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)