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Well, The Bake Shop is consistent. This full-sized Chocolate Vanilla Bean cupcake tasted exactly like the mini of the same name. It was a chocolate cake with vanilla bean icing and many green sprinkles. The cake was very rich, but also very dry. I still maintain that the frosting tasted too light, and possessed what I'll describe as a watery texture. This "thin" nature of the frosting also came coupled with a "thin" taste, almost getting totally overwhelmed by the cake's flavor.
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The newest cupcakery to open in Los Angeles, Vanilla Bake Shop's gorgeous website had my mouth watering with pictures of their beautiful cupcakes. The chic yet gothic design style of the bakery had me intrigued as well. Unfortunately, this Chocolate Vanilla Bean cupcake didn't quite live up to the high standard set by Vanilla Bake Shop's beautiful aesthetic design.
This cupcake was comprised of chocolate cake topped with vanilla buttercream covered in green sugar crystals. It gave off a strong alcoholic vanilla smell, which raised a couple of red flags. The chocolate cake was extremely moist, to the point where I wondered if it had been cooked thoroughly. It had a sweet mild chocolate flavor that was dominated by the taste of alcohol. Usually when a cupcake tastes like alcohol it's because too much extract was used in the batter, but I can't imagine why chocolate cake would have extract in it.
The vanilla buttercream was super light, super fluffy, and super buttery. It tasted like melted whipped honey butter, though it had a subtle vanilla aftertaste. The sugar crystals add some more sweetness to the cupcake (almost too much so) as well as a nice crunch to the soft cake and thin frosting. Overall the cupcake is fairly sweet with a predominantly alcohol flavor. The mild chocolate and vanilla flavors of the cake and frosting are merely subtle aftertastes
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This cupcake is made by combining chocolate cake, sprinkles, vanilla icing, and a cherry on top. Classic and Old Fashioned. The first thought that popped into my head about this cupcake was "Wow! this icing tastes EXACTLY like the icing that used to be in Dunk-a-roos!" I don't know if that's good or bad, but it's substantially weird. The cake was a little towards the thicker, "brownie" end of the spectrum. It was rich and moist, with a chocolate flavor that wasn't too strong or too weak; a nice buttery milk chocolate.
The big surprise was a secret core of icing all the way through this mini. I've seen that done before in cupcakes, but never in a mini! Sweet. I believe I heard the cake best described as a "wanna-be Yodel'".
The icing was a rather mild vanilla, serving mostly as glue for the sprinkles and cherries. There wasn't that much of it, but when eaten with the sprinkles, had a sugary taste that went well with the cake.
I spent a fair amount of time considering the best way to eat the cherry on top as it was about 2/3 the diameter of the entire cupcake (the curse of the mini!), and eventually took the final 1/3 of the cupcake with the cherry on top as a shot, all in one bite. The final combined flavor was very delicious. I'm a sucker for maraschino cherries, and the flavor washed all over the cake and icing, making a very delicious concoction. My only complaint? Not enough cherries.
*Note on the price: I bought 3 minis for $5
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This cupcake also featured the same fudge-like, almost-brownie chocolate cake found in the "Old Fashioned". It's very moist (and messy), and walks the very tasty line between not enough and too much butter. The vanilla bean icing, at first, had almost no flavor to it at all. I had to take a few bites of the icing by itself before the very subtle taste came through. It was "secretly sweet", and had an almost water-flavored taste to it. Unfortunately, when compared to the strong cake below, the icing really didn't pack enough of a punch. Its supple, delicate flavor was lost to the overpowering nature of the cake. The sprinkles (whose green color in no way prepared me for the actual flavor) and the lone candy on top weren't enough to combat the cake's overpowering flavor either.
*Note on the price: I bought 3 minis for $5
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I was excited by this cake because it appeared to be the only mini that that wasn't chocolate cake. I mean seriously. You call your store the Vanilla Bake Shop, and only offer me one type of vanilla cupcake? For shame.
The cake ended up being quite good; neither too-sugary nor too-buttery. It was very moist and sticky. The buttercream on top was a fluffy milk chocolate. It was quite sweet, but again, in a not-too-intense way. The icing was incredibly creamy, and melted in your mouth.
"Mom's" was a very apropos name for this cupcake. It tasted like so many birthday cakes I had as a child, the kind that for some inexplicable reason, every mom knew how to make, regardless of culture or heritage. This cupcake was well executed, and tasted exactly as advertised; like something you could make from a mix found at any grocery store.
*Note on the price: I bought 3 minis for $5
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