In the town I used to call home, if you wanted a cupcake, you had two options. You could visit the nearest mega-grocery store or you could bake them yourself. Let me tell you, neither option was very appetizing (this was only one of many reasons I left). Now I love to cook. In fact, I even experimented with something called a Lemon Meringue Pie Cupcake the other week. But most of the time when I want a cupcake, I want it now and with little to no work on my part.

So imagine my complete and utter joy to learn that there were no fewer than three different cupcake stores in Seattle. When we discovered Cupcake Royale, I was excited. When my boyfriend told me about Trophy Cupcakes, I think I might have actually given a little shriek of joy. When I started taking the bus a few months ago and saw New York Cupcakes, I was nearly beside myself. Now, with three different cupcake stores to choose from, a tasting was surely in order.

The Prep
The day was Sunday. The occasion was… well, do we really need an occasion for a cupcake tasting? Of course not. Each cupcake chain has the standard compliment of chocolate cake/white frosting, white cake/chocolate frosting, white cake/white frosting, and chocolate cake/chocolate frosting. Each chain also has specialty cupcakes. So in order to do a proper tasting, we chose one standard cupcake from each chain and one specialty cupcake.

The Testers
I knew I couldn’t (or shouldn’t) complete this tasting on my own, so I called in my boyfriend and another friend. We tasted the cupcakes in two shifts, needing salty crackers in between all that sugary goodness.

The Cupcakes

First up we have two choices from New York Cupcakes. The upper cupcake is white cake with a chocolate buttercream frosting and white chocolate curls. The lower cupcake is white cake with a lemon buttercream frosting. Now right away, New York Cupcakes gets points off for packaging. They smashed these two cupcakes in a box made clearly for one. Even when I mentioned to their server that I needed to photograph the cupcakes, they still crammed them into one box. However, I’ll try to overlook this for the remaining of the test.

First, we tasted the white cake with chocolate buttercream frosting. This was… sublime. The frosting smelled, felt, and tasted like chocolate mousse. The cake was reminiscent of a super moist angel food cake. The ratio of frosting to cake was perfect. Overall, the three of us concluded that this was very nearly a perfect cupcake.

The lemon cupcake, however, did not fair so well. The cake was the same angel foody goodness, and the frosting tasted exactly like a lemon meringue pie. While you might think this would be wonderful, in actuality, we tired of the frosting very quickly. There was at least twice the necessary amount of frosting and after the first bite, it became sickeningly sweet.

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Next we have two offerings from Cupcake Royale. I’ll admit to a slight bias pre-test for Cupcake Royale. I live in Ballard and many a late night we’ve stopped in to Cupcake Royale for a Lavender or an Orange cupcake. However, as much as I am a fan (how could you not be when they sell shirts that say Legalize Frostitution?), I tried to keep an open mind for the test.

The first cupcake was the standard white cake with chocolate frosting. When we picked up our slices of this cupcake, we immediately noticed that the cake just didn’t feel as fresh. There was a slightly crispy edge to the cupcake and it crumbled a bit as we took bites. The frosting was ok, but nothing special. This was our least favorite of the standard cupcakes.

The second Cupcake Royale offering was their Red Velvet. The cake was chocolaty goodness. It was very slightly dry, but nothing we couldn’t overlook. There was just the right amount of frosting and a slight hint of cream cheese or sour cream.

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Lastly, we have Trophy Cupcakes. Immediately upon biting into the chocolate frosting, we declared it to be overkill. There was easily twice the amount of frosting as necessary, although it was very rich and tasty. In fact, it was very close to chocolate pudding. The cake was very moist, but it was truly overwhelmed by the frosting.

The second cupcake was one of the main reasons we went to Trophy Cupcakes in the first place. This, ladies and gentlemen, is a peanut butter and jelly cupcake. Yes, you read that right. Peanut Butter and Jelly. I was skeptical. It turns out I was foolish. This tasted exactly like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The cake was categorized by one taster as ‘the bastard child of Hawaiian bread and wonder bread’. The frosting was light, fluffy, and yet still had the stick to the roof of your mouth feel of peanut butter. There was real jelly in the cupcake and one taster (not me) was lucky enough to actually get a strawberry in her bite.

I would definitely buy this one again, but one of the other testers declared that she would simply make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

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The Verdict
Overall, the clear cupcake winner was the white cake and chocolate frosting from New York Cupcakes. However, that doesn’t mean I won’t still make the occasional late night run to Cupcake Royale for a Lavender or a weekend trip to Trophy for a Peanut Butter and Jelly. All three stores have their own winners and losers. I’ve tried all three multiple times and I’ve come to the following conclusions (your mileage may vary).

• New York Cupcakes are great for your standard cupcakes. Their cupcakes stay fresh and their chocolate and vanilla buttercreams are a childhood dream. However, their flavored frostings are a bit too much. Their strawberry frosting, for example, tastes exactly like strawberry ice cream. Like the lemon, however, after the first bite, it’s just too much. If you’re unsure about any of their flavored frostings, they are happy to give you a taste. They have a variety of flavors, but availability seems to be limited in store. $2.50 per cupcake.
• Cupcake Royale has a standard compliment of flavors including Lavender, Lemon, Orange, Mint, and Red Velvet. They have babycakes, which are little mini cupcakes, for only $1. They also have cool shirts and the Deathcake, which is basically a super thin layer of cupcake covered by at least 3 inches of chocolate ganache. Their cupcakes are the cheapest at $2 per cupcake.
• Trophy Cupcakes were the most expensive of the bunch, coming in at $2.95 for a specialty cupcake. However, they have an impressive lineup of flavors including Chai and Green Tea. They sell mini cupcakes as well ($1.50) and make a flavored mini every day. I did find that a whole green tea cupcake is a bit overwhelming, where a mini green tea is perfect.

New York Cupcakes
Bellevue Square and Westlake Center
425-283-5445

Cupcake Royale
2052 NW Market, Ballard, 206-782-9557
1101 34th Ave, Madrona, 206.709.4497
4556 California Ave, West Seattle, 206.932.2971

Trophy Cupcakes
1815 N. 45th Street, Wallingford, 206-632-7020

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