Cupcake Crawl

I'm starting to wonder if this is a foodie blog instead of a running/triathlon blog?

One thing we were excited to try out in Washington DC was all the cupcakes. We had done our research, consulted websites, mapped them out, and were ready to tackle the task. We decided on four stores: Georgetown Cupcake, Sprinkles, Hello Cupcake!, and Baked and Wired.

Sprinkles

Location: 3015 M Street NW, Washington DC, 20007

Menu: Available here.

What we ate: M-Black and white, red velvet. D-Coconut, Cherry Blossom

Thoughts: We hadn't initially planned on going to Sprinkles, but trying to go to Georgetown Cupcake on a Saturday night was ridiculous. The line was an hour and 40 minute wait. We were too hungry to wait that long. Instead we went to Sprinkles, waited in line only 20 minutes, picked up a pizza and headed back to the hotel. M-My black and white cupcake was really dry, a little overbaked, and maybe had sat out too long. But then several days later, after we had gotten home, I ate the red velvet cupcake and it was really good. Maybe I got a bad batch of the black and white. D-The coconut cupcake was a little on the dry side as well, but the frosting was yummy. The cherry blossom was probably a little better, though I didn't taste the cherry flavor in the cake.

Hello Cupcake!

Location: 1361 Connecticut Ave. NW, Washington DC, 20036

Menu: Available here.

What we ate: M-hc original (vanilla with vanilla frosting), heart of darkness. D-24 carrot, vanilla gorilla

Thoughts: Unlike the other cupcake shops, this one was not in Georgetown. This one was in the heart of Dupont Circle. No waiting in line either! Hello Cupcake is known for being all natural so there is no red velvet or anything else that uses artificial colors or flavors. M-The vanilla/vanilla combination was very good but the heart of darkness, aka, CHOCOLATE!!! was soooo good. I mean, SO GOOD! D-I started with the 24 carrot cupcake, which was a good moist carrot cake with a delicious cream cheese topping, not too sweet. Vanilla gorilla was a yummy banana based cake, almost like banana bread, again with a cream cheese frosting. Yum!

Baked and Wired

Location: 1052 Thomas Jefferson Street NW, Washington DC, 20007

Menu: Available here.

What we ate: M-red velvet. D-Strawberry, Menage a Trois

Thoughts: This place was cool. It had a great laid back vibe, like something you'd find on a college campus. The cupcake selections were displayed really artistically. I liked that there were three distinct areas of this store: baked goods, coffee bar, and sitting area. We would have loved to stay and hang out. Baked and Wired is known for making small batches of baked goods. The cupcakes are bigger than most. M-I didn't actually eat this cupcake until later in the day. It was good, but I've had better. The presentation and overall love of the store made up for the lack of flavor. D-I was really looking forward to the strawberry after reading about it. The cupcake actually has real strawberries baked right in! It was really good, although the frosting was a little too sweet for me. The menage a trois cake was a chocolate cake, filled with a raspberry jam center, and topped with vanilla frosting. Yeah, it WAS that good.


Georgetown Cupcake

Location: 3301 M Street NW, Washington DC, 20007

Menu: Available here.

What we ate: M-chocolate mint. D-mint cookies and cream

Thoughts: After our failed attempt at waiting in line at Georgetown Cupcake on Saturday, we decided to order ahead of time and just pick up our cupcakes. But come Monday we had forgotten, so we just went to the store at the beginning of the day, right when it opened. We only had to wait in line a few minutes. M-I have to admit, I was a bit skeptical about the quality of cupcakes from a store that has it's own TV show. I've that the cake from those a lot of those "fancy cake" shows actually tastes really bad. But, this was far and away the best cupcake I had all weekend. The mint frosting was to die for! And the cupcake was so moist it did not fall apart. Well worth the wait. D-I think Meredith's was just a touch better, but mine was pretty great as well. Great cake, nice sweet-but-not-oversweet frosting, and both were full of crumbled Oreos.