CuppyCake Cornucopia

Kay had a chance to visit Sprinkles Beverly Hills cupcake store in Scottsdale, AZ. They only have five stores outside of Beverly Hills, CA right now, but are opening a bunch of them soon around the country, including Chicago. For more info on the company, see their website.

Here are a few shots of the Scottsdale store at the corner of Scottsdale & Camelback.

The cupcakes are $3.25 a piece, so for about 20 bucks, you can get a yummy six pack. Which is what we bought to test the product =)

Their slogan is “Peace and Cupcakes”, and they tell you not to refrigerate the cupcakes as that will dehydrate them. Even the plastic baggy the cupcakes are stored in has a cute little Sprinkles logo on it.

The company makes different flavors, but not each of them every day. Here’s the schedule:

We were there on a Thursday so our six-pack contained the following: vanilla, vanilla milk chocolate, dark chocolate, and carrot.

The verdict:

Carrot Cake Cupcakes: Amazing texture and taste. Somehow, there are cupcakey while still retaining the sweetness and texture of carrot cake. Probably not a hit with people who do not like carrot cake, but a must for those who do.

Milk Chocolate Vanilla: A yummy but not exceptional vanilla cupcake (think Amy Sedaris’s recipe). Very nice chocolaty frosting, which gives the cupcake a nice balance. A great option if you want a simple cupcake but are bored with vanilla buttercream.

Vanilla: Aside from the size and evenness of the frosting layer, this could have been made at home with the Amy Sedaris cupcake recipe (posted earlier). Don’t get me wrong–it was excellent. Just not exceptional. I might get one on the go for a snack, but wouldn’t spend the money if I wanted more to share with friends. You can achieve the same taste w/ the Sedaris recipe.

Dark Chocolate: This was a pleasant surprise. A very well-though-out  mixture of tastes, this cupcake works because the batter, the frosting, and the chocolate pieces sprinkled on top are not overwhelming. This is dark chocolate, great for the chocolate-addict, but not the overload of cacao sometimes used for similarly named concoctions.

Overall: Every cupcake was excellent and the shopping experience is a joy. The cupcakery is gorgeous, and the packaging, service, and all the extras were delightful. The cupcakes are big, with a distinct “muffin top” over the edge of the liner, and they are frosted in a fairly even layer across the top.

Grade: A- (will be an A+ if their vanilla cupcake distinguishes itself from the pack)

Happy 2009!

–Kay

Halloween cupcakes, vanilla w/ butter cream frosting; Halloween M&Ms for decor.

These were for a friend’s party, and she hates red food coloring (she can taste it), so I wanted Halloween-y without orange frosting since that would have required red and yellow. I opted for gooey green, and the new Halloween colors of M&Ms worked quite nicely for a Halloween effect.

Here’s the recipe for the excellent vanilla cupcakes with buttercream frosting from Amy Sedaris.

These are the ones in our welcome post, and they are wonderful. Instead of half-and-half, we used full-fat milk and the frosting turned out great. Food coloring helps add a splash; the cakey part is very yummy–even on its own

The good, the bad, and the displeasing of the many businesses we visit.