Earlier today a friend mentioned her desire for Valentine’s Day cupcakes from her husband, in lieu of flowers. As I am pregnant AND an avid cupcake fan, it gave me not only a strong craving for buttercream, but the idea to post my thoughts on some cupcake bakeries I’ve visited.

Icing on the Cake: Located in Los Gatos, CA. BEST cupcakes I’ve ever had! Cakes are always moist, fresh and delicious, and the frostings are inventive and tasty. Strongly recommend: Salty Dog (chocolate, caramel and sea salt flavors!)’, Luscious Lemon, Berry Berry (it always tastes like fresh strawberries), Mint Chip and the Swirly Cakes (one of the ONLY chocolate cakes I’ll eat, though one is good for 2 or 3 people, in my opinion).

Image from Icing on the Cake’s website

Kara’s Cupcakes: Located at Santana Row in San Jose and Oxbow Market in Napa, CA. The cakes themselves have good flavors, but are usually very dry (like they’ve been sitting out for 3 or 4 days). The pastry chefs have NO feeling for buttercream; it tasted like a single block of butter. Buttercream is truly an art. Note: definitely not the work of one shop.  I’ve been to two different locations and tried three different flavors; same results, I’m sorry to say.

Teacake: Located in Emeryville, CA. Not great; they have interesting flavor combinations but they always sound better than they taste.  They do, however, make a few tasty cookies; but since I’m reviewing their main money-maker, kind of moot at this point. I’ve only been to the Emeryville location, but have visited on several occasions without a change in the cupcakes.

Sift: A Cupcakery: Located in Downtown Napa, CA. I love the cupcakes at Sift. Everything tastes fresh, and they do a lovely job of decorating their cupcakes (fun designs and glitter!). The buttercream is delicious (always a little extra for those frosting lovers) and the cakes are moist. Notable flavors: Pink Champagne (raspberry cake with champagne buttercream), Limonata (Meyer Lemon cake, lemon curd and lemon buttercream) and Snickerdoodle (vanilla cake with cream cheese frosting and tons of cinnamon!!). There’s also a location in Santa Rosa, but I’ve never been.

Anyone have any recommendations of other shops to try?  I’ve heard great things about Sprinkles, but have yet to try one of their creations.