Not Just a Vanilla Bake Shop

Second Stop: Vanilla Bake Shop

Location: 512 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica, CA

My cupcake-filled day continued with a stroll two blocks away from Yummy Cupcakes to Vanilla Bake Shop. The first thing I noticed was the cake display in the window. If only I had known about this place three years ago...

Over the past few months I have noticed that there are two ways to sell cupcakes--by taste and by looks. I have found cupcakes that look pretty but taste bad and vice versa. Vanilla Bake Shop captures both, as all of their treats looked so yummy and perfect and were followed by deliciousness.

In their main display were their "cupcake babies." These mini cupcakes sell 3 for $5. This is the best way for me to try so many different flavors without feeling sick or broke.

I picked six different flavors and could barley contain myself to take pictures before I consumed them all! Don't they look so pretty?

The first cupcake I devoured was the Black & White. It had a dark chocolate cake with a chocolate/vanilla mousse-like frosting. The cake was moist and dense and made me wish I had a glass of milk.

This next one was a familiar taste to me. It is called Mom's Birthday Cake and is exactly what my mom made for my me on my last birthday. Yellow cake with chocolate frosting is one of my favorite combinations of cake. I liked that the frosting was a milk chocolate frosting, but it was a little thin.

Chocolate Vanilla Bean was next. This cupcake was another dark chocolate cake, but it had vanilla bean frosting. This is one of two cupcakes that had little sugar crystals on top. The sugar crystals add an expensive-looking touch. I really liked the look of it. The frosting was, again, a little thin. I really enjoy thick, creamy, butter-cream frosting, something that all of these cupcakes lacked.

Yummy! I loved the Lemon Raspberry cupcake. This is the other cupcake that had sugar crystals. Along with the pretty crystals, this cupcake was a yellow butter cake with vanilla bean frosting, a raspberry on top, and **surprise** lemon curd center. The lemon filling tasted like it came from a lemon meringue pie. So delicious! I loved this cupcake!

The two other flavors that I tried were Red Velvet and Banana Chocolate Chip. The red velvet was just as good as a Sprinkles red velvet. Everything about it was great. Milk was needed, but only because it was so good! The Banana Chocolate Chip tasted like a banana muffin with cream cheese frosting. It also had mini chocolate chips sprinkled on top. This was also a favorite as it was different and deliciously made!We were able to secure these pictures before the salesman politely told us that we were not allowed to take pictures. What was I supposed to do then?...delete them? Vanilla Bake Shop has nothing to hide! This cupcake shop was good and will do well because of how pretty their cupcakes look along with how tasty they are! Good job! I look forward to returning on a different day so I can try some other flavors!