This past weekend, Jubilee Cupcakes & Vintage Candy opened and I paid Patti and her new shop another visit! WOW! I thought the shop was cute before, but it’s 100 times better now!  The focus of the shop is definitely on the cupcakes now with some amazing vintage candy too!  There is more seating and the shop is less cluttered with non-cupcake stuff.  The candy is a perfect addition to the shelves of the store, adding a magical feel to the shop.

Oh… and remember the Ganz Cupcake Measuring Spoons I got a while back?  Jubilee sells them!!! They’ve also got a second set of those cupcake measuring spoons in TINY sizes… Dash, Pinch, and Smidgen!  Of course, I picked up a set!

Let’s have a little tour of their shop… my camera died before I could take more pictures of the outside and upstairs seating areas… so know, there’s more to the shop than just these pictures!

I can’t have cupcakes anymore… but I let Emme get one.  Triple Chocolate with a Hello, Kitty topper!  (ps… I had a little taste…. so MOIST and chocolately.  Emily wanted seconds! hehe)

Don’t forget all the toppers and goodies to go on your cupcakes!

And now on to the CANDY!!!  They had taffy and gum and all kinds of old time candy that you can’t find in the grocery stores!

Party supplies too!  (And I also heard that Jubilee is also selling Bella Cupcake Couture!)

Another great addition to Jubilee…. CAKE SPY!!! Yup. Jessie’s got her little Cuppie for-sale at this shop!  Emily wanted me to pick her up one of everything! hehe We love Cuppie and Jessie!

So, I’ve gotta say…. this shop is a great addition to the South End.  With Indulge in Sumner not re-0pening after their fire and only one other (not-to be named, and not as good!) cupcake shop in Tacoma, Patti has got a great brand on her hands to expand!  She told me she plans to expand Jubilee all across the South end of the Sound in the coming years.  I am super excited for her and wish her success!

If you’re in Tacoma… make Jubilee a MUST SEE destination!

Where you can find more info about Jubilee Cupcakes & Vintage Candy:

On the web

Facebook

Twitter

Please introduce yourself.  Tell us a little bit about what you do in the cupcake world and how/when you got started.

My name is Rhienn Davis and I’m a professional cake snob.  I’ve always been a food person and baking sprang naturally from that beginning.  I’m also somewhat creatively inclined. I spent years in various careers (horse trainer, media- maven, book keeper, etc.) struggling to find a job that would stimulate both the creative and the analytical sides of my brain.  The entire time I was making cakes for friends.  That turned into friends of friends.  Then friends of friends of… you get the idea.  It was time to get serious.  My (unflappable, amazing, and unbelievably patient) husband gave me the final push to go out and start a business.  So I did.  Look Cupcake was born.  We have a commercial kitchen in the lower Queen Anne neighborhood of Seattle.

We’re also all over the interwebs:

http://www.lookcupcake.com

http://www.lookcupcake.blogspot.com

http://www.flickr.com/look_cupcake

http://www.facebook.com/lookcupcake

http://www.twitter.com/lookcupcake

Bakery Start-Up Questions

What was the biggest challenge in starting your bakery/baking business?

Initially – figuring out the seasonality and the busy/slow cycle timing.  Because we specialize in custom wedding and event displays our business is very seasonal.  It took time to level things out.  It was feast or famine at first.

Any business tips you can share that has made your bakery a success?

I think unwavering commitment to quality has been the key for us.  We don’t make your average, every day cake/cupcake and we know that it’s not for everyone… and we’re OK with that.  We put that out there in every marketing message, every conversation and every.single.order that goes out our door.

How much time did you spend planning before you decided to take the steps to make your bakery a reality?

Years and years and years of baking.  About six weeks of actively starting the business (paperwork, permitting, etc.)

How much time does it take to run your business?  More or less than you anticipated?

More time than you ever have.  Always.  There are always fifteen things you just didn’t quite get to today.  It consumes your every waking moment and way more of the sleeping ones than you’d like it to.

What type of tools, gadgets, and gizmos are necessary for fantastic cupcake production?

Dishers (ice cream scoops) are invaluable, lots of spatulas, a scale and piping bags.

Recipe/Ingredients & Baking Questions

What do you consider to be the perfect cupcake? What flavors and textures would it have?

A moist buttery cake with a fine crumb, a pocket of delicious filling and topped with smooth, creamy, not-too-sweet buttercream.  That’s the magic formula.

How many times do you have to “re-do” a recipe before you get it right?

Sometimes the first try is magic, sometimes you tweak for months.

What is your favorite cupcake recipe?

Something tells me giving out my favorite cupcake recipe PROBABLY wouldn’t be a very savvy business move on my part.

How much is made from scratch and how much is purchased pre-made?

EVERYTHING is made from scratch.  I’m an evangelist about this.  We house make everything… right down the the fruit purees and salted caramel.

What is the recipe for a foolproof cupcake batter? Just a perfect basic recipe that can be doctored with extras to suit any taste.

Find an awesome yellow cake recipe and a magical chocolate cake recipe and you can make just about anything happen from those two bases.

Where do you purchase all those fun different sprinkles you use to decorate your cupcakes with?

We don’t use sprinkles very often.  The majority of our decorations are hand made.  You can get awesome, natural sanding sugars and such from India Tree.

How do you get your cupcakes all the same size?

Dishers (ice cream scoops)

Do you have a Vegan Chocolate cupcake recipe?

Yes and it’s spectacular.

Do you have a delicious recipe for a trans-fat-free cupcake?

We don’t use trans-fats in any of our products.

What is the best cocoa to use?

We use Pernigotti cocoa.  It’s from Italy and has a very high fat content.

I love buttercream… what’s your favorite recipe for it?

We use Swiss Meringue buttercream.  Once you go to a European meringue based buttercream, there’s no going back.

How do you get great control of a pastry bag and make those mile high swirls of perfection on top of each cupcake?

Practice.  Lots and lots of practice.  Don’t be afraid to try new things with different tips.  You may find something gorgeous you wouldn’t have discovered had you stuck to the “norm.”

Inspiration Questions

Did you always have a passion for baking?

Yes.

What inspires you the most? Love of cupcakes or love of making things people enjoy?

Love of making things people enjoy.  We do a lot more than just cupcakes.

Where do you get new ideas for new cupcake and icing flavors?

Most of our flavor inspirations come from genres of food and/or drinks that we love.  Mojito, anyone?

How do you come up with new, creative ideas for decorating cupcakes?

See above.  There are no rules.

With the internet and easy availability of so many recipes and decorating ideas, how do you come up with new and unique recipes that someone else hasn’t already done?

Everything has been done.  You just have to put your own twist on things.  It’ll drive you MAD if you get caught up in worrying about other people copying your ideas.

Fun Questions

What’s your favorite part of cupcakes?

No need to dirty a dish to have great cake!  Just peel and eat.

How can you be around all that yummy and not eat it all up?

I eat more cake scraps than I care to admit.   Thankfully, chef coats are cut generously!

Would you bake me a cupcake that wouldn’t make me gain any weight please?

Would that be worth it?  I mean, the naughty indulgent aspect of it is half the fun, right?

Do you ever get tired of the site or smell of cupcakes?

I haven’t yet.

Can I live in your kitchen and be your personal taste tester?

How are you at scrubbing cake pans?  Maybe we could work out a trade.

All photos courtesy of the Look Cupcake blog and website.

Make sure you put Wink on your list of places you MUST VISIT on your trip to Seattle this summer! Their cupcakes are TO. DIE. FOR.

Photos courtesy of Wink Cupcakes Blog

Why you ask am I blogging about the farmers market?? Well… they had CUPCAKES!!

The Last Bite had a table full of baked yummies, including cupcakes! She had two packs of vanilla on vanilla cupcakes which I just had to try!  I asked for a business card and told her I’d be reviewing her cupcakes for JavaCupcake.  She told me the owner of The Late Bite has a commercial kitchen out of her home where she bakes custom cakes and takes orders for weddings, etc.

From their website:

“A graduate from the Seattle Culinary academy which honored her with the “Most Outstanding Pastry Chef” award for 2003, Krissie is truly passionate about making cakes and bringing joy to people’s special occasions. She began her love of baking as a child but went on to attend the University of Washington’s Business School. After years of baking at home while raising her three children, she decided to take the advice of so many of her friends and start her own business. She enrolled at The Seattle Culinary Academy where she spent two years “fine-tuning” her pastry skills. Finally she is doing what she always dreamed of! This excitement definitely comes through in every one of her creations.  Krissie has been creating delicious and elegant desserts as owner of “The Last Bite” since 2003.”

The cupcakes were a vanilla cupcake with a white frosting. They looked super yummy at the market and I couldn’t wait to get home to try them! With first bite, I noticed how smooth the frosting was… a lot smoother than I expected.  But unfortunately, the frosting wasn’t very good.  It had a Crisco like taste and was not sweet.  The Crisco flavor was so over powering, it actually gave me an upset stomach and I was forced to scrape off the frosting so that I could taste the cake part.

The cake was slightly dry and crumbly, but there was a lot of it.  Sometimes the cake part can be light and airy, but these weren’t.  They were thick and yet full of flavor and quite good.  I could definitely taste the vanilla in them, which was a good thing since the frosting tasted to horrible.  I’d like to taste other cupcakes from The Late Bite, but from their website it looks as though they specialize in cakes and wedding cakes.  If I see them at the market and there is another flavor, I’ll try it again.

Cupcakes for Dogs!

Also at the farmers market was a dog treats vendor who makes all natural yummies for your canine friends! And yes, she makes cupcakes too!  Organic Dog Treat Bakery makes all natural, organic cupcakes for your dogs!  Not only can you enjoy your cupcakes from the market, your pet can too!!

These cupcakes come in two sizes, Pupcakes and Mini Pupcakes.

From their website, these treats are made with: Organic Oat Flour, Sweet Potato, Egg, Sunflower Oil, Water, Vitamin E and C Powder Frosting: Fat Free Cream Cheese.

Wowzers! What an awesome treat for your pup!  Unfortunately, I don’t have any dogs, but there were plenty of happy customers in the pictures on their website!

These mini size pupcakes are perfect for your little lap dogs and puppies while the regular size pupcakes are a super treat for your big dogs!

Make sure to check them out online, they also make their own dog bones (all organic) and will ship them to you!

I was so excited to see the cupcakes at the counter that I didn’t even check out the other goodies they had for sale at the Double Play Desserts counter! The lady behind the counter said they were all out of the chocolate Oreo cupcakes, but they had plenty of the rest!

• Vanilla with Vanilla frosting topped with Oreo
• Vanilla with Vanilla frosting topped with Sliced Almonds
• Vanilla with Chocolate frosting topped with Sprinkles
• Chocolate with Vanilla frosting topped with Mini M&M’s
• Chocolate with Vanilla frosting topped with Nuts

I let Emily pick which one we were going to try… the Oreo cupcake was the winner.  They handed us the cupcake in a little tray and I could feel the warmth of the cupcake immediately.  They served their cupcakes WARM!!! FRESH out of the oven and topped with frosting and Oreo goodness.  After getting over the shock of the warmth of the cupcakes, I realized how big they were.  For $3.75, these cupcakes were worth every penny just for their size!

So, we sat down at our seats and well… had to eat our garlic fries before we tasted the cupcake.  hehe

After those were devoured, we conquered the cupcake!  It was too big to just take a bite into, so I took the bottom of and tested the cake part first.  OH MY GOODNESS… it was moist and flavorful.  You could actually taste the vanilla flavor in it.  I was so pleasantly surprised by it’s yummy-factor!  Next, it was on to the top, where all the oreo goodness was.  And let me tell you… it was heaven!!! Just the perfect amount of sweet frosting topped with crushed Oreo.  YUMMMM-O!!!!

I will say though… that compared to the pictures of the cupcakes I saw that the Mariners put out before the season started to hype these little bad boys… these cupcakes weren’t quite as gourmet as I anticipated.   But… over all, these cupcakes are definitely worth the trek to Section 185 to try!

After every stop on his Suitcase Tour, Johnny Cupcake uploads a new video of the event and you can just tell how excited the people are to be there.  I’m hoping that his Seattle stop will be just as amazing!

Shop: Shop.JohnnyCupcakes.com/shop

Suitcase Tour: JohnnyCupcakes.com/tour

Blog: JohnnyCupcakes.com/blog

YouTube: youtube.com/user/JohnnyCupcakes

Twitter: @JohnnyCupcakes

Tour Dates & Locations

Safeco Field (home of my beloved Seattle Mariners) just announced that they will now be serving HOMEMADE GOURMET CUPCAKES!  I will be at my first game on April 17 and I will be sure to review all of them!!! I can not wait!!

From King5.com:

Fans at Seattle Mariners games at Safeco Field this season will find a new line-up at concessions stands.  In addition to long-time favorites, there will be an emphasis on fresh, local and healthy options, and a focus on affordability.

Not to worry, garlic fries, Ivar’s clam chowder and hot dogs are still available, but for the more adventuresome palate, Centerplate, the exclusive caterer for Safeco Field, offers fans a variety of new offerings.  Some of the highlights are:

• Philly cheese steaks with hand cut fries, beef and lamb gyros, Greek salad, prime rib nachos,
• Dungeness crab sandwich, blackened salmon sandwich, peel & eat shrimp bucket, gluten-free halibut & chips
• Seattle’s own all natural, handmade Cucina Fresca pasta,
• An expanded vegetarian menu, featuring whole fresh fruit, gluten-free, vegan and organic selections including fruit smoothies,
• Deli option to build your own meals with grab-n-go sandwiches and sides of pasta, potato or coleslaw salads and chips,
• Hope’s Country Fresh Cookies, house-made cupcakes and caramel apples, chocolate dipped Rice Krispies Treats.

Inside, the bar stools invite you to sit down as you decide what you’d like.  Cupcakes and coffee are their specialties.

Since it was the end of the night, their cupcake stands were a little sparse, but they still had a great selection.

Vanilla with Vanilla Buttercream
Vanilla with Chocolate Buttercream
Granny’s Chocolate with Chocolate Buttercream
Granny’s Chocolate with Vanilla Buttercream
Chocolate Chip Mint
Southern Red Velvet with Vanilla Buttercream
Lemon with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
Cinnamon Swirl
Caramel Macchiato
Orange Dreamsicle
Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Coconut with Coconut Buttercream
Cookies-N-Creme – NEW!

My favorite part of Indulge was the side room that was set up like a living room.  It was a big leather couch, coffee table, book shelves and a TV.  It was a cozy little room where you could sit, enjoy your cupcakes and hang out with your friends.  A perfect spot for local teens,  Moms with kids or a couple of girlfriends catching up.  If I lived closer, I could totally see myself visiting Indulge often!

Now on to the good stuff!! The cupcakes!  I ordered a half dozen cupcakes to sample and share with my daughter Emily and my cousin Andrea (former Indulge employee).

Vanilla with Vanilla Buttercream
Chocolate Chip Mint
Lemon with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
Cinnamon Swirl
Orange Dreamsicle
Cookies-N-Creme

First, I need to comment on the actual size of the cupcakes.  They were HUGE and the frosting piled at least 3 inches high on each cupcake!! By far, these are some of the most generously sized cupcakes I’ve seen in a cupcake bakery in the area.

My personal favorite was the Cinnamon Swirl.  It was moist and crumbly at the same time and the frosting was TO. DIE. FOR.  And honestly, it was very similar in flavor to my favorite Cinnabon cupcake, the Cinnacake Classic.

The mint chocoalte cupcake was also just as heavenly! The chocolate cupcake was full of flavor and the mint icing was a perfect compliment.

My daughter tried the Oreo cupcake, her favorite!  And of course, it was also delicious.  The frosting is killer… made this cupcake a hit!

The vanilla cupcake was also a great classic.  Super flavor and a perfect cupcake.

The orange cupcake tasted just like a creamsicle popsicle.  But, it was a lot of orange.  Almost too much for me.  But, my cousin Andrea LOVES this one and said it’s her favorite.  I think this one is just about preference.

Finally, the lemon, my least favorite.  From the get go this cupcake was at a disadvantage, it’s frosting was 2 inches shorter than the rest… probably due to the cream cheese frosting.  I saved this one for the last and unfortunately, I can’t say I loved it.  I like lemon, but something about this cupcake just didn’t do it for me.  Probably the cream cheese frosting, which I’ve never been a fan of to begin with.

Overall, I was VERY impressed with Indulge Cupcakes.  They were moist and the buttercream was incredible!!! I highly recommend this cupcake shop to anyone in the area and only wish they’d expand and open one up in Tacoma!

Indulge website:  http://www.indulgecupcakes.com/

Twitter:  http://twitter.com/indulgesumner

]]> http://javacupcake.com/2010/02/indulge-cupcakes/feed/ 1 http://javacupcake.com/2010/02/cupcake-camp-seattle/ http://javacupcake.com/2010/02/cupcake-camp-seattle/#comments Wed, 17 Feb 2010 01:31:09 +0000 JavaCupcake http://javacupcake.com/?p=1156
Bella Cupcake Couture is proud to bring  this special event to the Seattle area.

An event for cupcake lovers: Bake or buy cupcakes to bring -or- just come to eat and help a good cause.

Activities include cupcake eating contests, cupcake wrapper decorating, bakers competitions, Hope Heart Institute fundraiser and more.

Best of all … it’s FREE.

AND… I will be donating about 200 mini cupcakes to the event, so you’ll be able to sample my “Tree Hugger Apple” cupcakes!

When: Saturday April 10, 2010 11am-2pm
Where: 415 Westlake, Seattle WA
Why: Because who doesn’t love cupcakes?

For more details visit the Cupcake Camp Seattle website!

Check out this awesome poster!! All artwork for Cupcake Camp Seattle is done by Jessie from Cakespy!



When: Thursday, February 25, 2010 6-8pm
Where: Trophy Cupcakes
1815 N. 45th St., Suite 209
Seattle, WA 98103
http://www.trophycupcakes.com

Come and enjoy cupcakes and coffee and chat with Rachel from Cupcakes Take the Cake!!  I plan to attend this event and am super excited to meet Rachel and all the other local cupcake enthusiasts!!!

All attendees will buy their own cupcakes.

You can read about my trip to the original Cupcake Royale and West Seattle Cupcake Royale also!

I picked up a 4-pack to include Mint Chocolate, Triple Threat, Lemon, and Salted Caramel.  The mint chocolate I believe has now become my all time favorite Cupcake Royale cupcake.  It’s so perfectly moist and the frosting is minty and fresh.  SOOO GOOD.

They were very decorated for Valentine’s Day too!

Here’s a look at the rest of their cupcakes and their special Deathcake Royale (which I sampled and is so incredibly rich and delicious! a chocolate lovers dream!)

His & Hers Valentine’s Day cupcakes.  Hale’s Chocolate Stout with Stout caramel buttercream for him and Pink Champagne for her.  Too perfectly cute to pass up!

(Photo: Trophy Cupcakes)

Here are the details from the Facebook invite:

Join us in welcoming back Jessie Oleson (aka Cakespy!), our December artist. Jessie’s show featuring cupcakes hanging out all over Seattle was our most popular ever…so of course we had to invite her back!

Jessie is a triple threat: an illustrator, writer, and baker. These interests intersect oh-so-sweetly on her site, CakeSpy.com, a “dessert detective agency” where she reports on all things sweet, including bakery news, recipes, and baking lore, all accompanied by sweet illustrations. This show at Trophy Cupcakes is a collection of artwork featured on the site as well as several new original pieces. Though the artwork is very sweet, upon further inspection you’ll find it sometimes has edgy little details (cupcakes eating cake, anyone?), making these paintings not only sweet additions to the home but engaging conversation pieces as well! More of her work can be found at cakespyshop.com.

Reception from 6-8, bubbles and cupcakes will be served!

And, from Jessie’s website, here’s what she has to say about the event:

Breaking Cake News! CakeSpy is having another art show at Trophy Cupcakes! The first one this summer was such a success that they have asked for more cupcake art to get them through the holiday season!

Please note that if you read the update about the show a week or so ago, the artist reception has changed. It will now take place at the following time:

Saturday, December 5, from 6-8 p.m.
at Trophy Cupcakes in Wallingford, 1815 N. 45th Street in the Wallingford Center
There will be plenty of awesome artwork and of course a limited supply of free cupcakes!

There will be over 80 new paintings featuring cupcakes (and even some other foods!) in all sorts of sweet (and sometimes bittersweet) situations, and many illustrations including Seattle landmarks.

Of course if you can’t make the reception, the artwork will be up all month long in Wallingford, through January 2, so you can pick up sweet gifts for your friends, neighbors, family and maybe even your sweet self all December long!

Hope to see you there!

The Yellow Leaf isn’t hard to find, right off a main street just north of downtown Seattle, the shop has a prime location for business and pedestrians.

As I entered the cupcakery, my first thought was how small the space was. Being a coffee/tea shop also, I was expecting to see more room for people to comfortably sit, eat and drink their yummies. There were 3 or four tables with a few chairs in the front area which was also the lobby/ordering area. Not much room to move around, but it was still cozy. The colors of the shop were warm browns, yellows, tans. It was a cute, quaint cupcake shop.

I was greeted at the counter by a man who I assumed to be the owner. He knew all the details about all the cupcakes and was very excited to share them with me. He had out several selections of cupcakes behind the glass that included Tomato Soup, Orange, Black Forest Cake, and Vanilla.
I was at The Yellow Leaf with my husband and my daughter, so we picked out four cupcakes we wanted to try and share. We chose Tomato Soup, Orange with chocolate ganache and orange frosting, Black Forest Cake with raspberry and frosting, and a basic Vanilla with Vanilla frosting. They were served on a big white leaf shaped plate!

My husbands choice was the Tomato Soup. Although it didn’t exactly taste like tomato soup, it did have a nice spiced flavor to it. The frosting was creamy and full of flavor also. He said he liked it because it was different from your average cupcake.

My daughter had the orange cupcake with the chocolate ganache. She loved this one. The orange flavor wasn’t too overpowering and the chocolate added an extra explosion of flavor.

I had the Black Forest Cake with cherries. This cupcake was the smallest of the bunch, the owner added the disclaimer when we ordered it that even though it was the smallest it was the densest. He was right! It was super dense and had an amazing chocolate flavor. The cherries and frosting were a perfect pairing with the chocolate. This cupcake was my favorite of the four.

Lastly, we shared a vanilla cupcake with vanilla frosting. This was my husbands favorite. He said the basic flavors were really done well and the cupcake just tasted good.

Over all, the cupcakes were good. But I do have a couple of complaints about the cupcakes. The cupcakes were over cooked and very dry (with the exception of the dense Black Forest) and were brown around the edges and crumbled/fell apart when we ate them. I chatted with a few women who were also trying The Yellow Leaf for the first time and they commented too how dry the cupcakes were.

For being a new cupcake shop, The Yellow Leaf has a lot to offer! Great location, variety and unique cupcake flavors, and a superbly friendly staff. I look forward to seeing how this shop grows and perfects their cupcakes!

A friend of mine heard about this new cupcake company opening in Seattle and pointed me to THIS article about it.

The Yellow Leaf Cupcake Co. is a cupcake and muffin shop scheduled to open TODAY in the Belltown neighborhood of Seattle, WA. What makes this cupcake shop unique is that it is owned and operated by two men! With the name of their company inspired from the beautiful landscape of the Pacific Northwest and the delicious cupcakes and muffins they serve paired with local coffee & tea… this cupcakery is sure to be a hit!!

I’ll be in Seattle this weekend to see an exhibit at the Seattle Art Museum and I am definitely going to stop by and check them out!! (Of course I’ll blog about that too!! hehe)

The Yellow Leaf can be found on Twitter: @TheYellowLeaf. They are SUPER NEW to Twitter, so go follow them and enjoy their cupcake goodness!

From their website:
“In May 2009 The Yellow Leaf Cupcake Company opens its doors for the first time in Seattle, Washington. With a passion for baking and a labor of love the Yellow Leaf came to be. The story is short and sweet, do what makes you happy and life will be good!

Owners Tony and Mike traveled America sampling many amazing and delicious cupcakes and baked goods. From Seattle to New York and many stops in between the two decided it was time to turn the dream (and passion) into a reality. And so came the Yellow Leaf Cupcake Company.

The pair are hoping to inspire, create, and make every customer happy in what makes them happy… cupcakes! In a world that sometimes seems blue, you must always dream, for that world comes in many delicious and wonderful flavors.”

Jessie at Cake Spy has featured one of my reviews! I visited Retro Bakery in Las Vegas with my husband and met Kari, the owner… and then wrote a fabulous review about their wonderful cupcakes! Jessie featured that review on her website! Click HERE to see the original post. Thank you Jessie!!

Connie at Miscellaneous Finds 4 U – Product Finds has written a beautiful article about me and my cupcake adventures! Please, follow my friend Connie @princesstimetoy on Twitter and make sure to check out the article!! Thank you Connie!!!

Website:

Article:
1) Java Cupcake – Recipes & Beautiful Photography = Yummy Adventure

You can also find me on these websites:
Website:

Articles:
1) java cupcake and her cupcake chucks!
2) Over the rainbow cupcakes by JavaCupcake

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JavaCupcake is featured on:

Visit twitter moms: the influential moms network

Cupcake of the Month:
My Strawberry cupcake has been featured as “Cupcake of the Month” on the blog Lilly Lynn Party

First stop was Hello, Cupcake in Tacoma, WA. This cupcake shop is located on the University of Washington – Tacoma’s campus set between several stores, coffee shop and is housed in an original old Tacoma building. You’ll notice the old tall, brick buildings that line the street in the photo. The store front was quaint and inviting and even had a pink bike with a basket leaning against the front window, making it feel like a place you could just ride your bike up to, stop in for a cupcake and relax. The vibe inside was very pretty pretty princess. It was clean with lots of light colors. They also had a party room in the back where a little girl was having her birthday party.

I had been in this cupcake shop before, so I already knew which cupcakes I wanted to eat. My daughter picked her favorite, chocolate cupcake with vanilla buttercream frosting and my husband chose the carrot cake with cream cheese frosting.

The chocolate cupcake was very moist, I love a moist cupcake. And the buttercream frosting was smooth and delicious. My favorite though was the carrot cake cupcake. The cinnamon in the cupcake was so flavorful and the cream cheese frosting was a perfect pairing.

Our next stop was Cupcake Royale in Ballard, WA. This location is 1/2 cupcakes 1/2 coffee. Verite Coffee and Cupcake Royale share a space in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle, WA making it a very “urban” cupcake shop. Hip, young music paired with eccentric art on the walls and a carefree staff make Cupcake Royale (CR) a true taste of the Seattle life. There was great diversity in visitors at Cupcake Royale. There were college students with their laptops studying while eating a cupcake and enjoying their cappuccinos, 40-something girlfriends catching up on old times, a few people sitting alone, enjoying their treats behind their computer screen, and of course, my family.

There was a much larger selection of cupcakes at Cupcake Royale, including some specialty cupcakes that I wasn’t expecting to see. Orange U Glad, Lemon Drop, Lavender, Peppermint Pattie to name a few… all served on either vanilla or chocolate cupcakes. We chose to sample the Lemon Drop and the Peppermint Pattie as well as a mini Chocolate with pink buttercream frosting for my daughter.

The Peppermint Pattie cupcake had a moist, chocolate cupcake with a peppermint buttercream frosting. My husband LOVES peppermint and this cupcake was right up his alley. The buttercream peppermint flavor had just the right amount of mint flavoring… not too over the top, just enough to make it taste minty delicious in your mouth.

The mini cupcake was perfect size for my daughter. It was your basic chocolate with buttercream frosting cupcake, but the frosting was pink with sprinkles. This cupcake definitely made my little princess feel like she was eating a dainty, cupcake made just for her! “Emily-Size” we called it!

This Lemon Drop cupcake was a surprise in my mouth. Lemon buttercream frosting on top of a vanilla buttercake cupcake… MMmmmmmmmmm Yummmm-O is really all I can say. It was an explosion of flavor in my mouth. Sweet, sour all at the same time. Smooth. This was one of my favorites of the day!

Our last stop was to Trophy Cupcakes and Party in Wallingford, a suburb of Seattle, WA. This neighborhood is a little more upscale from Ballard and the cupcake shop was located inside the Wallingford Center full of shops and restaurants.

Trophy had the largest selection of specialty cupcakes on display in comparison to the other two shops, although none of them were for sale. Bright colors, unique frosting, flowers, sprinkles, Valentine’s Day themed, all white. Very beautiful displays. They were really fun to see!

Since we made it to Trophy only an hour before closing, all they had left was the triple chocolate cupcake. We cut into the moist cupcake and took a bite. This was the richest, most chocolatey cupckae we had tasted all day. It was too much for any of us to finish. We left 1/3 of the cupcake on the plate.

We also tried a very special cupcake, which I have to say was probably my most favorite cupcake of the day, astecially. It’s the Barack Obama cupcake. Chocolate cupcake with vanilla buttercream frosting with sprinkles on the side with Baracks face on the top of the cupcake. His face made with edible ink and a special printer that prints on to the cupcake. Although the buttercream at Trophy had a thinner texture and tasted less like butter than others it was just as delicious. These novelty cupcakes would be a great addition to a Jan. 20, 2009 Presidential Inaguration Party! I may just order some!

In the end we had gone to three cupcake shops, eaten seven cupcakes and had three very full bellies. My husband liked the Peppermint Pattie cupcake the best, my daughter enjoyed the Chocolate and Vanilla buttercream the most, but liked the how the Obama cupcake looked and my favorite was the Lemon Drop with the Carrot Cake and Peppermint Pattie in close second and third. My plan is to visit a few more cupcake shops in the Seattle/Tacoma area in the coming months… of course, I’ll blog about those too.