Cupcakes are the new Cocktails

When a friend, who had recently announced she was pregnant, came for dinner last week I wondered what could serve as a stand-in for cocktails?  Hmmm...cupcakes?!

This is not too bad of a trade-off.  Calorie-wise cupcakes are comparable to many if not most sugar-laced cocktails.  And while cupcakes mean lingering over small bites instead of sips, the ensuing banter, gossip, and bonding remains the same.  Plus serving cupcakes requires no lessons in mixology--a variety of styles are readily obtainable from the myriad of cupcake eateries that seem to open monthly in the DC area.

Crumbs, the New York City based cupcakery, descended on DC a few months back.  In order to maximize the shared experience, I went for their signature variety pack, which gets you 12 mini cupcakes for $18.  The unique, fabulous sounding flavors included cookie dough and grasshopper.  And before you judge, please note that we did not eat the whole variety pack by ourselves-- our husbands gladly helped us out.

And while the ensuing conversation was memorable, the cupcakes were entirely forgettable.  All tasted of variations of the same blandness.  If I had my eyes closed discerning between any two would have been a challenge.  While the raspberry swirl and red velvet were the best in the pack, neither measured up to any of the available flavors I've tried thus far at Baked and Wired and even Georgetown Cupcake.  While Crumbs has a seemingly endless variety of visually appealing softball sized cupcakes, they are going for quantity over quality in their franchising.

A Topless Twist to the Cupcake Trend

Topless Bakery: Lavender Lemon Cupcake


Want to go topless this spring without baring it all?  Think dessert.

You might have thought cupcakes were the stuff of bad reality shows and birthday parties, as DC has seen far more than it's fare share of this trend.  But what happens when you turn the cupcake craze inside out?  You get Topless Bakery, an Alexandria based delivery operation that dares to invert the frosting!  It's playfully risqué treats are piped full of goodness, their tops laid bare!

Elise is the baking maverick who dreamed up this playful concept while working a 9 to 5 desk job.  Inspired by her maternal baking lineage, she has made Topless Bakery a family affair.  Her sister provides the creative names, her mother the lavender, her father the sometimes delivery man.

The topless concept lets both the cake and the frosting shine, with a philosophy that even your mother would approve of: its what's on the inside that counts.  The treats include creative cupcakes (at $3.25 each) such as the birthday suit (blush), a vanilla cupcake with rainbow sprinkles full of butter cream, and the Triple C (gasp) cream cheese filling baked into to a rich chocolate cupcake.

My favorite, the lavender lemon cupcake, surprised me.  I usually find lemon flavored sweets almost cloying.  This sophisticated flavor palette was refreshing with a sweet lemon frosting surrounded by an almost impossibly moist lavender infused cupcake.

The tea cakes actually amp up the filling to cake ratio.  They include tangy custards such as  strawberry and lemon, and are available in standard and bite size portions, like the Cuddle me Carrot.

Delivery is free, and there is no minimum order, so this DC original can be sampled without the hassle of waiting in line for the ever popular cupcake.  Cupcakes and teacakes are 6 for $22.50 or 12 for $37.50.  You can also sample Elise's creations at Eola in Dupont circle, the Soundry in Vienna, and at the soon-to-open Queen Vic on H Street.

Perhaps DC should consider going topless (cupakes, that is) this spring...

Are cupcakes God?

Georgetown, the capital's capital for all things cupcake, never fails to deliver varied and amusing scenes.  Today, Baked and Wired asserted on their storefront placard that "Cupcakes are God."  Overstated maybe, but, insightful, right?  Not for one passerby--seemingly not 100% with it--who took extreme umbrage to this theological assertion.  Yelling to no one and everyone as he walked up and down the street, this gentleman exclaimed that cupcakes may be "good - G - O - O - D, but they ain't God."  To bolster his argument, he stated that he had taken communion at the cathedral this morning and it was not in the form of a cupcake. His rant, repeated multiple times, ended with an emphatic "HA!"

But might he be onto something?  Never have I found my master's in theological studies a useful tool for my food blogging, but given the ever-increasing lines at the cupcake shops in Georgetown and the myriad of churches in the neighborhood that go half full each Sunday, perhaps dolling out cupcakes (mini ones to be economical of course) could be a win-win for filling empty pews?  Sacrilege, I know, but frankly, not a bad idea.

In other news, Baked and Wired is offering "Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes"  in celebration of St. Patrick's Day on March 17th.  But if you can't wait until then, Sprinkles brings more sweetness to the Georgetown cupcake madness on March 3rd.  So, HA!

"Oprah, you can always pre-order!"

Stop in the Name of Cupckaes -- July 2010

The crescendo of DC cupcake madness is about to hit an even higher decibel.  None other than the infamous cupcake sisters of Georgetown Cupcake appeared on Oprah today to make a slightly terrifying combination of champagne, cupcakes, and chocolate -- all in a champagne flute -- which was oh-so-cleverly named Strawberry Champagne Sparkler Cupcakes.  And you thought 2010 was the height of the DC cupcake madness.

We also learned some facts better left unsaid -- did you know Katherine wore two pairs of Spanks to the Oprah show?

Did you want to know that?  Not I.

We can also breathe a sigh of relief, as DC will once again be front and center in the reality TV world since  DC Cupcakes will air new episodes on TLC in February. 

Until then, heed the advise that Katherine nervously gave Oprah when Oprah lamented  not being able to get into the shop on a recent visit to DC (like you, I highly doubt the validity of this statement)... "you can always pre-order!"

Georgetown Dessert Wars Loom

It is no secret that Manhattan's Serendipity will open an outpost sometime this year/early next on the corner of Wisconsin and M, in the old Nathan's space.  I think the trademark larger-than-life frozen hot chocolate sounds like a great antidote to the nasty July and August DC heat.

Future Home of Serendipity DC

But it also appears a West Coast transplant is soon coming to M Street too, with a Sprinkles location set to open in January a bit further down the block.  Direct cupcake competition!

Future Home of Sprinkles Cupcakes DC

Are the reality-show inspiring divas and/or hipsters of more subtle national acclaim ready for the invasion?  Based on the adorable mini-cupcakes gracing Merriment in Georgetown Sunday, it appears they may kill the competition with cuteness.

Georgetown Cupcakes Mini-Red Velvet with Rudolph Fondant

Get ready for some major dessert choices, Georgetown!

Food Field Trip SoCal: A Cupcake DJ!

Attention cupcake watchers, and all you who thought Georgetown Cupcake's Bouncers were over the top.

This is a Cupcake DJ, who I found spinning on a recent Friday night at Cups, a cupcake shop in La Jolla, California. Walking by, I at first mistook the shop for a bad club. After my double take, I decided to go in and check out the cupcakes available in two sizes (after several minutes of staring at DJ Cupcake stationed in the corner). The cupcakes looked dry, and I did not have the energy or the appetite to try, but I have my suspicions based on the total of three customers in the shop (and the aforementioned DJ enlisted to attract patrons).

So DC, should we count ourselves lucky? We are (at least for now) above the audacity of the west coast Cupcake DJ, and the cupcakes at both Georgetown establishments both look and taste extraordinary.

Food Flashback: No Love for Cakelove

Wow – cupcakes are a hot topic in DC this summer! Eating Around DC's news on Georgetown Cupcake's "bouncers"--which got a lot of attention a few days ago--prompted a robust debate over the best and worst cupcakes in DC.  I promise this is my last post on the subject for awhile, but I would like to affirm the overwhelming consensus among commenters on the worst cupcake in DC: Cakelove. 

When B and I moved here in 2005, we were so excited to try the bakery that we made almost an immediate trip to what was at the time a rather desolate section of U Street.  What was all the world's--including Oprah--fuss about?

We looked in the window of the bakery across the street from the Love Cafe and swooned over the beautiful cakes being decorated in the window.  So far, so good.  And then we tried the cupcake across the street and we were like: "Really?!"  Granted, we went in expecting to love these cupcakes in part because of the story, including Warren Brown's quitting his day-job to follow a dream.  But the cupcake sucked on a variety of levels.

First of all the cupcake was served cold, really cold. Then there was the issue of the frosting consistency which was like a dense block of Crisco. And the cake itself was muted in flavor, dry and too dense. And perhaps the worst part was that we went back several times over the next few months.  In our defense there were a dearth of  bakeries (at least as newcomers) that we knew about at the time.  We even tried one of the over-priced strawberry and cream cakes which while slightly better and more attractive than the cupcakes was still just okay.

Finally I want to add that as readers of this blog know, while I hate the lines at Georgetown Cupcake, I do think both the appearance and the taste of their cupcakes are excellent...though I will only pre-order for the foreseeable future.  And with that, no more cupcake postings here unless there's some breaking news… I am cup-caked out!

STOP in the Name of Cupcakes

The line at Georgetown Cupcakes at 2:00 today

If the color of the traffic light in the picture above weren't enough of a symbol, there is overwhelming evidence in this scene to pre-order or avoid Georgetown Cupcake entirely. May I present Exhibit A: The line that stretches far into the annals of Georgetown. Exhibit B: The bouncer now posted outside. Exhibit C (though not visible in this frame): An even more congested traffic scene--both foot and auto--on M Street.

Yes, Reality TV has definitely had an impact. But on the bright side, it has spawned some entrepreneurship with individuals selling bottled water to the masses waiting well over an hour in line on a hot Sunday afternoon.

I think it is time for the next trend!



The Effects of Reality TV on the Local Cupcake Industry

This past Sunday, I witnessed the effects of reality TV  rear its ugly head amid an already over-run cupcakery.  DC Cupcakes is a truly horrid show on TLC detailing the supposed behind-the-scenes stresses of running a cupcake shop, with a full share of antics between the two sisters who developed the concept. Though I've never seen their mother in the store, much less themselves all that much anymore, Mommy is prominent in the show as well. But despite its insipid content and feigned drama, it has drawn even MORE throngs of camera wielding, middle- and high school-age tourists to its shop. Today this resulted in a two-block line of DC visitors du jour a mere fifteen minutes after opening on a 100 degree Sunday. Never before have I seen such a long line for any bakery; this humdinger easily surpassed the notoriously long lines I've encountered at Magnolia, the original gourmet cupcakes shop, in the West Village of Manhattan.

As I have previously posted, I actually think the CAKE in Baked & Wired's cupcakes is a bit better (though I am not going to lie, Georgetown Cupcakes are also delicious and great looking!). And the packaging and presentation of Georgetown Cupcakes make for great dinner party gifts--hence my attempt to pick some up this past Sunday.  Seeing the line, I sighed and complained, and then headed down to Baked & Wired, where I happily picked up a delicious assortment without a tourist in site.

Consider yourself forewarned: Georgetown Cupcake is now more of a scene than ever. If there is no line, do try their cupcakes, but if you see the line before you see the shop, perhaps head down M Street, hang a right on Thomas Jefferson Avenue, and walk just beyond the C&O Canal to Baked & Wired (just don't tell any TV producers or tourists about it)!

The Ultimate DC Cupcake: Georgetown Cupcake or Baked and Wired?

Baked and Wired Cupcake,

Photo Courtesy of the Washington Post

DC is home to a number of followers in the latest food trends; in the last few years, several gourmet cupcake bakeries have sprung up akin to the New York City leaders in the craft. They range from the terrible to the divine. In the latter category, two local shops really stand out: Georgetown Cupcake and Baked and Wired.

Yesterday afternoon, after B's and my respective Sunday morning rituals, we stopped by Georgetown Cupcake for the first time in almost a year. The reason for this hiatus was not the cupcakes, but the inevitable frustration of the old locale's cramped space and inefficient management of their ridiculously long lines. Georgetown Cupcake recently moved to a new location on M Street which is much bigger and better designed, if only slightly more efficient. The issue with the new space is that the street entrance forces customers to cut through the line to get in line, but, unlike in the old storefront, customers order and pay the cashier first, and then you wait for their cupcakes.

These treats are $2.75 each and the flavors rotate daily with some staples making a constant appearance: vanilla, chocolate, red velvet etc. The cupcakes are on the smaller side, but make up for their size with rich and genuine flavor. They are also cute. Actually the entire concept is cute from the pink boxes to the sugar adornments. Yesterday B had the vanilla squared while I opted for the chocolate mint. The frosting on both was a rich, whipped buttercream, and the cake was moist and flavorful.

The cupcakes are delicious, this chain is getting national attention, and we will be back and love purchasing these treats as gifts due to both the taste and packaging; but I think the true standout cupcake star is deeper into the bowels of Georgetown: Baked and Wired.

Baked and Wired is a much less-hyped--even though it has gained some pretty cool press--half coffee shop, half bakery. This place is a bit hard to locate, behind the C&O Canal but before you hit the Potomac on Thomas Jefferson Street. You will not find a line stretching out the door, or an annoying gaggle of college-aged tourists, but the shop is marked by a telltale hot pink painted bicycle out front. This is a much crunchier operation, leaning more toward the attitude for which places like these is often known. Their website is not flashy and in fact, and true to form, cuts off some key details, like the description of each cupcake.

The cupcakes are heavenly; they are more like individual cakes than a cupcake and are about twice the size of their Georgetown brethren. This is the moistest cupcake I have ever tasted, topped with a very generous portion of rich frosting that is denser than the butter cream used by Georgetown. These cupcakes run $3.50 apiece and are definitely sharable. My favorite is Teresa's Birthday Cake, but I have never tried one that I would not indulge in again.

If I had to choose (glad I don't) my vote would go to Baked and Wired over Georgetown Cupcake, but I have no doubt that we will continue to patronize both in the future.