I Heart Cupcakes Too

There's a new cupcakery in town...iheartcupcakes recently opened up in Houston's energy corridor. Even though it wasn't very close, we had to try them. Especially since the pics on their website were eerily similar to Crave's cupcakes. The girl who helped me said they had no affiliation with Crave, but I'm wondering if the baker and/or owner used to work there? Who knows.

Our six-pack consisted of Caramel Macchiato (top left), Cookies n' Cream (top right), Vanilla Vanilla (middle left), Snickerdoodle (middle right), Red Velvet (bottom left) and Chocolate with Strawberry (bottom right).

Starting with Chocolate with Strawberry, it's chocolate cake with strawberry buttercream frosting. It was moist, chocolatey and the frosting was creamy strawberry.

Next, hubby and I shared the Cookies 'n Cream, which was vanilla bean/cookie infused cake with vanilla bean buttercream topped with cookie crumbs. Definitely tasted like cookies and cream; also moist and delish.

Then, we split the Caramel Macchiato. It was coffee infused cake with caramel buttercream. The coffee flavor was pretty strong for me and I'm not a coffee drinker, so I didn't really care for it. The frosting was the best part.

Last, I had Snickerdoodle, which was cinnamon cake topped with vanilla bean frosting and sanding sugar. This cupcake was similar to other cinnamon-type cupcakes I've had and very good.

Overall, they tasted a lot like Crave with the exception of certain flavors that Crave does not offer. I would get iheartcupcakes again if I were passing by or needed a special flavor fix.

Holiday Cupcake Crusades

Happy New Year!

Over the past month, the crusade continued with an at-home experiment, a local fave and a new out-of-town taste test.

I purchased another one of those Williams-Sonoma cupcake kits. The pumpkin ones were on sale after Thanksgiving, so I figured I would give it a shot even though I'm not really a pumpkin fan. It was pumpkin spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla.

Using typical ingredients like butter and eggs, it was fairly simple to make. I didn't bother making a frosting from scratch since I usually have trouble with that. So, I used a jar frosting that said the flavor was "fall vanilla." It also had some fall sprinkles, which I used, but otherwise, fall vanilla wasn't any different than regular vanilla. It turned out surprisingly good!

Next, after we had a birthday lunch for a coworker, we stopped by Sprinkles. I ventured out of my comfort zone to try another flavor I wouldn't normally pick, Eggnog Spice. It was spice cake topped with eggnog cream cheese frosting. While not my favorite flavor, I would definitely get it again. I enjoyed it and thought it was better than the eggnog cupcake I tried a year ago from Crave.

Last, while traveling for the holidays, we decided to try Frosted Cupcakes in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Hubby and I got a four-pack. His flavors were top left, Cookie Deaux and bottom right, Rouge Royale. My selections were top right, Dalmatian and bottom left, Gingerbread. Unfortunately, their website does not give a description of the cupcakes.

My first cupcake was the Gingerbread. It tasted like a gingerbread cookie; moist and flavorful frosting. I was pleased with my choice.

My second cupcake was Dalmatian, which was essentially an Oreo or cookies and cream cupcake. This one was very good. Also moist and delicious frosting. I'll take a 101 Dalmatian cupcakes please...woof!

I tried a bite of hubby's cookie deaux and rouge royale, which were also quite yummy. I would definitely recommend Frosted and go back again.

Until next time...the crusade continues...