The Cupcake Activist: December 2010

Friday, December 31, 2010

My Top 10 Cupcakes of All Time: #1

This is the end of my list, my favorite cupcake shop of all-time.

I constantly get asked, "where can I find the best cupcakes?". Wow, it's just so hard to narrow it down because I've tasted so many delicious cupcakes. But I did. You can check out all of my reviews under the tab "Cupcake Reviews." It's now time to reveal the list for The Cupcake Activist's Top 10 Cupcakes of All Time! I'm sure this list will be ever-changing, as there are so many cupcakes I have yet to try. Enjoy the last day of 2010!

CUPCAKE SHOP: Elizabethan Desserts

LOCATION: Encinitas, CA

FAVORITE FLAVOR: Monkey Business - moist vanilla-banana cake with cream cheese frosting and caramel drizzle

I discovered this quaint little shop in 2008. It's nestled within a nursery in Encinitas, CA. I call it heaven on earth! When I stepped inside the bakery, I immediately knew this was the place, the place that I would recommend as THE BEST CUPCAKE SHOP!

I went against my instincts and tried a flavor I wouldn't normally have picked. PERFECTION - the best cupcake I've ever eaten! I dream about the Monkey Business cupcake all the time. But that cupcake isn't the only good one, everything I have eaten from Elizabeth Desserts is delicious!

These cupcakes are definitely different than any other cupcake I've tried before. The difference is that these cupcakes are more like desserts in a cupcake shape. The cake in Monkey Business is not the same as the usual consistency of a "normal" cupcake. Elizabeth Desserts has differentiated themselves by going beyond the traditional cupcake idea. I love their cupcakes and can't wait to go back soon! You can check out my full reviews here and here.

Elizabeth Desserts
155 Quail Garden Dr.
Encinitas, CA 92024
Open Tuesday-Sunday 10am-5pm
760-230-6780

Thursday, December 30, 2010

My Top 10 Cupcakes of All Time: #2

The list continues...

I constantly get asked, "where can I find the best cupcakes?". Wow, it's just so hard to narrow it down because I've tasted so many delicious cupcakes. You can check out all of my reviews under the tab "Cupcake Reviews." But I think it's time to reveal the list for The Cupcake Activist's Top 10 Cupcakes of All Time! I'm sure this list will be ever-changing, as there are so many cupcakes I have yet to try. Enjoy the remainder of 2010!

CUPCAKE SHOP: Sweet Tooth Fairy

LOCATION: 6 locations in Utah

FAVORITE FLAVOR: Cheesecake, Dulce de Leche

I didn't expect to find my #2 favorite cupcake shop in Utah. Nothing against Utah, but I wasn't impressed by any cupcakes I had tried there before. Shame on me for judging the entire state of Utah.

Sweet Tooth Fairy is what I imagine heaven to be like! Delicious cupcakes, lots of flavor choices, cake bites, cookies....ahhh! Yep, heaven! When I visited Sweet Tooth Fairy in Provo, Utah last year, I got to try about 20 flavors. I tried a few more when I stopped by their St. George location last month. I have yet to find a cupcake of theirs I didn't LOVE! Maybe if I'm lucky enough, Sweet Tooth Fairy will expand to Orange County. A girl can wish, can't she? You can read my full review here.

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

My Top 10 Cupcakes of All Time: #3

CUPCAKE SHOP: SusieCakes

LOCATION: Newport Beach, CA (other locations throughout CA)

FAVORITE FLAVOR: Ginger Spice

If you ask me where to find a great cupcake in Orange County, my first response is always: SusieCakes. SusieCakes was one of the first cupcake shops I reviewed and they have remained a favorite ever since. Their cupcakes are simple but delicious. Of course my favorite flavor has to be a flavor they only offer during this time of year. Besides cupcakes, SusieCakes also offers a variety of other baked goods, such as cookies, whoopie pies, bars, and cakes. They have one of the best chocolate chip cookies I've ever tasted. You can read my full review here.

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

My Top 10 Cupcakes of All Time: #4

CUPCAKE SHOP: Sweet and Saucy Shop

LOCATION: Long Beach, CA

FAVORITE FLAVOR: Candy Bar Cupcake - vanilla buttermilk cake, chocolate ganache filling, peanut butter cream cheese frosting, and salted caramel

I loved Sweet and Saucy Shop before it even opened. I mean, have you seen Melody's blog? And not only are her desserts absolutely beautiful, they taste AMAZING too! I really wish I could get married again just so I could have her dessert bar at my reception. Sweet and Saucy Shop sells cupcakes, cookies, and mini desserts. The cupcakes sell for $3.00-$3.25 and the minis for $1.50-$1.75. You can read my full review here.

Monday, December 27, 2010

My Top 10 Cupcakes of All Time: #5

CUPCAKE SHOP: Sprinkles Cupcakes

LOCATION: Throughout the USA (my location: Newport Beach, CA)

FAVORITE FLAVOR: Red Velvet and Pumpkin

How could Sprinkles not be on my list? Sprinkles was the first cupcake shop I've ever visited and it is definitely a winner. Their giant cupcakes are delicious! My favorite flavors are the ones with cream cheese frosting. Sprinkles is one of the pioneers of the cupcake world. They have great tasting cupcakes, a nice flavor selection, and enough frosting to keep you on a sugar high for a week. $3.25 is a small price to pay for frosting happiness! You can read my full review here.

Friday, December 24, 2010

My Top 10 Cupcakes of All Time: #6

CUPCAKE SHOP: Vanilla Bake Shop

LOCATION: Santa Monica, CA

FAVORITE FLAVOR: Meyer Lemon Raspberry

I'm a sucker for filled cupcakes, but it only makes sense that my favorite cupcake from Vanilla Bake Shop has a lemon curd center. High points: moist cake, creamy frosting, sugar crystals, and availability of "cupcake babies." Sometimes I like to eat a few different flavors of cupcakes, but don't want to feel like a pig doing it. "Cupcake babies" are 3 for $5. You can read my full review here.

Thursday, December 23, 2010

My Top 10 Cupcakes of All Time: #7

CUPCAKE SHOP: Divine Desserts

LOCATION: Laguna Niguel, CA

FAVORITE FLAVOR: Red Velvet with cream cheese frosting

Last year I got to experience the full VIP treatment from Divine Desserts with a tour of their shop and a tasting of their cupcakes. I wish I could experience every cupcake shop this way! Moist cupcakes, perfect frosting, and a huge assortment of flavors to choose from (20 daily flavors) makes Divine Desserts a great cupcake shop to visit. They also sell other goodies such as cookies, muffin tops, and frosting shots (pina colada was my favorite). The Red Velvet has a little something extra special in it which sets it apart from the many other red velvets I've tasted. Their cupcakes sell for $3.00. You can see my full review here.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

My Top 10 Cupcakes of All Time: #8

The list continues...

I constantly get asked, "where can I find the best cupcakes?". Wow, it's just so hard to narrow it down because I've tasted so many delicious cupcakes. You can check out all of my reviews under the tab "Cupcake Reviews." But I think it's time to reveal the list for The Cupcake Activist's Top 10 Cupcakes of All Time! I'm sure this list will be ever-changing, as there are so many cupcakes I have yet to try. Enjoy the remainder of 2010!

CUPCAKE SHOP: Sweet Revenge

LOCATION: New York City, NY

FAVORITE FLAVOR: Crimson & Cream - Raspberry red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting

The first out-of-state cupcake shop on the list! Although I haven't technically been to New York yet, my husband has traveled there many times and brought back many cupcakes for me to try.

Sweet Revenge isn't just a cupcake shop, it's also a restaurant and bar. They even have cupcake and wine pairings. Sweet Revenge has made my top 10 list because of their sophisticated and unique cupcake flavors. The frostings on their Signature Cupcakes were amazing (and we all know that frosting is a deal-breaker for me)! There's no doubt that Sweet Revenge will be my first cupcake stop when I finally make it to New York. You can read my full review here.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

My Top 10 Cupcakes of All Time: #9

CUPCAKE SHOP: Crumbs Bake Shop

LOCATION: West Coast and East Coast (my location: Beverly Hills or Larchmont)

FAVORITE FLAVOR: Banana Peanut Butter with cream cheese frosting

My first visit to Crumbs Bake Shop was back in May 2009. I made the horrible mistake of only getting one cupcake, so I had to visit again a few months later. One thing that I really love about Crumbs is their selection of flavors. Maybe that's a problem though...too many choices! They also have special edition flavors for every holiday and major event throughout the year. Crumbs cupcakes are super sized, so the $3.75 price tag fits them well, but is well worth it. Lots of cake and lots of frosting! You can check out both reviews here and here.

Monday, December 20, 2010

Dolce Vista - Sweets and Treats

I first experienced Dolce Vista's cupcakes at the OC Fair this summer. Vista Miller won first place and "Best in Show" in the professional category of the OC Cupcake Classic. I remember her cupcakes because they were so beautiful.

Vista's company, Dolce Vista Sweets and Treats, makes custom cupcakes and cakes. Vista contacted me a few weeks ago to see if I'd be interested in tasting her holiday cake. She informed me that this cake incorporated a giant cupcake. Yes, I'm definitely interested!

When I saw her winter wonderland cake, I was amazed at how exquisite it was! I didn't realize that this wouldn't just be a cake, but a whole dessert display!

The present with the big blue bow was a fondant-covered spice cake with cinnamon cream cheese.

The ornaments were rice krispie treats covered in colorful fondant.

The cupcake....wow, this giant cupcake was amazing! Chocolate cake with chocolate frosting surrounded by ricotta-filled cream puffs.

Luckily I got to share thid cake with others. I brought it to a Christmas party that night. Everyone ohhhhed and ahhhhed at it. Of course everyone kept asking me if I made it. I wish!

Besides the beauty of the cake, my favorite parts were the spice cake with cinnamon cream cheese frosting and the cream puffs. I'm not going to lie, I ate most of the cream puffs myself.

Like I mentioned before, Dolce Vista Sweets and Treats does custom cakes and cupcakes. You can check out the gallery of her cakes on her website and Facebook page. While browsing, I saw this adorable little girl's birthday day with a giant cupcake. So cute!

Dolce Vista Sweets and Treats
www.dolcevistacakes.com
Facebook page: Dolce Vista Cakes
vistamiller@hotmail.com

My Top 10 Cupcakes of All Time: #10

#10

CUPCAKE SHOP: Kara's Cupcakes

LOCATION: San Francisco, CA

FAVORITE FLAVOR: Banana Caramel (filled) - Banana cupcake with caramel filling and silky cream cheese frosting

I visited Kara's Cupcakes last year during a weekend getaway to San Francisco. Kara's Cupcakes won me over with their large size of cupcakes, great selection of flavors, great quality, good proportion of frosting to cake, and price ($3.25). Kara's Cupcakes has six locations, all in the Bay Area. You can check out my full review here.

Friday, December 17, 2010

Holiday Cupcake Ideas

Just one week left! One week to shop, bake, decorate, party, and stress out. What? You don't stress out? Well, I'll admit that I stress out a little bit, but it's all forgotten by the time Christmas Day rolls around.

I've gathered a few recipes for holiday-inspired cupcakes. There's still plenty of time for baking, which is one of my favorite parts of this season. So fire up that oven and get going!

Gingerbread Latte Cupcakes from Java Cupcake

Panettone - Cupcake Style from Cupcake Project

Eggnog Latte Cupcakes from Cupcake Project

Hot Chocolate Cupcakes from Picky Palate

Christmas Stollen Cupcakes from Cupcake Project

Christmastime isn't complete without hot chocolate. Our Best Bites gives us some recipes for homemade hot chocolate. Flavors include: Holiday Spice, Raspberry Truffle, Chocolate Hazelnut, Caramel Fudge, and Peppermint Stick. Yum!

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Gingersnap Cupcakes from Picky Palate

Photo

Sweet are the ket to happiness, or at least they are for me. This year for Christmas I'm baking a plate of goodies for my friends and family.

I've been collecting the best, most festive desserts ideas. I frequently go to Picky Palate when searching for yummy recipes. I came across these Gingerbread Cupcakes with Vanilla Bean Cinnamon Buttercream frosting. I'm pretty sure they will be on my list of holiday goodies.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Scharffen Berger Chocolate Contest

The Chocolate Adventure Contest: Cupcake Edition 2010

Scharffen Berger Chocolate invites you to summon your spirit of adventure for this year's contest. Create an original cupcake recipe that combines SCHARFFEN BERGER Chocolate and any of the adventure ingredients and enter for a chance to win!

There's $20,000 in prizes and the chance to fly to New York City to bake and share your cupcake from the beloved Sweet Truck. Plus--the winning recipe will appear in the Food Network Magazine. Enter here.

You can get your creative juices flowing by using the interactive cupcake builder to create your cupcake. The cupcake builder will help you get acquainted with the adventure ingredients, thanks to helpful tips from baking guru Alice Medrich.

I recently tried Scharffen Berger Chocolate for the first time and it was delicious! I had a hard time sharing it with my husband, so I hid it. Is that wrong?

Monday, December 13, 2010

Re-Review: Twenty Five Main

Twenty Five Main was my first cupcake review on this blog. I stopped by their shop in May 2008, after I completed a triathlon near St. George, Utah. Twenty Five Main had just recently opened and sadly, their cupcakes weren't good at all. I was new to cupcake reviewing, but still knew that better cupcakes existed.

Twenty Five Main must have seen my review because when I was browsing their website two years later, I found that one of my photos (see below) was being used on their website to promote their cupcakes! That's really sad. My photos were ok, but how hard is it to take photos of your cupcakes? Although Twenty Five Main recently updated their website and my photo is no longer their main cupcake photo, my original photo can still be found on their website. I never said anything to them, but that's super tacky!

(The stolen photo)

Earlier this year, a comment was left on that original review which reads:

"When you went to 25 Main it had only been open for 2 months. They were still trying out cupcakes and what worked. Now that they have been open for almost 2 years, they have more of a selection and deserves a revisit!"

I agree.

I just happened to be in St. George for Thanksgiving, so I thought I would give them a second shot.

So was the second time better?

I wish.

I tried four flavors: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip, Coconut, Raspberry, and Chocolate. Unfortunately for all of us waiting to eat delicious cupcakes, they were dry. The pumpkin cupcake was the only one that was somewhat moist, but the frosting was a little gummy. The chocolate cupcake had the same problem that I encountered the first time: hard edges. These just aren't gourmet cupcakes. My sister-in-law explained them perfectly, "it's like a neighbor made them."

So maybe cupcakes aren't Twenty Five Main's specialty, there are still plenty of other items to enjoy there. Twenty Five Main is a cute cafe that serves breakfast, salads, paninis, soup, pasta, and sandwiches. Stop by and give them a try.

Friday, December 10, 2010

Sweet Tooth Fairy in St. George

It's not secret that Sweet Tooth Fairy is one of my favorite cupcake shops of all time. I reviewed their Provo location last year and have been craving them every day. Since then, Sweet Tooth Fairy has expanded to Draper, Salt Lake City, and St. George, Utah.

Well, lucky me! I just happened to be in St. George for Thanksgiving with my husband's family! There was no way I was not going to visit Sweet Tooth Fairy. After a few hours of exploring the mountain bike trails of St. George, my husband and I quickly drove there and had no problems spoiling our dinner.

The cupcakes looked just as good as I remembered.

The decor was the same as the original store in Provo, Utah.

This time I was not leaving without a cookie. But the cookie didn't last long enough for a picture. I loved it!

We gathered our goodies and headed back to "Thanksgiving central," the house where the 24 of us spent the weekend. (And let me tell you, sharing one bathroom with 22 people is not easy.)

My sister-in-laws and I tasted all of the cupcakes and goodies to make sure they were safe for the rest of the family.

Cake bites were a first for most of the people there. We got a few flavors to try. I like the chocolate peanut butter best.

When I visited Sweet Tooth Fairy last year, I sampled every flavor they had available that day. I was in heaven! So this time I wanted to try any flavors that were new to me.

Grasshopper

This was my first time trying Sweet Tooth Fairy's chocolate mint cupcake, but it wasn't my first time trying this flavor. My sister-in-law Kristine thought the mint was too overpowering. Sometimes this happens when you have mint in a dessert and then it tastes like mouthwash. I thought that there was just the perfect amount of mint. I liked it.

Pumpkin

This was no ordinary pumpkin. This cupcake had pumpkin cake AND pumpkin buttercream frosting (instead of the usual cream cheese frosting). My sister-in-law Julie thought that it had too much pumpkin flavor. But I thought it was interesting and unique and I really enjoyed it! I wish it could be around all year. I like that Sweet Tooth Fairy did something different.

Chocolate Fudge

Kristine liked this chocolate cupcake better than the Grasshopper. Tami, my other sister-in-law loved the thick fudgy frosting.

Sweet Potato Pie

This was definitely a new flavor to me and I loved it! One sister-in-law said it was too sweet, but another really liked it. My niece Hailey also liked it. I would definitely like to eat this again, but I'm guessing it's just as seasonal flavor.

The day that Sweet Tooth Fairy expands to southern California will be the day that I've died and gone to cupcake heaven. But maybe it's a good thing that Sweet Tooth fairy isn't close by...then I appreciate it more. At least that's what I tell myself.

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