Meet The Baker: Warren Brown (Pt.3)

My new series, Meet the Baker, features CakeLove owner Warren Brown. CakeLove currently has 6 locations throughout the D.C. metro area and has been highlighted by American Express, Dell, Inc. magazine, and Oprah Winfrey. Brown, a former litigator, is the author of 3 books and the host of the Food Network's Sugar Rush. This is the third and final installment of my interview with Brown at his downtown Silver Spring store where we discuss business, parenthood, his challenges and triumphs. Enjoy and don't forget to comment below!

Pick up Warren Brown's Books today!

                                         

Win A Dozen Cupcakes From CakeLove & an Autographed Copy of Their Book- Contest Closed

         ******Congratulations to the Winner Sarah Parnass*******

Enter to win a dozen cupcakes from CakeLove AND a signed copy of Warren Brown's new book, CakeLove in The Morning! Try their new and improved red velvet, banana or my favorite the vanilla-based strawberry cheesecake cupcake. Or you could fill up on the toffee crunch- the Cupcake Critic's official Cupcake Boo! 

To Enter:

1. Subscribe to the Cupcake Critic's blog

2. Leave a comment below with your e-mail address  

(To contact you about your winnings) 

3. Subscribe to my YouTube page (Optional)

4. Follow me on Twitter  (Optional)

5. Follow me on Facebook (Optional)

And just for kicks, check out my pinterest page! The more "likes" or entries, the better your chances of winning! Contest ends Friday, March 1, 2013.  But don't worry, you can also buy all of Warren Brown's books below! 

Good Luck Cupcake Lovers!

                                   

Event Recap: CapMac & CakeLove Team Up

Chef Brian, Chef Vickie and Warren Brown

CapMac, D.C.’s favorite food truck, teamed up with CakeLove, D.C.’s favorite cupcake shop, to bring customers the Sweet-N-Cheesy event! Team CapMac (consisting of Chef Brian Arnoff and Chef Vickie Harris) were on site at CakeLove s Downtown Silver Spring location serving up samples of their Marco Polo Mac (mac-n-cheese with red wine meat sauce) and their original mac (mac-n-cheese topped with extra cheese and cheez-its). 

L-R: Original Mac & Marco Polo Mac w/ meat sauce

CakeLove's Cream Cheese Frosting Flavors:
Nutella, Coffee, Lemon, Chocolate & Vanilla

CakeLove owner Warren Brown, served up 6 of their new cream cheese flavors which will be available for purchase later this year. Customers were encouraged to vote for their favorite flavor and think of names for each flavor ranging from chocolate, vanilla, lemon, coffee, nutella, and peanut butter. Ultimately peanut butter and coffee were voted the best flavors. I will keep my Cupcake Lovers posted on CakeLove's signature frosting to be sold by the container very soon!

The demo was FIYAH!

Team CapMac: Chef Vickie & Chef Brian!

Chef Vickie, The Cupcake Critic & Warren Brown 

Pick up Warren Brown's Cookbooks today!

                                          

Meet The Baker: Warren Brown- Part 2

My new series, Meet The Baker features CakeLove owner Warren Brown.  CakeLove currently has 6 locations throughout the D.C. metro area and has been highlighted by American Express, Dell, Inc., and Oprah Winfrey. Brown, a former litigator, is the author of three books and the host of the Food Network's Sugar Rush. This is the second installment of when I sat down with Brown at his downtown Silver Spring store to discuss: business, parenthood, his challenges and triumphs. 


                                      

Sweet & Cheesy: CakeLove & CapMac Team Up

Photo courtesy of Amazon.com

One of D.C.'s favorite food trucks, CapMac, and D.C.'s own CakeLove are teaming up for a day of Sweet & Cheesy pleasure.  Team CapMac will be giving a live cooking demonstration to satisfy your cheese-loving side and CakeLove will be serving up 3-4 sweet samplings of their new cream cheese frosting for your sweet side. Attendants are encouraged to come up with some creative names for the frosting which will be used for CakeLove upcoming line of packaged goods. 

Also CakeLove's Warren Brown will be on hand to sign your CakeLove books...so bring'em out! Don't have one? No worries, click on the advert below and order your copy today!

When: Saturday, February 16, 2013
Where: CakeLove (8512 Fenton St. Silver Spring, MD)
Time: 1:00PM -3:00PM

                                                  

Meet The Baker: Warren Brown

The Cupcake Critic presents a new series called, Meet The Baker. Our first entry is Warren Brown, owner of CakeLove. CakeLove currently has 6 locations throughout D.C. Warren Brown, a former attorney, is the author of three books and the host of the Food Network's, Sugar Rush. I sat down with Brown at his downtown Silver Spring store to discuss: business, parenthood, his challenges and triumphs. Check out part 1 of the 3-part series. 

                                 

CakeLove Gets a Cupcake Makeover

Lemon blueberry Cupcake

Akin to the difficult decision of getting bangs or going from blonde to brunette, D.C.’s own CakeLove recently underwent a make-over by revamping three of their most popular flavors: banana, vanilla, and red velvet. After intense feedback from their customers, CakeLove owner Warren Brown blogged that he and his team went back to the lab and re-worked their  cupcake recipes from the ground up. Since many of their flavors rely on a vanilla cake base, the majority of their cupcakes have a completely different texture, taste and buoyancy.

Strawberry Cheesecake Cupcakes

Recently I stopped into CakeLove's Downtown Silver Spring location and tasted their new vanilla and red velvet cupcakes. The new vanilla cake is absolutely divine! It’s fluffy, moist and has a homemade flavor that is unmatched. Their red velvet cake is also moist however, flavor wise, it fits neatly into the category of “adequate” when compared to its competitors.

Tiramisu Cupcake

CakeLove has also added more alcohol-infused cupcakes to their offerings:  the lemon blueberry cream (a vanilla cupcake soaked in blueberry schnapps and topped with lemon Italian buttercream) and tiramisu. Both were outstanding and may leave you feeling a bit buzzed. In addition I had the pleasure of tasting their strawberry cheesecake cupcake which may be competing with the toffee crunch cupcake for the title of my “Cupcake Boo”.

L-R: Strawberry Cheesecake, Strawberry, Lemon Blueberry,
Salty Caramel, Tiramisu, Red Velvet 

Overall I’m a huge fan of the new changes and highly encourage you to try them out again. I’ve already been back- twice.

The Downtown Silver Spring CakeLove Crew

                        

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And the Winner Is...The Best of 2012

Winner: Cakelove

Tie-Breaker: Aside from being wildly entertaining and informed about their cupcakes, one of the staff members at Cakelove had on a Wu-Tang Clan shirt with every member of the Wu-Tang Clan's names on it. I guess that's a fairly shallow reason to break a tie but do you know how many people are in the Wu-Tang Clan? Enough to put on a shirt. 

Congrats Cakelove!

R.I.P. Russell Jones

Winner: Georgetown Cupcake 

Tie-Breaker: The Sweet Lobby has amazing macarons and won Cupcake Wars' All-Stars with their MacTop creation. However Georgetown Cupcake cleverly debuted their cupcake hamburger at the start of the summer picnic/BBQ season and didn't forget the special sauce, poppy seed bun and cheese. But let's face it, food in the shape of others foods versus food on top of other foods is pretty creative. 

Congratulations Georgetown Cupcake!

Winner: Buzz Bakery 

Tie-Breaker: Baked and Wired has kickin' cool flavors like the Smurfette and the Fat Elvis that are beyond creative and big enough for two people. At the same time Buzz Bakery has the creative genius of Tiffany MacIssac who made an appearance on Sweet Genius. They also scored a 4.3 on their review compared to the 4 received by Baked and Wired. Overall both bakeries are awesome and yes, I gave Baked and Wired points for being next to a moat. Wait, that is a moat, right? 

Congratulations Buzz Bakery!

Best Cupcake Food Truck: Curbside Cupcake

Curbside Cupcake has a special place in every D.C. resident's heart as the first cupcake food truck. It's destined to go down in D.C. history with Marion Barry and  Ben's Chilli Bowl or Yum's carryout. With new locations in Pentagon City Mall and Union Square, they've revolutionized the food truck industry...lobbied and withstood city regulations and at the end of the day keep it classic.

Congratulations Curbside Cupcake!

Best Liquor Infused Cupcakes: Pretty Girl Cupcakery 

Pretty Girl Cupcakery is an oasis in the cupcake desert of Prince George's County, MD. They explore with various flavor choices but still keep it classy, San Diego. Their liquor-infused strawberry champagne cupcakes have been personally tested by yours truly (twice, don't judge me) and I am pleased as punch to congratulate them on their win!

Congratulations Pretty Girl Cupcakery!

Best New Bakery: Pretty Girl Cupcakery 

Pretty Girl Cupcakery is an exquisite cupcake shop located in suburban Maryland that is truly making its mark on the cupcake scene. They deliver on their promise with delightful waitstaff, innovative technology all housed in a perfectly pink and vanilla box shop. 

Congratulations Pretty Girl Cupcakery!

Best Online Bakery: The Butter Scotch Shop

The Butter Scotch Shop is one of my favorite online bakeries. Their moist and fluffy creations are reminiscent of my own grandmother's cupcakes; and that is hard to do. Owner Brandiss Smith creates each batch with love and delivers with a smile. 

Congratulations to The Butter Scotch Shop!

Best Vegan Cupcakes: Sticky Fingers Bakery

Although most shops have adopted handsome vegan and gluten-free offerings, Sticky Fingers Bakery in Columbia Heights, DC is the Vatican of veganism. It would be a travesty for them not to win this category. Further rockstar baker, owner, author, and two-time Cupcake Wars winner, Doron Petersan is the face of veganism in D.C. 

Congratulations Sticky Fingers Bakery!

Winner: Sprinkles Cupcakes

Tie-Breaker: Although I'm still steamed that DC doesn't have a Cupcake ATM or ice cream store, I am happy that they exist and are only a plane ride away. Further their expansion to the UAE is well, epic! But the true tie-breaker is their announcement of curbside service which makes the Critic very happy when attempting to park on those Georgetown Streets!

Congratulations Sprinkles Georgetown!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year Cupcake Lovers! 2012 was a year for cupcakes and to commemorate such an awesome year, I've compiled a wrap-up of the highlights from 2012.

Buzz Bakery's Arlington Location
 Copyright of The Cupcake Critic

Treats from Cupcake Blvd in Crofton, MD

The Virginia based Buzz Bakery announces a new location in Southeast D.C.'s Yard development while food trucks like Curbside Cupcake and Cupcake Blvd. set-up brick and mortar shops in Pentagon City Mall, Union Market, and Crofton, MD. 

Warren Brown's Cakelove: How to Bake Cakes from Scratch

Cakelove's Toffee Crunch Cupcakes aka My Boo!

After closing Love Cafe (a U-street staple), Cakelove's Warren Brown pens another book entitled, Cakelove in the Morning and gives a portion of their toffee crunch cupcake sales (aka, My Boo!) to Hurricakes for Hurricane Sandy Relief efforts. 

Crunkcakes display table at Treat Yo' Self
Copyright of TheCupcakeCritic.com

Olivia's Cupcake Shop
Photo courtesy of Olivia's Cupakes

L-R: Raychel and Faith, the Ladies of Crunkcakes
Copyright The Cupcake Critic

Crunkcakes (last year's winner for Best Overall) held their first 'Treat Yo Self' pop-up shop featuring several artisans and other sweet-treat makers where they introduced two new flavors featuring DC Brau Craft Beer: the Brau Rickey and the Fat Cat.  Meanwhile Olivia's Cupcakes (last year's winner for 'Best Red Velvet Cupcakes') tinkers with getting a new food truck and introduces their now famous Ciroc cupcakes.  

The Kallinis Sisters at the LA Opening of Georgetown Cupcake
Copyright of Georgetown Cupcake

The sisters behind Georgetown Cupcake are on Season three of TLC's DC Cupcakes, have a new book called Sweet Celebrations, three new stores in L.A., New York, and Boston; and a baby on the way.

Penny Karas (owner of Hello Cupcake) holding the DC Lovechild
Copyright TheCupcakeCritic.com

The Winning MacTop by The Sweet Lobby

Hello Cupcake debuted their new line of Celebration Cakes as well as an alcohol-inspired new flavor called The DC LoveChild. Not to mention that their second location in Barrack's Row turned one! Neighboring cupcake shop, The Sweet Lobby, won Cupcake Wars and introduced a new cupcake called the MacTop which combines their famous macarons on top of a cupcake. 

SweetBuds Bakery Food Truck at the Bowie Fest

Pretty Girl Cupcakery opens in Hyattsville, MD

Meanwhile new shops like The Cake Courtesan and Pretty Girl Cupcakery are welcomed in cupcake deserts like Prince George's County, MD; no longer leaving shops like The Sweet Tooth and Cakes Plus to hold down the fort. 

Sprinkles Kuwait Storefront is under wraps/ Copyright of Sprinkles

Sprinkles' Cupcake ATM/ Copyright The Huffington Post

Revolutionizing how food is served Sprinkles has been leading the pack with not one but three new Cupcake ATM's in Los Angeles, Chicago and Houston...but still no word on Georgetown's phantom ATM. Adding to the empire, Sprinkles  opened two new ice cream stores with cupcake-themed flavors and they're also set to open a chain of Sprinkles Cupcakes in the Middle East with Kuwait being the first location.

Copyright of Penguin Publishing

Doron Petersan and The Cupcake Critic
Copyright The Cupcake Critic

Doron Petersan, owner of Sticky Fingers Bakery made another appearance on Cupcake Wars defending her crown after releasing her new book,  Sticky Fingers Sweets: 100 Super Secret Recipes. I gave away two signed copies earlier this year much to the delight of my readers. 

Election 2012 Cupcakes from Frosting Cupcakery
Photo courtesy of Frosting Cupcakery 

Hello Kitty and The Cupcake Critic

The Cupcake Critic in Hello Kitty Swag

This year was also an election year causing several stores like Frosting, Sprinkles, Georgetown Cupcakes and The Sweet Lobby to create Election 2012 and partisan cupcakes. Three of my lucky readers won a dozen election cupcake boxes courtesy of Sprinkles Georgetown. Getting in on the action was Hello Kitty who ran from president and set-up headquarters at the 918 F Street building. Georgetown Cupcake provided the presidential themed cupcakes for Candidate Kitty who ran on the friendship party. I shot a vlog after my own attendance at the event; and

  Slava Rubin, Founder of Indiegogo
pictured with The Cupcake Critic

The Sweet Life Tour featured local bakers like Tweets Sweets!
Copyright of TheCupcakeCritic.com

The Cupcake Critic visits Old Fashioned Radio/
Copyright of  The Cupcake Critic

On a personal note, I got to talk to K Street Kate on her show The District Dish and later visited Listen Vision studios twice for Across the Fader and Old Fashioned Radio bearing treats from Delectable Cakery- yum! The blog got a great nod from TheRoot.com and Social Media TV while I was profiled on Google+Local, HuffPost Live, DMV CEO and City Life Deals. 

Actor Isaiah Washington and The Cupcake Critic

The DC to NYC Cucpake Happy Hour

Good times at the Cupcake Happy Hour!

The highlight of the year came from my awesome Cupcake Lovers! Due to their awesome love and support I brought home not one but two Black Street Awards for 'Best Blog' and 'Best Website'. While in New York for the awards ceremony, I got to visit Baked by Melissa, Crumbs (Times Square), Dylan's Candy Bar, Magnolia Bakery (Hail Mary) and Make My Cake. Somewhere in there and threw a pretty cool Cupcake Happy Hour sponsored by Sweet Themez Bakery and hosted the Sweet Life Tour showcasing various DMV Bakers. Overall 2012 has been a great year for beloved cuppies. 

Tell me Cupcake Lovers, what predictions do you make for 2013?