After reading The Daily Meal’s take on the 50 best cupcakes in the country, I knew I would need to check out some of these for myself. There weren’t many on the list in New Jersey, but I did notice one bakery that isn’t too far from Ray’s hometown in the north. Since we’d be up there for Christmas, I tempted him with the thought of swinging by Ava’s Cupcakes in Rockaway, NJ for some tasty treats. And to up the curioisty factor, Ava’s Cupcakes was the winner of Cupcake Wars in season 4, episode 8!

The shop is quaint with a lived-in feel to it … very different from a lot of the  minimalist-chic bakeries I’ve been to in larger metro areas. There were at least 15-20 different flavors to chose from that day, which made things difficult because they all looked fantastic. We settled on a 4-pack, paid, and were on our way to Ray’s family Christmas.

When we began our tasting, we started with the banana guava (a winning Cupcake Wars flavor), which had a very simple look, but packed quite the flavor punch! The cake was intensely moist and reminded me of my mom’s banana bread, flavorwise. I could tell that a lot of bananas went into making this cake … no artificial extracts here! The guava filling added to the moisture of the cupcake and went well with the banana.  I appreciated the balanced cake to frosting ratio, and found the frosting to be creamy, though I couldn’t quite place the flavor. Was it vanilla? Was it banana? I’m not sure, but it was good.

Then we moved on to the lemon cupcake, which was one of Ray’s picks. The lemon aroma was wonderful … I think cupcakes should always be aromatic; it really enhances the experience. The cake was a smidge drier than the banana guava, but not in a bad way. It was finished with a lemon pie filling and lemon frosting. This wasn’t our favorite cupcake, but it was definitely on par with a typical lemon cupcake. We just thought it could burst more with flavor.

Next up was the chocolate hazelnut truffle, which I selected because of Ray’s love of hazelnuts (I’m so thoughtful!). This cupcake was also very fragrant and moist, with a good chocolate cake as the base. It was filled with nutella, which we thought was pretty basic, and was topped with a heavenly chocolate hazelnut frosting, hazelnuts, and a chocolate drizzle. If the filling had been a little more creative, then I think this cupcake could have been a contender for our favorite.

We finished with another chocolate cupcake, this time the chocolate pomegranate. The cake and frosting were rich, but not too sweet, which I appreciated. The pomegranate filling, however, wreaked havoc on the cupcake, making it fall apart. That was a little disappointing (I’m not a fan of self-destructing cupcakes), but it was a very flavorful cupcake, and flavor always wins in my book.

Overall, Ava’s Cupcakes is a solid bakery with a wide variety of creative cupcake flavors to choose from. The menu is updated daily, and the bakery also offers savory cupcakes as well as hand pies. Definitely stop in if you’re near Rockaway, and don’t skip the banana guava cupcake!

While in Toronto, the other bakery we visited was Prairie Girl Bakery. The shop is bright, the counter staff are bubbly, and there seems to be a cupcake for everyone, especially with 15 regular flavors and 2 flavors of the week to choose from.

Much like Dlish, Prairie Girl has specific flavors on certain days, as well as 2 treats of the week–flavors that will be available every day that week. Since we were on the move and planning to visit several other places that day, we opted for 2 sizable–in the good way–mini cupcakes. We selected one of the treats of the week, which was a chocolate cake with toffee frosting and toffee bits and then a daily flavor that was a vanilla cake and lemon frosting.

The chocolate toffee cupcake was VERY aromatic, specifically the cake. The frosting was sweet and creamy, with a great smooth texture. I found the vanilla lemon cupcake to be very well balanced, with a bright lemon flavor to the frosting. Both of the cupcakes were perfectly moist, and I think my only criticism was that the minis could have used just a little less frosting.

I also really appreciate the bakery’s “fundamental beliefs about baking,” which is shares on its website:

• We believe that any type of “mix”, vegetable shortening, “trans fat”, lard, preservatives, artificial flavors and bright food dyes have no place in a knock-your-socks-off cupcake;
• We believe in daily quality control, both in the kitchen and in the front of the stores, with the goal of baking up and serving the perfect cupcake each and every time; and
• We believe in never selling our customers “day old” cupcakes. When we have any delicious Prairie Girl cupcakes on our shelves as we close up the store, we give them to our friends at Toronto’s Second Harvest, a charitable organization with a common sense approach to hunger.

So, as the final cupcakes of our trip, I think we did well by stopping in to Prairie Girl. The bakery will definitely be on my “visit again” list.

[From top left to lower right] Apple Caramel, Maple Walnut, Salted Caramel and Mocha

Dlish, located on Queen St. West, was an easy decision for us because it’s located on the street we were staying and we’d be passing by it on our way back from Casa Loma. Perfect! The shop interior is simple, clean and Spartanly-modern, with the flavors of the day available in an unrefrigerated case on the main counter. We selected 4 to share with our friend Amanda.

We began the tasting session with the Apple Caramel Cupcake, described as a pure apple cake with pure caramel frosting drizzled with sweet buttery caramel.

The cake was very apply with a touch of cinnamon. The moisture of the cake was good. Ray and Amanda liked the caramel frosting, but felt like it needed a little bit of work. I actually picked up an odd nuttiness in flavor, which caught me off guard.

We moved on to the Maple Walnut, a walnut-studded maple cake with cream cheese frosting. We found the cake to be very walnuty in flavor–without constantly crunching down on nuts–and were impressed. We all thought the cake could use a bit more maple, but the cream cheese frosting hit that excellent balance of sweet and tangy.

I figured the Salted Caramel–a caramel cake topped with caramel frosting and fleur de sel–would be a crowd pleaser, and it was. Unlike the other cakes, this particular cupcake seemed a bit dry, but not bad. Funny enough, this caramel frosting tasted more caramely than the apple caramel (though really, I imagine they would have used the same base recipe for it). However, the salt for this cupcake is only on top, whereas mine, and many others, infuse the caramel frosting with salt. It was interesting to see a different technique, but I think I prefer the full infusion.

We finished our tasting with the Mocha Cupcakes, described as a dark chocolate cake topped with mocha frosting and covered with pure chocolate java flakes. The aroma was heavenly! We all noticed a wonderful coffee flavor from the java flakes, which was a great touch, both in flavor and visual appeal.

While I was a big fan of the Mocha, it seemed that Ray and Amanda were leaning toward the Caramel Apple. Overall, I was pleased with the size of the cupcakes (not huge), the balanced moisture and presentation. We remarked several times that a couple getting married could have ordered these 4 cupcake flavors for a wedding and it would have been beautiful.

If you’re in Toronto, definitely put DLish on your list to visit!

Ray turned 32 on Nov. 13, and before we left Buffalo for Toronto I knew that I had to get him over to Zillycakes so he could experience the cupcake bar.

I can’t completely recall what he ordered, but he definitely took advantage of the “make your own cupcake.” I believe his cake was a maple bacon, filled with apricot filling, and possibly topped with salted caramel frosting … yeah, that sounds about right. And the counter girl was sweet enough to put a candle in it.

I ordered one of their cupcakes straight off the menu because it sounded interesting. It was a rosemary cornbread cupcake with maple cream cheese frosting, topped with dried rosemary and some yellow sanding sugar. I really liked how the cornbread and rosemary popped–it was a flavor that worked very well together, though I think it’s a cupcake geared towards those with a more adventurous palate.

As I’ve said before, if you’re in Buffalo and love cupcakes, go to Zillycakes!

Swirls opened in 2011, and seems to be a blossoming bakery, even if it is tucked behind the East Aurora main street favorite coffee house Taste (which is also fantastic and features desserts from Butterwood in Buffalo). Fun fact: The cupcakery was founded by Michael Wulf at age 18. Now I just feel old.

Anyway, on to the cupcakes! After chatting with the very knowledgable and friendly counter staff, we selected 3 flavors to share.

We dug into the Caramel Apple cupcake first, which was a seasonal flavor. It was described as a vanilla cake with apple bits, a caramel infused filling and vanilla buttercream topped with caramel. The cake was very fragrant and moist, but could have used a bit more apple (the 3 of us are huge apple fans). The frosting was sweet and vanillay, but not over the top. A nice introduction to the shop.

Next, we tried the Red Velvet cupcake, mainly because I was intrigued when one of the counter girls explain that it was made with a special imported cocoa with a distinct taste. As we all know, I don’t really care for Red Velvet because I don’t see the wow factor. They always tend to taste like “cake” to me. However, in this instance, she was right–I got a really interesting cocoa flavor from the cake. Like the Caramel Apple cupcake, this cake was moist, but I think the cream cheese frosting could have used a bit more tang. Overall, we were impressed. A Red Velvet cupcake with some flavor!

We finished our sampling with the Mocha cupcake, described as a chocolate cake topped with a mocha espresso buttercream. We noticed this one to be a smidge drier than other cakes, but still good. Interestingly, the mocha espresso butter cream was almost a little boozy … the flavor was good, but hard to place. I verified that the cupcakery does not use any alcohol in that particular cupcake, so it left me wondering how they managed the unique floral chocolateyness.

For the first cupcakes on our trip, these were a good start. The shop was cute and well decorated, the staff were friendly and helpful (nothing is worse than a counter person who acts like they have no desire to wait on you, and trust me, I’ve been to a few bakeries like that), and the cupcakes were a nice treat to follow our ice skating. I highly suggest checking out Swirls in East Aurora, NY if you’re in the area!

Earlier this month, The Daily Meal published it’s Top 50 Cupcakes in America list. It was brought to my attention this morning on the train into work when one of our local food trucks, Lucky Old Souls, tweeted the following:

Now, I love Sweet Box, so I wanted to see who could have possibly beat out Gretchen and her creative confections.

It’s an interesting list, and it definitely made me aware of a few places I should try when I’m in those areas, but I have to say that I really wish they had skipped the A-listers of the cupcake world. Now, yes, I get it, they wanted the top 50 AND they had a very thorough methodology–which I really appreciate from a scientific standpoint. But I also love the “little guy” and think that a smaller shop would benefit more from this kind of publicity. But that’s my humble opinion!

As a bonus, The Daily Meal included a fantastic slide show that features each bakery and the top cupcake flavor selected from the shop. The photos are lovely and really showcase the variety of confections across the country. I don’t want to give away who No. 1 is, but I will share an alphabetical listing of the 90 contenders and their cupcake flavor below. So go to The Daily Meal, read the article, check out their scoring system, and then drool over the slideshow. Then come back and let me know who YOU think should have been included on the list!

1. Abby Girl Sweets, OH: Lemon-licious
2. Cake Studio, AK: Chocolate Merlot
3. Angel Cups, ND: Honey Pear
4. AnnOlivia’s, MS: Raspberry Delight
5. Ava’s Cupcakes, NJ: Chocolate Cannoli
6. Baked, NY: Caramel Apple Cups
7. Baked by Melissa, NY: Apple Pie a la Mode
8. Bee Sweet Cupcakes, LA: I Heart Bananas Foster
9. Bernice’s Bakery, MT: Chocolate Cherry Coke
10. Big Sugar Bakeshop, CA: Chococcino
11. Billy’s Bakery, NY: Banana Nutella
12. Bleu Squid Bakery, CT: Vanilla Chocolate Malted
13. Blue Smoke Bake Shop, NY: Banana-Pecan with Caramel Buttercream
14. Brown Betty Dessert Boutique, PA: Aunt Eva Says
15. Brown’s Bakery, KY: Bourbon Pecan
16. Buttercup Bake Shop, NY: Lady Baltimore
17. Buttercup Happycakes, ID: Salted Caramel Chocolate
18. Buzz Bakery, VA: Coco Loco
19. Cake Couture, HI: Red Velvet Cheesecake
20. Cake Crumbs, CO: Cream Cheese on Chocolate
21. Cake Dreams, MD: Cannoli
22. Cake Fetish Cupcakes, NM: Scutterbotch
23. Cakeology, MA: Boston Cream Pie
24. Charm City Cupcakes, MD: Vanilla Lemon Ginger
25. Crave Bakeshop, OR: African Yam
26. Crumbs Bake Shop, NY: Blackbottom Cheesecake Brownie
27. Crushcakes Cupcakery, CA: Buttermilk Crumb Cake
28. Cupcake, MN Chocolate Passion Fruit
29. Cupcake, SC: Bourbon Pecan Pie
30. Cupcake Heaven, DE: Overstuffed Cannoli
31. Cupcake Jones, OR: What’s Up Doc?
32. Cupcake Royale, WA: Tiramisu, Affogato-ized
33. Cupcakes-A-Go-Go, WI: Red Velvet Pomegranate
34. Cupcakes on Kavanaugh, AR: White Chocolate Raspberry
35. Cupcrazed Cakery, SC: Pumpkin Caramel with Cinnamon Buttercream and Candied Pecans
36. CutieCakes, WY: Lemon-Limoncello
37. Dessert Club ChikaLicious, NY: Nutella Nutbomb
38. Dozen Bake Shop, PA: Pumpkin Chai
39. Georgetown Cupcake, D.C.: Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl
40. Happy Cakes Bakeshop, CO: Pumpkin Pie
41. Hello Cupcake, D.C.: Pumpkin Spice
42. House of Cupcakes, NJ: Fudge Truffle
43. Huckleberry Bakery and Cafe, CA: Zucchini Carrot with Cream Cheese Frosting
44. Ice It! Bakery, ME: Filled Coconut Almond Surprise
45. Isabelle’s Curly Cakes, MA: Chocolate and Peanut Butter Cup
46. Jilly’s Cupcake Bar and Cafe, MO: French Silk
47. Jones Bros. Cupcakes, NE: German Chocolate
48. Kara’s Cupcakes, CA: Fleur de Sel
49. Leah’s Sweet Treats, TX: Cranberry Chai
50. Love at First Bite, CA: Razzle Dazzle
51. Magnolia Bakery, NY: Hummingbird
52. Magpies Cakes, TN: Just About Decadent
53. Mind Over Batter, AZ: Caramel Macchiato
54. Molly’s Cupcakes, IL: Ron Bennington
55. My Little Cupcake, VT: Vanilla Peach Honey
56. Nancy’s Fancies, RI: Wedding Cake
57. Oh My Cupcakes! Gourmet Cupcakery, SD: Stuffed French Toast
58. Philly Cupcake, PA: Jewish Apple Strudel
59. Pinkitzel Cupcakes and Candy, OK: Blueberry Chesecake
60. Polka Dot Bakeshop, NC: Cranberry Orange
61. Red Velvet Cupcakery, D.C.: Summertime
62. Robicelli’s, NY: Bourbon Caramel Apple
63. Saint Cupcake, OR: Salty Captain
64. Scratch Cupcakery, IA: Raspberry Love
65. Sift Cupcakery, CA: Battle Royale
66. Simply Sweet Cupcake Boutique, AL: Maple Bacon
67. Smallcakes Cupcakery, KS: Caramel Crunch
68. Society Bakery, TX: Pecan Praline
69. Sprinkles, CA: Lemon Coconut
70. Sugar Sweet Sunshine Bakery, NY: Sassy Red Velvet
71. Suite 106 Cupcakery, CA: Chocolate Salted Toffee
72. SusieCakes, CA: Mocha
73. Sweet Mandy B’s, IL: Pumpkin Cake with Caramel Frosting
74. Sweet! By Good Golly Miss Holly, FL: Tiramisu
75. Sweetness Bakeshop and Cafe, FL: Guayabera
76. Swirlz Cupcakes, IL: Twixie
77. The Atlanta Cupcake Factory, GA: Sugar Cookie Cake with Browned Butter, Rosemary and Pine Nut Frosting
78. The Cupcakerie, WV: Raspberry Kissed Cocoa
79. The Cupcakery, NV: Kir Royale
80. The Flying Cupcake, IN: Zucchini Bikini Buster
81. The Goodie Girls, CA: Scottie
82. The Perfect Circle Cupcakery, CA: Perfect Pumpkin
83. The Sweet Lobby, D.C.: Ginger-White Chocolate
84. The Sweet Tooth Fairy, UT: Fairy Fetti
85. Trophy Cupcakes and Party, WA: Chocolate Espresso Bean
86. Two Little Red Hens, NY: Pumpkin Cake with Pumpkin Apricot Cream Cheese Frosting
87. Union General Store, MI: Delish
88. Vanilla Bake Shop, CA: Blackberry Passion Fruit (filled)
89. Violet’s Cakes, CA: South Pacific
90. White Mountain Cupcakery, NH: Boston Cream

After a couple quick tweets, which got immediate feedback (impressive!), I found out that the truck was by my building AND it seemed that the German Chocolate cupcakes they had (one of many flavors) were going quickly. Fellow taste tester Drew trekked down with me and I got to finally check out the truck–and was even recognized by its owner! (The joys of having a Twitter picture that is actually ME).

Jeffrey Jimenez’s cute-as-a-button Cupcake Carnivale truck and baking business have been around since about April of this year, and if the 4-pack he sent me home with is any indication, I think he can give a lot of the Center City cupcake slingers a run for their money.

His menu boasted at least 7-8 different flavors, and I picked out 3 that sounded the most interesting to me. Apparently the Red Velvet Carnivale is the truck’s signature flavor. Jeffrey was surprised I didn’t order one, touting its virtues, and I fessed up that–unlike most people–I don’t see what all the fuss is about regarding red velvet. But I also recognize that is simply my opinion.

Well, Jeffrey wanted me to see the light, so he packed a Red Velvet Carnivale into my to-go container, free of charge (!!!) so I could try it. That made my day, and I was able to tell him a little about the blog and my baking (of course I wasn’t carrying a card on me …  go figure).

Anyway, let’s talk about these cupcakes!

We shared the Red Velvet Carnivale Friday night and had the other 3 Saturday afternoon. While it wasn’t super hot out Friday, the heat of the subway did do a number on the Red Velvet’s cream cheese frosting, causing it to slide a bit, but that’s totally understandable. I found the cake to be extremely moist–as promised–and noticed a very faint hint of cocoa in the cake. The cream cheese frosting dominated, but was balanced in its sweetness.

The Red Velvet Carnivale was very good, but I can still say I’m not converted yet to the Church of Red Velvet. That said, I would still definitely recommend this one to any Red Velvet fans out there.

I stored the remaining cupcakes in their container in the fridge and let them come to room temperature before trying the remaining 3 on Saturday with Ray. First up, the Spicy Carrot Cake. The frosting is the same cream cheese frosting on the Red Velvet Carnivale and was just as consistently creamy and balanced in sweetness–a major plus. The cake was moist and you could see the speckled of finely grated carrot throughout. It was a very good, balanced cupcake that we both enjoyed, but my only criticism is that I would have liked MORE spice in the cake. Hit me up with some more cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg … maybe surprise me with some Chinese 5 Spice!

Next up was the Strawberry Crystal Ball, a strawberry buttermilk cake topped with coconut buttercream and coated with shredded coconut flakes.

The cake’s strawberry flavor really popped and the frosting was just right … not too sweet. Ray thought the shredded coconut really added to the overall cupcake. I was a little unsure about this one, since I tend to not like the texture of shredded coconut, but it worked for me. My only criticism is that the 1:1 ration of cake to frosting was too much. A little less frosting would have been easier to eat.

And finally, the German Chocolate with a caramel coconut pecan filling that spilled out onto the top of the cupcake and was finished off with a dollop of milk chocolate buttercream. Before biting into this cake, I took a whiff and could really smell the chocolate. I enjoyed the filling and appreciated the little dollop of buttercream. This cupcake had a lot going on, but at the same time maintained a semblance of balance.

Ray and I both agreed that the German Chocolate had the most sophisticated flavor of the 4 and was our definite favorite. While we had enjoyed the others, the German Chocolate cupcake really wowed us.

So, the final ruling is Cupcake Carnivale definitely impressed us both. We’d love to see some more innovative flavors, because that’s our preference, but without a doubt we’d recommend these cupcakes. I know I’ll definitely be back again when the Toffee Caramel Apple Joint and the Coffee Houdini hit the menu!

Well, according to Philly.com, Crumbs is back on track for an opening in the Rittenhouse section of Philly. The hope is for it to open by Fall, and then I’ll have to get my butt over there to sample the Philly wares, as well as finally get over to Pamcakes. I guess my excuse is that I’ve been more focused on baking cupcakes than trying them.

A couple weeks ago I noticed a cupcake truck at the market and we decided to check it out. Cupcakes2GoGo proudly proclaims on the side of the truck that it’s South Jersey’s first cupcake truck (Philly has a handful … of which Sweet Box Truck is my FAVORITE).

The menu had 6-8 offerings and Ray and I went with two of the more interesting sounding flavors: Lemon Creamsicle and Apple Cinnamon.

On its website, Cupcakes2GoGo lists the Lemon Creamsicle as “Vanilla cake with lemon filling and icing that tastes like, well, a lemon creamsicle. The kind of cupcake that makes you close your eyes and smile.” According to my tasting notes, I found the crumb of the cake to be nice and moist, the lemon filling (reminiscent of pie filling) to be bright and citrusy, and the frosting had a hint of lemon to it. The Apple Cinnamon cupcake, which isn’t listed on the website is most likely a vanilla cake with a small amount of filling … could it have been pureed apple pie filling? The frosting tasted like vanilla and was dusted with cinnamon.

Ray commented that the cake crumb reminded him of box mix … fine and moist and having that traditional taste–you can never forget from being a kid growing up in the 80s and 90s. I’m not 100% sure what the baker for this mobile truck uses, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was boxed (a lot of bakeries use boxed mixes, which I find to be a shame).

We were slightly turned off when we found out that the woman in the truck is not the baker as well. She just owns the truck and contracts out the baking to someone else … a person whose name she could not disclose.  I understand this type of business model, but it’s not for me. I’d rather buy my baked goods directly from the baker, and not someone who chooses to sell baked goods for the profit. I’d also rather BE the baker than the businesswoman (though I plan on being both eventually).

So, in the end, for the price the cupcakes were fair, but I’m not interested in cupcakes–or dessert for that matter–that are simply fair. I want them to be a full taste experience, otherwise what’s the point in eating them?

The bakery is good sized with an ample work space behind the counter (envy!) and plenty of inside seating. Outside the front of the cafe is a full awning with small tables and chairs, perfect for relaxing, sipping and people watching.

We both ordered mochas; Ray ordered a blueberry scone and I spied a small tray of cupcakes. The frosting wasn’t piped on and had a slight shine to it, so I asked what kind of frosting was used at the bakery. The woman behind the counter–who I presume is Sarah–told me that it was a Swiss buttercream with a hint of raspberry puree as she made our mochas. I ordered a cupcake–I gotta try the local treats–and mentioned that I’m a baker. She responded that she thought I was … especially since I wanted to know about the frosting.

We chatted a little about baking. She asked where I baked, and I explained about the blog and the apprenticeship and how I’m just trying to figure it all out: Do I want to cater? Do I want a store front. She seemed tired as she said that having an actual store front is tough; you’re married to it. You miss a lot of things, like weddings and parties. I nodded, but it made me a little sad. Would I be okay with this? Who knows.

Ray and I snagged a table out front and enjoyed front row seats to a good sized thunder storm–complete with pouring rain, though the awning kept us dry. The cupcake was chocolate with the aforementioned hint-of-raspberry Swiss buttercream. It was a bit larger than I care for, but the cake was rich and moist and everything you want in a chocolate cake. The frosting, unlike other Swiss and Italian buttercreams that I’ve had, wasn’t too slick. The raspberry flavor was very light, but what I really liked was the overall light texture of the frosting.

For a “basic” cupcake, Cafe Sarah’s offering was quite good, and I wish Sarah all the best with her darling Adirondack bakery!