Rewind 12 hours...
Phil is buzzing about the apartment, like a little kid on his birthday, grinning from ear to ear. I'm excited, but I'm mostly nervous about the impending tummy ache that will inevitably come later. I am one of those people where too much of a good thing, can become a very bad thing, but I chose not to worry about it. I prepped the camera, packed up the backpack (note to self: we really need to get a more manly backpack, though Phil offers to help, I can't bear let him carry around a powder pink backpack all over the city), and got ready for the day.
We boarded the Metra at about 10:20am, the anticipation growing with each stop along the train line. We exited the train at Clybourn and began to make our way up to our first stop, Swirlz Cupcakes in Lincoln Park. After Swirlz, was a short walk up to Molly's Cupcakes, which pretty much blew the lid off of any cupcake I had ever had. Next were Sprinkles, Fabcakes, Sarah's Pastries and Crumbs Bake Shop. We'll skip the play-by-play, but I can break it down pretty simply...
4 hours, 7.2 miles, 12 cupcakes, 2 upset tummies, 2 blisters and 1 notebook full of ratings later, we found ourselves back on the Metra line heading home. I'm not going to say it was hard...it was pretty damn fun and we walked the entire way, I have absolutely no guilt about eating all that cake...and frosting...and sprinkles.
Each cupcake was given a rating based on the following criteria (up to 5 points each, for a total of 25 potential points for each cake):
- Appearance
- Frosting
- Cake Texture
- Cake Flavor
- Total Package
Here are the winners:
Category: Chocolate Cake with Vanilla/White Frosting
Third Place
Molly's Cupcakes - Chocolate Cake, Vanilla Buttercream and Pink Piggy Sprinkles
Score: 20
The chocolate cake was so unbelievably moist, it should've won the entire contest! But the vanilla buttercream was overly sweet and had a gritty texture. The piggy sprinkles were a great touch, and we both agreed that the ambiance in Molly's was better than every other shop. Plus, the girls working behind the counter were so fun and bubbly, it was impossible not to like this place.
Crumbs Bake Shop - Devils Food Cake with White Frosting, Cookie Crumb and Chocolate garnish (pictured left)
Score: 20
This was a tough one, it was our last visit of the day, we were exhausted, so full of cake and buttercream and couldn't even comprehend eating even a bite of another cupcake. However, the texture and flavor of the cake was dense and rich, and we were able to push through. Each cupcake was filled with a little extra of the frosting and was to put it simply, huge.
Second Place
Fabcakes - Chocolate Cake with Blueberries, Vanilla Buttercream with a "Kick"
Score: 22
First of all, we send much love to Fabiola, the baker and owner of the aptly named Fabcakes, we emailed ahead that we were coming and she made 3 cupcakes special just for Phil's Birthday Cupcake Crawl. Compared to the others, this cupcake was tiny, but what it lacked in size it made up for in flavor, texture and the kick that comes from her homemade vanilla extract that has more than a hint of the liquor she makes it with. She likes to add fruit to all her cakes, and they were simply delish.
First Place
Sarah's Pastries & Candies - Chocolate Cake with Italian Buttercream & "S" garnish
Score: 24
We choose to think that the "S" stood for Schmidley, as our friend Alexa at Sarah's set this one aside special just for us. The cake was moist and flavorful, and the Italian buttercream was simply amazing. I could eat an entire bowl full of that buttercream, I could bathe in it, I could...well, let's just stop there. So yes, this was the buttercream we were waiting for, and we found it at Sarah's Pastries.
Category: Specialty Cupcakes
Third Place
Swirlz Cupcakes - Banana Nutella Cupcake
Score: 19
Banana cake, a smear of Nutella on top and a dollop of Nutella buttercream created a taste experience that was hard to beat. The banana cake was moist, banana-y and the hint of nutella was a perfect complement. Swirlz' biggest point deduction came from their frosting, it was a little runny and not as solid as we would have liked. The appearance was beyond compare, you can't deny that.
Second Place
Sarah's Pastries & Candies - Black & White "Cookie" Cupcake
Score: 22
That same crunchy white frosting and creamy dark chocolate ganache that we love on a B&W cookie, but spread over the top of a half chocolate, half vanilla cupcake. Sarah's provided a great cake and creative concept, simply wonderful!
First Place
Molly's Cupcakes - Boston Cream Cupcake
Score: 25 (Perfect Score!)
As my sis-in-law Danielle would say, "O-M-freaking-G"! This is the one, by far the best of the day, but what can I say to really prove that to you? This cupcake is crave worthy, moist vanilla cake, filled with vanilla custard, chocolate ganache carefully spread over the top and a fudgy frosting that just drove me crazy (mostly because my fudge frosting always seems to turn out terribly disastrous). Next time we come to the city, Molly's Cupcakes will be a destination and I will keep coming back until I try every single cupcake in the case. Ambiance was fun and lively with sorbet colored tables, fun music and wooden swings in place of barstools set up by the bar. Molly, we will meet again soon.
