Cupcakes

By: Green Valley InvestiGator Staff

It is moist, the texture is just right, the frosting is smooth, and the portion is perfect. It is the best cupcake. The popularity of cupcakes is on the rise; stores all around Henderson offer and specialize in cupcakes and new television series are popping up putting cupcakes in the oven light.  

Cupcakes are becoming more common at various parties such as birthdays or even weddings. They are even being transformed into cakes.

The Food Network has a show called Cupcake Wars which is devoted just to cupcakes.

The variety of cupcakes and their flavors are constantly expanding and changing.

Cupcake bakers are now incoorporating  the combination of the  salty and sweet flavors.

From PB Jammin (crunchy peanut butter cake stuffed with grape jam and topped with a salty peanut butter frosting) all the way to a Trip to Graceland (an Elvis inspired cupcake with chunky peanut butter cake, layered with a light banana cream frosting, rolled in applewood smoked bacon, and drizzled with honey) the flavorful variety at The Cupcakery is endless. 

Students sampled the Southern Belle, Strawberry Shortcake, and Tickle Me Pink. Their best selling cupcake is Red Velvet with cream cheese frosting.

“This cupcake [Southern Belle] was my favorite; I really liked the cake part,” senior Oakley Erickson said.  “My mouth was watering.”

The Cupcakery does not add any preservatives to their cupcakes and they are baked fresh daily. This contributes to the quality of their cupcakes. The cake had the perfect reddish-hue and that can be difficult to obtain, and the cream cheese frosting tasted fresh.

“The Southern Belle cupcake had a very delectable cream cheese frosting.  It was paired with a moist and sweet red velvet cake,” senior Jarrett Christensen said. “The red velvet flavor of the cake could faintly be tasted, but I believe the spotlight of this cupcake was the cream cheese frosting.”

The Tickle Me Pink cupcake is their signature item, a chocolate or vanilla cake with pink vanilla buttercream frosting.

“It was not anything special. The frosting tastes just like a regular butter cream,” Erickson said. “I could get it at Vons.”

The Strawberry Shortcake cupcake is another favorite at the Cupcakery with a moist strawberry and vanilla cake topped with strawberry butter cream and a dollop of rich heavy cream frosting.

“This cupcake is my favorite, it is creamy and sweet,” senior Grace Aguilar said. “The cake had a nice texture and the color made it look tasteful.”

Just as everyone has their own opinion, they also have different taste preferences.

“The Strawberry Shortcake cupcake was way too sweet. It tasted like a gross candy,” Erickson said. “It is just too powerful.”

Another shop to find cupcakes in is Dainty Cakes Bakery. They offer a wide variety of delicate and gourmet pastries and cake. They also serve smoothies and coffee to wash down your cupcake with. The Swiss meringue butter cream is what makes Dainty Cakes unique. We sampled their best selling cupcake, a chocolate cupcake with a Swiss meringue butter cream.

The chocolate cupcake, their best selling cupcake was sampled from this shop.

The chocolate cake of the cupcake was moist and not gritty, but the frosting is what really sets Dainty Cakes apart. It is like the consistency of whipped cream. It does not stick to the roof of your mouth and is not too buttery.  The chocolate cake is a really nice complement to the meringue butter cream.

“The cupcake was incredibly good.  The actual cake was moist and wasn’t dense, while the flavor was spot on,” Christensen said.  “The best part of the cupcake was the frosting.  On the cupcake it looked very smooth and didn’t look like it was melted. Once it hit your mouth it was like a rush of flavors.”

The Cupcake Lane Bakery will take your tastebuds on a journey to Hollywood Boulevard, Park Avenue, or even Hana, they offer a variety of different cupcake flavors. All of the names of their cupcakes are famous streets or roads. They bake for your four legged friends, offer sugar free selections, and even create cupcake cakes.

After hearing about this place, Savannah Street, their best seller (a traditional Southern red velvet cupcake with cream cheese frosting) had to be sampled.

The red velvet cupcake was not as sweet as The Cupcakery’s, Southern Belle, but people have different preferences when it comes to sweetness.

“The Savannah Street cupcake was pretty good. It was one of the best,” Aguilar said. “I especially liked the cream cheese frosting. The frosting tasted fresh. Cream cheese frosting is my favorite.”

Up next, the Road to Hana, a chocolate cupcake with a liquid fudge center and topped with a chocolate butter cream frosting drizzled with chocolate fudge. It is definitely a rich cupcake.

“My favorite cupcake was the Road to Hana. The chocolate syrup really complemented the chocolate cake.  The cake was moist and it was the perfect combination,” Christensen said. “The frosting was not overpowering on the cupcake as well.”

If you are in the mood for something rich and chocolaty then head over to Cupcake Lane Bakery and taste the Road to Hana.

If you want a midnight chocolate treat then go to Dainty Cakes and have a lick of their Swiss meringue butter cream.