Spring is in the air and so are the cherry blossoms! Between now and the end of April DC will be flooded with tourists who have an incurable case of cherry blossom fever. To celebrate bakers are rolling out cherry blossom cupcakes; with each bakery adding their own interpretation of the famed Japanese tree's cupcake-likeness. If you must indulge in the epidemic check out my cupcake critique of the cherry blossom cupcakes to find out who won and whose done in the war of cherry blossom cupcakes!
Name: Georgetown Cupcakes
Description: Classic
Madagascar bourbon vanilla cupcake baked with fresh cherries and topped with a
vanilla cream cheese frosting and a fondant cherry blossom
Cost: $2.75
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| Georgetown Cupcake Cherry Blossom cupcake Photo copyright TheCupcakeCritic.com |
Review: Recently I read an article that encouraged food
bloggers not to use the word 'addictive' to describe food. Clearly they haven't tasted Georgetown Cupcake’s cherry blossom cupcakes! These cupcakes were
lathered in luscious cream cheese frosting and supported by soft clouds of
bourbon vanilla bliss. Each bite provided a chunk of fresh cherry; and each cherry felt like a kiss on my tongue’s taste buds. Even the
almond-fondant flower was fresh and utterly craveworthy. By the end of my
undertaking I had a Jerry MacGuire moment: “Georgetown Cupcake...you complete
me”
Score: 5
Name: Sticky Fingers Bakery
Description: Vanilla cupcake
with tart cherry filling, almond creme frosting and toasted almonds.
Cost: $4.00
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| Sticky Fingers Bakery Cherry Blossom cupcake Photo copyright TheCupcakeCritic.com |
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| Tart cherry filling Photo copyright TheCupcakeCritic.com |
Review: Sticky Fingers Bakery is awesome and just when I think
that they can’t get any more awesome, they surprise me. Enter Kamber: the specialty cake decorator at Sticky Fingers Bakery who personally made the sampled cupcake for me. The cake was
smooth and the frosting light and fluffy. When I bit into this cloud of cupcake,
a tart cherry filling came out which rounded-out the sweet almond crème frosting.
Even my hand painted fondant flower tasted like a fresh lemon fortune cookie. Sticky
Fingers I *heart* you!
Score: 4.8
Name:
Sprinkles
Description: Cherry
cake with maraschino cherry frosting
Cost: $3.50
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| Photo copyright TheCupcakeCritic.com |
Review: Aaaah
Sprinkles…my beloved Sprinkles whom I repeatedly boast about and dream of. Although
the cake was good my spidey senses were telling me that they’ve fallen off a
bit. Not like Whitney (Houston-R.I.P.) back on the pipe fell off but more like
J-Lo after she broke up with Marc Anthony fell off. It can stand on its own but would be better together.
Overall the cake was a bit dense and the frosting tart. A tad too sweet for me
but I gobbled it down nonetheless. Sprinkles I still love you...but please come back home!
Score: 4
Name: Baked & Wired
Description: Vanilla cake with maraschino cherries mixed in the batter and topped with a cherry-flavored buttercream.
Cost: $3.85
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| Baked and Wired Cherry Blossom cupcake Photo copyright TheCupcakeCritic.com |
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| Baked and Wired Cherry Blossom cupcake
Photo copyright TheCupcakeCritic.com |
Review: In an e-mail exchange with Teresa Velasquez, head baker and owner, Velasquez noted that the recipe used for her cherry blossom cupcakes was handed down to her by her grandmother.
Although I have a tender spot for familial recipes, I can’t help but wonder if
the recipe was developed during war time when butter, milk, and sugar were
sparse? It pains The Critic to give a bakery on the level of Baked and Wired
such a low score. Although I was happy to see that the line forming out the
door was being taken care of quickly and attentively (unlike in previous visits
denoted here), ultimately the cupcakes had no flavor and were the consistency
of gummy dough. I think that they were having a bad day...
Score: 2.0
Finally, I would like to give a huge "Thank you!" to the staffs of Baked and Wired and Sprinkles. When I arrived to pick up my cupcakes I saw lines wrapped around the corner. Ordinarily I would have waited until my turn in line, but this was an emergency and I needed to get in and out. Both staff's honored me pulling rank as The Critic and had me in and out in a jiff...much obliged folks!
*All cupcakes in this review were gifted but did not affect the opinion of The Cupcake Critic or the outcome of the scores.
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