before, and was so excited to go back! This time we had our camera with us
I love the atmosphere of this place. It is so homey. The last thing I want is corporate produced cupcakes. These desserts seem to have time and love put into them.
My husband got permission to take a few pictures of the bakery from Elizabeth herself. Both times we have been there, she has been behind the counter making cupcakes. The love the fact that she is so hands-on with her products.
Last time I tried the Monkey Business cupcake (banana cake, white chocolate frosting, caramel drizzled on top) and it was definitely the best cupcake I have ever tasted. I knew I couldn't go wrong with something so wonderful, so I got that cupcake again. I also bought a few of the Chocolate Peanut Butter ones and a Coconut to share with my family. In hindsight, I wish I had bought some other flavors. I guess that means I need to go back soon.
The verdict? Just as tasty as before! My husband was talking to Elizabeth who said that the Monkey Business cake was a little bit denser than usual. I had noticed that also. She explained the difficulties of baking with fruit and finding the right consistency for denseness and moistness. Elizabeth was debating on whether to pull the cupcakes because they weren't as delicious as possible. Even though I enjoyed the cupcake as much as the first time, I also appreciated Elizabeth's attention to detail and care for the product. This kind of attitude may have helped her business to become as successful as it is. I had an epiphany on the drive home. These cupcakes are definitely different than any other cupcake that I have tried before. I think the difference is that these cupcakes are more like desserts in a cupcake shape. The cake in Monkey Business is not the same as the usual consistency of a "normal" cupcake. Having thought this, it does not change my opinion at all. Elizabeth Desserts has just differentiated themselves by going beyond the traditional cupcake idea. I love their cupcakes and need to go back soon to expand the number of flavors tested. Thank you!

Activist Success

Part of my job as cupcake activist is to pass on my love of cupcakes to other people. Success was felt after my promotion of Elizabethan Desserts to some friends. After raving about Elizabethan Desserts last week, I was excited to hear that these friends were traveling to Encinitas. I recommended that they stop by Elizabethan Desserts and give me their opinion. Yesterday I was excited to get the following message from reader Dave:

"This hit the spot. Yep, you nailed it! These were delicious! I had the coconut and Tanya had the toffee."
I don't know how they were able to do it, but they took a picture before trying them out! Seeing this picture brings back delicious memories for me. It makes me want to forget that gas is over $4.50 a gallon and drive down there right now.

Cupcake Nirvana

Of course I didn't have my camera when I had the best cupcake ever, but that's not the point. The point is that I had the best cupcake ever!!! Coming from me, that means a lot! I have been to many cupcake shops and tried many, many cupcakes. Elizabethan Desserts in Encinitas is where I found these treasures!

I wasn't planning on checking out another cupcake shop because the previous night I had chowed down cupcakes from two other places. But, as fate would have it, I forgot to bring a cupcake snack for the drive down to Encinitas to pick up our new triathlon bikes at Nytro. I also hadn't looked up directions because I wasn't planning on stopping by, but I remembered the name of the street. After a few minutes of searching, we found Elizabethan Desserts in Sunshine Nurseries. It was kinda hard to find, but the signs on the street helped out.

Anyways, on to the important part. When I walked in I was greeted by a display of yummy desserts. The first thing I noticed was the refrigerated case of cupcakes. This confused me because the night before I was told by another cupcake shop not to refrigerate cupcakes. I pushed my doubts aside and picked out my flavor of choice. Normally I would go for something safe (like Red Velvet), but the Monkey Business cupcake was screaming for me! My husband picked the Chocolate Toffee. The atmosphere of the bakery was very cozy. I could see desserts being made before my eyes. Elizabeth was behind the counter putting frosting on the Red Velvet cupcakes. I like being able to see what's going on behind the scenes. It makes it more real, not commercialized.

Before we started eating I made my husband stop at the closest gas station so we could pick up a carton of milk. Wow, Wow, Wow! I can't believe how amazing these cupcakes were!!! My cupcake was called Monkey Business. It had banana cake, butter cream frosting, a white chocolate shell, and caramel drizzled on top. The shell was the reason for the refrigeration. My first bite told me that I had died and gone to cupcake heaven! The flavor combination was something I had never tasted before. I am not usually a big white chocolate fan, but this was unbelievable! My husband got the Chocolate Toffee. It had chocolate cake, some kind of butter cream frosting, a hard chocolate shell, and toffee sprinkled on top. It tasted like a Milk Bordeaux from See's Candies. The Monkey Business was my favorite by far, but if I would have had the Chocolate Toffee alone, I would have said it was the best cupcake I had ever tasted! I must admit, I was a bit worried when I saw how much frosting was on each cupcake. There was almost an equal amount of frosting as cupcake. But the frosting was not overwhelming. Surprisingly, I would say that it was the perfect amount for these cupcakes. You could tell that the frosting was made only with the "finest ingredients," like the website states.

(Side note: This is the only part of the cupcakes that made it home, therefore making it the only time I was able to take a picture!)
What is the probability of picking the two best-tasting cupcakes in the world?! I am not that lucky, so I think that the other cupcakes and desserts are most likely equally amazing. I must go back to test this theory! My husband and I are racing in a triathlon in Oceanside in July so that will be my excuse for making a stop. I am keeping my fingers crossed that Monkey Business will be there!