Cupcakes in CT/MA?
Is there a cupcake bakery anywhere within an hour of Hartford? I have a friend in NYC that talks about all the great places that you can get fun cupcakes in the city and I am jealous.
Anyone have a place to recommend?
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The Barefoot Contessa's coconut cupcakes with cream cheese frosting are insanely delicious. You can find the recipe online. The recipe makes quite a few. I have frozen them with the frosting on them. They're still good right out of the freezer. Just be sure that you aren't having your cholesterol checked the next day.
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This is my first time posting, although I've been a viewer of the board for a while now. I'm not really sure what compels me to write, although it may be that I've had cupcake cravings for the past two months since I had cupcakes at a friend's baby shower. The cupcakes were from a friend of the sister in law, the owner of Dirty Face cupcakes in Milford. Truly the most amazing cupcakes I have ever had- fluffy cake, rich dense frosting and the cutest decorations on top.
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re: DonShirer
I collected a birthday cake from J-cakes in North Branford and realized they do cupcakes too. If their cakes and buttercream are anything to go by, I'd definitely love the cupcakes but they're not a full service bakery with a case, although I noted the case near the front desk was full of both chocolate and vanilla cupcakes.
WhitneyVille Foods in Hamden sell mousse filled cupcakes, moist with a nice and not too sweet, sickly buttercream (different to frosting, this is more of a silky meringue buttercream).
Re: Follow that cupcake truck, I liked their cake and frosting, but the frosting was the powdered sugar/butter kind. I was pleased to support them in their early days (since they opened their bakery, they dont parkk near our offices any longer) but I just looked at their website and I think their statement about not participating in Cupcake War is completely unnecessary and way too snarky for my tastes/
Visited Sugar for the first time a couple of weeks ago. The frosting is probably the sweetest I have ever had, but I enjoyed it. I think the cake needed it.
Same feeling about the place near Clarks Dairy, the frosting is very sweet but much improved since they opened, but the cake itself had barely any flavor and could have been anything.
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A Little Something Bakery is running a half-off deal at http://savenowct.com/hartford.
A couple of people mentioned it a while back, look's like now's the time to try it!
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A Little Something
196 Washington St, East Walpole, MA 02032›2 Replies -
OK I tried Charli's Cupcakes on the Post Rd in West Haven. I got 4 large cupcakes for $13.00.
The Double lemon- nice lemon flavor to the frosting, but cake was lacking any strong lemon, tasted the same as the vanilla with Toffee frosting. The Sweet Potato was outstanding a nice cinnamon y component. The chocolate with chocolate/marshmallow/ chocolate swirl was pretty good, adding a filling would have helped. They had several other options. all in all worth a second visit -
Just got back from an expedition to Charli's Cupcake Factory.
I have only had a taste of the Coconut cupcake so far, but I will say that I really enjoyed the cake. Moist and not too dense. The frosting is good, but WAY too much. I prefer a cupcake with frosting, not frosting with cupcake.
I will report back when I taste the other 6...yes 6, I didn't drive an hour for one!›5 Replies-
re: Tinkerbelldee
Well, I think I am back on the hunt.
I tried the following cupcakes:
Elvis (Banana Cake with peanut butter frosting)
-Banana flavor was overwhelming so I never got any peanut butter tasteSnickers
-not sure what makes it a snickers other than the mini snickers on top. Chocolate cake had no flavorCoconut
Moist cake but minimal coconut flavorI bought 3 more and have not touched them. They cakes were all very moist and not too heavy but flavors were inconsistent. I had thought that the coconut cupcake was yellow cake but realized that it was supposed to have coconut in the batter. For Yellow cake it was good, but not coconut at all.
My hunt is still on, until then I will make my own :)
I will say it again, WAY too much frosting.-
re: Tinkerbelldee
Pipenta
Aug 1, 2010 01:40 PM
I would agree that the cake is excellent and the frosting very nice. I'd agree on all counts, as a matter of fact. I only tried two kinds: yellow cake with pistachio frosting and chocolate cake with vanilla frosting. They were both delicious, but I would have figured the pistachio frosting was vanilla, save for the label and the green color.
I liked them. I liked them better than the Cupcake Truck cupcakes. But it remains to be seen if they do a caramel frosting.
As far as the amount of frosting, I do find it to be too much. But that is the way of the modern cupcake. People demand ginormous globs of frosting on their cupcakes. They do, they do!
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re: Stephy0619
I had a lemon cupcake from Charlie's recenty and it was very good. I'm with you on the frosting front, but I just scrape a bit off to better the cake/frosting ratio more to my liking. There is a new cupcake place called Cherry Bomb in Brighton Center, but they are extremely unmemorable and not recommended.
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The Cake Suite, a fairly new cake shop on Riverside Avenue in Westport, CT (just off Exit 17) is offering cupcakes that are really good. Definitely better than Crumbs. The golden butter and/or devil's food cupcakes are little bites of deliciousness.
http://www.cakesuite.com/whatsnew/ind...›1 Reply -
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Sugarbelle in Glastonbury is excellent. Close to Hartford and delicious. Their birthday cake cupcake, vanilla cake and chocolate butter cream frosting, is stellar. While simple, it is just fantastic. They usually have 10 different types of cupcakes on hand for retail, but this place is mostly used for wedding cakes and special occasion cupcakes. We brought them to a party recently and they were gone in about 5 minutes.
Head and shoulders above Magnolia.
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Got two cupcakes from Mocha Coffeehouse in Sandy Hook/Newtown (intersection of Rt 34 and Church Hill Road) and was pleasantly surprised.
The cake on both was basic yellow, but moist, dense and not too sweet. One with chocolate frosting, which was very good - a rich, dark chocolate, not sickly sweet; and the other with lemon, which could have been lemonier, but it had a pleasant enough mellow, buttery lemon flavor. The cupcakes are massive in size; and I don't know the price as they were a birthday gift.
I've tried to avoid the cupcake mania, so cannot compare them to Crumbs or anyone else. But next time I'm in Sandy Hook, I'm definitely stopping in to check out their other stuff.
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Do not support Crumbs one bit. Go to the other places mentioned on the post or take a trip into the city and pig out on cupcakes to your heart's content. Crumbs in Connecticut is a waste of calories and time.
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re: jfood
why? you're not a fan of Crumbs either? It's just crummy, IMO....(and I live close to the Westport location). Would rather drive 45 minutes and go to Magnolia in the city. Hell, I just read about a place in L.A. that is supposed to have awesome cupcakes and don't think I'm not scheming a trip out there... :-)
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re: MasterofLightChick
jfood
Feb 28, 2010 12:33 PM
jfood's first visit to the Stamford atore resulted in a litle discussion about the ingredients and 6 coins for free cupcakes. Those 6 cupcakes produced zero interest in any others. Then a friend of little jfood gave her 12 for her birthday. Maybe 1 of the 12 were eaten to conclusion at casa jfood. Nah...jfood not a big fan.
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re: Tinkerbelldee
jfood
Feb 28, 2010 06:42 PM
Actually jfood LOVES cupcakes. He has been eating them since he could buy one for less than 10-cents and would guess he has consumed thousands of them in his life. :-))
Look at the responses for all of CT, ones in Hartford and Simsbury (he does not even know where that is). The best cupcakes he has found in FFD County are off Hope St in Stamford near the Patio.com warehouse. They have a good filling and if you get them fresh they are pretty good, but not great. Rosie's in New Canaan has some as well but their prices for a mini cupcake are almost 300X what he paid as a kid.
He also loves bagels, pastrami, corned beef, and lox, yet none of those are available in FFD couty either. Freakin' wasteland in certain respects. :-(
Jfood was really hoping someone would post where he could get to easily to buy these little gems. :-)
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re: jfood
I did hear an ad on the radio this weekend that Palmers in Darien supposedly offers cupcake wedding cakes. So, one would hope a cupcake might be good there - does anyone know?
And, I forgot to mention this earlier but the ones now being offered at Starbucks around the County are pretty good if you need a quick fix. Better than Crumbs that is for sure.
Actually, about a year back the Starbucks cupcakes rocked but then they pulled them completely from all locations for some inane reason. They are now back in all the Starbucks, but from a different bakery than the first go around, yet do get honorable mention from me - the vanilla especially.
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re: MasterofLightChick
I Went to manhattan yesterday and just had to try the cupcakes from magnolia that people seem to be raving about. I was not at all impressed, in fact I stopped eating it and threw it away. We share dvanilla with vanilla icing and vanilla with chocolate icing. The cake seemed very heavy and the icing to sugary and heavy instead of fluffy and airy.
We then ventured down to sugar sweet sunshine bakery to see if we would fair better there. We did! We tried a variety and liked the flavor and texture of the icing much better. However, I am happy to realize that the best cupcakes, in my opinion, are right here in Glastonbury at Sugarbelles. while a little more expensive than the NY ones we tried they are also larger and have have great flavor and creamy fluffy texture. I guess i like a cupcake that feels like a creamy, pillowy cloud in my mouth instead of a dense almost pancakey texture. My sons are enjoying the benefits of me trying to find the best cupcake but for now I wholeheartedly feel Sugarbelles is the place to go.-
re: askeenan
OMG! I agree with your description of the perfect cupcake at the end of your post but wholeheartedly think Magnolia fits the bill in that department. I wish I were near you when you threw it away as I would have gladly picked it up and devoured it, especially the one with the chocolate frosting! j/k....
Will have to check out Sunshine - that's a new one to me.
And, to veer from cupcakes for a moment (so as to continue to include the men in the discussion), there is supposed to be a killer donut place in the Lower East Side with inventive unusual combinations. (near the vegan cupcake place - Babycakes).
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re: Tinkerbelldee
louuuuu
Mar 2, 2010 04:44 AM
At the risk of being unscientific and sexist, it's my feeling that cupcakes are more a girl than a guy thing. (whoa, no insinuations, J-food!)
But then no generalization is worth a damn (including this one).
My LA correspondents, not a y chromosome amongst them, tell me Sprinkles is over-hyped, and not as scrumptous as Magnolia. Also a branch slated for Manhattan .. and warning that some Sprinkle outlets better than others.
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re: louuuuu
jfood
Mar 2, 2010 06:49 AM
None taken Lou. :-)) He actually agrees with you.
It is one of those comfort, go down memory lane things for jfood. Growing up the only treats he used to receive were cupcakes (remember the 3-pack of tastykakes) and those from his local bakery. He very much likes filled cupcakes and the place in Stamford has filled cupcakes.
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jfood
Feb 26, 2010 11:28 AM
Just to add a little contrarian view. Crumbs in New Canaan and Stamford are all show with less than perfect results. They are overpriced and the flavors are just not worth the price.
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A Little Something Bakery in West Hartford makes really good cupcakes. I especially like the carrot cake and lemon flavors. And Sweet Maria's in Waterbury (although it's been years since I've had them) makes a delicious cupcake with creamy fillings. Neither of these places are "cupcake bakeries" but I don't think you'll be disappointed.
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re: pinky2
masha bousha
Feb 26, 2010 08:36 AM
I support the suggestions of CRUMBS and A Little Something Bakery. Good stuff!!
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I drove by a cupcake bakery in West Haven. It is on the Post Road a bit north of Target. I have not had the chance to stop in, so cannot give an opinion.I did go to the http://followthatcupcake.com/ truck and thought the idea was better than the execution, but they were good
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re: mmalmad
I think you might be talking about Sugar - they are in East Haven on the post road. They are a cupcake shop and the winners of FoodTV's Cupcake Wars holiday episode. They make some good cupcakes. The pistachio is my favorite, but I hear the canoli is amazing.
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re: Tygress
Pipenta
Jun 16, 2012 06:52 AM
I came across the Sugar Bakery cupcake truck yesterday when they were parked out in front of the courthouse in New Haven. Ah, crime and cupcakes, barristers and buttercream!
The selections looked really interesting. I tried the key lime cupcake. It was nice but it could have used a good bit more acidity. I want some sweet and sour in my citrus desserts. I know this is just a personal aesthetic. But I love lemon desserts, for example, but only if the flavors include an acid element. It adds depth and balance makes the sweet all the sweeter.
But the truck was clean and handsome, the people were nice, and the cupcakes were adorable. I will have to go back and sample more.
On the down side, I never made it to the cupcake place next to Clark's, which had been my intended destination. But I'm a one-cupcake-a-day kind of gal.
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Sugarbelle in Glastonbury has amazing cupcakes. http://sugarbellecakes.com/
They mostly do wedding and special event cakes, but they sell a variety of cupcakes in their storefront everyday.I love the "Old Fashioned" cupcake and they make an amazing almond cupcake with raspberry buttercream.
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