Cupcake adventures

Whipple Scrumptious cupcake from Sprinkled Pink Cupcake Couture.

Santa Barbara has been behind on its cupcake scene, but this past year, it is finally catching up to other civilized, cupcake-satisfied societies.

Karen and I have been conducting our fair share of cupcake research the past couple of weeks. For you. Yes, yes, it’s hard, hard work. But we’re thoughtful and giving like that.

We have thus far hit Crushcakes and Sprinkled Pink Cupcake Couture. Also, while not a cupcake joint, Fresco has long made an aMAZing vanilla cupcake slathered with chocolate frosting, so is definitely worth mentioning.

Bella Dolce, long respected as the source in town for wedding cakes, is supposedly opening a retail shop this summer a block away from Crushcakes, according to the sign on the door. Alas, as of last week, it still is not open, and the last day of summer is but 10 days away.

In a nutshell, my first trip to Crushcakes was unimpressive. I had a lemon drop cupcake, which was dry and not flavorful. However, I did appreciate the fact they serve mini cupcakes, enabling one to try a whole host of flavors. Karen convinced me to return to give it another try.

I’m glad I did.

Or maybe not.

Because I am now addicted to their red velvet cupcake.

I had red velvet for the first time ever from Fresco, and I SO did not like it. It was an unnaturally red color with pink frosting, and I detected absolutely no chocolate flavors of any kind.

Crushcakes red velvet is a whole other animal or, rather, cupcake. The cake is not scary red, and has clear - but not cloying - chocolate flavors. And the frosting is a simple white sour cream frosting.

I did determine from the mini cupcakes I sampled that those which were liquor themed (lemon drop, mojito,…) all tasted dry.

Sprinkled Pink Cupcake Couture (SPCC)… well, they have lots of scary colors BUT their red velvet version was also yum, particularly the cream cheese frosting. Both my and Karen’s cupcakes were impressively moist. When I ordered one to-go, I was asked if I wanted ribbon on it. Not quite sure what to expect, I said “yes,” of course. Who turns down ribbon? Anyway, they turned my packaged cupcake into a jewel! Karen was compelled to ask if she could simply hold the festooned package for a short while.

That was the best part of the SPCC experience. It was otherwise over-the-top pink and gimmicky in its girly-girl-meets-Willy-Wonka preciousness. If they just stop trying so hard, they’ll have a good thing going. AND, they gotta start serving coffee & tea, not just milk.

So, I had not intended to really write anything about these cupcake adventures of late, as Karen is going to be blogging about her cupcake adventures as she seeks out the best cupcakes across the country. (Or at least SoCal.)

What compelled me to mention anything at all is an email I received today from Sweet Buttercup, a place that will make cupcakes to order, but from what I can tell, has not had a retail shop presence.

How frickin’ ridiculously amazing does that Black Cherry sound?! *drool* And I can’t wait to try their Lemon Burst, described as a light lemon cake topped with a tangy lemon frosting. I love me some lemon. What time should I pick you up, Karen?

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Yet another post about bacon.

Uncle Oinker’s Savory Bacon Mints. This is one of those things I really didn’t need to know about.

A sacrilege toward bacon.

Speaking of… I’m SO excited about upcoming visits from out of town friends! Wendy and Geoff are heading here from Canada tomorrow, and will be here for 10 days. Wendy wants to step off the plane and be immediately taken to Super Rica. And it’s shaping up that Roger the Amazing will be taking us for a flight in his plane on Sunday. Yay!

The following weekend, Trevor and Linda, who recently escaped Florida and moved back to Cali, will be coming up to join in our fun. Yay, again!

Which leads me to… Trevor.

So, Trev, I discovered where I can get that Vosges bacon chocolate locally. I’ve refrained from purchasing it, awaiting your arrival. I can’t wait to hear the review you generously offered to provide. :p

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