Today I ventured into the Cupcake Cafe in Sugar Land. The little cafe is whimsical and fun with bright purples, greens, and pinks. A gigantic upside down "cupcake" flows from the ceiling -- white icing and a cherry. Cute touch.
Most importantly: The Cupcakes. They stay refrigerated in their display cases, but the servers heated mine up in the microwave. Might be a nice touch, as cold cupcakes aren't too super yummy. But in nuking them, the icing became a little melted. Not the ultimate baked good quality.
The cupcakes were indeed very moist. But, so are the ones I make from Duncan Hines. Seriously, Duncan Hines has some good mixes out there. I have a friend who makes killer cupcakes from the HEB brand and then makes her own buttercream. They are scrumptious! Anyway, the Cupcake Cafe's cupcakes were nice, but I don't know if they are fabulous.
The Cupcake Cafe offers their little confections in three sizes: Jumbo - $3.75; Small - $2.50; and Popper - $1.50.
I tried the Chocolate Lover's cupcake first (small size). Moist cake. Not too much cocoa, but not too sweet. The icing was sweet and thin-ish, but a satisfying combination. Next up, the Birthday cupcake (white cupcake with white icing) (small size). This particular cupcake is what reminded me a store brand mix. It was moist and lovely, but nothing spectacular. The icing reminded me very much of traditional white icing made with shortening. The server swore there was no shortening, only butter. The icing was soft, but I wouldn't call it creamy necessarily.
Finally, the Turtle cupcake (jumbo size). Same chocolate cake as the Chocolate Lover's, but inside I found a filling - a nice, subtle surprise -- chocolate, caramel, chopped pecans, and cookie dough. It was enough to make the cupcake come alive, but not a messy filling. Same chocolate frosting on top, but chocolate ganache drizzled and chopped pecans.
The servers were very nice. And, their website notes they can coordinate and manage a party for customers at the store. That might be super cute for a little girl birthday party or a baby shower (However, Sugarbaby's in Houston would be a more precious place for a party). I would go back, but since I do not live in Sugar Land, I am not making the trip specifically for these cupcakes. I'll go to Crave.
Cupcake Cafe
16525 Lexington Boulevard
Sugar Land, Texas 77479
http://www.cupcakecafeoftexas.com/
Most of the cupcakes use a standard Pilsbury mix. No fresh fruit is ever used, besides lemons, limes, and maybe an orange.
ReplyDeleteAll flavors are either from industrial mixes or extracts.