Georgetown Cupcake Review

When we were on our way to VA for the cake show we decided to stop in Georgetown to try a certain cupcake place. We placed our order ahead of time so that we wouldn't have to wait. Which I highly recommend everyone do. So I thought I would give a little review of what Jason and I thought of the cupcakes.

The store is super cute, but really packed with all the people inside. There was barely room to move around.

Here is the line to get in. It actually wasn't to bad considering we had seen it before last year, and it was wrapped around the building. Plus it was raining so I guess people don't like to stand in the rain.

So we decided on half a dozen cupcakes. The cupcakes are $2.50 a cupcake which I think is totally reasonable. We selected two salted caramel, one vanilla squared, one vanilla & chocolate, one coconut, and one cherry blossom. Each cupcake had a cute little design on it and the signature swirl.

First up was the salted caramel. We decided to get two of these since we both like that flavor.

The frosting was very good, and not to salty. The cake looked as though it had been drizzled with caramel. The cupcake had no filling but was fluffy and moist. This was by far the best cupcake of the bunch. It was also the best salted caramel that we have had from any bakery.

Next up we had the vanilla & chocolate. This cupcake is described as a Madagascar bourbon vanilla cupcake with a whipped Callebaut chocolate frosting. We did not care for this cupcake. The cake was not super moist, although I would not describe it as dry, and the chocolate icing was not our favorite. 

Next, up I tried the coconut cupcake which is coconut cake with vanilla cream cheese frosting. I was really excited to try this cupcake because coconut cake is one of my favorite cakes. The cake itself was moist with shredded coconut baked into it. Yum! The cream cheese icing however fell short for me. I did not like the cream cheese icing paired with the coconut.

Up next we tried the vanilla squared cupcake which is Madagascar bourbon vanilla cupcake
with a vanilla cream cheese frosting. Again, I did not care for the cream cheese icing on this cupcake. I think that the icing was a bit to sour and slightly gritty. The cake itself was slightly dry as well. This one was not a winner for us.

Last up was the cherry blossom cupcake which is one of their seasonal flavors. The cupcake is a Madagascar bourbon vanilla cupcake baked with fresh cherries and topped with a vanilla cream cheese frosting. Now even though this cupcake was frosted with the cream cheese icing, which had been a miss for me prior, this icing was very tasty. Jason did not like the fresh cherries in the cupcake, but I did not mind them. Overall, I think this cupcake was a winner.

Overall, it was fun to taste test each cupcake. I think that it we are in the area next year I would like to try their regular vanilla buttercream instead of their cream cheese icing. The salted caramel was definitely the winner out of the batch. Stay tuned next week when I will give a review of Sprinkles cupcakes.

ICES Convention Photos 2

OK, so back to some more photos of awesome cakes from the convention. The first cake was a replica of the city of Charlotte with the vendor cars racing around town. I must say the cake was a great representation of the beautiful city. 

Love the colors!

This was an awesome display with a sugar bottle that included a scene. WOW!

This little guy was so cute!

This cake included all four seasons, but I thought I would share my favorite season with you.

Chocolate painting.

This was the fellow Marylanders cake that was displayed next to mine. A fall theme! Love it!

I hope you enjoyed a look at some of the amazing talent that came to ICES this year! Check back next week for some more tutorials.

Rose Separator Wedding Cake

So, I am finally back from the ICES convention, and I have a ton to share with all of you. I should be back to blogging regularly now. Before getting to the convention I wanted to share the cake that I brought with me to display. I have been wanting to do this cake for some time now and thought this convention would be the perfect place to debut it. I think is is a good combo of modern and classic. I love the way the lace on the cake turned out, and think the piped separator roses look beautiful.

I piped over the flower mold to give the lace more of a 3-D look.

I love this cluster of pearls. I wanted to do this around the whole tier but ran out of time. I think it would have been really stunning around the entire tier, or you could use it as a border.

Close-up of the bottom tier lace. I love how it turned out, and think the piping really brought it to life.

I am happy to report that this cake made it all the way to the convention in Charlotte, NC, however we had to leave it there because it would not fit in our car on the way back (maybe because of all the things I bought). I have a lot to share with all of you coming up including the cake room, demos, and all of my haul, so stay tuned for more great stuff. 

Chicago

So it has been a while since I updated this blog, but it is not without good reason. I have been busy with cakes, of course, but also had to take a trip to Chicago for business, so I thought I would share some of the city with all of you. This was my first time to Chicago, and although I did not have a ton of time to enjoy the city, I did get to see some of it. 

Part of Chicago's river walk!

Awesome looking buildings! (Sorry don't know if they have a name).

I did get to enjoy the John Hancock building and, get a 360 view of the city. I went early in the morning and it was a bit cloudy so some of the pictures look foggy, but still a really awesome view!

Navy Pier! I did have the opportunity to visit Navy Pier but, unfortunately I forgot to take my camera. It reminded me a lot of the Inner Harbor we have here in Baltimore except with rides.

Awesome views!

So I hope you enjoyed my glimpse at the wonderful city of Chicago. I did enjoy the Magnificent Mile and, also some deep dish pizza while I was there. I would love to go back and explore more of the city because there was so much that I missed. Stay tuned because I will be blogging in depth about the upcoming ICES convention. I am so excited! I can't wait to see all of the great things the convention has to offer. Is anyone else going to the upcoming convention? Let me know!