Wednesday, December 28, 2011

The Woman Who Had No Wedding Cake And The Cupcakes That Seduced Her To Bethesda

Let's start with two facts:  No one promotes local food more than this blog, and no one has been able to get Mrs. HowChow to like cake.

Okay, there were a few exceptions.  Sweet Street Desserts in Pennsylvania ships a carrot cake so moist that Mrs. HowChow will eat it any time.  But most cakes make her say "dry" and look around for a bread pudding or another dessert that suits her fancy.  At our wedding, I vetoed cake and had them surprise her with a giant rice krispie treat instead.

Georgetown Cupcakes has won over Mrs. HowChow and set a standard that all of the local cupcake bakeries should be proud to emulate.  The cupcakes are tiny and expensive.  They're also incredibly delicious.  Light, moist cake.  Big, interesting flavors.  They all taste different, and they all taste fresh without fronting just sugar.



My favorite has been a salted caramel cupcake.  There others were great -- coconut, red velvet, chocolate, etc.  But the caramel made the cake even-moister with a flavor that would have been at home in a restaurant dessert.  Even the frostings are delicious and vary by variety -- and none of the super-stiff frosting that many places put on cupcakes.  They're small, but I get everything I want in dessert from a single cupcake.  I only ate the second and third out of my responsibility to the blog.

Our local bakeries don't need to ape Georgetown cupcakes, and I'm dubious around the hype of any product that takes its cute founding story onto reality television and QVC.  But the bottom line is that the woman who detoured me to buy a dozen cupcakes earlier this month would normally be buying merengues, cookies or fruit tarts.  These cupcakes have her hooked.

So what cupcakes do you recommend in Howard County?  We have a new rush of joints so you could find cupcakes at places like Linda's Bakery, Touche Touchet, Cooks 'n Cakes, Oh What A Cake!, Kupcakes & Co., and Sweetcakes.  Where do you go?  What do you order?

Georgetown Cupcakes
3834 Bethesda Avenue
Bethesda, MD 20814
301-907-8900

NEAR:  This is in the downtown Bethesda shopping area off Wisconsin Avenue.  It's a long drive just for cupcakes, but that area has fun too.  If you're willing to drive a long way on Wisconsin Avenue, you could stop at the new Rockville Whole Foods on the way home -- or Penzeys for spices or any of the ethnic markets along the road.

Georgetown Cupcake at Bethesda Row on Urbanspoon

12 comments:

Elizabeth @ The Bare Midriff said...

Out of the ones you listed, I've only been to Touche Touchet, and I loved their cupcakes - though they were a little heavy on the frosting. I definitely need to try the other places!

anita b. said...

have you tried Sprinkles cupckaes? I love them more than Gtown. They are not as sweet but just enough sweetness and it's not heavy. It's light and fluffy frosting and cake too!
You should have a cupcake-off!! buy a bunch of these and have a taste test and grade them according to taste, texture, etc!!

Anonymous said...

Touche Touchet has the moistest cupcakes. I think Georgetown is over-rated for the wait (on line) and price.

Cjk said...

kupcake and Co has the best cupcakes in Howard Co and are the best value, the almond joy cupcake is exceptional. I tried Cooks and Cakes, I can make better cupcakes at home and they were very expensive for the size. I will have to try Linda's bakery. Touché touchet is average at best, the cake is dry.

Jessica said...

My favorite has been Oh, What a Cake! I wasn't a huge Touche Touchet fan (too much frosting), and I think I remember Kupcake and Co falling a bit short of the mark, too (for me, anyway). I prefer smaller, moister cupcakes with just enough frosting - for me Oh What a Cake hits that mark perfectly. My favorites are the coconut with very light whipped cream type frosting, and the seasonal caramel apple cupcakes - they are SO GOOD. Mmm, now that I'm thinking about it I might have to go get some tomorrow.

K8teebug said...

Agree with Anita. Sprinkles are better! But Georgetown are very very good also.

Alison said...

I had Touche Touchet's cupcakes and thought they were inedible. The frosting was horribly artificial. I noted after the fact that they use a "creamy white" frosting rather than real buttercream. It didn't taste like there was any real butter, cream, or other dairy in them. Honestly, I've had better cupcakes at half the price from a supermarket. I've tried some of the cupcake places in DC and liked a few of them but haven't found any I love in HoCo.

10nisplayer said...

Not a cupcake fan to begin with but Georgetown Cupcake won me over. Hubby brings some home every couple of Fridays. The chocolate PB chip is the best with coconut a close second. IMHO HoCo cup cakeries cannot compete.

Jenna said...

Sweetcakes are great- definitely a hidden secret. She just needs to get her name out there more - its mainly word of mouth, but they are TO DIE FOR! try the red velvet with cheesecake center and the chocolate peanut butter- heaven!

Anonymous said...

Had the Elvis cupcake at Kupcake & Co. in early December and it was FANTASTIC.

Lightly banana flavored cupcake with chocolate chips, topped with an awesome peanut butter frosting and a banana chip on top. Out of this world.

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