I am going on a diet. Or not so much of a diet as a I'm going to eat less than I normally eat and try to eat way better. Also, not eat a whole bunch of sugar. So the cupcake blog will be on hiatus for a little bit. I did get a fantastic cupcake cookbook from my brother and sister in law. Once I stop feeling like the pillsbury doughboy I will try it out.

Cupcake love fail...

I meant to make it to the Portland Public Market today, so I could buy some cupcakes from Cupcake Cha Cha. This cold/sickness thing I've got going on just didn't allow that to happen. So instead, I will highlight cupcakes that I ate in Oregon.



These are mini cupcakes that I got from Saint Cupcakes, at their Deluxe location in Portland, Oregon.


I think going clockwise starting from the top left the flavors go Pumpkin Spice, Fat Elvis, vegan Red Velvet, I can't remember what this one is and Mint Buttercream on Chocolate. Their cupcakes were so tasty! I really love miniature things or just smaller versions of objects/food so I loved these tiny cupcakes. I also liked the fact that I could eat a whole bunch more of them than I could if I had bought normal sized cupcakes. I'm a variety girl, so if I can try more than one flavor of something at the same time I am all about it. This is why I love the Gelato Fiasco in Brunswick so much. I can not only try a lot of flavors before I decide on what I'm going to buy, but then I can get as many flavors as I want in my serving.

Back to cupcakes though. It kind of blew my mind how good the vegan Red Velvet cupcake was. The cake was moist and tasty, while the frosting was the perfect complement. I'm not sure why I thought that a vegan cupcake wasn't going to be that great, because I've had and made vegan cupcakes before that were good. I think it was such a surprise this time, because the cupcake was really adorable. I would like to think that I wouldn't judge a book by its cover or a cupcake by it's appearance, but when a cupcake looks really appealing it definitely makes it a better cupcake for me. Taste obviously matters, but it makes the perfect cupcake package when it is also visually appealing. I wish that I had picked out a few more of the vegan cupcakes so I could have tried them as well, but the non vegan ones were pretty amazing. I can't even remember which one was my favorite, but they were all really good.

If you happen to find yourself in Portland, Oregon you have to go to Saint Cupcakes. I also suggest going to their Deluxe location, because they have really adorable stationary/party supplies and an awesome antique store attached to it.

Saint Cupcake Deluxe

Best cupcake found. For now...

I can't even remember about how I learned about Cupcake Cha Cha, but I'm pretty sure the first time I heard about it was from one of my friends at a roller derby bout down in Boston. I quickly forgot the name and focused on the delicious cupcakes I had just purchased from a Boston area based bakery. They were pretty good and obviously memory erasing.

That's how beautiful their cupcakes were. Of course I could forget mere words when in the presence of a cupcake that beautiful. I'm quickly realizing that I need a better camera if I am going to have a food blog, because that is not a very good picture of a really beautiful cupcake. However, it was hard for me to balance it on my hand while trying to take a photo in a civic center type arena, while trying not to look like some weirdo taking a picture of a cupcake. I probably failed on all counts.

Back to the main point of this entry though. I have found the best cupcake in Portland (at least so far). Cupcake Cha Cha has this fantastic Sweet Potato with Toasted Marshmallow Frosting cupcake that just blew every other cupcake I have had so far out of the running. Who knew that was even possible, because I've had some pretty good cupcakes. The cake was the most moist cupcake I think I have ever had and the frosting was perfect. It was light, not too sweet and I'm pretty sure made of magical bubbles. I am hoping that this was not just a Thanksgiving flavor, but also one of her Christmas flavors as well. Cupcake Cha Cha is located at the Portland Public Market on Saturdays from 10am to 2pm on the second floor. I had to miss going last week due to family Thanksgiving, but I will be back this week to buy some more cupcakes. Here is a link to Cupcake Cha Cha's facebook, specifically to a picture of that fantastic cupcake, since I failed to take a picture myself. I ate it far too quickly.

Sweet Potato with Toasted Marshmallow Frosting Cupcake

I really like the presentation of the cupcakes. It's one thing if they taste really good, but when they are delicious AND beautiful...you can't get much better than that.

I just realized how lazy I've been with this blog. I apologize. Turns out going to graduate school sucks up a lot of your time, as does working full time. These cupcakes were a wonderful treat that my friend Rex made. They were 100% vegan. I got four from her, so that my boyfriend could try both flavors and so could I. I am pretty sure I ended up eating both of the chocolate ones and then one of the peanut butter ones as well. They were really good!!! Maybe someday Rex will have her own shop, but until then there have been some pretty fantastic other cupcake creators that have been popping up in Portland. (just a teaser for another entry in the immediate future)

Scratch Bakery

I went to Scratch Bakery for the first time two weeks ago. It was amazing! I decided that next year for my birthday that would be where I would get my cupcake or delicious pastry. It is the best bakery in the Portland area that I have visited so far. There were so many different beautiful things to select from that it quite frankly was difficult to pick! This was the only cupcake they had that day, but it was called something like the "Party Cupcake". How could you not pick that! They also put everything I bought in that beautiful pink box. The cupcake was dense and moist. It was so fantastic. It makes me sad that I am now going to have to cut back on my sweets, yet again, but next time I allow myself that luxury I will definitely be going back to Scratch. I can't even remember the specific details about the cupcake itself, but it was perfect.

Cupcake from The Brown Bag in Rockland. So awesome. So delicious. The Brown Bag has a bakery attached to their restaurant and it has a nice selection of pastries. This cupcake was gigantic. Definitely a two serving cupcake. I had half one day and then saved the rest for the next. They also have a fantastic egg salad sandwich.

Well, I've been trying to do a biggest loser competition at the place that I work at, so cupcakes haven't really been on the menu. This weekend, however, I am going to get one! I don't care where it is from! The number one place that I will search is Scratch bakery, but if they don't have any cupcakes I might just have to settle for another type of delicious pastry from them. I hear a lot of good things about Scratch and I can't wait to try it. Maybe the roller derby bout down in Boston tomorrow will have cupcakes! I doubt it, but who knows!

Good Eats Bakery
July 24, 2010
Carrot Cake Cupcake
As the first entry for this blog, I feel like it is good to start with a bang. This carrot cake cupcake at Good Eats Bakery on Stevens Avenue is the bomb. The cake had a spicy flavor to it and was moist, which is oh so necessary for a good cupcake. I feel like I have had far too many dry cupcakes with amazing frosting. Good frosting is not enough to make a perfect cupcake; however it can make the cupcake tolerable. The frosting on the carrot cake cupcake was a cream cheese frosting and it had just the right amount on it. The frosting was not too sweet and very delicious. As you can tell from the picture, there is a tiny little sugar carrot sticking out of the frosting. The presentation was not as impressive when I was looking at it in the store, but once I got it out of the box in my apartment (where there was better lighting) I could see the intricate swirls of the frosting. It was beautiful! On the day that I went the cupcake selection was between the carrot cake cupcake and another one that looked like a vanilla frosting with a vanilla cake. I hope that the next time I go they have a few other varieties to try.
The rating system I’m going to use is sprinkles. A really great cupcake will get four out of four sprinkles. Only a cupcake that has mold or something gross would get zero sprinkles. Yes, I have been served a dessert with mold on it before (thankfully not a cupcake yet!).
The carrot cake cupcake at Good Eats is going to get four out of four sprinkles! So far, it’s the best cupcake I’ve had in Portland. My mission to find the best cupcake in Portland has just officially started. I am going to review the cupcakes and also other pastries, because honestly, so far there have been very few places that I have found that sell cupcakes. Any suggestions on places to try will be happily accepted.