Behold the Beauty of the Cupcake (and Nothing Else)

I was excited to see a new cupcake store in town. I finally got a chance to try Gigi's Cupcakes over on Flamingo just west of Maryland Parkway. As it so happens, I found out that Gigi's is the largest cupcake chain in the U.S. I will let you decide if that is a good thing or a bad thing.

Gigi's cupcakes are a delight to behold. The the first thing I noticed was that they perform cupcake-icide on the Cupcakery in terms of sheer artistry. When I saw these I was all drooly and weak in the knee. It might have been a mild stroke. But I think it was more likely the sheer beauty of these little treasures. I wanted to try each and every one.


I brought them home, had a nice responsible lunch, and then dove into all that cupcake madness.

I was expecting Cupcakery quality. After all, they looked better than the Cupcakery. And price usually infers quality. But alas, I was to be disappointed. I tried the Merry Margarita, the Texas Milk Chocolate, and the Red Velvet. I'm saving the Mellow Cream for Phillip.

The breakdown:

Merry Margarita - It sort of tasted like a real margarita... and a lot like a regular cupcake. It was just okay. But it was so beautiful!! I wish it tasted as good as it looked.

Texas Milk Chocolate - Ivy said the star on top tasted like play doh. The cupcake itself was good. Because chocolate is always good. Hard to mess that one up, but it was nothing out of this world.

 
Red Velvet - This was a particular disappointment to me. I am a Red Velvet fiend. Their Red Velvet was barely even red. It was chocolatey brown with a reddish tinge. And it barely tasted like Red Velvet at all. The cream cheese frosting tasted like... regular frosting, albeit with a slight hint of cream cheese. It also had a strange little surprise inside. A dollop of something they called "canilla". Whatever that is. (Update- just realized that was a typo on their website. The menu I brought home said "vanilla" LOL)

Shall we discuss cake to frosting ratios? I know this is weighing heavily on your mind. I had heard complaints that the Cupcakery cupcakes have way too much frosting (uh, whatever!). Gigi's have at least two times, if not three times, the amount of frosting. Enough said. I leave you to your own preferences on that one.

In summary, Gigi's are oh so pretty. They had tiny little free cupcake samples, too. I liked that. But they just don't compare to the Cupcakery's light, fluffy, moist, flavorful confections. Gigi's are decent, but nothing special, and the intensity of the flavors are just not there.

O Beauty, thy name is Cupcake

And Gigi's are more expensive. Each okay-tasting cupcake at Gigi's will cost you $3.50. At the Cupcakery, they cost you $3. Both are still expensive, but unless you are going to frame Gigi's cupcakes and put them on display as an artistic statement, Cupcakery is still the tastiest cupcake in town.

I give Gigi's:

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to hop on my treadmill for a couple of hours.