Bonus Round!

Seattle! Family! Cupcakes!

I was in Seattle a little over two months ago to visit my family and also help out my boyfriend for a fundraiser he was doing. While there I of course had to sample some of the local cupcakery, particularly since my sister had been frequently buying them and emailing me pictures and comments on how good they were. So even though this place doesn't technically count in our competition (it being across the country from New York and also our regular quartet of judges wasn't present) I'm still including it because you know what, those cupcakes were good! The judges for this place included me, my sister, her husband, my other sister and her friend. At first everyone was rating their experience pretty haphazardly until I explained the rigorous judging we put the other stores through. Then they buckled down and got serious. Even so, this place still rated pretty high. I really want to go back. Right now.

Trophy Cupcakes
1815 North 45th Street

April 5, 2008
$2.99 each






Comments on Cake
-moist with nice crunchy rim
-dense, rich and moist without being choking hazard
-light and fresh
-fantastic consistency
-yummy crusty top

on Frosting
-sweet, smooth and thick
-creamy and flavorful
-light, creamy and fresh but a little too much
-overpoweringly sweet
-the powdered sugar isn't blended in well enough

on Presentation
-traditional but cute
-nice signature swirl
-special with sparkly jimmies but they didn't make me feel like it was my birthday
-good flair but pretty standard
-can't defend a score of 9 but still pretty great
-looked fine but could be cuter

on Overall Enjoyment
-cake and frosting were delicious together, very satisfying
-everyone's always excited to eat them which makes the experience great
-fulfill the role of a guilty pleasure
-small in size but substantial in enjoyment
-feels like a full dessert
-pretty good

on The Scene
The bakery's located in an old school with lots of different shops so it's nice to walk around. It also leaves plenty of room for long lines and you won't need to ever wait outside. The cupcakes are kept behind a glass wall on sliding racks so the employees put them in a box for you, no other customer gets to be all grabby with your future treat.

They have the current available flavors of cupcakes listed behind the display so you can figure out what you want before getting to the front. It's too bad they don't ask if you're going to eat them right then or not, they just put them in a box immediately. That left for a lot of trashed boxes right at the first garbage can, which is a waste of cardboard. There's not a whole lot of room to sit either.

What's great about this place is the selection of cupcakes they offer. They have a daily rotating selection of types listed on their website so you can plan your trip accordingly. We bought several different kinds and shared them. We tried (that I remember): triple chocolate, red velvet, lemon, carrot cake, cafe au lait and at the last minute chocolate graham cracker. The owner had apparently created the chocolate graham cracker cupcake to submit to Martha Stewart in a cupcake contest and they just happened to start serving them the day I was there. Let me tell you, it was one of the best cupcakes I'd ever had. Really, it was that good. It's a chocolate cupcake with graham cracker pieces inside and a toasted marshmallow frosting on top. So good. I want one right now. The other cupcakes held up pretty well to except for we would have been happier if the triple chocolate lost one chocolate, the lemon had a little less lemon and if we just didn't buy the cafe au lait. That one was definitely the downer of the group. Luckily all the others were good enough to make up for its ickiness. We really went after them.

And all got headaches afterward. The coffee probably didn't help.

*Ah crap. I've been informed of a misspelling. 'Shawn' should actually be 'Sean.' Ordinarily I would immediately change it but since it's misspelled in the graph that means I would have to change first correct in in Excel then insert a new picture into Blogger and I hate adding new pictures to my blog. For some reason it always messes up the spacing and then I have to spend more time fixing everything and it's a pain in the buttmunch. So sorry Sean, you'll just have to deal, for now. Soon I might be bored enough to actually go through all that. But for now I have some knitting to keep me busy.