This week, you’ll have to excuse my diversion from the typical review (but hopefully you find it to be an entertaining diversion). I’ll be back on course again soon, I promise!
Last week, I had the pleasure of hanging out with my niece and nephew for the whole day. Despite all the fun that was had, I also put them to work. And by “work”, I mean participating in a blindfold cupcake taste test. You see, over at Tysons Corner mall, there are two vendors selling cupcakes right across the hall from each other – CakeLove and Cinnabon (yup, Cinnabon now sells cupcakes too!) It’s like a cupcake showdown, going on everyday right there at our local mall! Something needed to be done about it, so here’s what we did…
My niece (8), nephew (5), and I looked at both inventories to find a matching flavor, and found that both CakeLove and Cinnabon sold a chocolate cupcake with chocolate frosting. We purchased two cupcakes of this variety from each store and headed home.
Once home, I blindfold my niece and nephew and lead them to the kitchen table. I then unpacked Cupcake #1, put it on a plate, and guided their hands to the treat. The feasting began and I jotted down notes of their impressions like “it smells good”, “i love chocolate”, and “it’s just delicious”. Cupcake #1 was eaten quite fast. Not a scrap to be found (which I was secretly hoping for).
My trusty participants
Next up, Cupcake #2 was placed on the plate and Round Two commenced. More observations noted like ” really creamy frosting”, “it has a lemony flavor”, and “i need a drink”. Cupcake #2 was not completely consumed by my test subjects (I took one for the team and finished the job) – was this because they were full or because it wasn’t as good?
Well, before the big reveal I asked for their favorite and the choice was unanimous, Cupcake #1…which was purchased from….Cinnabon!
Interesting stuff here, considering Cinnabon’s cupcake was cheaper – $2.79 vs. CakeLove’s $3.25. Another thing going for Cinnabon – their cupcakes were at room temperature (ready to be eaten), where CakeLove instructed us to wait 10 minutes (their cupcakes are kept cold). But, Cinnabon talks a big game, folks. On their website, Cinnabon boasts that they make “the world’s best cupcakes!” and that “anything else is just a cupfake”. I don’t know about you, but that sounds like some serious smack talk (or is it trash talk??)
Now CakeLove has a cool story behind it’s origins, and a lot more cupcake flavors to choose from. And I really like that they bake from scratch using natural ingredients. They have reason to toot their own horn, too – they were voted Best Bakery in 2009 by Washington Post’s Express.
So, perhaps this posting will inspire your own blind taste test or to try out one of these two vendors. Or maybe it will just provide a bit of guidance, should you happen to be passing these two dueling cupcake displays with kids in tow. Whatever it may be, I hope you eat a good cupcake!
Thanks A & R for your hard work – great job! Thanks C for allowing me to experiment on your kids!
Cinnabon (Tysons Corner):
Cupcake Crusade 