The Wonder of DC Cupcakes

There's this trend on the east coast that I was absolutely and tragically unaware of while I was living in the midwest - cupcake shops. Little stores dedicated entirely to the creation and sale of cupcakes! These cupcakes are marketed as something special. Branded as "designer" cupcakes, you buy them in boutiques and they are displayed on tiered trays. Flavors go beyond simple chocolate an vanilla, and the desserts look as adorable as they are tasty. So far, I have visited three cupcake shops in DC:

Hello Cupcake
My experience

inside Hello Cupcake

This was my first cupcake shop, and remains my favorite. Located in Dupont Circle, it is definitely the cutest of the boutiques I've visited. Pretty pink and white chandeliers hang from the ceiling and the walls are painted with little pink and white flowers. It's not overly crowded, or at least wasn't when I visited, and they serve coffee and other beverages and have some seating too. The cupcakes are amazing. Lots of flavor options ready to go, made fresh. The cupcake I had, unfortunately, appears to be a special cupcake that was only available when I went in February - a strawberry cake cupcake with cream cheese frosting and a white and milk chocolate drizzled, juicy strawberry on top. Mmm, mmm good.
The facts

• Location - 1361 Connecticut Ave., just south of the Dupont Circle metro
• Price - $3/each, $33/dozen
• Hours - Mon.-Thurs. 10am-7pm, Fri.-Sat. 10am-9pm, Sun. 11am-6pm
• Menu - it changes, but traditional flavors are: 



the strawberry cupcake I ate

• originals (chocolate or vanilla cake, chocolate or vanilla buttercream frosting, colorful confetti sprinkles)
• you tart! (lemon cake, lemon cream cheese frosting, yellow sugar sprinkles)
• 24 carrot (carrot cake, cream cheese frosting)
• peanut butter blossom (chocolate cake, peanut butter frosting, chocolate kiss on top)
• Special flavors for Sunday, April 10 were:
• pink lemonade (lemon cake, strawberry buttercream frosting)
• dulce de leche (caramel cake, dulce de leche frosting)
• heart of darkness (devil's food cake, chocolate ganache-based frosting, chocolate chip sprinkles)
• princess (vanilla cake, pink strawberry buttercream frosting, pink sugar sprinkles)
• raspberry beret (chocolate cake, raspberry buttercream frosting, chocolate sprinkles)
• vanilla gorilla (banana cake, vanilla cream cheese frosting)
• Vegan and gluten-free flavors are available

Georgetown Cupcake

My experience

inside Georgetown Cupcake

This is the famous one. TLC's TV show, DC Cupcakes is filmed here. As cool as that it, is has had the unfortunate effect of making the boutique INSANELY crowded. The line to get a cupcake wraps all the way around the block. When I visited in April, I heard the wait was an hour and a half. There's a way around it though! You just need to place your cupcake order online the day before. That's what my friends and I did, and we were able to bypass the line and walk right in. Even then though, the shop is very crowded, hectic, frustrating, confusing and, while there are tables, there is no where to sit. We got our cupcakes, which were prepared for us in a cute pink box, and got  the heck out of there (but not without snapping some quick pictures of the now famous spot!). The decor is very simple - white walls with some pink boxes strewn about. The cupcakes sit neatly on tiered trays in the front, and in the back there is a window into the kitchen where you can see the cupcakes being made. The cupcakes made here are delicious though. My friends and I all went for the same one - lava fudge. It was a chocolate cupcake with rich, melty fudge in the center, vanilla frosting and a fudge star drizzled on top. It was pretty messy, we got fudge EVERYWHERE, but it was so worth it.

The facts

• Location - 3301 M St. (Georgetown, closest metro is Foggy Bottom); there's also a location in Bethesda, MD - 4834 Bethesda Ave.
• Price - $2.75/each, $15/half dozen, $29/dozen
• Hours - Mon.-Sat. 10am-9pm, Sun. 10am-7pm
• Menu - it changes, but traditional flavors are:



lava fudge cupcake

• chocolate2 (chocolate cake, whipped chocolate frosting, fondant flower)
• chocolate3 (chocolate cake, rich chocolate ganache icing, french chocolate sprinkles)
• chocolate birthday (chocolate cake, vanilla buttercream frosting, rainbow sprinkles)
• chocolate ganache (chocolate cake, chocolate ganache icing, fondant flower)
• chocolate & vanilla (chocolate cake, chocolate cream cheese frosting, french chocolate sprinkles)
• milk chocolate birthday (yellow cake, milk chocolate buttercream frosting, rainbow sprinkles)
• red velvet (vanilla cream cheese frosting)
• vanilla2 (vanilla cake, vanilla cream cheese frosting, fondant flower)
• vanilla birthday (vanilla cake, vanilla buttercream frosting, rainbow sprinkles)
• vanilla & chocolate (vanilla cake, whipped chocolate frosting, fondant heart)
• baby pink (vanilla or chocolate cake, baby pink tinted vanilla buttercream frosting, fondant flower)
• baby blue (baby blue tinted frosting)
• bubblegum pink (bubblegum pink tinted frosting)
• sunshine (yellow tinted frosting)
• gluten-free lava fudge
• Susan G. Komen (chocolate cake, vanilla buttercream frosting, fondant pink ribbon)
• Special flavors for Sunday, April 10 - 
• carrot (cinnamon apple carrot cake, vanilla cream cheese frosting, fondant carrot)
• chocolate coconut (chocolate cake, vanilla cream cheese frosting, covered in shredded coconut)
• lava fudge (chocolate cake, fudge core, vanilla icing, fudge star drizzle)
• PB fudge (chocolate cake, fudge core, peanut butter frosting, fudge star drizzle)
• strawberry (vanilla cake baked with strawberries, strawberry frosting, fondant heart)
• cherry blossom (vanilla cake baked with cherries, vanilla cream cheese frosting, fondant cherry blossom)
• hummingbird (banana, pineapple & pecan cake, vanilla cream cheese frosting, topped with pecans and a blue fondant hummingbird)
• Easter cupcakes (vanilla2, chocolate2, chocolate & vanilla, or vanilla & chocolate cupcakes topped with seasonal fondant decorations, like fondant grass and bunny)

Crumbs

My experience

outside Crumbs

Crumbs is more of a chain than the others, with locations in not just DC, but New York, Chicago, New Jersey, Connecticut, Virginia and California. This is the most conveniently located cupcake shop for me, as there is one right by the Metro Center metro stop, where my office is. The cupcakes here are HUGE! It's not as cutesy or classy as Hello Cupcake or Georgetown Cupcake. They proudly serve their big ass cupcakes in a fun and friendly atmosphere and a variety of flavors. I went here with my friend Jaime, who ordered a green tea cupcake and loved it. I had a blackbottom cheesecake brownie cupcake. It was one of the richest, most chocolatey, delicious things I've ever eaten.

The Facts

• Location - In DC, 604 11th St. NW (Metro Center) and the train concourse at Union Station
• Price - about $4 if I recall correctly. The website said $4.50, but I remember paying $4.
• Hours - Mon.-Thur. 7am-9pm, Fri. 7am-11pm, Sat. 9am-11pm, Sun. 9am-9pm
• Menu - their website doesn't list for each specific location, but here is what's listed under "favorites," and I recall these being at the Metro Center location:



Blackbottom cheesecake brownie

• Artie Large (vanilla cupcake filled with chocolate cream cheese frosting, vanilla cream cheese frosting dipped in chocolate fondant, edged with chocolate and vanilla sprinkles)
• Baba Booey (chocolate cake filled with peanut butter frosting, peanut butter and chocolate cream cheese frosting, rimmed with peanut butter chips)
• Blackout (chocolate cake filled with fudge mixed with vanilla custard, chocolate cream cheese frosting topped with chocolate crumbs and drizzled with chocolate)
• Brownie (chocolate cake filled and frosted with fudge, topped with chocolate drizzle and walnut brownie bites)
• Carrot cake (carrot cake, vanilla cream cheese frosting, edged with crushed walnuts, topped with a frosting carrot)
• Cookie dough (vanilla cake filled with fudge, vanilla cream cheese frosting mixed with soft chocolate chip cookie pieces, topped with a chocolate chip cookie)
• Cookies and cream (chocolate cake, vanilla cream cheese frosting mixed with crushed oreos, with two oreos on top)
• Devil's food (chocolate cake filled and frosted with vanilla buttercream frosting, topped with chocolate sprinkles and chocolate chips)
• Peanut butter cup (chocolate cake filled and frosted with peanut butter cream cheese frosting, topped with peanut butter cup wedges and edged with crushed peanuts and chocolate chips)
• Red velvet (red velvet cake, vanilla cream cheese frosting, topped with red velvet crumbs and edged with white sprinkles)
• Squiggle (chocolate cake filled with vanilla buttercream frosting, topped with chocolate ganache icing and a white icing squiggle)
• You can also "create you own 6-pack"
• They do sell smaller cupcakes, but the big ones are their signature

Overall, America, you need to catch on to this DC/east coast trend. It's delicious.