Cupcakes Again

I've previously discussed how the cupcake rage annoys me. It's crazy that people can charge over $3 for a cupcake. Nonetheless, I love cupcakes, so I've become part of the problem -- one of those people who on occasion, will pay that much for a cupcake. I ventured out to the newly opened Red Velvet Cupcakery in Penn Quarter (7th & E) on Thursday because it was giving out free cupcakes to the first 500 customers. I stood in line in the freezing cold with crazy windchill (at least for the DC area) to get a free cupcake. By the time I got out of the freezing cold and into the store, I was thinking, as were several other people in line, that the cupcakes had better be damn good. Were they? Yes and no. I wanted to try a bunch of different flavors, of course for the sake of the blog :) I picked the Morning Call -- chocolate/coffee cake with a mocha frosting, the Southern Belle -- red velvet with cream cheese frosting, and the Peanut Butter Cup -- chocolate chip cake with peanutbutter frosting. Here are my rankings: 1) Southern Belle; 2) Peanut Butter Cup; and 3) Morning Call. Put another way, it's a good thing that Red Velvet named itself Red Velvet instead of Morning Call. Morning Call was my least favorite because I didn't like the frosting. It was almost like eating whipped butter in texture and was lacking in flavor. Also, the coffee/chocolate cake didn't taste that different from the chocolate chip cake. The frosting on the Peanut Butter Cup was better, but it was a bit too much like eating straight peanutbutter; the peanut butter frosting at Hello Cupcake definitely wins that battle. The Southern had a nice, light, and tangy cream cheese frosting, and the cake flavor was just what red velvet should taste like. As for the cake itself, it was fine, but the texture was subtly gummy and had too many air bubbles for my liking. But maybe I'm being hypercritical because of my long wait in the cold, or maybe because I still feel like cupcakes are generally overpriced. If someone would have baked these cupcakes at home and brought them to a party, I would have thought that they were better. On the plus side, the owner was enthusiastic and friendly and was giving the cold people standing in line little cups of cocoa. I appreciated the giveaway. It was a great marketing technique! The verdict? I'd rank it the same as Hello Cupcake. Both had one cupcake that I thought was great. Next, on to Georgetown Cupcake.