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Cupcake Monday: Sweetbox Truck

June 20, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Welcome to Cupcake Monday! Last week we reviewed the one and only Pamcakes located in Rittenhouse Square. This week we’re taking a look at the Sweetbox Truck.  The Sweetbox Truck is a mobile gourmet cupcake truck in Philadelphia specializing in premium ingredient cupcakes.  They are in Love Park every Tuesday from 11am to 3pm and in University City and Drexel Thursdays or Fridays (it’s usually TBA). You can follow them on Facebook and Twitter to see where they will be next!

I don’t work very far from Love Park so I figured I’d take a walk down there to try out some cupcakes. There is a menu on their facebook page that is quite impressive, but I was sad to find out that they only carry about 5 or 6 any given day. Their prices are very reasonable ~ $2.50 per for the “Everyday” cupcakes (Red Velvet, Vanilla 2 and Chocolate Vanilla) and then some specials are $2.50 and some are $2.75.

The flavors that were available the day that I went were Red Velvet, Chocolate Natural Peanut Butter, Vanilla2,  Chocolate Raspberry, classic Chocolate Vanilla and Cookies n Cream. I picked out three flavors to try.

First up – Vanilla 2 – Classic Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Cupcake with a Sweet Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

This Vanilla Cupcake was pretty moist and had a lot of flavor. The buttercream was sweet and it was definitely plentiful, which is always good in my book. I felt like it had a bit of a cream cheese tang to it, but I’m not sure if that was just my taste buds playing tricks on me or not.

Overall, it was a good cupcake that tasted good. It’s one of those safe cupcakes, if you know what I mean. It definitely gets extra points because of the amount of icing! ;)

Next – Chocolate Natural Peanut Butter – Ghirardelli Chocolate Cupcake with a Natural Peanut Butter Buttercream Frosting

I wanted to try a cupcake that was different than my normal list of flavors that I try. So I figured I’d go for the Chocolate Cupcake with Peanut Butter Buttercream. It’s kind of funny because growing up my Aunt would occasionally make a chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting for someone’s birthday. I would always get upset because to me that is not real birthday cake. Real birthday cake is vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream icing on it – not that whippy fake icing that you can find on some grocery store cakes! So I had to chuckle when I saw this cupcake flavor and I knew that I had to try it for my Aunt (R.I.P.).

The chocolate cake was soft and moist, and it had a nice flavor to it. The icing was light and fluffy. I felt that the icing could have had a stronger peanut butter flavor, but maybe she didn’t want to go overboard.  I thought that the chocolate chips gave it a very nice touch.

Last – Cookies n Cream – Ghirardelli Chocolate Cupcake with a Cookies and Cream Vanilla Buttercream topped with a Mini Oreo

As you already know, I’m a huge Cookies n Cream fan so that cupcake will make my list whenever it’s available. I don’t know what it is, but I absolutely love the flavor. Whenever I get a milkshake anywhere, it’s got to be cookies n cream. Have you ever had cookies n cream fudge?! It’s to die for. (look at the picture here) So when I saw it on the menu at Love Park, I knew I had to get it. The cupcake was the same as the other chocolate one that I had – it was soft and moist and it had a great flavor to it. The buttercream was very good and it worked very well together with the chocolate cupcake. Out of the three buttercreams, the cookies n cream buttercream was my favorite. It had the perfect sweetness and it just worked.

So the verdict is the cupcakes were good. Not the best that I’ve had, but they were a close second! There is definitely a lot of potential -  I think the biggest drawback is the small number of cupcakes available on a daily basis. But I understand that they are a mobile truck and they don’t have as much storage, etc. I would say they come 2nd runner up in the Cupcake Monday competition so far.  Pamcakes is on top, with Sweetbox Truck being second, Brown Betty being third, and Tartes is in last place.

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Cupcake Monday: Pamcakes

June 13, 2011 by 9 Comments

Welcome to Cupcake Monday! Last week we reviewed Tartes in Olde City. This week it’s all about Pamcakes. I’ve heard great things about this cupcake shop located at 404 South 20th Street in Rittenhouse Square. After reading many more raving reviews about Pamcakes, I finally took the time to stop by there.  And now I ask myself this question – why did I wait so long to go there?!

I didn’t want to walk that far in very hot weather with cupcakes, so I ended up driving. I had to park a few blocks away. I would say the biggest draw back is the location. It’s in a residential area so it’s all street parking.

I walked in and was very impressed with the selection of cupcakes. I wasn’t sure how many I was going to choose, but I figured I shouldn’t get too many. I usually pick up about four to taste-test, but looking at the wide variety, I couldn’t pick just four. I picked out five. And now I regret only getting five!

First up – Vanilla Lovers – Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Cake, Creamy Vanilla Buttercream

I chose this flavor because I like to compare your basic cupcake flavors when I try them from different cupcake shops. So I knew that I wanted to try your basic vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream icing.  The cake was very moist. It was light and fluffy. The buttercream icing was right on point – slightly hard to the touch, but creamy once it hits your taste buds. There was a generous amount of icing on the cupcake as well, which always goes over well with me.

Second – Triple Chocolate Threat – Chocolate Chip Studded Chocolate Cake with Creamy Chocolate Buttercream

If there is anything with all chocolate, you know I will pick this flavor! Mr. Curly Fry saw this one and immediately placed dibs on it. However, he did let me taste it! The cake was nice and moist, and had a nice rich chocolate flavor to it. The chocolate buttercream was delicious as well – slightly hard to the touch, yet it just melts in your mouth. This cupcake was definitely a winner in our book. How can you go wrong with the triple chocolate threat? You can’t!

Third – The Classic – Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Cake, Creamy Milk Chocolate Buttercream

This is another one of those classic cupcakes that you just have to try. It’s your delicious vanilla cupcake with chocolate buttercream icing.  As expected, the cake was moist, soft and fluffy. The thick chocolate buttercream icing had the perfect sweetness to it. Pam definitely doesn’t jip you on the icing, either. Mr. Curly Fry said that it took him back to his younger days when he used to eat the TastyKake Chocolate Juniors. Do you remember those? So you know she’s doing it right when it takes you back to something you always loved as a kid.

Fourth – Pucker Up – Lemon Speckled Cake, Vanilla Cream Filling, Tangy Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

So…as you see there are two pictures for the Pucker Up! Cupcake – that’s because this bad boy has a filling! I took a bite of this cupcake, and I swear to you I thought I had died and gone to heaven. The flavors hit you from every side. The cake was jam packed with lemony goodness. The Vanilla Cream filling had the perfect sweetness. It was all complemented by a Tangy Lemon Cream Cheese frosting that almost had me in tears of joy. This cupcake was very flavorful and had Mr. Curly Fry thinking about the Lemon Danishes he used to eat when he was a kid. Again, this took him back to his younger days and he was raving about how delicious it was. And as usual she didn’t skimp  on the icing. I think she has captured my heart! :)

Last, but certainly not least – Cookies & Cream – Vanilla Cookie Crumb Cake, Vanilla Cream Filling, Creamy Vanilla Buttercream, Cookie Crumb Topping

There are two pictures again, so you know this means there is a filling in the Cookies & Cream Cupcake! The Vanilla Cookie Crumb Cake was bursting with flavor. If you were doing a blind taste test you would definitely know that it was a Cookies & Cream cupcake. The cake was nice and moist. The bonus was the Vanilla Cream filling that was inside. It was truly a delicious cupcake. The Vanilla Buttercream was accented with some Cookie Crumb topping. This was definitely a perfect choice for an Oreo lover!

We’ve tried many cupcake places here in the city, and Pamcakes are hands down the best cupcakes we’ve had.  Everything about them is right on the money. The cake is moist, the icing is the perfect sweetness, not to mention plentiful. Every cupcake that we tasted was jam packed with flavor. All of the cupcakes are reasonably priced. I could honestly go back to Pamcakes and get 5 different flavors and feel confident that I will love them all. (Which I will probably be doing.. :) )

Be sure to follow Pamcakes on Twitter and “Like” their Facebook Page.

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Cupcake Monday: Tartes

June 6, 2011 by 3 Comments

Welcome to Cupcake Monday! Last week it was all about the Brown Betty Boutique. This week we’re reviewing the cupcakes from Tartes, which is located in Olde City at 2nd & Arch Street. This is one of those little places that I learned about through reading about cupcakes in Philadelphia. If I hadn’t been researching, I wouldn’t have come across this place. It’s a tiny little pink shack and you have to order from the window.

It was a very hot day and I wasn’t about to walk a mile in 90 degree heat with cupcakes, so I ended up driving. I was able to get a parking spot on the street that was pretty close to the bakery. So I walked up to the window and looked at the menu. They only had 4 cupcakes available – Chocolate, Vanilla, Red Velvet and Carrot Cake. As I’ve mentioned before, I don’t like Red Velvet, so I ended up getting two chocolate, one vanilla, and one carrot cake. She had to go in the back to get them, so you couldn’t see what they looked like first.

There were many people online that commented on the fact that the service at Tartes wasn’t all that friendly. I tend to agree with them, but since I knew what I was going to run into, I wasn’t surprised. It’s their decision how they run their establishment, I can’t control that. But I can control where I go back to in the future.

First up – Chocolate Cupcake with Vanilla icing. I was a bit let down because I thought that the Chocolate Cupcake would have chocolate icing, but it had vanilla. We didn’t think the chocolate cake was all that moist, so that was a bit of a let down. The icing – I was pretty disappointed in the icing. It was very heavy on the butter. It was on the whippy side and was definitely lacking sugar. It just wasn’t sweet enough.

Next – Vanilla Cupcake with Vanilla icing. The vanilla cupcake was moister than the chocolate cupcake, but I’ve still had better. The icing was the same as the icing on the chocolate cupcake – waaaaaaaaaaaay too heavy on the butter and definitely lacking sugar. It’s a shame they were generous with the icing when I didn’t care for it. I guess that’s usually how it goes, eh?

Last – Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese icing. This cupcake was hands down the best out of them all.  The cupcake had a lot of flavor – it was very moist due to the raisins, little bits of carrot, and small pieces of nuts. It had the perfect amount of spice. And the icing…it had just enough sweetness and it was a nice and fluffy icing. It just complemented the cupcake so well.

Out of all three cupcakes, the only one I’d want again was the Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese icing. It was out of this world. It’s a shame the others really weren’t that good. But I guess if at least one was good, the trip was worth it.

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Cupcake Monday: Brown Betty Boutique

May 30, 2011 by 1 Comment

Every Monday is going to be “Cupcake Monday” for the next 5 weeks.  How bad can that be? I’m all about trying out different cupcake shops and so I’ve been having so much fun doing the taste-testing from all of the different places around the city. Starting on July 4th it will be all about Frozen Yogurt for a month long Frozen Yogurt taste-test. And I’m definitely up for the challenge!

As you know I’ve already reviewed several cupcake establishments in Philadelphia (and the surrounding area) already. You can check out the reviews here…

This week we are going to take a look at Brown Betty Dessert Boutique.  They have 3 locations here in Philadelphia. I got the cupcakes from “Brown Betty Petite” located in Liberty Place which is 1625 Market Street. Their main location is at Liberties Walk which is located at 1030 No. 2nd Street. Their third location is another “Brown Betty Petite” which is located in Rittenhouse Square (269 So. 20th Street).

Brown Betty Boutique was named after their mother/grandmother, Elizabeth Ruth Hinton (friends and family called her Betty or Liz). She was quite the baker and she always had something baked when visitors would come over. According to their web site, most of their cupcakes are named after women in their family. She was known for her high, moist pound cakes back in the day.

So it should come as no surprise that Brown Betty’s cupcakes are made from a pound cake, so it’s not your typical light and fluffy cupcake. But it was still good, none the less. We picked up four flavors to taste-test.

  • Hattie Don’t Play (Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Icing)
  • Sallie’s Sourcream (Vanilla Pound Cake with Vanilla Icing)
  • Sing Little Alice (Chocolate & Vanilla Cake Swirled + Matching Icing)
  • Betty’s Buttermilk (Lemon Pound Cake with Lemon Buttercream)
Hattie Don't Play
 

First up – Hattie Don’t Play – as I’ve said before, Mr. Curly Fry loves chocolate, so I always have to get at least one cupcake that is made of everything chocolate!  This was probably one of our favorite cupcakes out of them all. There was a very good amount of chocolate icing and it had such a nice flavor. We’re not used to such heavy cake, so it was a bit hard to swallow at first. It may be best paired with a good cup of coffee.

Sallie's Sourcream
 

Second up was Sallie’s Sourcream – Don’t let the blue icing fool you. It was still a vanilla buttercream icing. Again, the cake was on the heavier side and it was okay, nothing to write home about. I didn’t really get that much of a vanilla flavor, but it wasn’t bad.  The icing was average as well. I usually like more icing on my cupcake since I’m such an icing lover. And I didn’t get that vanilla punch when I tasted the icing.

Sing Little Alice
 

Next up was Sing Little Alice – I was looking for another cupcake with chocolate icing, and this was the closest I could get. It was a marble cupcake and the icing was chocolate and vanilla swirled. This cupcake seemed very heavy to me and was a bit on the dry side. I love the idea of it, and I do like how they carried that into the icing. It’s probably just the icing lover in me, but I think a little extra icing would help move the cake down your throat a little better.

Betty's Buttermilk

Last up was Betty’s Buttermilk - This was the lemon pound cake with lemon buttercream. There was not enough lemon for me. The cake had a very faint lemon flavor to it, and the icing didn’t taste all that lemon-y to me. I really think they need to take the icing up a notch – some lemon zest in the icing as well as more lemon juice.  I was disappointed at the lack of icing on it as well, It was just a very thin spread. When you have such a heavy cake, you need more icing. I really felt jipped!

So as you can see, Hattie Don’t Play was the winner out of the four cupcakes. It had the perfect ratio of cupcake to icing. The icing had the perfect sweetness.  It was definitely worth trying it, even if they do make a different kind of cupcake.

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