Teacake Bake Shop, Lafayette

Baked goods tried: lemon buttermilk cupcake, chocolate sour cream cupcake, peanut butter chocolate cupcake, chocolate chip cookie sandwich, snicker doodle cookie

Overall reaction: "I think it tastes pretty good."*

So again, I have some friends to thank that helped out by being such willing taste testers. Thanks Mike and Lesley Schooler!

The first cupcake tried was the chocolate sour cream cupcake with vanilla buttercream. This cupcake was moist with a light crunch on the
top. The cake had a subtle chocolate flavor which lent well to the sugary vanilla buttercream. There was a nice balance.

You could smell the peanut butter cupcake before even taking a bite out of it. This is definitely for the pb lovers. The cake was slightly dry and needed more peanut butter frosting but the flavors were great, so I can over look that.

I have a slight bone to pick with the lemon buttermilk cupcake. If it wasn't for its yummy lemon cream cheese frosting it would have just tasted like a vanilla cupcake instead. However it was light and fluffy and was well liked by all of us.

The chocolate chip cookie sandwich had such potential sitting as cute as can be in the display. What a mistake! This was the wrong type of cookie to make a sandwich out of. It was more like a shortbread cookie so it just crumbled when you took a bite. The frosting in the middle was way too sugary. Sad to say that none of us wanted to finish the cookie.

Snicker doodle this! The best snicker doodle I've ever had! This cookie was huge and had the perfect crunchy outside and soft inside. I wish I had tried some of the other cookies that looked equally as good.

My words of advice: Skip the cupcakes and head straight for the cookies. You can buy 3 cookies for the price of 2 cupcakes!

*Quoted by Mike Schooler.

Mini Cupcakes!

When in Doubt...Mini! There are so many great minis. Mini chocolate chips, mini doll house furniture, mini poodles, miniskirts, mini post-it-notes and of course mini cupcakes! It is the perfect bite or two bites that won't leave you feeling guilty. So indulge, don't worry, it's mini.

Changing it up

So I've decided to spice up my blog a bit. Along with reviews of bakeshops that I come across, I will also be writing about my own cake adventures.

Dots Cupcakes, Pasadena

Cupcakes tried: strawberry lemonade, almond coconut, red velvet, and peppermint swirl

Overall reaction: X marks the dot

On my last visit to Los Angeles, one of my dear friends so graciously bought me some Dots cupcakes. So many thanks Pearlin!

The strawberry lemonade cupcake was oh so yummy. Chunks of strawberry mixed into the cake topped with cream cheese frosting...what could be better? My only gripe is that I wished the lemon flavor was stronger.

The red velvet cake had a lovely fluffy texture, however in the flavor department, it was lacking.

The almond coconut cupcake was really moist with a nice subtle almond taste.

Best of the bunch was the peppermint swirl. The chocolate cake was extra moist and the pink peppermint frosting was fun and delicious.

Overall, the cupcakes needed a little extra frosting. Don't be so stingy, everybody loves frosting!

My words of advice: These cupcakes are worth a shot, there's no dot about it!

Starbucks, San Francisco

Cupcakes tried: red velvet, lemon meringue

Overall reaction: not so Grande

Lo and behold the famous coffee shop on every street corner sells cupcakes! The red velvet cupcake was a big disappointment. Basically it tasted like dyed red cornbread. Its only saving grace was the bit of chocolate filling in the middle. The lemon meringue cupcake was pretty good but not great. The lemon curd filling and dollop of meringue on top was a nice compliment. However, both cupcakes were stingy with their toppings.

My words of advice: Obviously cupcakes aren't their forté. Don't quit your day job Starbucks, stick to your factory made coffee not your factory made cupcakes.

Miette, San Francisco

Cupcakes & cakes tried: old fashioned, gingerbread, mini sharffen berger, chocolate creme cake, lemon tart

Overall reaction: C'est Marveilleux!

This little bakeshop/pâtisserie is so sweet and petite! I'm sure that Napoleon would have declared, "C'est une victoire!" as he nibbled on a bit of cake.

The Old Fashioned cupcake was wonderful. The chocolate cake was perfect and paired with a delicious marshmallow creme topping. Visions of sugarplums definitely danced around inside my head.

The Mini Scharffen Berger cake was richly elegant. Bravo, Bravo! Encore, Encore!

The Lemon Tart had a good crust but was a little thin on the curd, which could have been a bit tangier. Still tasted great though.

The Chocolate Cream cake was made up of alternating layers of chocolate cake and whipped cream. Everything about this cake was excellent except for the tiny pieces of cacao nibs scattered throughout. The cacao nibs interfered with enjoying this cake completely and to boot, they kept getting stuck in my teeth.

The Gingerbread cupcake was actually my least favorite treat. The cream cheese frosting was yummy on top but the cake tasted only of molasses. Four of my friends tried this cupcake as well and the first thing they said but not in unison was, "Whoa, too much molasses." This eased my mind, as I thought maybe I was acting a little harshly towards this cupcake. I think Ginger was definitely not happy with Molasses having the entire spotlight.

My words of advice: Très Yum! Will definitely be going back.

Just call me Baker

A few friends of mine have told me that I need to state that I am an actual baker on this blog. So here it is...I am a baker and cake designer (mostly self-taught with a few classes here and there) and a graphic designer. I come to the table with experience and a few bags of flour to back me up. I have an excellent palate when it comes to sweets and my acute design sense allows me to be very perceptive to composition and how concepts become works of art and/or delicious treats. I am not snobby or egotistical so I believe I will judge what I eat fairly.