Cupcake Thoughts

Is the cupcake fad over yet? I don't know. I thought it was over four years ago, but then I heard that Magnolia Bakery is opening it's Los Angeles outpost on Third Street and when I drove by Sprinkles in Beverly Hills the other day there was a line of people several storefronts long waiting to make a purchase. Geez.

Five years ago, my officemates and I embarked on a cupcake tasting experience. I forget the intervals, but every so often a batch of cupcakes of various flavors would be bought and cut up in the office. We tried Sprinkles, Joan's on Third, Auntie Em's, and maybe one other place I forget now. I remember concluding that Sprinkles cupcake was the worst; the cake texture was like muffin... and I HATE MUFFINS. Except buttermilk muffins I make myself because I can make them delightful and tender unlike the chewy toughness you get anywhere else. Ok, enough about muffins. Honestly, I wasn't sure I liked cupcakes at the time. I liked the idea of cupcakes: their portability, the fact that they're single servings, and their cuteness. But then the store bought kind always had too much frosting. Which I don't like. Even at a much younger age when most would happily gobble up the sugary sustenance, I would scrape it off. Too sweet! Sampling the variety of cupcakes did nothing to change my mind about frosting--I ate the frosting after all because I hate to waste, but it was really best to just scrape it off. So, conclusion #1: I don't like cupcakes because I don't like frosting.

I recently had the opportunity to do a comparison taste test between Sprinkles and Dots. I was sure that Dots would come out on top. When I tried the red velvet cupcake a year ago, I loved its fluffiness and buttermilk flavor. This time I decided to do a full analysis and tasted the cake and frosting separately. While the texture of Dots' cupcake was still nice, it was strangely too sweet...I mean, artificial sugar too sweet...Splenda too sweet. How terrible!!! Sprinkles was not very flavorful, but it wasn't too sweet either. But then put the cake together with the frosting...and Dots was once again king. Unfortunately I could not shake off my disappointment at the Splenda-like aftertaste. *sigh.

Since I had breakfast in Eagle Rock I decided to stop by Auntie Em's to pick up a red velvet cupcake. The cream cheese frosting is awesome but the cake itself very greasy and with crumbs falling apart all over the place. Which confirms my prior conclusions. 1) Cupcakes are not about cakes. They are about the frosting. I have a strong dislike for frosting and prefer to avoid the cream cheese variety even though I like it better, hence, I dislike cupcakes and they are not worth my time. 2) Cakes are only worth it if you bake it yourself. It may not be the moistest (if that's what you like) or crumbliest (if that's what you like) but nothing can beat that homemade, fresh-baked flavor.