Cupcakes Bakery is a cupcake shop opened by Karen Cook and her family in 2008. The bakery sells cupcakes as well as ice cream. Everyday Cupcakes Bakery makes their desserts fresh and from scratch in an effort to set themselves apart from other bakeries.
Walking into Cupcakes Bakery, I immediately noticed the wide variety of cupcakes. Inside the shop they had standard sizes along with miniature cupcakes. The sweets already made us excited, but then we noticed the ice cream. All the flavors looked so creamy and delicious.
The shop is not big at all but there is enough space to not feel cramped. The interior is decorated like any typical bakery. An open door at the back gives a slight hint to the baking process but all my attention was primarily focused on the cupcakes.
With so many varieties of cupcakes to choose from, it would be hard to pick just one flavor. Thankfully, Cupcakes Bakery has a sample jar where miniature cupcakes are given out for free so you can test each flavor before you commit to one.
Julian Castro ’17 and Alex Rurik ’19 each tasted different cupcakes from the bakery. Together they tasted six cupcakes which had their mouths anticipating the upcoming flavors.
“I tasted three mini cupcakes: the red velvet, chocolate chip vanilla and the vanilla strawberry,” Castro said. “The red velvet was amazing. It had a cool cream cheese which had just the right amount of tanginess. The red velvet was also moist itself but the sprinkles on top added a nice subtle crunch.”
Rurik picked his cupcakes by appearance. His logic is that a cupcake should taste as good as it looks and he put that to the test.
“Likewise, I also had three cupcakes,”Rurik said.”The first cupcake I picked out looked especially inviting to me. It was a chocolate base with cream cheese frosting on top. At first, I thought that cream cheese on chocolate was an interesting idea, but I soon discovered there was more than met the eye. When I took the first bite, the cream cheese was overpowering and all I could taste. It took a couple seconds for the chocolate to kick in, and when it did, I was pleasantly surprised by how good it was.”
I got a cone of Bulldog tracks. This was a vanilla ice cream base with chocolate syrup mixed in it, complimented with hints of mint chip pieces. After completely finishing it all, I was satisfied with the equally balanced mixture. — Alexander Rurik, ’19
The second round of cupcakes was much anticipated after a great start. Castro went with a famous and highly recommended cupcake from the shop, the chocolate chip vanilla.
“The chocolate chip vanilla looked so good I almost didn’t want to eat it,” Castro said. “It was a regular vanilla cupcake, but sprinkled all over the vanilla swirl atop the cupcake were tiny chocolate chips; the chips were even baked inside of the cupcake. The cupcake itself felt cold but that made it more refreshing. The texture was nice and the frosting was sweet but not overwhelming,”
Rurik and his second cupcake choice came from his history with his grandma’s baking. His selection of the pumpkin spice flavor brought back past memories of desserts.
“The second cupcake that I picked out appeared to be a cinnamon swirl,” Rurik said. “But turned out to be a seasonal pumpkin spice cupcake. From the first bite to the last, all I could think of was how it reminded me of my grandma’s pumpkin bread. However, I thought there was a little too much cream on this cupcake.”
After four cupcakes down, only two remained for the boys. Castro went with a fruit cupcake but was unsure at first. His choice was based on past experiences with bad fruit and he was hopeful for a change with his selection. He put Cupcake Bakery’s to the test.
“The vanilla strawberry was my wild card,” Castro said. “Usually ordering things with actual fruit is a red flag for me due to the past experiences with mushy fruits and horrid tastes. But I decided to give it a try and it was delightful. The strawberry was juicy and firm and expelled bright red juice onto the white frosting of the cupcake which added a nice artistic feel to it. This cupcake had a totally different look to it than the previous two. Its bread was flaky and had more of a soft and smooth bite than the others.”
Rurik’s final cupcake, like Castro’s, was not one he would typically go for. However, he wanted to see how Cupcake Bakery twisted the flavors to see if someone not normally a fan of a taste could enjoy it.
“My last choice was chocolate peanut butter,” Rurik said. “Normally I’m not a fan of peanut butter because of the way it sticks to my mouth, but I decided to try it anyways, as it was recommended to me. To say the least, I was not disappointed. This mixture of chocolate and peanut butter momentarily brought back my childhood love for Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. This soft, enticing choice left me wanting more.”
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The cupcakes were all amazing and definitely could fill someone up despite their size, but the ice cream had to be tasted as well. All the flavors were enticing and eye catching. While looking at the selections, a worker informed us that the ice cream was from Fresno State at their local market.
“That excited me,” Rurik said. “I got a cone of Bulldog tracks. This was a vanilla ice cream base with chocolate syrup mixed in it, complimented with hints of mint chip pieces. After completely finishing it all, I was satisfied with the equally balanced mixture.”
With more of a sweet tooth for a candy-like flavor, Castro went with the orange sherbet. After tasting cupcakes with more of a soft and deep taste, he wanted something that would have some kick to it.
“The orange sherbet was even better than I thought it would be. It was so smooth and creamy and its orange color was soft rather than a more harsh coloring that would resemble artificial flavoring. The tartness of the ice cream was just the right amount, not too much and not too little,” Castro said.
Even though a medium cup was ordered, ice cream still remained when it was thrown away due to the amount of ice cream given. It is a superb value for your money.
While the prices are a little steep, they give you your money’s worth. A standard sized cupcake is $3.25, a mini cupcake is $1.40 and a medium sized ice cream is $4.95.
Cupcakes Bakery is a wonderful place that we would definitely recommend. The quality of the cupcakes and the ice cream is over the top. Choosing Cupcakes Bakery for a sweet treat is sure to satisfy.
This article was contributed by writers Alexander Rurik and Julian Castro.
For more food reviews, please read the Oct. 10 article Toledo’s provides traditional Mexican dishes, boisterous atmosphere.
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