The Massive Chicago Cupcake Crawl TASTE TEST

11/15- Hey guys, remember when I first started this blog and I wrote that post about cupcakes in Chicago?

That was about three months ago.

Since then, this poor post has been sitting in my drafts because Ashley and I got so busy and some of the cupcakes started to get gross…

So I decided to post what I have already, but this is in NO WAY a complete and total post.

(You would too if you got all these cupcakes!)

We did come to an agreement that our favorite cupcake place in Chicago is Molly’s Cupcakes at 419 E Illinois St, Chicago, IL 60611, although More and Sprinkles got a higher average. We just think they taste better!

Maybe someday I’ll do this post again for real…probably not, because I’ve definitely found my blogging brand/niche since then! But who knows?

Thanks for reading!

–

All bakeries will be given a score in each category of 1-5, and the average of the scores will be used as the total score.

Presentation is based on what the cupcake looked like initially, not the messes we had after transporting them home.

Taste is based on WHOLE cupcake, not separate components that we liked and did not like.

1. Chicago Cupcake, 1415 N Milwaukee Ave, Chicago, IL 60622

• All cupcakes are cheesecake based, gluten free (except graham cracker crust)
• Fudgy kind of taste.

Creativity: 4

Taste of Cupcakes:

Presentation: 3

Transport-ability (how well did they transport?): 4

Value: 

Cupcakes Sampled: Lemon Curd, Turtle, Creme Brulee

TOTAL SCORE:

2. Sweet Mandy B’s, 1208 W Webster Ave, Chicago, IL 60614

• The cake was pretty moist, and well flavored.
• We both agreed that the frosting was good–sweet, but not too sweet (carrot cake).
• The cakes were pretty basic, though.
• We do not know what happened to the snickerdoodle frosting–it was just weird.

Creativity: 2.5

Taste: 3

Presentation: 2

Transport-ability (how well did they transport?): 2

Value: 3

Cupcakes Sampled: Carrot Cake, Snickerdoodle

TOTAL SCORE: 2.5 average, 12.5 total points

3. Swirlz Cupcakes, 705 W Belden Ave, Chicago, IL 60614

Creativity: 4

Taste:

Presentation: 4

Transport-ability (how well did they transport?): 3

Value:

Cupcakes Sampled: Triple Citrus Almond, White Citrus (surprise of the day cupcake), Chocolate Caramel Toffee

TOTAL SCORE:

4. The Twisted Baker, 2475 N Lincoln Ave, Chicago, IL 60614

• The frosting was bland, and didn’t really taste like anything.
• The cake was very dry.
• The lemon curd is very, very tart.

Me: I feel like they just put lard on top of this cupcake.

Ashley: Lard has a taste, babygirl.

Creativity: 3

Taste: 2

Presentation: 3

Transport-ability (how well did they transport?): 1

Value: 2

Cupcakes Sampled: Lemon Blueberry (flavor of the month)

TOTAL SCORE: 2.2, 11 total points

 

5. Small Cakes: A Cupcakery and Creamery, 3054 N Greenview Ave, Chicago, IL 60657

Creativity: 5

Taste:

Presentation: 5

Transport-ability (how well did they transport?): 4

Value:

Cupcakes Sampled: Hot Fudge Sundae, Biscoff Cookie Cheesecake (August special), Boston Cream

TOTAL SCORE:

6. Sweet Sensations Pastry, 1918 W Montrose Ave, Chicago, IL 60640

Creativity: 1

Taste:

Presentation: 2

Transport-ability (how well did they transport?): 

Value:

Cupcakes Sampled: Boston Cream, German Chocolate

TOTAL SCORE:

7. The Cupcake Counter, 229 W Madison St, Chicago, IL 60606

• The frosting was really, really grainy.
• Actual cake was dry and kind of bland, Ashley compared it to cornbread.

Creativity: 2

Taste: 2

Presentation: 2.5

Transport-ability (how well did they transport?): 3

Value: 2

Cupcakes Sampled: Tiramisu

TOTAL SCORE: 2.3 average, 11.5 total points

8. Flirty Cupcakes, 1030 W Taylor St, Chicago, IL 60607

Creativity: 4

Taste:

Presentation: 3.5

Transport-ability (how well did they transport?): 

Value:

Cupcakes Sampled: IHOP, Me Want Cookie Dough

TOTAL SCORE:

9. The Skinny Piggy, 1214 W Taylor St, Chicago, IL 60607

Creativity: 3

Taste:

Presentation: 3

Transport-ability (how well did they transport?): 2

Value:

Cupcakes Sampled: Pistachio, Vanilla Bean, Caramel Drizzle

TOTAL SCORE:

10. Sugar Bliss Cake Boutique, Heritage At Millennium Park, 115 N Wabash Ave, Chicago, IL 60602

• Frosting was way too sweet, incredibly, ridiculously sweet.
• Ashley felt the coffee taste in the cake was too strong (cappucino).
• The cake is moist, and actually quite good (cappucino).
• The cake for the lemon drop cupcake is extremely dry.

Creativity: 2.5

Taste: 2

Presentation: 2.5

Transport-ability (how well did they transport?): 4

Value: 3

Cupcakes Sampled: Cappucino, Lemon Drop

TOTAL SCORE: 2.8 average, 14 total points

11. Magnolia Bakery, 108 N State St #128, Chicago, IL 60602

• The buttercream frosting was disgusting.
• The actual cake of the cupcake was the driest cake out of all the cupcakes that we sampled.
• These cupcakes were the smallest out of all the cupcakes that we purchased.

Creativity: 2.5

Taste: 1

Presentation: 2.5

Transport-ability (how well did they transport?): 3

Value: 2

Cupcakes Sampled: Chocolate with Vanilla Buttercream, German Chocolate

TOTAL SCORE: 2.2 average, 11 total points

12. Sprinkles Cupcakes, 50 E Walton St, Chicago, IL 60611

• I’m a little salty that they charge an extra fifty cents for a box.
• The cupcakes are pretty big, and they frequently rotate out flavors.

Creativity: 3.5

Taste: 4

Presentation: 3

Transport-ability (how well did they transport?): 4

Value: 5

Cupcakes Sampled: Salty Caramel, Strawberry Shortcake (designed by Drew Barrymore)

TOTAL SCORE: 3.9 average, 19.5 total points

13. More, 1 E Delaware Pl, Chicago, IL 60611

• These are the priciest cupcakes that we purchased. The most expensive in-store is $5.75.

Creativity: 4

Taste: 3.5

Presentation: 4

Transport-ability (how well did they transport?): 4

Value: 3

Cupcakes Sampled: Chocolate Strawberry, White Velvet

TOTAL SCORE: 3.7 average, 18.5 total points

14. Molly’s Cupcakes, 419 E Illinois St, Chicago, IL 60611

Creativity: 4

Taste: 4

Presentation: 3.5

Transport-ability (how well did they transport?): 2

Value: 4

Cupcakes Sampled: Chocolate Raspberry, Cookies-N-Cream, Salted Caramel Butterscotch

TOTAL SCORE: 3.5 average, 17.5 total points