Review: Casey's Cupcakes

Casey's Cupcakes has been around for a few years. They started as a small shop in the Mission Inn in Riverside, CA and have expanded to soon-to-be six locations. It's not hard to find a location, but sadly it took me a few years to finally do a proper review. Yes, I've tried a few cupcakes from Casey's before, but they weren't fresh and it wasn't fair to give my opinion.

So finally I snagged a fresh cupcake from the Irvine Spectrum shop the other night. I couldn't wait any longer! 

This location has been open since April of this year. The shop is located right next to the movie theater, a great location for them. It was clean and professional and screamed girly cupcakes.

I wanted to try all of the flavors, yet I controlled myself and only got one. One! I know, I'm crazy.

I've come across lots of cupcake packaging over the past five years. This was the first time I've been blown away. It's the perfect packaging for one cupcake and gives the ability to take the cupcake out of the box WITHOUT messing it up. You can view my Instagram video HERE.

The winning cupcake I chose was Peanut Butter Chocolate. To tell you the truth, I wasn't expecting this cupcake to be good. I've heard things about Casey's Cupcakes and I wanted these things to be untrue. And luckily the rumors were false: this cupcake was excellent! 

The peanut butter cake was perfectly moist. There were mini chocolate chips sprinkled throughout the cake. The fluffy peanut butter frosting was divine. I thought it would be too much like whipped cream, but it wasn't. The cupcake looked like it was piled high with frosting, but it wasn't overwhelming as I feared it would be. 

There's no doubt in mind that this was one of the best cupcakes I've ever tasted! That being said, I've had several people tell me that this is the best cupcake flavor from Casey's Cupcakes. So does that mean I've set myself up for disappointment on my next visit?! Let's not jump to any conclusions yet. And FYI - my cupcake was $3.50.

Casey's Cupcakes

www.caseyscupcakes.com

Facebook: Casey's Cupcakes

Twitter: @caseys_cupcakes

Casey's Cupcakes Opens New Location

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Casey's Cupcakes is expanding! On April 6th the Irvine Spectrum became home to their 5th location, their 4th in Orange County. They had a special red carpet event to celebrate the opening, with ribbon-cutting, live DJ, giveaways, and autographs with Casey.

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This is not the first cupcake shop to open at the Irvine Spectrum. Sweet Lorraine's came and went in 2008 and was awful. Not surprised to see them close. SweetSpot Baker's Workshop quickly followed and stayed for a few years, but eventually closed too. 

BUT I think Casey's Cupcakes will do well in spite of the previous closings. Casey's has a great following and their cupcakes are pretty good too. I haven't done an official review yet, but from the few I've tasted, they were worth going back for. Good luck to them!

Casey's Cupcakes is located at 59 Fortune Drive, Suite 330, Irvine, CA 92618. 

Meringue Bake Shop to Sell Cupcakes at Great Park

Have you heard about the new Farmers Market that will take place at the Great Park in Irvine on Sundays? I hadn't either. But even more exciting is that you will find cupcakes from Meringue Bake Shop sold there!!

The Farmers Market will happen every Sunday from 10am-2pm, rain or shine. It will start on October 31, aka Halloween.

Meringue Bake Shop will be selling her cupcakes at the Farmers Market. You can buy individual cupcakes or packs at a discount. Future plans include the introduction of pies, cookies, biscotti, and more!




Since the first Farmers Market takes place on Halloween, Meringue Bake Shop is taking advance orders for dozen assorted decorated cupcake packs that can be picked up at the market. Send her an email and let her know how many dozen you want (one dozen minimum).

If you haven't tried cupcakes from Meringue Bake Shop, you are in for a treat! Her flavors are so amazing! Stop by and see her at the Farmers Market on Halloween!

Meringue Bake Shop
www.meringuebakeshop.com
kristin@meringuebakeshop.com
714-927-7686
@meringuebkeshp
www.facebook.com/meringuebakeshop

Bitter Sweet Lorraines

Friday night I had dinner with my husband's family at the Cheesecake Factory at the Irvine Spectrum. On the way to the restaurant I spotted Sweet Lorraines and saw that it was open. I walked inside and was welcomed by the wonderful smell of fresh cupcakes. I confirmed that they would still be open in a few hours and was on my way. Dinner was great, and for the first time ever I passed on having cheesecake for dessert because I was anxious to try the new cupcake bakery.I first got notice of Sweet Lorraines about two weeks ago when a friend sent me a picture of the store's sign. They weren't open yet, so I think last week was their first week open. I was mildly surprised at the small assortment of flavors. They only had four: red velvet (of course), mocha, lemon, and vanilla. Second item of note, the cupcakes were not displayed very nicely. They were sitting on silver trays, in no particular arrangement, and it looked like crumbs were all over the trays. Third item, even though there were only four flavors, several of each flavor had a drizzle of chocolate or mocha on top, which made the flavors inconsistent sitting next to each other.

The store had minimal decorations. Strangely, the walls were blue and they had empty white picture frames on them just like Twenty Five Main in St. George, UT. When we asked about the decorations, the girl helping us said that the store had just opened so they were planning on decorating more.
Despite what the store looked like or how the cupcakes looked behind the glass, the most important test of all was how they tasted! Could Sweet Lorraines be the next Sprinkles? Sadly, no. I was very disappointed in my cupcake! I only bought one cupcake because Red Velvet was the only flavor that sounded appealing to me. My first bite...crunch! What? Another crunchy cupcake? The same thing happened at Twenty Five Main. The edge was hard and crunchy. I am not quite sure why this happens, but my guess is that the cupcake is slightly overcooked and had been sitting out too long. The frosting was so-so, definitely not good enough to save my half-eaten cupcake from being thrown away. I don't waste my calories on so-so cupcakes. I have other cupcakes calling for me to waste calories and money on. (Each cupcake was $3.25, quite a steep price for such a small, below-average cupcake.)
I want to give Sweet Lorraines a second chance. This was their first week open and they may not have all of the kinks worked out. My critique is not permanent yet, but I am in no hurry to go back.

NOTE: Sweet Lorraine's went out of business.

Newest Member of the Club

One of my CCA (Cupcake Activist) street team members sent me this picture of a new cupcake store at the Irvine Spectrum. After searching the Spectrum's website and Googling Sweet Lorraines name, I have yet to find any information about the newest member of the Orange County cupcake club. I guess this means I need to take a trip to the Spectrum and do a little research!

UPDATE: Sweet Lorraines is not open yet. We will be awaiting it's arrival!