Not Just a Vanilla Bake Shop

Second Stop: Vanilla Bake Shop

Location: 512 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica, CA

My cupcake-filled day continued with a stroll two blocks away from Yummy Cupcakes to Vanilla Bake Shop. The first thing I noticed was the cake display in the window. If only I had known about this place three years ago...

Over the past few months I have noticed that there are two ways to sell cupcakes--by taste and by looks. I have found cupcakes that look pretty but taste bad and vice versa. Vanilla Bake Shop captures both, as all of their treats looked so yummy and perfect and were followed by deliciousness.

In their main display were their "cupcake babies." These mini cupcakes sell 3 for $5. This is the best way for me to try so many different flavors without feeling sick or broke.

I picked six different flavors and could barley contain myself to take pictures before I consumed them all! Don't they look so pretty?

The first cupcake I devoured was the Black & White. It had a dark chocolate cake with a chocolate/vanilla mousse-like frosting. The cake was moist and dense and made me wish I had a glass of milk.

This next one was a familiar taste to me. It is called Mom's Birthday Cake and is exactly what my mom made for my me on my last birthday. Yellow cake with chocolate frosting is one of my favorite combinations of cake. I liked that the frosting was a milk chocolate frosting, but it was a little thin.

Chocolate Vanilla Bean was next. This cupcake was another dark chocolate cake, but it had vanilla bean frosting. This is one of two cupcakes that had little sugar crystals on top. The sugar crystals add an expensive-looking touch. I really liked the look of it. The frosting was, again, a little thin. I really enjoy thick, creamy, butter-cream frosting, something that all of these cupcakes lacked.

Yummy! I loved the Lemon Raspberry cupcake. This is the other cupcake that had sugar crystals. Along with the pretty crystals, this cupcake was a yellow butter cake with vanilla bean frosting, a raspberry on top, and **surprise** lemon curd center. The lemon filling tasted like it came from a lemon meringue pie. So delicious! I loved this cupcake!

The two other flavors that I tried were Red Velvet and Banana Chocolate Chip. The red velvet was just as good as a Sprinkles red velvet. Everything about it was great. Milk was needed, but only because it was so good! The Banana Chocolate Chip tasted like a banana muffin with cream cheese frosting. It also had mini chocolate chips sprinkled on top. This was also a favorite as it was different and deliciously made!We were able to secure these pictures before the salesman politely told us that we were not allowed to take pictures. What was I supposed to do then?...delete them? Vanilla Bake Shop has nothing to hide! This cupcake shop was good and will do well because of how pretty their cupcakes look along with how tasty they are! Good job! I look forward to returning on a different day so I can try some other flavors!

Yummy or Not?

Santa Monica is the Costa Mesa of Los Angeles. Costa Mesa is crawling with cupcake stores and bakeries. Santa Monica seems to be no different. Saturday my husband and I happened to be near Santa Monica so I jumped at the chance to review a few cupcakeries outside of Orange County.

First stop: Yummy Cupcakes

Location: 313 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica, CA

It was very bizarre...the second we walked into the shop a putrid smell hit our noses! The smell was horrible! So weird. I looked around to see if anyone else noticed, but we seemed to be the only people who were affected. After putting the smell away (at least in my mind) I noticed that everyone in the shop seemed to be a return customer. They all knew exactly what flavors to buy. I knew this was the place to be!

I loved that there were so many flavors to choose from! I felt a slight pressure to choose quickly, as the store was starting to fill up and I didn't want to lose my place in line.

In the end, I only took two cupcakes home--Red Velvet Cocoa Cream Cheese and Old School. I am a big red velvet fan and was intrigued by the cocoa cream cheese frosting. The cake was moist, but the frosting was only ok. I don't think it had enough tangy cream cheese flavor. My husband said the frosting was too sweet for him. I couldn't tell too much of a difference between a regular cream cheese and this cocoa cream cheese. This cupcake was decent, but it didn't WOW me like I hoped.

My husband's pick was Old School. It looked like a Hostess Cupcake, which is probably where it got it's name (since it's a childhood treat). This cupcake had chocolate cake, which was good and moist. There was an injection of whipped cream in the middle of the cupcake and it was topped with chocolate ganache. Like I mentioned in a recent post, ganache is great just not as a topping on a cupcake. I had the same feelings about it. Again, cupcake was just ok.

The prices of Yummy Cupcakes ranged from $2.75 to $3.25. I would like to go back and review some additional flavors since I feel that there is so much more to try. These cupcakes were pretty good, so I would definitely recommend this cupcakery to anyone who is looking for a good cupcake in Santa Monica.

NOTE (8/1/10): I met the owner of Yummy Cupcakes tonight and she told me that she has 203 types of cupcakes at her store! I also learned that she uses my favorite type of buttercream frosting on her cupcakes (American buttercream with butter). Since I only got to taste two cupcakes on my visit, I feel that I have so much more to try. I think I need to re-visit Yummy Cupcakes real soon!

Stayed Tuned...

...the Cupcake Activist goes to Santa Monica! Saturday I visited two different cupcakeries, surprisingly only two blocks apart! Cupcakes are definitely more popular in LA! Check back to see my reviews...