Guest Review: Scratch Cupcakes

I love doing cupcake reviews! It has to be one of the best "jobs" in the world. As much as I wish I could, I can't visit every cupcake shop in the world by myself. So I love getting help from others. This guest review comes from one of my Twitter friends @krissymmurphy. Read on for the great review. Thanks Krissy!

Hi ya, my name is Krissy and I am a runner, blogger (http://shiawaselife.wordpress.com) and fan of all things sweet! A little over a year ago, I discovered the Cupcake Activist blog after running the Disneyland Half Marathon and I’ve been a fan ever since.

Fortunately for my waistline, many of the reviews on the Cupcake Activist are for cupcake shops that are very far away from me! I live in Charlottesville, VA, and though we do have a few great cupcake stops locally, it wasn’t until a recent Labor Day visit to the Midwest that I felt inclined to compose a formal review – this place is THAT good!

Scratch Cupcakery (http://scratchbakery.com/) of Cedar Falls, Iowa crafts beautiful and delicious cupcakes 6 days a week and has two stores in the Cedar Valley (Cedar Falls and Waterloo). As the name suggests, all are made from scratch and are sold for just $2 per standard sized cupcake, or $22 for a dozen. 

Of course, we ordered a dozen! After all, we were having a family BBQ, so why not share the sweetness?

Choosing our dozen was difficult, but fun. One of Scratch’s unique selling points is that many of their cupcake flavors are offered in alternative flavor choices. For example, you can order a Cookies and Cream cupcake with a vanilla or chocolate cake base, with the same delicious Oreo-infused frosting…definitely a cool option for picky eaters!

I am usually a big fan of chocolate cupcakes. Okay, well, chocolate anything…but Scratch’s vanilla cake was PERFECT. Light, fluffy and yet, still moist and tasty!

But that didn’t stop hubs from grabbing a very chocolate-y treat ;)

The Peanut Butter Chocolate cupcake was densely rich, with mini chocolate chips imbedded in the cake. The buttercream was thick and creamy - a bit too heavy for my tastes if I were to eat the whole thing… my one bite of this cupcake was perfect!

The real treat at Scratch, though, was this beauty:

 Fruit cupcakes are not usually my first choice but something about this cupcake just SPOKE to me. Perhaps it was the dreamy white buttercream, or maybe the sprinkles (okay, I like sparkly things) but I ordered two of these for our box and staked my claim to it almost immediately.

The middle of this luscious cupcake was filled with kiwi puree – so fresh! This cupcake really showcased Scratch’s ingenuity – and I will never turn down a pink cupcake!!

Of course, the cupcake collection was demolished within 24 hours of purchase (my nephews were big fans of the double chocolate, and my brother in law was more than happy to scarf down the mint chocolate) so no cupcake was left behind!

This cupcake experience showed me that big cities might have the bigger name shops, but small towns really BRING IT when it comes to the tiny confection game, too! So next time you’re slated to visit somewhere ‘off the grid,’ don’t forget to check if there are any cupcake shops to visit; it’ll make any journey that much sweeter! 

Scratch Cupcakery

Cedar Falls, IA

www.scratchcupcakery.com

Twitter: @scratchbakery

Facebook: Scratch Bakery

Guest Review: The Cupcake Store

Between tax season and training for my big race, I just haven't had time to visit all the new cupcakeries in the area yet. Luckily, I know a few people who are perfectly willing to do the "dirty work" for me. Kelly and I have very similar tastes in sweets, so when she told me that she visited The Cupcake Store, I knew it was an opinion I coud trust.

The Cupcake Store has two locations: one at Downtown Disney and one in Mission Viejo. Kelly visit the Downtown Disney location and posted her review on Yelp. Read below:


I'm a sucker for a yummy cupcake. So when I stumbled across The Cupcake Store on a recent Disneyland trip I was thrilled.

The cupcakes were beautiful. Absolutely breathtakingly stunning. Each & everyone was decorated extremely cute & ready for presentation.

With so many delicious looking flavors on hand, I couldn't just buy one, so we ended up taking up home almost one of everything...Pure Vanilla, Red Velvet, Coconut, Celebration, Chocolate Drip, & Lemon.

They were definitely pricey - I have to agree that $4.95 is a bit high, even for Downtown Disney. But I had high hopes for these beautiful cupcakes.

Unfortunately, you can't judge a cupcake by how it looks. While the cupcakes were amazing to LOOK at, I wasn't "wowed!" by the taste.

The cupcake itself was fine. Fairly moist, but there wasn't anything "special" about it. They were basically vanilla & chocolate cupcakes. Even the lemon cupcake was simply a vanilla cupcake with lemon frosting.

But the real kicker for me was the frosting. EVERY single cupcake (other than the Red Velvet) had that super-sugary-whipped-creamy-store-bought type frosting. You know what I'm talking about - the kind of frosting you usually find on a grocery-store-bought cake? YUCK!

On a store-bought cake I expect that super-sugary-whipped-creamy frosting. But on a cupcake from an actual cupcakery, I expect so much more!

Frosting is what MAKES a cupcake, so give me something fabulous, something thick, something creamy.

As for the single cupcake with cream cheese frosting... I wasn't even a fan of that one. Once again, I still didn't LOVE the frosting. Which is odd, because usually I want to lick the cream cheese frosting off.

Kinda bummed. I had huge hopes for this place. Maybe I just didn't try the right flavors. Maybe next time their cupcakes will feature "REAL" frosting, instead of the store-bought, whipped-sugary kind.

If you're in need of a cupcake "fix" this place will definitely fit the bill. If you simply want a pretty cupcake, they've got you covered. Or, if you love that super-sugary-whipped-creamy-store-bought frosting, well then you will be in love. But this cupcake snob wasn't exactly impressed.


Kelly received an email from The Cupcake Store stating that they make 5 different kids of frosting, including a traditional buttercream and a chocolate frosting, which she didn't try. I plan on visiting the Mission Viejo location soon (hopefully with Kelly), so I can get the full scoop on The Cupcake Store. Thanks for your help Kelly!

Guest Review: Georgetown Cupcake

A friend of mine recently traveled to Washington, D.C. for a wedding. Of course the first thing I thought was, "I wonder if she'll visit Georgetown Cupcake?" Then I had to remember that not everyone is as obsessed about cupcakes as I am. But when she tweeted that she was getting cupcakes, I just knew that's where she was headed.




You may recognize Georgetown Cupcake from the TLC network's summer show "DC Cupcakes." Georgetown Cupcake opened in 2008 and sells 5,000 cupcakes a day. With that many cupcakes being sold, you know it has to be good, right?

While Tran was waiting in line for her cupcakes (a 40-minute wait!), they were filming for (I'm assuming) season 2 of DC Cupcakes. I guess the show was a hit!



Here's what Tran had to say:

"I had low expectations for the cupcakes because I didn’t want to be disappointed if they didn’t live up to the hype. But.. I was very surprised at how DELICIOUS they were. The cake was moist and the frosting wasn’t overly sweet. Some flavor combinations were better than others, but all of them were good. What was really amazing about them was how they held up after traveling around DC (waiting for the DC Circulator in Georgetown, catching the Metro at Dupont Circle) and staying in the room overnight (near the A/C unit) and during the day (while we got ready for the wedding). I ate them more than 24 hours later without any refrigeration, and they still tasted amazing and had this perfect texture (cake and frosting both)."

"Peanut Butter Fudge: Valrhona chocolate cupcake with a fudge core topped with a peanut butter frosting and fudge star drizzle. The cake was delicious, and it had this AMAZING fudge core that just oozed chocolaty goodness. The frosting left much to be desired.. it general tasted liked whipped up Creamy Jiffy.. so I was not impressed with that.

Key Lime: Fresh key lime cupcake with key lime frosting topped with a candied key lime. Tasted like the best key lime pie I have ever had, but in the perfect cupcake size.

Salted Caramel: Caramel cupcake with a salted caramel-infused buttercream frosting topped with a caramel drizzle. I’m a huge fan of salted caramel ANYTHING. This cupcake was no exception. What would have made this cupcake even more perfect is if there was a salted caramel core.

Pumpkin Spice: Pumpkin spice cupcake with a maple-infused cream cheese frosting topped with a fondant maple leaf. The cake was like a PERFECT spice cake with just a hint

Maple: Maple cupcake with a maple-infused cream cheese frosting topped with a fondant maple leaf. The maple cupcake wasn’t anything special (in terms of flavor). But it was good. If I just wanted a simple cupcake without anything too rich or fancy, this would be it.

Chocolate ³: Valrhona chocolate cupcake with a rich Callebaut chocolate ganache icing topped with french chocolate sprinkles. I think this one was my favorite. Like most girls, I LOVE LOVE LOVE chocolate.. and this cupcake did not disappoint. It was that perfect balance of rich chocolate flavor and light sweetness. The texture of the cake was moist and the ganache icing was the perfect way to top this.

Red Velvet: Classic red velvet cupcake with a vanilla cream cheese frosting topped with a red fondant heart. I’m not usually a fan of red velvet, but this one was really good. In fact...Minh actually finished off the cake part (he didn’t care too much for the frosting) after I took my bite.

Mint Cookies and Cream: Madagascar bourbon vanilla cupcake baked with oreo crumbles topped with a mint oreo crumble-infused buttercream frosting. I didn’t get to try this one, but it looked (and sounds) delicious. Will need to try it whenever I head back to DC.

Generally speaking, I was very impressed with Georgetown Cupcake. It was well worth the long line (only 40 minutes) we waited in outside. And for those of you not willing to wait in line, there’s another location in Bethesda, MD."

Tran's review really makes me want to visit Georgetown Cupcake. With all of the sites to see in Washington, D.C., Georgetown Cupcake is the one I'm dreaming about. I hope to get there someday!

Georgetown Cupcake
3301 M Street NW (corner of 33rd and M)
Washington, DC 20007
Mon-Sat: 10AM – 9PM
Sun: 11AM – 7PM

4834 Bethesda Avenue
Bethesda, MD 20814
Mon-Sat: 10AM – 9PM
Sun: 11AM – 7PM

P.S. You can also order their cupcakes online. If anyone ever wants to send me cupcakes....just saying!

P.P.S. You can read Tran's full review here. Thanks Tran!