Hello, Cupcake, in Tacoma Washington.
There’s nothing more warming to the soul when you’re working twelve hours days at a convention and can’t stomach telling one more person where the lunch buffet is, than receiving a box of cupcakes. So imagine my joy when a box of cupcakes from Tacoma Washington’s Hello Cupcake (not affiliated with the DC version) appeared in our makeshift convention office this week – the gift of a very kind and thoughtful husband of one of our board members.
The vanilla chocolate cupcake. I heart those pink flowers.
My coworkers and I loved the cupcakes so much that we stole away for half an hour on Saturday to get an even dozen. We had to protect them from wandering conference participants.
Stay out of our cupcakes!
Hello Cupcake is right on Pacific avenue, near the Tacoma Museum of Glass, the University of Washington Tacoma campus, and the Chihuly Bridge of Glass. The store itself was charming, with a clean, bright interior, and beautifully displayed stands of cupcakes. I always forget how much space there is on the West Coast – the store was probably twice the size of Georgetown Cupcake, and felt very spacious.
I love the clean, clear cupcake displays.
The cupcakes themselves were excellent. My favorite was the chocolate cupcake with chocolate frosting and sprinkles. The cake was moist and chocolatey, but the frosting was really something special. It had the creamy texture and lightness of a buttercream, but the rich chocolate flavor of a ganache – exactly the kind of chocolate frosting that I want to make myself.
I want to figure out how to make the chocolate frosting on these cupcakes! It was perfect.
I was also a big fan of the coconut cupcake, which managed to taste of coconut and vanilla, without being too sweet. The carrot cake was also top notch – the cake was nicely spiced, and the cream cheese frosting had the creamy consistency and tang that I look for in a good cream cheese frosting.
A lovely carrot cake cupcake.
I also liked the rich coffee flavor of the coffee frosting on the mocha cupcake.
The coffee frosting had a strong coffee flavor - appropriate in the Pacific Northwest.
I was not a fan of the vanilla cupcake. The vanilla cake with vanilla frosting was way too sweet – the only thing that I could taste was sugar.
Too sweet - it needs to actually taste like vanilla to qualify as a vanilla cupcake.
And I wasn’t a fan of the peanut butter chips in the cake portion of the peanut butter cupcake.
A good peanut butter cupcake doesn't need peanut butter chips in the cake - just a good peanut butter frosting.
Overall, I was very pleased with the cupcakes over at Hello, Cupcake, although it would have been nice to have a few more seasonal offerings. The store shows a real commitment to quality products – the cake was moist, the buttercream was creamy, and the flavors were (almost always) spot on. A visit to the store would be a perfect way to top off a visit to Tacoma’s excellent Museum of Glass, but it would also be worth a detour on your way to Seattle. And it was the perfect mid-convention pick-me-up.
Almost all of our dozen cupcakes. Just a few fell pray to wandering hands.
ModernDomestic 
Bonnie said
You DC people are so addicted to your cupcakes!
moderndomestic said
And I can find them wherever I go . . .
Joanne said
Yum!
elpisandjustice said
Nothing like some pure cane sugar while working at a naturopathic convention! My goodness these were good. The red velvet was so silky!
moderndomestic said
Some people need alcohol to get through conventions, and some people need butter, sugar, and flour. To each their own, I say.
A Visit To Cupcake Royale « ModernDomestic said
[…] I managed to visit three cupcake shops on my West Coast jaunt. One of them, Tacoma’s “Hello, Cupcake,” was really delightful, and helped my coworkers and I muddle through the final days our […]