The Cupcakery
Sep 19, 2007 Illinois, restaurants, reviews
Saturday, Ellie and I found ourselves craving some of the addicting cinnamon rolls from 222 Artisan Bakery . 222 also happens to be Goshen Coffee Company, and needing coffee beans, I set out for Edwardsville to score the goods.
As I neared the river, it was not meant to be. The highway was a parking lot. I knew I’d never make it before they closed at noon, so I exited south Riverview Drive en route to an alternate fix: 4 Seasons Bakery snickerdoodles at the Tower Grove Farmer’s Market . This was also a bust. I had no idea they’d moved the market temporarily last weekend.
Sometimes, not often, bad news turns good, and in the end I had a brief tour of places I’d always meant to try, but for one reason or another had not. Banh Mi So and Hartford Coffee Company were my first stops before continuing the quest for cupcake perfection at The Cupcakery.
Located in the Central West End, The Cupcakery initially eluded me. I thought I was in the right spot, but I couldn’t find it. I was throwing Goog-411 for a serious loop trying to enunciate “cupcakery” and finally I folded, called my Dad, and had him tell me where I should be looking. As it turned out, I was already on the right part of the block. Fortunately, they do have a sidwalk sign sitting out on Maryland Ave, so once on foot, it was easy enough to find. A note: If you go looking for it, you’ll find it tucked back behind the Chase Park Plaza, down the side street of Bar Louie, off Maryland Ave.
My initial impression: The Cupcakery is small. Just like their website, there are no frills. The space is simple and to the point. Seating is minimal with a few tables and chairs inside and out. Cupcakes are the obvious heart of the business and they have one small bakery case filled with a limited selection of five regular and one or two weekly special flavors. Apart from some beverage choices and t-shirts, you’ll find no sandwiches or other savory foods to distract from the focus here.
Where Jilly’s went big with layers of flavor, syrups, fillings and garnishments, The Cupcakery takes the simple approach. The cupcakes, physically smaller then Jilly’s are each made of one flavored cake and one flavored buttercream with a small garnishment to set it off. As they should be, they are also less expensive.
There was no way I was going to repeat the embarrassment of Jilly’s photo-ops, so once again I picked two to-go and split.
First was the Peanut Butter Cup which consists of dark Chocolate cake and peanut butter buttercream. The cake really did have a rich dark chocolate flavor, but it, similar to my previous cupcakes, was a bit on the dry side. The thing is, because the cupcakes at The Cupcakery are smaller, as a result, you’re able to get a a bit of buttercream with every bite. This completely remedied any dryness issues because the peanut butter buttercream had a creamy smoothness that was irresistible. Not too sweet, every bite reminded me why the chocolate-peanut butter one-two is a top five favorite of most men.
Second, I had one of their specials, the Lemondrop. It was lemon cake with lemon buttercream garnished with a small lemon jaw-breaker. I’m sorry to turn on the Peanut Butter Cup, but this was the best cupcake so far. It was incredibly moist. The lemon flavor was perfect and not overpowering. Even as my second helping it had no heaviness, and the buttercream had such fluffy lightness I was instantly left craving for more.So I leave you with this: Because of their size, it seems, cupcakes are easy to dry out. You can aim high for the gourmet cake like Jilly’s. But, unless they’re perfect, you might be left wishing you’d had a slice of moist cake instead. Or maybe, just maybe, you’ll wish you had a simpler, but more perfect cupcake from The Cupcakery.
