Recently in Cupcake Reviews Category

Happy cupcake? If only it were so.

I've been to Swirlz Cupcakes several times in our quest for the best cupcakes in Chicago, but hadn't checked on their progress in a while. I'm both pleased and disappointed to report that they've remained consistent in what they deliver.

Bridget & I always try our baseline cupcake we when go to a bakery - vanilla with vanilla frosting. Specialty cupcakes are too variable to compare as are the approaches to chocolate cupcakes. The last time we had Swirlz's vanilla-vanilla, it was over-baked. It hasn't changed. Cupcakes shouldn't be crunchy & the promise of "happy" shouldn't be written on them unless it's a true statement. Their buttercream frosting is very light with a nice mouthfeel, but it's also light on flavor. There's no bang and I don't crave it afterwards.

As before, their specialty cupcakes were more interesting. The red velvet cake was not too dense and sufficiently moist. I wish they had used cream cheese frosting over the entire cupcake because it too was excellent. However, they garnished the cupcake with more of the bland buttercream. It looked pretty, but left me disappointed when I didn't get a consistent hit of cream cheese flavor.

Their key lime cupcake was the best we had. They used a different cake mixture, not quite vanilla & not quite citrus, but baked perfectly with a nice center of key lime filling. The key lime frosting reminded me of every key lime pie I'd ever had. Yum.

Will we keep Swirlz on our list of cupcake contenders? Maybe. There's some new competition in that neighborhood and Swirlz will need to improve their basic offerings in order to compare. Been to Swirlz? Let us know what you think!

Swirlz Cupcakes
705 W. Belden Ave.

The red velvet cupcake was delicious.

Related Chicago Bites Posts:
Cupcake Crawl Entries
Twisted Sister Bakery

On-line Buzz About Swirlz Cupcakes:
Food in Mouth
No One Puts Cupcake in a Corner

Got photos of Chicago cupcake contenders? Add them to the We Love Chicago Cupcakes Flickr group!

Carrot cake & banana-chocolate cupcakes from Twisted Sister Bakery.

Twisted Sister Bakery is only a few days old, but it's already gearing up to be a cupcake contender. I asked the staff for their favorites and was steered toward the carrot cake and banana-chocolate.

At first glance, the cupcakes looked dense and a little dry. However, I was surprised by how light and tasty these were. Even the normally heavy cream cheese frosting was fluffy and just the right touch. I wasn't fan of the banana-chocolate, but would go back to see how the other flavors pan out.

Hopefully, Twisted Sister Bakery will stick around long enough to be an entrant in our next cupcake crawl.

Pretty little SweetCakes in their delivery box.

I ordered two-dozen “SweetCakes” from Denver cupcake caterer Sarah Lippa during a recent visit to the Mile High City. Who could resist after reading about them and seeing pictures of them online?

Not me. I jumped at the opportunity. Especially because Lippa delivers her lovely creations right to your door!

But I was faced with a dilemma. I couldn’t decide what kind of SweetCakes to try. So I had to figure out a good way to sample as many kinds as possible. That’s why I conducted a cupcake taste-test with family and friends one night after dinner.

I asked my good friend Angie, an avid cupcake lover and native Denverite, to sum up the taste-test and give me her take on SweetCakes. Here’s what she said:

I was so excited when Bridget asked me to help her review SweetCakes. Not being a Chicago resident, I missed out on the infamous Cupcake Crawl last year and I was excited to taste cupcakes in a competitive environment.

After discussing the categories, we dove into the pretty cupcakes. We started with the house specialty “SweetCakes.” These vanilla cupcakes with blue buttercream frosting, sugar sparkles and sprinkles were beautiful. I really liked the appearance of the piped on frosting. The frosting was very sweet, but I didn’t find it overwhelmingly so. The cupcake itself was unfortunately a little dry and didn’t quite stand up to the sweet frosting.

Next we dove into the chocolate cupcakes. The cupcake flavor itself was unremarkable, although the texture and moistness was good, but the frosting was amazing! It had a chocolate mousse flavor to it, while staying true to a frosting texture. I would definitely order more of these cupcakes just for the frosting! Sarah also offers a chocolate cupcake with a chocolate-lavender frosting. I would love to try those in the future!

By popular consensus we moved on to the lemon cupcakes next. These were the only that I thought weren’t up to standard with the presentation. Instead of having a thick layer of piped on icing, these had more of a lemon glaze look to them. However, the flavor more than made up for their looks—these cupcakes, particularly the glaze/frosting, had an amazing fresh lemon flavor. The cupcakes were a little denser than the other cupcakes, but still sweet enough to qualify as cupcakes rather than muffins.

Last we tried the “Red Hot Devil’s Food” cupcakes. These cupcakes were certainly vivid red, with a thick layer of piped cream cheese frosting and a delicious praline on top! I was really looking forward to trying these cupcakes, but I was surprised at how mild the spice flavor was. Particularly with the sweet cream cheese frosting, it was difficult to really appreciate the spice flavor. You could tell that they were more savory than the other cupcakes, but I was hoping for something more intense.

As we tasted the cupcakes, there was an ongoing debate about “cupcakeness." Bridget and I agree that there is something that makes a cupcake different from a mini-cake, but the more experienced cooks in the room insisted that a cupcake recipe is just cake batter poured into a cupcake tin.

We decided it was time to pull out the big guns, so I called my friend Scott the pastry chef. Scott says that technically we are both right—cupcakes are made with cake batter, but cupcakes are moister than cake because they are baked for a shorter period of time.

In the end, I felt that Sarah still has some aspects she could improve with her cupcakes, but there are still unique flavors such as the chocolate-lavender, Chinese five spice, and her spring special “Peep” cupcakes that I would love to try. If I were having a party, I would definitely order cupcakes from SweetCakes, particularly some of the unique flavors that you won’t find anywhere else, because they would make a beautiful and enjoyable addition to any party menu.

What’s my overall impression of SweetCakes? They’re good but not great. I agree with Angie that you need to step up your game a bit, Sarah. But keep at it! I absolutely loved having cupcakes delivered to my door. That alone brings cupcake indulgence to a whole new level.

SweetCakes
Denver, CO

Price: Roughly $20-$25 a dozen depending on size and flavor

Delivery only!
To place an order or learn more:
E-Mail: sarahsweetcakes@gmail.com
Call Sarah: (303) 641-7579

Bridget rates SweetCakes 5/10