By MOLLY WALLACE
Take a bite into a new world of sweet treats: the world of cupcakes. These personal sized desserts are becoming a trend througout the country, and to find who reins champ locally, our staff conducted a taste test. With three locally known bakeries competing, the Blue Bird Bake Shoppe, Charlie’s Gourmet Pastries and Sweet!, it seemed hard to see who could outbeat another in the cupcake game. Confident in the scores, though, and the perfect cupcake has been discovered. Take a look, and let one’s taste buds lead the way.
Blue Bird Cake Shoppe
3122 Corrine Drive, Orlando, FL 32803
Tues – Sat 7 a.m. – 5 p.m., Sun 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
407-228-3822
The Blue Bird Bake Shoppe offers eccentric flavors such as chai tea and neapolitan for $2.75 each. Blue Bird also indulges in holiday flavors such as candy cane and gingerbread, which are offered throughout the month of December. Blue Bird focuses on the sweeter aspect of cupcakes, combining a light cake with a high swirl of sugary frosting. A favorite, Blue Bird’s sweet cake, combines a sugary cake with a less sweet frosting, combining the perfect amount of sugar, which all together, does not make it overpowering. The bakery is recommended for those who love a new take on cupcakes and who appreciate creative and powerful takes on sweets.
Charlie’s Gourmet Pastries
32813 Curry Ford, Orlando, FL 32806
Mon- Fri 7 a.m. – 7p.m., Sat 7 a.m. – 6 p.m.
407-898-9561
Charlie’s Bakery offers traditional cupcakes with traditional flavors and prices ranging from $2.25- $2.75. With less focus on the sweet component of cupcakes, Charlie’s makes cupcakes in a denser, pound cake way with frosting on top in a thick, but not high swirl. The flavors consist of vanilla, chocolate, red velvet and carrot cake. The red velvet is a bakery favorite, and when compared to all other bakeries’ red velvet cupcakes, it reins champ. Charlie’s Bakery is recommended for those who appreciate home cooking and a grandma-style taste in food.
Sweet!
711 N. Alafaya Trail, Orlando, FL 32828
Mon- Thurs and Sun 10 a.m.- 10 p.m., Fri – Sat 10 a.m.- 11 p.m.
407-277-7746
Sweet! offers three sizes of cupcakes: mini for $2 ($1 on Mondays), classic for $2.50 and original for $3. The original size could easily feed two cupcake fanatics who appreciate finding the yin and yang one searches for in cupcakes. Sweet! provides the ideal combination of flavors to create a magnificent cupcake; one that has a fluffy cake with a sweet, but not overly sugar-filled frosting. The flavors range from plain jane, a classic vanilla cake with buttercream frosting, to more creative flavors such as smores and coffee. Sweet! is recommended for those in search of a balanced cupcake with both traditional and creative takes on all flavors.
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