Location: Beijing, China 2007
So after all this cupcake talk and trying other places, I finally got around to making some! My friend Ashley and I made Cherry Almond Cupcakes. We topped them off with a cream cheese based icing with hints of cherry and amaretto :) MMMMMM! 
Our modifications: For the cake, we had bought one 16oz. jar of cherries instead of the two 10 oz jars, so we cut the cherries into 1/4ths (instead of halves). Next time, I will add more cherries and I like to keep the cherries cut into 1/4ths. Then we soaked the cherries in about 2-3 tbls of amaretto. Next time, I want to soak them longer :) We also threw in a few splashes of the extra cherry juice. We baked the cupcakes in both regular and mini sized cupcake tins. For the icing, instead of vanilla we folded in a few splashes of the extra cherry juice, some amaretto, and 1 drop of pink food coloring. We added these ingredients to taste and not sure about the exact measurements, but you can make it to your liking. Then we made our own "piping bags" for the icing by putting them in ziploc bags and then cutting off a corner - note to self: do not put too much icing in the bag! We started icing them and then icing started coming out of the top of the bag while other parts of the bag started to tare. It got pretty messy (ahem...ASH). We topped the cupcakes with pink sugar crystals.
Result: We really loved this recipe! The cake turned out firm and moist. The frosting was smooth and creamy. We could not stop licking the bowls and spatulas (good thing we both went for a run before hand lol)! This recipe is very simple to make and great for spring (or anytime really!)
Any requests for our next cupcake?? <3 Cara Lee
Warren Brown on the Food Network. Then I found out he was from the DC area and was opening up his own bakeries with cakes and cupcakes! I just had to try them out. I have since been three times. At first I was impressed - since this was my very first gourmet kind of cupcake. I really enjoyed the strawberry and coffee flavored icings. It light and not too sugary, but after being their 2 more times, I've realized the the icing can be a bit waxy if you don't wait long enough for the icing to come to room temperature. It like you wait in line, you're starving to eat a cupcake, and THEN you have to wait at least 15 or more minutes for it to come to the right temperature. It's like torcher! Also, the past few times I've gone the cake has been quite dry. I have not counted this bakery out just yet as I do want to try some of their actual cakes and pastries. But as for cupcakes, I've found a few other places that I enjoy.
done before. Aaron's family is from Philly and we have gone up so many times - yet he had never done all the stuff Philly is known for. So we drove around and visited Love Park, the Rocky statue, China Town, and checked out the Reading Street Terminal (RTS). If you like food (like Aaron and I) the RST is a foodie lovers dream. After we got a quick bite to eat, Aaron had to use the restroom. I wandered around and stumbled upon the Flying Monkey Cupcakes. I was just going to look, but I could not resist and picked out two cupcakes for the way home. I chose Lavender and the signature Flying Monkey Cupcake. I was very impressed! The lavender icing on chocolate cake complemented each other very well, and the little purple sugar crystals on top gave it a tiny sweet crunch. The lavender was very suttle and the icing was not too sweet at all. After I ate it I wish I got a few more. The signature cupcake was a chocolate cake, filled with banana, and topped with chocolate icing. I was impressed as well! I will go back here next time I'm in Philly.Hello Cupcake
http://www.hellocupcakeonline.com/
1351 Connecticut Avenue, NWWashington, DC 20036
So today we randomly decided to check out Hello Cupcake. While coming home from my grandparent's house in Ft. Washington, the traffic on 95 was horrendous. Since we were were not pressed for time, but did not want to sit in traffic, we decided to cut through DC. I was also craving a cupcake, and at first wanted to go back to Gtown Cupcake. We were driving through DuPont when I remembered Ash telling me about Hello Cupcake, so I figured it was a great time to try a new place since we were right there. Aaron typed the address into his iPhone (that thing is amazing I will admit) and it pointed us into the right dire
ction. We had no idea what this place looked like and just kept an eye out. Pretty soon I see a brown van with pretty flowers on it and there was Hello Cupcake. I jumped out of the car and Aaron went to find some parking. Hello Cupcake definitely has more room than Gtown cupcake - a bathroom and tables to sit. When it came to ordering there were a lot that were out, but luckily it was just a few more minutes wait for a new batch. I was a bit overwhelmed with some flavors since I wasn't sure what they were and asked the lady to describe like all of them to me, but hey it was my first time - sorry lady. I ended up ordering a half dozen: chai, tiramisu, coconut, vanilla, carrot, and lemon. After I finished paying for my half dozen, the cherry blossoms came out - and of course I had to get that one too, so I can compare it to Gtown. I did notice the box was not as pretty as Gtown cupcak (but as my friends would say, only I would notice something like that!! lol) Then Aaron came in and we split the tiramisu and the cherry blossom right there in the store. They were very good! The tiramisu was a espresso flavored cake with a sort of cream cheese/mascarpone icing topped with a chocolate covered espresso bean. I was a bit let down by the cherry blossom though. It was prepared differently than Gtown's - lemon cake with cherry preserves in the middle and white chocolate icing. It was not bad at all, but I just liked Gtown's version much better. Overall, Hello Cupcake was good and I'd go back if I was in DuPont and in the mood for a cupcake.
So that has been my cupcake experience so far! There are still alot of cupcake places in the DC/MD/VA area I have to try:
I'm excited to explore more cupcake places soon. I'm headed to Seattle for a week and I will be scoping out the cupcake scene there for sure! I did a little googling and here are a few in Seattle I hope to check out:
That's my cupcake update for now. Stay stuned for more cupcakeness! My next obsession: frozen yogurt! <3 Cara Lee
