Posts Tagged georgetown cupcake

Sweet Rewards From Georgetown Cupcake! And a shameless Peeptown Cupcake voting plug.

April 15, 2009 at 8:58 am · Filed under DC ·Tagged , , , ,

Georgetown Cupcake 1

Who needs to win the Peeps Show when you can eat cupcakes?

There was a cupcake deluge at my office yesterday afternoon! As a thank-you for “Peeptown Cupcake,” Georgetown Cupcake sent four dozen cupcakes to my work. There were only four of us at the office (only seven people work there total), meaning that there were a dozen cupcakes per person. Needless to say, I stopped by Wonktheplank’s work and dropped off half. I was very touched that the GTC staff loved the diorama, and I was very flattered by the cupcake gift.

Needless to say, we were in sugar shock all afternoon. We were all big fans of the white chocolate raspberry seasonal cupcake – the fresh raspberries baked into the cupcake were wonderful and we loved the white chocolate frosting. I also had the mocha, which may just be my favorite GTC cupcake yet. The coffee frosting was just . . . amazing. Mmmm . . .

Also, if you haven’t yet voted for Peeptown Cupcake on the WaPo web site, you still can! Vote now!

More pics below:

SO MANY CUPCAKES

At the office with the cupcakes, taken with the help of my coworker's camera phone.

GTC Note

A very nice note from the staff.

Four Dozen

There were a dozen cupcakes per person. Needless to say, we didn't keep them all!

White Chocolate Raspberry and Lemon

Lemon Berry and White Chocolate Raspberry.

Really, there were so many.

But, seriously, there were so many. The mocha cupcakes were especially good.

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Peeptown Cupcake

March 16, 2009 at 7:32 am · Filed under crafts, DC, Uncategorized ·Tagged , , , ,

Peeps 3

The line goes out the door!

First of all, just a note that the Weekly Roundup is going to move to Fridays, so please look for it then.

So I did it, people. I submitted an entry for the Washington Post Peeps contest yesterday. It only took 28 hours of hard labor, $40 in supplies, and all of my available energy. Our apartment was so messy that Wonk the Plank and I could barely walk through the living room without stepping on foam-core board. And I almost bit poor Wonk’s head off when he scheduled us to go see a play on Saturday night – taking away from valuable Peep preparation time.

It took at least a day of brainstorming before I hit on my final concept. I went through lot of options – the Inauguration, the We are One Concert, a scene from a classic children’s book. But the concept I got the most excited about was recreating a local DC scene: Georgetown Cupcake on a winter afternoon. Wonk also decided to create a classic scene from The Watchmen.

I would go further into detail about its creation, but I’m just so exhausted. So without further ado I present: Peeptown Cupcake!

Peeps 2

Peeptown Cupcake on a busy Saturday.

Peeps 4

You can just make out the Washington Post article on the right, annoucing that Peeptown Cupcake won the WaPo Cupcake Wars.

Peeps close up

Another close up of the store.

Wonk the Plank went darker with his Watchmen peeps (check out the original scene here).

Peeps Watchmen

The photo shoot. Can you tell I don’t have any real photography equipment? I’m amazed I didn’t burn the couch down. And the original background I made didn’t work out, so I imrpovised a backdrop using the only thing large enough in our apartment – the couch slipcover.

Living Room

The peep photo shoot. Our apartment was a disaster zone.

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DC Cupcake Shops Offer Up Sweet Treats For Valentine’s Day

February 5, 2009 at 10:17 am · Filed under DC ·Tagged , , , , ,

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Hello Cupcake is serving up pink lemonade cupcakes with lemon cream cheese frosting for V-Day. Photo courtesy of Hello Cupcake.

Valentine’s Day is approaching and DC’s cupcake stores are offering up an array of special cupcakes to sweeten your day.

Hello Cupcake
1351 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036
p: (202) 861-2253
info@hellocupcakeonline.com
www.hellocupcakeonline.com

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Four pink lemonade cupcakes, and a Hello Cupcake gift card. Now who wouldn't want that on Valentines' Day?

Hello Cupcake is offering up a promotion called Sweet Tarts for your Sweetheart. You can buy their special Valentine’s-Day-themed pink lemonade cupcakes with lemon cream cheese frosting in a set of four, along with a Hello Cupcake gift card. Who wouldn’t want a gift like that for Valentine’s Day (hint hint. Except that I already asked for flowers! Which, actually I do really want. Hint, hint). Cupcakes are $3 each, $12 for 4, $18 for a half dozen, and $33 per dozen.

Georgetown Cupcake
1209 Potomac St NW
Washington, DC
P: (202) 333-8448
info@georgetowncupcake.com
www.georgetowncupcake.com

v-day-cupcake-gc

Georgetown Cupcake's signature Red Velvet. Image courtesy of Georgetown Cupcake.

For the holiday Georgetown Cupcake will be offerings its signature Red Velvet cupcake, which, let me tell you, is absolutely dreamy. But they’ll also be offering Strawberry and Chocolate Strawberry cupcakes, complete with fondant hearts that have messages like “be mine” written on top. I am such a sucker for a cute fondant decoration, that I think I may need to make a special trip. Cupcakes are $2.75 each, $15.00 for a half dozen, and $29.00 for a dozen, and will be available during February.

Heidelberg Pastry Shoppe
2150 N Culpeper Street
Arlington, VA 22207
P: (703) 527-8394
heidelbergbakery@comcast.net
www.heidelbergbakery.com

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Heidelberg Pastry Shoppe's charming Valentine's Day Cupcake. Image courtesy of Heidelberg Pastry Shoppe.

Heidelberg Pastry Shoppe will be offering absolutely adorable yellow and chocolate cupcakes with heart-shaped sprinkles. I think I’m in love! Cupcakes are $1.25 apiece.

BakeShop
baker@bakeshopdc.com
www.bakeshopdc.com

v-day-cupcake-bakeshop

Wouldn't you rather get a dozen Red Velvet cupcakes than a dozen roses? Image courtesy of Bakeshop DC.

BakeShop will be offering Red Velvet cupcakes, which you can buy in packages of one dozen or two dozen. One dozen Red Velvets go for $24.00 and can be picked up at Murky Coffee (3211 Wilson Boulevard) in Arlington. Two dozen cupcakes are $48.00 and can be delivered for a $10 fee. By the way, did you hear that BakeShop will soon be opening a storefront in Clarendon? I’ll have to make a pilgrimage!

Have you heard about other DC Valentine’s day cupcakes? Email me at moderndomestic@gmail.com, and I’ll add to the post.


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DC Cupcake Odyssey: Georgetown Cupcake Lives Up to the Hype

January 14, 2009 at 1:29 pm · Filed under DC ·Tagged , , , ,

Georgetown Cupcake - Red Velvet

Georgetown Cupcake's Red Velvet Cupcake. As pretty as it is good.

Last month I took a break from the holiday baking craziness and visited Georgetown Cupcake with my coworker. This was a belated stop on my DC cupcake odyssey, which started with my review of Hello Cupcake soon after its opening, and continued with my CakeLove review back in October.

I had my doubts about Georgetown Cupcake, because all I’ve heard is how great they are (after all, isn’t that the biggest criticism of Cake Love? That it’s all hype and no cake?). And I was annoyed that The Washington Post didn’t really “review” so much as “drool over” their cupcakes during the Cupcake Wars.

For those of you who don’t know the story, Georgetown Cupcake is DC’s first cupcake shop, and was founded by sister baking team Katherine Kallinis and Sophie LaMontagne. Considering that the DC area now has three cupcake-only establishments (Hello Cupcake, Georgetown Cupcake, Lavender Moon Cupcakery) and recently added a fourth (Red Velvet Cupcakery), it’s pretty shocking that DC’s oldest cupcakery opened back in February 2008, less than a year ago.

Georgetown Cupcake - Busy Shop

A busy night at Georgetown Cupcake.

My coworker and I went to Georgetown Cupcake on a Friday night in December. Georgetown’s streets were less crowded than usual due to the upcoming holidays, but there was almost a line out Georgetown Cupcake’s door. The store at 1209 Potomac St. N,  just off M street, isn’t much bigger than a cupcake box, with just one table that served as a bag-dropping station while customers placed their orders. If you’re looking for a place to have your cupcake and eat it too, then head across the street to Dean and Deluca.

The cupcakes were beautifully displayed on different cake stands, adding to the fairy-tale charm of the store. I had planned to only buy two cupcakes, but the spirit overtook me and I ordered up a whole half dozen: the Red Velvet, Chocolate2, Chocolate3, Vanilla, Vanilla and Chocolate, and Carrot Cake.

Georgetown Cupcake - Cupcake Stands

Georgetown Cupcake's Display.

I was pretty much won over the moment I saw the beautiful presentation—the cakes were small, just peeking over the edge of their wrappers, with nary a muffin top in site. The frosting was perfectly piped in appealing swirls, and the fondant decorations were perfectly centered. From the presentation alone I could tell that this sister baking team cares deeply about its craft. And according to The Washington Post, the sisters pipe the frosting onto every cupcake themselves, which may be why they looked so pretty.

And as for the cupcakes themselves? I was absolutely blown away. First off, the cake is exactly what I’m looking for in a cupcake—it’s extremely light and tender, with the moistness of an oil cake, but the full flavor of a butter cake. The flavors were rich and deep—the vanilla cupcake tasted like it was infused with vanilla beans, and the chocolate cupcake tasted like the cake version of a chocolate bar.

Georgetown Cupcakes - Grouping

A plate of Georgetown Cupcakes, a little battered after a rough trip home the night before.

But my favorite part was the frosting, which I liked even more than the cake, and has taken hold in my mind as a Platonic, ideal version of frosting. It was extremely light and fluffy, and free of that teeth-shocking sweetness that frostings often have. The flavors were intense and balanced. The vanilla frosting really tasted like vanilla beans, and the cream cheese frosting was the perfect balance of sweet and tang, lightness and flavor.

The chocolate frosting had a deep, rich chocolate flavor that rivaled that of a ganache, but without being as heavy. I’ll admit that the chocolate frosting was so intensely chocolatey that it completely overwhelmed the vanilla cake in the Vanilla-Chocolate cupcake, but is that such a horrible thing? My favorites were the Vanilla Squared (vanilla cake with vanilla frosting, simple but extremely well done) and the Chocolate Squared (chocolate cake with Chocolate ganache).

Can you tell that the cupakes completely won me over? It’s no wonder, with this really fabulous product, that Georgetown Cupcake has become a DC media darling. Not only did they win the Washington Post Cupcake Wars, (and, by the way, they even gave out the recipe for the Chocolate Ganache Cupcakes), but they’ve appeared on the Martha Stewart Show and have been favorable reviewed in the New York Times.

The only thing that could have improved my experience was the customer service. It’s possible that it was an off night when I was there, but the cashiers seemed much more interested in gossiping than getting the huge line of customers taken care of. Considering that Georgetown Cupcake’s branding promises a chic, professional, and “couture” product, the service didn’t quite fit with their carefully crafted brand.

Still, I’m now a big fan of Georgetown Cupcake and I can’t wait to go back. You heard it here, folks—this is no CakeLove. Some things really can live up to the hype.

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Red Velvet Cupcakery Watch

December 9, 2008 at 7:04 pm · Filed under DC ·Tagged , , , ,

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Red Velvet Cupcakery should be opening soon in DC's Penn Quarter.

For you DC cupcake fiends, a new cupcake shop should be opening up soon in DC’s Penn Quarter.

Red Velvet Cupcakery is slated to open mid-December, although there’s no word yet when opening day will be. The shop will be located at the corner of 7th and E street, NW, and will share space with Tangy Sweet, the trendy frozen yogurt shop. This will be Tangy Sweet’s second store; the original shop is located in Dupont.

Red Velvet is a joint venture between Canada Gordon, who formerly worked in the entertainment industry in LA, and his brother Aaron Gordon, who owns Tangy Sweet. Once Red Velvet opens, it will follow in the footsteps of Georgetown Cupcake, which is another sibling-owned cupcake establishment.

Although I think the word “cupcakery” reminds me too much a Renaissance fair, I have faith in their pastry chef, David Guas. Guas is the former executive pastry chef for Passion Food Hospitality and created the desserts at top-notch restaurants like Acadiana and DC Coast.

You can tell, because their flavors look pretty damn appealing, especially the morning call (chocolate espresso cake, mocha buttercream) and peanut butter cup (chocolate chocolate chip cake, salted peanut frosting). The names aren’t quite as cute as Hello Cupcake (nothing’s going to beat “you tart”), but, of course, you can’t judge a cupcake on name alone.

But the big question is: when is opening day? There’s still no word on their Web site. We’ll keep you updated when we get the big news.

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Washington Post Cupcake Wars: They Finally Have A Winner

November 6, 2008 at 1:00 pm · Filed under DC ·Tagged , , , , ,

Hello Cupcake - Cupcakes (smaller)

I bet those Post testers never want to look at another cupcake ever again.

It’s over! It’s over! No, not the presidential campaign, but the Washington Post Cupcake Wars. The last installment, published last Wednesday, brought us our final two cupcake contenders. And yesterday, the Post announced the overall winner of the eight-week competition. 

As I suspected, I had never heard of the two cupcake establishments that were featured last week: Heidelberg Pastry Shoppe, in Arlington, and BakeshopDC, an online store that also sells cupcakes at the hip Murky Coffee in Clarendon. Like many cupcake establishments, Heidelberg really didn’t do well; testers criticized the dry and bland (yet also too sweet) cakes, although they found the vanilla cupcake with vanilla frosting to be the least offensive of the bunch. BakeshopDC was given a decidedly “meh” review; testers thought the cakes were moist, if a bit bland, while the frostings were too “airy,” “sweet,” and “grainy.”

Considering that Post testers only went gaga over one cupcake establishment during this whole eight-week saga, I wasn’t surprised that they named Georgetown Cupcake the out-right winner. After all, Post testers really ripped on the cupcakes they tested throughout the Cupcakes Wars, but Georgetown Cupcake stunned them into silence (and a really vague review).

For a list of the tester’s most common cupcake criticisms, you can read the Posts’ Ten Commandments of Cupcakes. They also finally released all the scores for the different bakeries, and gave some insight into the final scoring methodology. At which point I though that, perhaps, the Post was doing a bit of an overkill. 

The Post did have a rather sweet article to tie up the series, which I highly recommend to anyone interested in the cupcake phenomenon, both in DC and across the country. The pieces delves into the historic roots of cupcakes, and their recent revival by establishments like Magnolia Bakery, Sprinkles and, yes, Georgetown Cupcake.

The writers admit they thought the cupcake craze was on its way out before they started the Cupcake Wars, but that the tremendous response to the series made them think otherwise. I found that very touching: given my love of baked goods, I’m glad that others have opened their cynical hearts to the loveliness that is a good cupcake. Or maybe I’m just all fuzzy feeling because of the Barack Obama victory. 

The best part of the Post story is that they published recipes for two of the top scoring cupcakes: Georgetown Cupake’s winning cupcake, Chocolate Ganache Cupcakes and Best Buns Co. Vanilla Cupcakes. There’s also another recipe for vanilla cupcakes, and a recipe for coconut cupcakes, although the Post doesn’t specify if the recipes are from any specific bakery. Maybe no one else would give out their recipes?  

The recipes look tempting, although after the Presidential Cookie Bake-Off, I kind of want to take a little break from baking (my waistline would really appreciate it). But that Georgetown Cupcake recipe just begs for a review. Maybe in the next few weeks.

In any event, here’s a hearty congratulations to Georgetown Cupcake! May your cupcakes live long and prosper.

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Washington Post Cupcake Wars: Epic Georgetown Cupcake vs. Hello Cupcake Battle

October 13, 2008 at 1:00 pm · Filed under DC ·Tagged , , , , ,

Whoo hoo! It’s here! The big match-up between DC’s newest cupcake joints that you just knew had to be coming!

That’s right, The Washington Post’s Cupcake Wars pitted Hello Cupcake against Georgetown Cupcake last week, a head-to-head match-up of the area’s two new hottest cupcake establishments. Considering that both of these bakeries have gotten considerable press coverage (including my own review of Hello Cupcake, which I loved), this was a much anticipated Cupcake Wars installment in the DC food world.

The Post actually liked the cupcakes from both establishments, which was a first for the Cupcake Wars (throughout the series, Post testers have taken a sort of sadistic pleasure in bashing the cupcakes from various bakeries). But it was Georgetown Cupcake that won out, which makes me think that I need to make a pilgrimage to Georgetown.

Perhaps those Post testers are sick of cupcakes at this point, but they were at a bit of a loss to describe what they loved so much about Georgetown Cupcake. They singled out the Chocolate Squared cupcake as their favorite, praising the intense chocolate-flavored cake and fudgy frosting. But most of their praise was in the abstract. Apparently Georgetown Cupcake’s products are “creamy,” “bright,” and “sensational.” Well, I suppose I have to try them, but I’m not quite sure why.

The Post testers thought that, overall, Hello Cupcake had some very good offerings; testers praised the tender cakes and soft, if sweet, frostings. The Post especially liked the You Tart lemon cupcake, which had an excellent balance of sugar and lemon. But it was the Vanilla Gorilla, a banana cupcake with vanilla frosting, that testers thought was the best of the bunch. Hello Cupcake lost points with the Maya Favorite Cupcake, a cinnamon-chocolate cupcake paired with a hot-pepper-spiced chocolate ganache frosting. The testers found that the pepper flakes completely overpowered the rest of the cupcake and was just too spicy. Did they try the Peppermint Penny, I wonder? Because I thought it was absolutely dreamy.

There’s only one more week of the Cupcake Wars, and lord only know where they’ll end up next. They’ve now gone to every cupcake joint that I’ve heard of. Like I said before, if they need more cupcakes to sample, I’d be more than happy to supply a few. Let’s just see where the desperation will take them.

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