We're almost to Halloween...actually, we've got about three hours as I write this, but IT'S NOT TOO LATE to post the results of 2010's Halloween Cupcake Hunt! This is where we drive around town looking for Halloween cupcakes, bring them home, taste them, and then pick a winner based on nothing more than however I was feeling at the moment.
We had the good fortune to bring friends along with us this time. Halloween is 2 days before Steph's birthday, so we managed to get her and Bill away from their kids for an afternoon in order to comb the city for cupcakes. This was especially lucky, because Steph is also a cupcake snob, and usually the person to let me know when a new bakery pops up in town, so it was great to have her along.
MF came too, sporting a great hat...
And Bill was nice enough to take pictures, as well as entertain Kaylee on her first Halloween with us.
Our first stop was to Cupcake Row in Santa Monica where two of this city's heavy weights are located a mere block away from one another.
Here we are outside Vanilla Bakeshop. Vanilla really does have some of the best cupcakes I've ever tasted, and this year, as opposed to years past, they actually had some Halloween themed cupcakes.
They also had a gorgeous, spooky, fondant cake, and some sort of Macaroon Obelisks, doubtlessly for some sort of cult worship.
Then we popped into Yummy Cupcakes.
Yummy was the winner last year not only because they make a hell of a cupcake, but because they REALLY went all-in for Halloween, designing several cakes specifically for the holiday. In fact, you can see last year's winner right here...the Blackout Cake.
And here are some coconut ghosties.
On our way back to Hollywood, we stopped in Famous Cupcakes. You may recall this place from last year's blog because of the overly ridiculous Kardashian endorsement on the box.
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To my knowledge, this place is not owned by the Kardashian sisters, but even if it were, I don't think that would stop me from mocking them over their boxes.
Steph was the one who told me about this place a year ago, and she had still never been, so we made it a mandatory stop. Turns out, they had some really good lookin' product on display.
After that, we hit 3rd street by the Beverly Center where New York's famous Magnolia Bakery had just opened their LA store.
I've been told that Magnolia was responsible for starting this cupcake craze several years ago, so we were excited to add them to the roster. (They have some amazing looking stuff aside from cupcakes, BTW. I'd recommend heading by if you ever have the chance.)
Across the street from Magnolia is Joan's on Third where we had picked up a fabulous Snicker's cupcake the year before.
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I highly recommend this place, too. They've got some really creative stuff there, and I have yet to taste anything less than awesome come out of their bakery.
Sweet Lady Jane's is always a must, especially since they've won this contest 2 times. It always feels like swinging by to pick up and old friend.
The final stop on the tour was Frosted on Highland. We'd never been to this place before, and they had some really interesting flavor combinations. Out of all the places we stopped during the day, this place certainly got the most number of "Oh really?"'s out of us.
They also had the distinction of being the only bakery with cupcakes for dogs. That won them a lot of points with Kaylee.
So, with a car full of desserts, we headed home to get into it.
Kaylee ate first.
Then we unpacked everything and divied it up.
Bat and Werewolf face: SWEET LADY JANE, Peanut Butter Ghostie: JOAN'S ON THIRD, Spider: YUMMY
Orange Sprinkles: FAMOUS, Pumpkin: FROSTED, Zombie Hand: YUMMY
Boo and Pumpkin: FROSTED, Orange Sprinkles: FAMOUS, Spider: VANILLA BAKESHOP
Those were between Steph and I.
This was MF's plate.
Bill was demure.
Oh, and Bill also stopped in a Churro place next to Sweet Lady Jane's. I'm pretty sure that's against the rules, but he didn't seem to hear me.
So, we dug in.
Steph was far more precise, cutting slices off of hers...before stabbing teenagers.
I just made a mess.
There was a lot of careful tabulating, but in the end, there could only be one winner.
Famous Cupcakes.
Yeah, it pains me to say it, but the Kardashians were actually right. The cake was moist and tasty, and the chocolate frosting was light and creamy with a rich dark chocolate flavor. Overall just a hell of a good cupcake.
So there we are. We're gettin' ready for tomorrow's hunt, so I'll let ya know in a year what the results are. Till then, Happy Halloween everybody!
