So as I’m parading down Woodmont Avenue in my Lavender sweater, pencil skirt, leopard print pumps and oversized sunglasses, clutching my little plastic container of decadence, I must have caught the eye of a car full of guys. Oh but not just any guys, three elderly gentlemen whose combined age was greater than that of the Washington Monument. “Hey Cupcake! What’s for lunch!!??” How clever. Normally I’m not a fan of this sort of thing, but as cars honked at them to stop holding up traffic, I couldn’t help but laugh and wave back as they speed off down the road. Then I wondered, was it me or the cupcakes that caught their eye? Guess I'll never know!
But let me back up. Just Cakes is located off Rugby Avenue in the heart of Bethesda, which happens to be right down the street from my office. So when the lunch hour hit I grabbed my wallet and headed out to try their cupcakes. Oh, and before I forget, if you join Just Cakes’ mailing list they’ll send you an email coupon for one free cupcake! Just think about what you could buy with that $3.25 you just saved…1/3 of a movie ticket…1/2 of a gallon of gas…or hey, 1 whole cupcake! That’s right, get another! There’s no such thing as too many cupcakes.
When I walked into the quaint lime colored bakery, there were two women at the counter and a couple of people sitting down in the bakery’s bistro style seating. While both ladies at the counter were being helped, a third woman by the name of Vicki popped up and asked if she could help me. (Quick customer service, always a plus.) Before I could respond, she exclaimed how much she loved my shirt and came out from behind the counter to examine the color up close. Delighted with her pleasant demeanor and compliment, I let her in on a little secret…the shirt is from Target. Hey, with this economy, it has to be a trade up. $350 sunglasses = $13.50 shirts. A girls gotta do what a girls gotta do.
After we finished our discussion on Target’s bargains and quality of clothing, we got down to business. Vicki was a doll. She enthusiastically whipped out tray after tray of flavors for me to choose from, with choices like Carrot cake, Rum, Chocolate on Chocolate, Vanilla on Vanilla, Coconut, Red Velvet, the list goes on. Overwhelmed with options I asked Vicki to give me her three best flavors. Without hesitation she pulled out a Chocolate on Chocolate, Rum with Vanilla Buttercream, and a Yellow cupcake with Raspberry Frosting.
When I got back to the office, I dug in. First up, the Raspberry iced cupcake. The cake portion had a nice buttery flavor, but was a little on the heavy and dry side. The raspberry frosting however was much much better. It tasted just like a sweet raspberry sorbet. I could have sat there and just ate that frosting, but fortunately, I do have some self control.
On to the Chocolate. Now, normally when given the choice between chocolate cake or no cake, I choose no cake, but this cupcake was divine. A moist chocolate cake with rich chocolate buttercream, topped with milk chocolate shavings, this cupcake was
delleicious. If you like chocolate cake, hell, even if you don’t, you will love this cupcake.
Last up was the Rum cupcake. The cake was dense, very buttery and rich, reminiscent of a pound cake. The icing was light and sugary, but certainly not too sweet. While very cute in presentation, I must admit I think it could have used a little more flavor.
Out of all Vicki’s selections, the only one I would choose again would be the Chocolate on Chocolate. However, because of the great customer service and large selection of flavors, I would definitely return to try another. Maybe the Red Velvet or Carrot? So many cupcakes, so little time!
Visit
Just Cakes on the web to see a gallery of their little confections, as well as their variety of other baked goods
http://www.justcakes.net/. The cupcakes are about $3.25 each. Enjoy!
There are a lot of choices out there when it comes to cupcake cookbooks. I only have two, Crazy About Cupcakes which I got from Michael’s craft store, and 500 Cupcakes which a close girlfriend surprised me with! Crazy About Cupcakes is great for decorating ideas, frosting recipes, and flavor combinations, but to be honest, this book has yet to give me a recipe that I would ever make again. I’m currently on strike 6, the last disaster being the Chocolate Beer Cupcakes. Just as fast as they came out of the oven, they went in the trash. Gross.
