Wasington Post Cupcake Taste Test

It looks like Joe Yonan, the Food Editor of the Washington Post, has taken it upon himself to conduct a six-week cupcake taste test in and around the nation's capital in order to find the best cupcake in town. Sounds like a good idea to me!


Sticky Fingers Cupcakes, Photo Credit - The Washington Post (James Thresher)

One of the bakeries Yonan has tried so far is Sticky Finger's Bakery in Columbia Heights (where our DC/Metro Cupcake Group had our second meetup). He says that "Sticky Fingers's cookie cupcake earned high marks for presentation, but the taste just didn't win us over." I would have to agree. When I tried a couple different flavors back in July for our meetup, the cake and the frosting had a very flour-like taste to them and weren't something I would eat again.


Cakelove Cupcakes, Photo Credit - The Washington Post (James Thresher)

The other bakery Yonan has sampled is (gag) Cakelove/Love Cafe (same thing). Yonan tried a couple different flavors, one of which he writes "The thin layer of ganache-like frosting gave this CakeLove cupcake a Boston Creme Pie look, but the dry dessert had nothing else in common with its creamy counterpart." Of the second cupcake he tried, Yonan says "a tart cream-cheese frosting kicked this CakeLove cupcake up a notch. It scored a 4.5 on our 10-point scale." Kicked it up a notch to still score less than 5 out of 10 points? Hahahahaha. That pretty much sums up what everyone has said all along about Cakelove - gross, dry and a waste of money. Yonan also adds that "LoveCafe is hardly generous with its frosting. A thin shmear can hardly quench a dry cupcake."

I like this guy! Stay tuned for more of his cupcake adventures in days to come.

Georgetown Cupcake

After New York Times Food Critic Frank Bruni recently gave his two cents on Georgetown Cupcake (which was a rave review) I figured it was about time I headed over to M Street and did an official review of Georgetown Cupcake myself.

After chatting with a sweet woman who let me cut in front of her (there were only about 4 people in line ahead of us, and it was a Saturday afternoon right after lunch) I ordered a Lemon Berry, Red Velvet, and Chocolate3.



To begin with, Katherine & Sophie (Georgetown Cupcake founders) definitely get points in the presentation department. With cute frosting design and nice little garnishes, like the little fondant heart on the Red Velvet, the french chocolate sprinkles on the Chocolate3, and the chocolate covered espresso bean on the Mocha, all placed in a charming little pink box, these cupcakes definitely look more than appetizing.

I first tried the Chocolate3. To my surprise, this was pretty average. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't great...not something I would order again. Considering this cupcake is made with Valrhona Chocolate (named after the Rhône Valley in France from which Valrhona's founder hailed), which is known to be a top quality luxury chocolate, I was expecting this cupcake to be a little more decadent and rich. Well, I can't use either of those two words in describing this cupcake. It was nothing special, and actually bordered on bland. A little disappointed, I moved onto the Red Velvet.

Unfortunately, the Red Velvet was nothing spectacular either. For Georgetown Cupcake's "Signature Cupcake," I was expecting a little more. Like the Chocolate3, the cake here was also a little bland. I was, however, a fan of the cream cheese frosting. From what I understand, Georgetown Cupcake only uses cream cheese based frostings on all of their cupcakes. From what I've read on other blogs and websites, some customer's don't appreciate the lack of variety, but hey, at least they make it well. (Unlike certain other area bakeries who only use one or two types of cake {cough cough Cakelove cough cough} and can't even get that right).

Lastly, Lemon Berry was definitely the best of the bunch. A lemon/raspberry flavored cake topped with raspberry frosting and a candied lemon peel. The frosting had a very berry-sorbet taste to it, which might be a little too sweet for some, but I thought it paired well with the lemon/raspberry cake. I will say that I wasn't a huge fan of the cake on it's own, but like I said the combination of the cake & frosting was good.

Don't get me wrong, these cupcakes were all decent. They were moist, had good frostings, and none of them were "bad." And trust me, I've had some bad cupcakes, so I would know. But if I had to choose between Georgetown Cupcake and it's neighbor, Baked & Wired, I think I'd be opting for Baked & Wired. From what I've tasted, I think Georgetown Cupcake may be a little overhyped. I won't be too harsh though, there are still many flavors I haven't tried...like their Carrot Cake, or their Key Lime (both flavors Bruni raved about), or even their basic Vanilla2. So as I go back and try different flavors, I will keep on reporting for you guys. But as for now, if I'm in Georgetown looking for good cupcakes, I'm sticking to Baked & Wired. (Until Hello Cupcake opens!)