Celebrate the 57th Inauguration with Cupcakes

Photo credit: Chris Carlson/AP Photo

The 57th inauguration of the President of the United States is underway and, per usual, DC is soaking up all the fanfare and pandemonium. Cashing in on the celebration are cupcake shops across the DMV eager to satisfy residents and tourists alike with their sweet treats- and I'm elated! Below is a sampling of what to expect during the weekend....

Georgetown Cupcake's Inaugural Box

Cost: $29 a dozen 

Available until January 21, 2013

Photo credit: Georgetown Cupcake 

Never one to let a trend get past them, Georgetown Cupcake is capitalizing on the inauguration with their inaugural dozen featuring 3 red velvet cupcakes with gold fondant eagles; 3 vanilla and buttercream cupcakes with fondant US flags and 6 lava fudge cupcakes with a White House fondant topper. More than anything, I love that whatever Georgetown Cupcake does, they do well and have done well with an inaugural box fit for a two-term president. 

 Hello Cupcake's Very Berry Obama

Cost: $3.50 

Available on January 21, 2013

Hello Cupcake bi-partisan cupcakes /Photo credit: Hello Cupcake 

Hello Cupcake will cleverly feature the Very Berry Obama cupcake which is a vanilla cake with fresh berries and vanilla butter cream topped with patriotic sprinkles. This is one clever cupcake with a cute name. Hurry, it's only available on inauguration day. 

Curbside Cupcake's Inaugural Cupcake

Cost $3.50/cupcake

Available until January 22, 2013

Curbside Cupcake's inaugural cupcake/Photo: Curbside Cupcake

Curbside Cupcake recently debuted their inaugural cupcake which is a chocolate cake covered with a pineapple frosting and topped with a fondant Obama logo. I will assume that the pineapple frosting is a nod to his Hawaiian roots? I dig this and look forward to trying it!

Delectable Cakery's Inaugural Cupcakes

Cost $22 per dozen (with 25% off coupon)

Available until January 21, 2013

Photo credit: Delectable Cakery 

Delectable Cakery is throwing its hat into the inaugural ring with red, white and blue inauguration cupcakes or cupcakes topped with an official image of President Obama. Flavors range from vanilla, chocolate and their signature sweet potato. Cupcakes are available in packs of 12 and you can score a coupon for 25% off by visiting their site and joining their mailing list. 

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? 

Off the Record: Cupcake Freebies

My cupcake bounty from Georgetown Cupcake:
L-R: Strawberry Lava Fudge & Pink Ribbon Vanilla cupcake

Who doesn't love sweet cupcake goodness? How much sweeter when the cupcake bounty is au gratis? Several area cupcake shops offer daily, weekly and monthly freebies with the cost of admission being a driver's license, a correct answer, or a Facebook account. I've compiled a list of where to get your cupcake-fix for FREE! 

Copyright of The Cupcake Critic

 Georgetown Cupcake offers one FREE specialty cupcake flavor per day, per person for the first 100 people to request it by name. To claim, follow them on Twitter @GtownCupcake or on Facebook where they usually announce the flavor of the day between 9-10 AM. This deal is open to all of their retail locations.

Sprinkles Cherry Blossom, Praline and Strawberry Cupcakes
Copyright of The Cupcake Critic

Sprinkles

Sprinkles offers up to 50 Cupcake Lovers per day, one FREE cupcake when you mention the word of the day. Follow them on Twitter @SprinklesDC or on Facebook to see the morning announcement. You can also download the Sprinkles app for more freebies or join the birthday club for a special b-day surprise. Also, look out for their daily BoGo deals and trivia questions to win a dozen cupcakes.

Delectable Cakery's Signature Sweet Potato Cupcakes

Delectable Cakery 
Delectable Cakery in Landover, MD offer FREE cupcakes for birthdays. Simply walk-up, show your driver's license and get your freebies! Also, sign-up for their weekly newsletter and get their weekly buy one dozen get one dozen FREE cupcake deals. So easy...

Frosting Cupcakery in Chevy Chase
Copyright: The Cupcake Critic

Frosting Cupcakery 
Frosting Cupcakery offers daily freebies based upon your name. Follow them on Facebook and Twitter @FrostingDC to see a series of names and if yours is one of the names chosen, you can collect your freebies. 

Delectable Cakery

Location: 7150 Chesapeake Rd Suite 130 Landover Hills, MD 

Flavors:  Sweet Potato & Red Velvet

Price: $3

Score: 4.9

To begin, I’ve loved Delectable Cakery from the first time that I tried their famous sweet potato cake at The Brookland Cafe many years ago. The cafe regulars swore by it and demanded that I get two slices because quote: "one won't be enough". I reluctantly ordered two slices and after I took a bite, I was glad that I did. For the next two years I would trek from Bowie, MD to their Mt. Rainier location for their single-sized sweet potato cake (often eating the first half prior to getting home). Fast forward a few more years and they have added cupcakes to their menu: sweet potato, red velvet, and chocolate.

Delectable Cakery display case...almost gone

Two year's ago they would leave their Mt. Rainier location for more swanky digs in Georgetown's Four Seasons hotel only to find that The Four Seasons had renegotiated the deal with another company- bummer! The well-sought after bakery with clients ranging from Nordstroms to Ben’s NextDoor decided to take up temporary residence in their administrative offices located in Landover Hills, MD.

Sweet Potato Cupcakes

Walking into the cozy storefront, you are greeted with an abundance of cakes in different sizes that all center on their signature sweet potato cake. Delectable Cakery’s flavor is so distinct that whether you taste their pound cake, red velvet or signature sweet potato, you'll feel the love.  As their name suggests their cakes are tender, moist, and well delectable. Their cream cheese frosting isn’t gooey but delicate and sweet like snowflakes at Christmas.  

Partner Brian Rhone stands proudly behind the display case

On this day, I hit cupcake jackpot and received a half dozen cupcakes for only $9 with their BOGO promo. Further, after arriving and finding out that they only had two flavors left: sweet potato and red velvet, the owners gave me and my sister one of their deluxe red velvet cupcakes to compensate. BINGO! 

Double-Decker Red Velvet Cupcake-Enough for 2!

At $3 a pop, Delectable’s cupcakes will more than satisfy your sweet tooth. But be forewarned: much like their humble and unassuming storefront, the sweet and petite cupcakes are grade-A rich and pack a punch of flavor. You will be hooked so prepare yourself to purchase a dozen or more.

Win a dozen cupcakes from Delectable Cupcakery!!

Cupcakes from Delectable Cakery (Photo courtesy of The Cupcake Critic)

The good folks at Delectable Cupcakery are giving my readers the chance to win one dozen cupcakes or one pound cake. To enter, leave a comment on their review and two lucky readers will receive their choice of a dozen free cupcakes or one pound cake! Contest ends on Sunday, March 18, 2012 at midnight (EST). Winners will be announced on Monday, March 19, 2012 at noon (EST). 

The Cupcake Weekly #7

Cupcake News

Sprinkles' Cupcake ATM crashes after dispensing 1000 cupcakes! Read here

Photo Courtesy of Huffington Post.com

Georgetown Cupcake slated open in Boston in Summer 2012! Read here

Photo Courtesy of Chef J. Jackson 

NYC slated get their own Cupcake ATM
 Read here

Photo courtesy of The Cupcake Critic

The Cupcake Critic is looking for Contributors!

 Are interested in covering cupcake news and events?   Send an e-mail to DCCupcakeCritic.com.

Cupcake Events

March 24th: Cocktails & Cupcakes

Inspired cocktails, decadent sweets, festive 

entertainment and the chance to win fabulous prizes. 

Individual tickets $40 each or $75 per couple. 

Time: 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm 

Location: 1025 F. Street, NW, 10th Floor 

Washington, D.C. 

Click here for more info

March 24th: Makes Me Wanna Shout! Baking Contest

You and Celebrity Judges decide which Chocolate Layer Cakes go to the Final Five Round for a chance to win $500 for Best Chocolate Layer Cake $250 Gift Card to the King Arthur Flour Catalog  and the winning dessert on the Eatonville Restaurant menu and support the good work of Martha's Table. Tickets are $20

Time: 2:00PM-4:00 PM

Location: Martha's Table

2114 14th Street NW Washington, DC 20009

Click here for more info

Contests & Giveaways

Win a dozen cupcakes from Delectable Cupcakery!!

Cupcakes from Delectable Cakery (Photo courtesy of The Cupcake Critic)

The good folks at Delectabley Cupcakery are giving my readers the chance to win one dozen cupcakes or one Pound Cake. To enter, leave a comment on their review and two lucky readers will receive their choice of a dozen free cupcakes or one pound cake! Contest ends on Sunday, March 18, 2012 at midnight (EST). Winners will be announced on Monday, March 19, 2012 at noon (EST). 

Win a Wilton Easy-Flex Prize Pack! 

Wilton Easy-Flex Prize Pack (Photos courtesy of The Cupcake Critic)

The prize pack includes a set of Easy-Flex silicone baking cups (12) and an Easy-Flex mini-muffin pan. Simply post a comment on the 'Silicone vs. Aluminum' post and two lucky winners will receive a prize pack! Contest ends Thursday, March 15, 2012 at midnight (EST). Winners will be announced on Friday, March 16, 2012 at noon (EST).

Do you have cupcake news or an event? E-mail me at DCCupcakeCritic@gmail.com to be included in the weekly round-up

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