Cupcakes in Arizona: Cake Cafe

I went to this place ages ago, except I didn't have a blog then, so I didn't review it. I am now. First I will start off with the appearance of the Cake Cafe. Glenn and I spotted this place in a generic looking strip mall that had some balloons and a sign out front advertising the new bakery. Awesome! We went inside and we're turned off by all the tacky gifts lining the wall. The place looks like a 12 year old girl decorated it, and that's not a good thing. The display for the "Famous Cupcakes" was really small, one of those clear containers you usually see with muffins or bagels inside them. It really looked like an afterthought.

Now these "Famous Cupcakes" have got me stumped as to where the name came from. I'm not sure who decided these were famous, but I can't really vouch for that. I got a peanut butter chocolate cupcake and Glenn got a chocolate mint cupcake. Having just been back from Yummy Cupcakes in Santa Monica about a month prior, we were eager to recreate the flavors we had there. Mission not accomplished. My chocolate cake was dry and tasted off. Reviews on Yelp suggest that this is because they used cake mix, and I have to agree. That's probably it. The frosting however, I liked because it was super sweet and peanut buttery. The grainy texture was a little irritating, but the flavor was still good. Opponents of super sweet will not enjoy these. Glenn also had a chocolate cake and the accompanying "off" taste. He also wasn't sure if the mint was in the cake as well as in the frosting. He enjoyed the frosting, but quoted Yummy Cupcakes as being far superior.

I'm sorry Cake Cafe. I really want to like you. I try to support local business, but only if they are putting out a product Arizona can be proud of. Try making your cakes from scratch and taking them out of the oven a few minutes earlier. Those simple tips can do wonders for your business. Until then, I will continue to make my own cupcakes.

Cupcakes in California (Pt. 3 of 3)

Just down the street, a block or so, from our last cupcake shop we find My Little Cupcake of Studio City. As soon as we walked into the place we were immersed in the incredible smell of baking cupcakes. I can honestly say that in all the cupcake shops I have been in, that is the first one that actually smelled like cupcakes! This shop seemed to be operated by a crazy old French or Russian lady (not sure which) who didn't communicate all that much.

Unfortunately, none of the cupcakes on display were labeled and you were expected to know what each one was after looking at the menu. Glenn very quickly chose the Reese's Cupcake while I pouted because I couldn't see any Red Velvets. I decided on a rather beautiful Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate cupcake that was covered in chocolate shavings. When Glenn asked the crazy lady if they had any Red Velvets, she told us that she just sold the last of them, but that she would check to see if any more were done. After a couple minutes she brought me a freshly baked and frosted Red Velvet. What a beautiful sight. ***Side note: Despite what many reviewers on yelp say about this lady, she was so nice and helpful! I mean, how many places can you go and get a fresh cupcake like that?***

These cupcakes were also victim of the 2 and a half day waiting period. This time however produced much more favorable results. The Red Velvet cake was still slightly moist, telling me that its original freshness must have been wonderful. The frosting was nice but a little too light on the cream cheese flavor for me. In my opinion, a Red Velvet cake should be accompanied by a strong tangy frosting. The proportion of frosting to cupcakes was very skewed in the direction for the frosting, almost breaching my limit, but it was still great.

The Reese's cupcake was not very well liked by Glenn. The dryness factor was a bit more amped up in this cake, letting us know that these were less than fantastic to begin with. The flavor was also nothing special. The frosting was a big letdown for such a big peanut butter fan. It was not peanut buttery enough and it was very grainy. The presentation however was very interesting but it made for a messy treat. Sadly though, the only thing about this cupcake that tasted like a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup was the actual candy itself adorning the top of this cupcake.

Glenn and I split the last cupcake, the Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate. The cake itself was moist to begin with as it retained a bit of moisture in the end. The flavor was okay but got muddled when eaten along with the frosting that clearly had alcohol in it. The flavor of the frosting was just off and not a pleasant experience. While certainly a beautiful cupcake in appearance, the overbearing alcohol taste and scent had us both discarding our unfinished cupcake halves.

My Little Cupcake certainly knows how to put on a beautiful display of cupcakes. It seems to me though that they are hit and miss when it comes to the actual flavor of the cupcake. I would be willing to give them a second try, but eating them on the day I buy them as intended.

Cupcakes in California (Pt. 2 of 3)

For our next round of cupcakes we stopped along Ventura Boulevard in Studio City. This time we passed right by our intended destination. After parking and a short walk back from where we came from, we nearly missed our destination again. Finally we open the door to the itty bitty Big Sugar Bakeshop. The decor of this place was adorable and I absolutely loved it in that aspect. They had all sorts of goodies for sale including cookbooks, aprons, and other assorted gifts related to baked goods. The selection however was not so wonderful. There were approximately 6 flavors to choose from, none of them calling out to me especially. I chose Red Velvet (my go to cupcake when it comes to comparing bakeries) and Glenn chose Mint Chocolate Chip.

These cupcakes were forced to wait until Sunday to be eaten even though they were purchased on Friday afternoon. Sadly, that did nothing to help the awfulness that took over.

My Red Velvet cupcake crumbled instantly in my hands. Now I understand that waiting a couple days to eat them deteriorates the moistness and crumb of the cake, but these were just awful to begin with, I can tell. After tasting the cake though, it was clear that these cupcakes just sucked no matter what. The flavor was extremely artificial (ever heard of No-Taste Red food coloring?!?!) and slightly bitter. Very disappointing, and even more so was the frosting. Nothing is worse than expecting to bite into cream cheese frosting but instead getting terrible, over-processed, possibly out of a can buttercream frosting. For the first time in my life, I took a bite, spit it out and discarded the rest of my frosting. I was terribly disappointed with every aspect of this cupcake. Did Glenn feel the same way?

As expected, Glenn's Mint Chocolate Chip cake was also dry, almost to the point of being inedible. Remember we are taking into account that these cupcake were "consumed" 2 days after purchase, but it was evident that these were never moist to begin with. Essentially, the cake was flavorless and the frosting was lacking any serious mint taste. The pale green color of the frosting however was quite lovely.

I am terribly sorry Big Sugar Bakeshop, but your cupcakes SUCK!

Cupcakes in California (Pt.1 of 3)

During Fall Break at work Glenn and I decided that it was the perfect time to take a trip to California. We had tickets to Game 5 of the NLCS (sorry Dodgers) and we wanted to check out Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios (awesome) and what California trip is complete without a stop at Disneyland? We had such a blast while we were there.

I also like to make a point to visit cupcake shops in any Non-Arizona place I visit. Since Halloween Horror Nights didn't start until 7:00pm, we decided to check out a couple new places, and one I have been to before. First stop, Yummy Cupcakes in Santa Monica.

I'm going to go ahead and say that Yummy Cupcakes has the best cupcakes in California. Yes, I have tried Sprinkles cupcakes and they taste like crap compared to YC. At YC you are given a huge selection of cupcakes, roughly 15 different flavors some of which alternate on a daily basis. As every cupcake shop should, each flavor is prepared in small batches to ensure the highest quality, and they sure do deliver. Glenn and I chose a total of 3 cupcakes: Fudge Yummy (Glenn), Red Velvet (me), and Peanut Butter Cup (me but shared by us).

The Red Velvet was wonderful. The cake itself was nice and moist with that wonderfully rich cake with just enough cocoa in it. Piled on top of the cake were lovely swirls of intensely good cream cheese frosting. The cream cheese was prevalent in the flavor of the frosting, adding the perfect "kick" to the cupcake. The frosting to cake proportion was definitely skewed on the frosting side, but that is exactly how I like mine. Overall, a wicked good tastebud experience.


The Fudge Yummy was positively reviewed by Glenn. He said the cake was nice and moist, but the flavor wasn't anything extraordinary. However, the lack of cake flavor was more than made up for in the frosting. As I was stuffing my face with Red Velvet, Glenn insisted I try his chocolate frosting covered in chocolate jimmies. Wow, they certainly know how to make a delightfully fluffy, smooth, chocolate frosting. Again, the frosting to cake proportion was skewed in favor of the decidedly decadent chocolate frosting. This time however, the cupcake had a tasty chocolate ganache center (maybe to make up for the not so fabulous cake). Definitely a flavor I would choose for myself next time, if only just for the frosting.



The Peanut Butter Cup unfortunately had to wait to be devoured by us until 2 and a half days later. Despite my efforts, I simply cannot eat more than 1 cupcake a day when I am carsick. Once I was feeling slightly better at home I opened my lovely cupcake box to see my cupcake upside down and a little mashed. Oh well. I split this one with Glenn this time. Both of us found the cake to have a bit of moistness left in it but only due to the fact it sat out for so long. The peanut butter frosting was wonderfully light with a smooth peanut butter flavor. The cupcake was centered with plain creamy peanut butter. Glenn found it to be a really nice complement to the cupcake overall while I found it a bit disgusting because I absolutely loathe SMOOTH peanut butter. I wish I had this cupcake the day I bought it because I am sure it was heavenly then.

If you want the best cupcakes in California, please head over to Yummy Cupcakes. They have 2 locations, one in Santa Monica, the other in Burbank. These cupcakes are so good that even the teeny tiny Hayden Pannetiere buys them. Seriously, just go and forget you ever heard of Sprinkles.

Cupcakes in Arizona

Glenn and I rarely venture into the Scottsdale area mostly because we don't like the people there. There is a reason my mom calls the place "Snotsdale." In any event, we were searching for a new place to eat breakfast before we set out on our trek to find Glenn a new bike and for me to go to the awesome wholesale bakery shop and we found ourselves right in the middle of Scottsdale. After breakfast, Glenn asked me if I wanted to go to Sprinkles since we were actually here, and who knows when we would be back. Well, I can't really turn down cupcakes can I, so we went.

I guess I will never understand all the madness an obsession of this place. It's quite simple inside, which I approve of, but the girls behind the counter are completely clueless if not rude. There is no attempt made to help people or to explain anything, like their idiotic whoever speaks up first gets served first policy. After the man in front of me motioned for me to go ahead, I ordered two cupcakes, Red Velvet and Peanut Butter Chocolate. After waiting 5 minutes, seriously, we were directed to pay $7.02. Ouch.

I had the first cupcake in the car, the Red Velvet and the most irritating thing happened. No, we didn't hit a bump that made my cupcake go flying. However, I did peel off the paper only to have the top of the cupcake fall off. Great, I hate when that happens. Whatever. Flavor-wise, it was decent, but a tad dry and a little dense. The frosting was a huge letdown. My favorite part of Red Velvet is the cream cheese frosting. I'm not sure if they even remembered to put the cream cheese in, it was pretty plain. Plain, but tasty.

The Peanut Butter Chocolate gets a big fat... MEH. The cake was overly dense and had an oddly artificial taste to it. I actually wondered if they used real peanut butter or a flavoring oil or something. Kinda fishy if you ask me. The frosting was a plus though. It was a very complimentary peanut butter fudge flavor that didn't leave a film in my mouth at all.

Sorry Oprah and Paris. These really aren't the best cupcakes. Try Buttercream Cupcakes in Florida or Yummy Cupcakes in Santa Monica if you want to know what a REAL cupcake tastes like. Don't believe the hype and save your wallet.

Cupcakes in Florida

Apparently whenever we go out of town I now feel the need to visit at least one cupcake shop. I would love to visit more, but we always have such whirlwind vacations that there is never time. Besides, I have to get at least 4 cupcakes to make a good judgement and Glenn never wants them. A girl can only eat so many cupcakes in 3 days.

On this trip to Florida, we visited Buttercream Cupcakes and Coffee. It was a very cute little place in a small strip of similarly sized stores. There is very little room in front of the display case and with 8 people trying to see the cupcakes, it was a bit difficult. I don't mind that though because I really appreciate small independent businesses. Bigger spaces mean bigger costs. Total, we got 6 cupcakes. I chose 4 of them, which I ate all by myself, and they were Red Velvet, Peanut Butter Chocolate, Triple Chocolate and Vanilla Chocolate Chip. My friend Sandra chose Red Velvet and Oreo.

All of the cupcakes were wickedly moist, and that isn't something most bakeries can master, but these were heavenly. The frosting on all of them was light and fluffy and slightly over proportioned to the cake, but that is how I like mine. My favorite would have to be the Red Velvet. With the cake being as moist as it was and the cream cheese frosting perfectly smooth was to die for, how could I say no?

The service there was decent, but it didn't help that the lady in front of us with her son was an idiot. She asked what every single flavor was like. Really? What don't you understand about lime cupcake lady?