Get Your Fourth of July Cupcakes!

If you're planning on buying, not baking, your patriotic cupcakes this Fourth of July, I've got you covered. Check out this list of local places who will be selling the festive treats all week long:

Bittersweet Catering
Flag Cupcakes made up of white cake with Vanilla Buttercream, decorated with red stripes and blue stars, for $3.00/each

Buzz Bakery

Patriotic Themed Cupcakes

Cakelove

Yellow butter cupcakes topped with buttercream, raspberries, and blueberries.

Cupcakes Actually
Choose from Apple Struedel with Cream Cheese Frosting, Simply Red with Cream Cheese Frosting and Vanilla Bean with Vanilla Buttercream. Each cupcake is adorned with a handmade 4th of July themed decoration.

Georgetown Cupcake
Fourth of July Cupcakes are available every day during the holiday week and throughout the holiday month by special order.

Heidelberg Pastry Shoppe

Heidelberg's Patriotic Themed Cupcakes are either Yellow or Chocolate cake with white icing and red, white and blue sprinkles on top. They're $1.25 each.

Hello Cupcake

Fourth of July Cupcakes are available all this week. They are the "HC Originals," (vanilla or chocolate cake with vanilla or chocolate buttercream frosting) with special Independence Day decorations and are the normal price, $3/each. Note their holiday hours: 10am-9pm July 3rd, and 10am-5pm July 4th.

Red Velvet Cupcakery

RVC will definitely be selling patriotic-themed cupcakes this week, but weren't able to tell me which flavors they'll be using as the baker hasn't decided yet. The themed-cupcakes will probably only be available Saturday, Friday at the earliest!

Springmill Bread Company
All the local locations are baking Patriotic Themed Cupcakes, priced at 4 for $8.

Know of anywhere else? Let me know and I'll add it to the list!

Bittersweet Bakery...Bleh

While I was in Alexandria over the weekend, I fought the urge to head back into Lavender Moon for the delleiciousness that is their cupcakes, and instead headed over to Bittersweet Catering Cafe & Bakery. I figured it's been a while since I was last there and I've yet to do an official review for the blog. Always looking out for you guys!

I picked up a Pistachio Cupcake and a Spice Cupcake. I sat down at one of their many tables and with my plastic fork, and as I pulled the cupcakes out of the bag I could feel that they were kept really cold. Ugh - refrigerating cupcakes always ruins the flavor. I thought I'd try a bite anyway, but when an attempt to fork into the Pistachio cupcake proved to be a little too hard, I packed them back so they'd have a chance to get to room temperature.



Flash forward an hour - irritated that I couldn't have my cupcakes when I wanted them, I sat at my kitchen table and opened the Pistachio Cupcake back up. Gross! The cake portion looked soggy; like it had wilted skin from being in the water too long or something. I cut the cupcake in half and forked off a piece from the middle. Just as I suspected. Dry. Refrigeration tends to do that. Aside from being unpleasantly dry, the flavor was really odd. While there were bits of pistachio thrown in here and there, the cupcake didn't taste like other pistachio cupcakes I've had. The frosting was way too creamy and greasy, I'm pretty sure they used Crisco, and way too much. After eating one bite of this cupcake I felt oily and like I needed a shower.



Moving on, the Spice Cupcake. The outside of this cupcake was soggy looking, just like the Pistachio. Trying to get past that, I can say that the blend of spices was good; the flavor was mild and not too heavy. You could definitely taste some ginger and nutmeg in there. But even still, the cake didn't taste like anything special - just a very generic cake. The frosting here was made with butter and had a better consistency than that of the Pistachio, but it wasn't anything to write home about. I closed the plastic top and threw it in the trash can, right next to the Pistachio.

Why anyone would ever buy a cupcake from Bittersweet when Lavender Moon is a 5 minute walk down King Street is beyond me. Yes, the cupcakes are bigger and cheaper, but they're awful!! Please do yourselves and Lavender Moon a favor and walk right past Bittersweet, down towards the water, and make a right onto South Royal. Your taste buds will thank you.