Happy Valentine's Day - The Shoppe, Denver, CO

My loved ones know me well. For Valentine's Day I was given a variety of cupcakes from a local joint here in Denver. Normally I want a box of chocolates on Valentine's Day, but the variety of mini-cupcakes was so much better than I would have ever expected.

My husband bought me cupcakes from The Shoppe, located off Colfax in Denver. I'm anxious to visit the place myself, and after showing pictures of the cupcakes to my friends on Facebook, I'm certain I won't be going alone.

The very first cupcake I tried was called an upside down chocolate cupcake. It was amazing. A little bit on the smaller side, but good none the less. This cupcake was too decadent to eat with fingers, so out came the fork. Just like it says, it's upside down and dipped in chocolate to coat. The inside has a molton chocolate and a dab of strawberry preserves. Fabulous! It was wonderful. I would go back to The Shoppe simply for this delectable treat alone - it was that good.



The other part of my Valentine's Day gift was a mini-cupcake sampler. The cupcakes were all so cute and decorated fun. I "almost" felt badly eating them they were so pretty. Not to worry, I got over that quickly and tried a few of them. Unfortunately my husband couldn't remember the name of each flavor so it's not going to help you out very much when I tell you that some were outstanding and others were, well, kinda gross.

My favorite of the bunch - the red velvet of course! It was one of the better ones I've had in a while. I also liked the white cupcake with strawberry/vanilla icing. My husband would describe it as a clean cupcake taste - simple, yet delicious.



I'm giving 2 thumbs up on The Shoppe and their cupcakes. I'll probably have to blog again once I actually go into the store myself. Can't wait!!!

Coronado Cupcakery - Coronado, CA

My first cupcake shop stop on vacation was the Coronado Cupcakery on Coronado Island. We had taken a ferry over and just arrived when I saw the shop out of the corner of my eye... after that it was all over - I knew I wouldn't be leaving the island without a cupcake in hand.

So off to the cupcake shop we go... the average cupcake was about $3.75 and the size was a little bit larger than some of the other ones I had tried at other shops in town. For the size and price, I thought it was a good deal.

Now for the life of me I can not remember the name of the flavor I tried, but let me tell you about it. A chocolate cupcake with a chocolate chip cream cheese filling. It was magnificent! Seriously - really, it was. It was a rich cupcake, but I couldn't put it down once I got started. It was moist... and yummy!

So my only comment about the cupcake - the icing was lame. And it didn't match the cupcake. A strip of red icing around the edge, not really going for overall presentation I suppose. However, as you can tell from my picture below I didn't let it bother me.

Interestingly, this particular cupcake shop didn't get as many raving reviews as I would have thought. People thought it was overpriced and some said there wasn't enough variety and yada yada... can one ever please everyone? I'm pleased!

Overall rating - 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Cupcakes Squared - Point Loma, CA

I'm not necessarily blogging in order. I hit three cupcake shops while on vacation in California. My last stop was a shop called Cupcakes Squared. A friend of mine recommended the joint.

First off, there's no seating so you pretty much have to grab and go. Not a big deal I guess. We arrived a little bit after noon and there was still quite a selection left. I tried two - Banana Nut with a butter cream icing and of course, a red velvet, and a chocolate.

My favorite thing about place - the cute cupcakes! They are in a shape of a square. Love it. That's about it on my favorite things about the store.

Cost per cupcake $2.75-3.50. Mini cupcakes - $1.50

Now on to my thoughts on the actual cupcakes itself. The banana nut tasted far from a cupcake, to me it seemed more like a muffin with butter on top. Maybe that's what they were going for, but if that's the case - why not just have a muffin? This is a cupcake blog, so muffins... are out.

The red velvet was alright - it's lacking something. Can't quite figure it out... so I rate it pretty low. However, the chocolate cupcake is superb! Yummy! I guess there's a reason why San Diego rated it #1 in best of San Diego. Of course, there's tons of other flavors and if and when I return to San Diego I may have to return to this cute little shop and try a few others.

Overall rating - 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Heavenly Cupcake - San Diego, CA

On a quest for the most amazing cupcakes out there. I decided to begin a blog about my journey. A cupcake blog - my friend and I came up with the idea when I told her that I wanted to go to every cupcake store around and then compare. So here it is...

First stop - Heavenly Cupcake in the Gaslamp Quarter, San Diego, CA. When I visited they told me that they'd only been open for about 18 months. It was such a cute little shop with comfortable seating. I was bummed that the store didn't offer fountain drinks, only bottled drinks and water even had to be purchased. Anyways, on to the important stuff.

My cupcake girl was extremely friendly and knowledgeable. She dared me to compare their cupcakes with those that I had tried elsewhere, and so I am. Cupcakes ran about $3 - an average price. Cupcakes were normal cupcake size - nothing out of the ordinary. I chose the Red Velvet with cream cheese icing. Red Velvet cake takes me back to my childhood, when my grandmother would make it for me for my birthday and so I compare most red velvet cakes to that of my grandma's. We're talking grandma here - she's hard to beat ya know.

Cupcake was moist and the icing not too sweet. Nothing that made me fall over in my seat with excitement. I'd go again I'm sure. The cupcake case had quite a few different flavors. I would of liked to have tried more if I'd had the time and the appetite.

Overall rating? 4 out of 5 stars. Ah well... the search continues.