Special Delivery of Fairy Cakes Cupcakes

I love running and I love cupcakes. And apparently I'm not the only one.

Two weekends ago was the Disneyland 1/2 Marathon. During the weekend, all of my fellow cupcake runner friends got together for a little meet-up before the race. I couldn't make it because I was working at my booth at the expo (Sparkle Athletic), but one of the attendees was kind enough to bring me a box of mini cupcakes.

The cupcakes were from Fairy Cakes Bakery in Orange County. I've tasted Fairy Cakes before (at the LA Cupcake Challenge in 2010), and LOVED them! The Pumpkin White Chocolate was absolutely delicious!

But since they don't have a store front, I haven't had the chance to try them again...until now.

Thank you to Krissy for bringing these pieces of heaven to me. The minis were Pineapple Upside-Down cake cupcakes. They were moist, delicious, and so tasty.

Right now Fairy Cakes Bakery is just a made-to-order cupcake company. Maybe one day they will expand and get their own shop. Until then, I'll keep dreaming about those pumpkin cupcakes.....

Review: Dolcissimo Bakeshop

In December I reported that Dolcissimo Bakeshop had returned to Orange County. I was so excited to find out it was only a few miles from my house! And then Daniel, the owner, invited me to come in and try out their treats. I couldn't have gotten there quicker!

Dolcissimo Bakeshop is located at the food court at Main Place Mall in Santa Ana, CA. I reviewed Dolcissimo when they were located in Costa Mesa over four years ago. I couldn't wait to go back and try out their expanded menu.

Good thing I have a large stomach and big sweet tooth because I went home with 6 cupcakes, 12 macarons, and 1 cheesecake in a jar. Today was my lucky day!

Let's start off with the cupcakes! Dolcissimo had a decent variety of cupcakes. There was about 10 flavors to choose from. I got Red Velvet (of course), Chocolate Fantasy, Strawberry Lemonade, Snickerdoodle, Diva, Chocolate Chimp. They have a revolving menu, so each day you can find different flavors.

Let me start with my favorites. Chocolate Fantasy was super chocolatey and oh-so delicious. I love that they used a milk chocolate frosting to keep it a bit lighter. Strawberry Lemonade had pieces of real strawberries in the frosting. And Snickerdoodle had a great cinnamon flavor in both cake and frosting.

Red Velvet did not wow me. The cake was gummy, and the cream cheese frosting was way too sweet and not tangy enough. The frosting on Chocolate Chimp was stiff and hard. That's probably from sitting out all day. Diva, a standard chocolate vanilla cupcake, was pretty standard.

Overall, the cupcakes were just ok. I like for a cupcake to stand out, to be memorable, to make me want to eat it again. These cupcakes lacked that quality.

Next up: the macarons. I got one of each flavor (12). The macarons had a good crunchiness on the outside and the fillings were excellent too, but there needed to be more filling! The proportion was a bit off. Besides that, these were delicious.

Last, but certainly not least: the cheesecake in a jar. There were four flavors to choose from and I went home with the caramel cheesecake. The night I opened the jar to taste it, I only planned on taking a bite. I was already full from all the cupcakes and macarons, but I wanted to taste this while fresh. Only one bite. Well, just two bites. And before I knew it, the entire thing was gone!

I am a big cheesecake fan and this one definitely lived up to my standards. Plenty of graham cracker crust at the bottom. The jar wasn't too deep that I couldn't get a scoop of the caramel, cheesecake, and crust together. These were so perfect that I have already been back twice to get more!

Dolcissimo has definitely upped their game since I last reviewed them four years ago. I am happy that another cupcake shop has opened in Orange County, but I was a bit disappointed by the cupcakes. They were ok, but not memorable. BUT I will visit them frequently for their macarons and cheesecakes in a jar.

Dolcissimo Bakeshop

2800 N. Main St.

Santa Ana, CA 92705

In the Main Place Mall

www.dolcissimobakeshop.com

Review: Lette

Our staycation in Los Angeles included stops at three different dessert shop: Mikayawa for mochi, 'lette for macarons, and Big Man Bakes for cupcakes (review coming soon!). Talk about a great day!

This was my first time in a macaron-only shop. Macarons are definitely starting to pop up in more places lately and I don't mind at all. I love that they are so little and guiltless. I don't feel bad eating a bunch at one time. I'm very good at rationalizing.

'lette has several locations throughout Southern California. The shop I visited is located in Little Tokyo in LA. BUT I just learned they now have a location in Orange County at Fashion Island. Yes!

Not wanting to be a pig, since we had just left Mikawaya, I only picked out five flavors. Coconut, Salted Caramel, Raspberry, Praline, and Passion Fruit were the winners. Actually, the winner was me because these macarons were soooo good. The Passion Fruit macaron was the best one I've ever eaten...like ever! 

The cream centers were divine. The texture of the "cookie" was perfect. I know that is hard to perfect too. The only flavor I didn't like was Praline and only because it wasn't very sweet. That's just a preference of flavor though. Surprisingly, I like the fruit flavors best whereas I usually try to avoid them with cupcakes.

Macarons at 'lette sell for $1.70 each, which options to purchase as gift boxes. They had a large selection of flavors to choose from, even near the end of the day. The products are high quality. I will definitely be paying a visit to my local 'lette now that I've experienced greatness. But I promise these won't detract me from cupcakes!

'lette Macarons

Locations: Beverly Hills, Little Tokyo, Fashion Island, Larchmont Village, Old Pasadena

Sprinkles Ice Cream Coming to Orange County!

When I heard Sprinkles Cupcakes was expanding into the cupcake world, my mind almost exploded! I made a trip out to Beverly Hills to taste the magic. It was better than expected!

Today Fast Food Maven is reporting that Sprinkles Ice Cream is opening their second location in Orange County. Well, hallelujah!! Now I won't have to drive out to LA to get some amazing ice cream. The new location will be next door to their Sprinkles Cupcakes location in Corona del Mar. Perfect!

You can read my Sprinkles Ice Cream review here.

Review: Morsels Baking Company

(Disclaimer: I apologize for the not-so-great pictures. My SLR is in the shop and my husband has the point & shoot in New York with him. I really appreciate Kelly for using her iphone to take the pictures. The quality of her cell phone pictures is actually pretty good.)


Yesterday I wrote about Pub n Grub, where I had my first encounter with my first cupcake truck. I have been waiting for Morsels Baking Company to make it's debut for several months, and I finally got my chance to try them.




Morsels Baking Company is a new food truck that sells cream puffs, cupcakes, dessert shots, and cookies. Morsels is the second cupcake truck to debut in Orange County, with Oh For Sweets Sake launching just a few months ago.




At Pub n Grub, my girl friends and I ordered one of everything on the Morsels Baking Company menu. I mean, if I'm going to review them, I need to go all out! The three of us ordered four cupcakes (one of each flavor: Red Velvet, German Chocolate, Carrot, and Lemon Raspberry), two cream puffs (Chocolate and Strawberry Swirl), one dessert shot (White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake), and a Chocolate Chip Nutella cookie sandwich. And of course some bottled milk.









We don't mess around when it comes to reviewing food. Carrie, Kelly, and I know good food and we were fairly impressed. Let's start at the top.

Cream Puffs: We loved the cream puffs, but were left with a feeling of wanting more puff and less cream. We wished the Strawberry Swirl cream puff had slices of fresh strawberries too. That would have made it worth $3.25.

Cupcakes: I tried the Lemon Raspberry first thinking I wouldn't like it (since I don't like citrus cupcakes), but was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it. The lemon flavor in the moist cupcake was subtle, which made it more enjoyable. The cupcake was smothered with raspberry marmalade and topped with cream cheese frosting. I like having the addition of marmalade to the cupcake, it makes it unique.

I didn't try the Carrot since I'm allergic to walnuts. The Red Velvet was a real red velvet, not a vanilla cupcake with a little cocoa powder. The cream cheese frosting that topped all of the cupcakes was pretty good with the right amount of tanigness, although the cupcakes could have used a little more to make them proportionally correct.

Not sure how it slipped past me, but I didn't taste the German Chocolate. I'll save that for next time.

Dessert Shots: Loved this! The layers of cheesecake, white chocolate, and raspberry made for a great texture mixture. The flavor combination was delicious. I would definitely order this again, especially since it is only $2.00.

Chocolate Chip Nutella Cookie Sandwich: I thought that this would be two chocolate chip cookies with Nutella ice cream in the middle, but it was just regular Nutella spread between the two cookies. Although the cookies were amazing, I didn't like the sandwich combination...it was too much. Ice cream would be perfect in the middle because then it wouldn't feel like you were eating too much cookie. I loved the cookies by themselves, and ended up separating the sandwich and dipping the cookies in milk. Next time I will buy the cookies alone, but I have to say, they were better than the chocolate chip cookies I had from SusieCakes earlier that day. The sandwich is $3.25 and the cookies are $1.50 each.

Final Words: Although I don't think the cupcakes are the best I've ever had, they were good. The other desserts were also delicious. I've said this before and I'll say it again, dessert food trucks will be successful if they are paired with another food truck. I would definitely be a happy girl if my dinner and dessert were Dos Chinos and Morsels Baking Company.

Cupcake Camp OC

Orange County is having it's first Cupcake Camp!

What exactly is Cupcake Camp? It is a gathering of cupcake lovers to share and eat cupcakes. It first started in San Francisco, but has been hosted in cities all around the world, including Buenos Aires, Montreal, Paris, Wellington, Bombay, and many cities in the USA.

Cupcake Camp OC takes place this Sunday, August 1 at the Atrium Hotel in Irvine (near the John Wayne airport) from 3p-6p. The event is free, but a donation of $10 will be greatly accepted. The donations will be given to El Pozo, an organization that works toward ending human trafficking and slavery in Mexico.

There will be a cupcake competition for professionals and amateurs. Registration is closed for entering cupcakes in the competition, but eaters are still needed. All of your favorite Orange County cupcakes will be there and someone needs to eat them! What could be better than spending an afternoon eating cupcakes?

Come join us for a sugar rush this Sunday. Hope to see you there!

More info available on Just Spotted.

OC's First Mobile Cupcakery

A few days ago I reported on Morsels Baking Company, a dessert/cupcake truck that will begin service in Orange and LA county in June. Well, what do you know?! Yesterday I found out that Oh For Sweets Sake will begin service this Saturday as Orange County's first mobile cupcakery!



I've actually never tried a cupcake from a cupcake truck yet, so I'm super excited to (hopefully) catch Oh For Sweets Sake on their first day of service! Their website lists lots of flavors such as Almond Joys, Key Lime, and Build Me Up Buttercake.

I'll keep you posted on their planned location(s) on Saturday. You can also find out more info on them here:

Twitter: @ohforsweetssake
Facebook: Oh For Sweets Sake

UPDATE: Oh For Sweets Sake will be at Santiago Art Walk in Santa Ana from 7-10pm Saturday night. Hope to see you there!

Just Spotted Feature!

Check out my feature on Just Spotted! Just Spotted is a blog that shares the best deals, tips, sales, and events in Orange County. I wrote an article for Just Spotted which details my favorite places to get cupcakes in Orange County. Let me know what you think!