Monday, July 7, 2008

Open Invitations Cupcakes

So it was a crazy busy Fourth of July weekend and I didn't get much posting done, but I'm back! And with another review for you!
A friend of mine, knowing that I had yet to sample any cupcakes from Open Invitations in Olney, MD, dropped in on her way home and picked up a variety pack for me. For those that don't know, Open Invitations is a paper store that creates announcements/invites for various events, but they also carry cupcakes from Baltimore Cupcake Company. The cupcakes are actually baked in the Baltimore, MD store and delivered to Open Invitations for sale.
When I dropped by my friend's house to have a little taste test, I was surprised to open the bag and find a Just Cakes sticker on the top of the cupcake box. Does anyone know what the deal with this is??? When did they switch?? I'll have to get to the bottom of this. Anyway, I had never tried any of the flavors in this variety pack from Just Cakes, so it wasn't too big a deal.



The variety pack had 6 different flavors: Lemon, Rum (you can see I accidently stuck my finger in the "R"...), German Chocolate, Red Velvet, Neopolitan, and possibly a Gingerbread flavor? I thought they all had a cute little presentation.

We tried the Lemon Cupcake first. It was very buttery, with a nice lemon flavor with that just right...strong but not overpowering. The icing was very light and tangy. We went for the Rum Cupcake next. The cake itself was very rich and delicious, but the buttercream icing was way too sweet.
Third we tried the German Chocolate. The nuts were a little too big and chunky, but the coconut gave the cupcake some nice flavor. While the cupcake was moist, unlike my past experience with Just Cakes Cupcakes, it was still a little bland in my opinion. The "possibly Gingerbread" cupcake had a strong nutmeg flavoring, and the icing was good and sweet. If you like something with a little spice to it, you will like this cupcake. On to the Red Velvet. Unfortunately, the cake was very thick and very dry, making it pretty hard to chew and swallow. The icing was also too buttery. Definitely not the best Red Velvet I've ever had. And lastly, the Neopolitan. While it was overly crumbly, it was actually pretty good. A very rich cake with well done buttercream frosting, and big chunks of oversized chocolate morsels throughout.
While none of the cupcakes were bad, they weren't GREAT. I will say that my favorite of the bunch was the Lemon, while my friend's favorite was the possibly Gingerbread. The only ones I wouldn't eat again would be the Red Velvet and the German Chocolate.
Open Invitations is located at 17912 Georgia Avenue. If you're in need of a cupcake fix, you should definitely drop in. The only ones I would definitely avoid would be the Red Velvet and the German Chocolate. And if you happen to be in there, try to find out what why they've switched to Just Cakes!

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