hello cupcake

hello cupcake
1351 connecticut avenue NW (at N street), washington, DC 20036
tel: 202) 861-2253
hours: monday-thursday 10am-7pm, friday-saturday 10am-9pm

what was consumed: cupcakes (duh). i've had the you tart!, 24 carrot, peanut butter blossom, prima donna ... yeah, for someone who doesn't like sweets and other desserts, i've tried a whole bunch ...

i teach classes in dupont circle. for the most part, i go to and fro the dupont circle metro station. for a long time, there was a store space that had at one point been filled with a stationery store. one day, i passed by, and i saw the sign for "hello cupcake, coming soon!" i was very excited.

i'm not all up with the cupcake craze, nor do i eat an incredible amount of sweets. but i do like trying new things, so i wanted to give hello cupcake a try as well. additionally, i'm usually the one who brings the cake to birthdays and other functions. i like cupcakes because they allow for variety - love it!

so, once i knew they were open, i made the short walk up from work and had the prima donna:

yum.

a nicely flavored berry frosting (the sugar kind, not the butter cream. i'm not a fan of the butter cream), moist and delicious chocolate cake that wasn't too sweet and just the right amount of chocolate. YUM.

now, some people cannot justify paying $3 for a cupcake (yes, they are $3 - sort of pricey). but if you think that people pay a lot more for desserts at restaurants, doesn't this sound pretty reasonable? and what about people who pay $5+ for danishes and the like? and, you know, sometimes, you just need that perfect sweet bite. in that case, $3 is nothing.

anyway ...

i've tried other cupcake places in the city (which i will write about in due time) - georgetown cupcake, cake love, red velvet ... but i'll have to say that hello cupcake is my favorite. the way that they make their frosting, the combination of flavors, etc. their peanut butter blossom is always a favorite one - a dollop of peanut butter frosting atop lovely chocolate cake, and a hershey kiss as decoration. their carrot cake cupcake has just the right combination of carrot-y goodness mixed in with the other flavors that often accompany (e.g. cinnamon) topped with a delicious cream cheese frosting. one of my favorites, though, has to be the you tart! cupcake. a lemon cake with a just-enough-tart tart frosting and a twist (as in lemon twist). christine agrees with me - this is her favorite.

don't get me wrong - their classics are great too (e.g. chocolate cake with chocolate ganache aka chocolate cake with chocolate frosting, vanilla cake with chocolate frosting ... ), but if the option is available, why not choose one with a bit more ... flair? they have a number of cakes that are the standards (i.e., hello cupcake serves them on a daily basis), but they also have a few that sort of rotate during the week. their schedule is available online. and for those who have issues with gluten, hello cupcake has a gluten-free cupcake. i believe they also have a vegan cupcake (i believe both are availabe all week long ... ?). try 'em and let me know how they are ^_^ because i'm pretty sure i'll be spending s'more time at hello cupcake.

online: http://www.hellocupcakeonline.com/