Sprinkles Cupcakes (Washington, DC)

Ah~~ It's been a long time since I last blogged. Today I'm blogging about the cupcake shop, Sprinkles Cupcakes, the "world's first cupcake bakery".


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Premise:

I was in Georgetown two weeks ago and I wanted Georgetown Cupcake cupcakes, but the line went out the store and the temperature outside was pretty bad, so I decided to get Sprinkles Cupcake cupcakes instead while walking back from Georgetown.

My Experience:

I went to the store a bit late, around 8pm, and most of their flavors were sold out. I had their "Black and White" cupcake in the store:

And it was so good! It was not dry at all like the Hello Cupcake cupcakes, and the frosting was done just right. They even had little wooden spoons for customers to use with which to eat the cupcakes! Very yummilicious~

I bought two home (which was a bad idea), and ate both while watching Korean Drama on my computer...

The Sprinkles staff put my two cupcakes in this adorable box and sealed it with a sticker. Appearances matter, especially in desserts!

The one on the left is the Chocolate Marshmallow cupcake, and the one on the right is the Red Velvet cupcake. I ended up eating three cupcakes in one evening... yikes~~!

Some more pictures for you to drool over...


OMG the marshmallow center!

And Irena was right - sprinkles don't have any flavor (the big dot).

Rating:
Price Range: $$

$3.50 a cupcake is not cheap, especially considering that Georgetown Cupcakes sell theirs for only $2.75 each. Nonetheless, no lines and yummy cupcakes makes the purchase worthwhile.

Environment: 3.5/5 - above average

Not much sitting space - only two tables in the store. However, its location is good as it is not quite so far into Georgetown as Georgetown Cupcakes is. There also wasn't a scary line like at Georgetown Cupcakes, and the interior decor definitely beats that of Hello Cupcake. Service was okay.

Food: 4.5/5 - awesome

After having gone to three cupcake stores in DC, I think the cupcakes at Sprinkles are very yummy. I think I actually liked Sprinkles Cupcake cupcakes more than Georgetown Cupcake cupcakes. The cupcake had a texture that was not dry, but not too moist either. The sweetness was not overpowering, and the icing blended in really well with the cake portion. Very prettily dressed cupcakes, I must say. Presentation and packaging were nice too.

Overall: 4/5 - good

If the price wasn't so hefty, I would give the place a better rating. The lack of sitting areas also brought the score down a little bit. All in all, I think this place is worth going to again.

hello cupcake (Washington, DC)

I've been to so many places last week but I haven't gotten to blog about any of them (including a DIY oatmeal post) because I've been kind of busy. Anyway, I visited hello cupcake, Dupont Circle location, on June 17.


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Premise:

One day, out of the blue, a participant of the Cornell in Washington program brought in two dozen cupcakes from hello cupcake to share. They were so pretty, so I wanted to visit the store itself. I can never get enough sweets... Yelp gave the store a 3-star average rating. It is right across from the Krispy Kreme and Panera Bread walkway (which I visit... very often)

My Experience:


I walked into the store, and I realized that it was kind of small. I visited Georgetown Cupcake (DC Cupcake) a few weeks ago and their store was bigger and, in my opinion, had better display of the cupcakes.

I ended up buying three cupcakes, at $3 each.

By the way, I just want to say that I hate Blogger. WHY CAN'T I ADD CAPTIONS???! Wordpress has been doing that for years.

Anyway, the cupcakes were packed in cute boxes with a sticker to close off the box.

And inside, the cupcakes are nicely stored by a cardstock separator. The flavors I purchased were "Heart of Darkness," "Prima Donna," and "Peanut Butter Blossom".

*OKAY people I might switch back to Wordpress because it is just plain annoying having to use Blogger's outdated system. I can't even edit my photos??! Wow. Lame.*

The cupcakes do look very cute. Oh all right - all cupcakes are cute! (Above: peanut butter blossom; below: heart of darkness)

Rating:

Price Range: $$

The cupcakes were all for $3. I gave this one two money signs because the store is on the more expensive side of cupcakes (well, compared to how much I would normally spend on dessert).

Environment: 3/5 - average

I didn't find the store to be very "cute". I think it was too sparsely decorated, and the seating (of which I neglected to document) was too open. The tables and seats were in plain view of the cashier's station, so I didn't feel that the setup was cozy enough. Good thing is that the store is in Dupont Circle, which is easily accessible.

Food: 3/5 - average

I don't know if it was because I went to the store in the evening (8pm), but the cupcakes I had from there were always too dry. The sides of the "muffintop" were definitely too dry and hard for my taste.
The icing was pretty good - fluffy and nice, not grainy and overly sweet. I appreciated that hello cupcake understood the aesthetics of food, because the packaging and decorations were done correctly.
I liked the cupcakes, but they weren't all that special.

Overall: 3/5 - average

Why average? Well, for one, the cupcakes weren't amazing. I had cupcakes at Georgetown Cupcake (DC Cupcake) that were better than the ones here, and the ones at Georgetown Cupcakes were cheaper ($2.75), too!
To get the most bang out of your buck, go to Georgetown Cupcake where the atmosphere, display, price, and taste of the cupcakes were much better than hello cupcake. I guess DC Cupcake had its own show for a reason.
I would visit hello cupcake if I have an intense craving for cupcakes. Otherwise, I would much prefer to get cupcakes from Georgetown.