Cupcake

They have gluten free cupcakes! They’re awesome! I had one filled with peanut butter and happiness today. I’m so glad I went.

Proceed with caution if you are looking for cupcakes with different flavors or whatever it is people who like anything other than vanilla cupcakes look for, and make sure you read the other reviews.
However, if you are a cupcake/​vanilla purist like I am, this is the place to go for your vanilla cupcake fix all day every day. They are expensive so you’d probably go broke doing that, but it just might be worth it. The triple vanilla cupcake is the best vanilla cupcake I’ve ever had. I hate to admit this but once I actually ate 4 in one day. I had the best intentions of sharing with someone and having 2 days worth, but um… didn’t quite go down like that.
The triple vanilla has a super super moist vanilla cake, with a vanilla Italian buttercream frosting, some kind of vanilla filling (not much though, sometimes I don’t even really notice it) and a few white chocolate (I guess?) shavings on top. I like my frosting to cake ratio to be like 1:1 so I usually rip off the bottom part of the cake part so the cake that’s left is about as tall as the frosting. Sometimes I even toss out that extra cake. Not here. I actually eat that little piece by itself, and it’s so incredibly moist.
Keep your eyes open I also heard they occasionally have a deal on Groupon or one of those type of sites. I haven’t been able to grab one myself but one time I went in there it was busier than usual and I heard people talking about using their certificates. I suggest picking one up if you want to try Cupcake and you want to pay less than a mini-​fortune.

The place is small yes, but the cupcakes are delicious. I had the dulce du leche cupcake and it was very good. For a gourmet cupcake place the pricing is right, I think people keep forgetting it’s not a standard bakery or a grocery store. I mean, they won cupcake wars, they can price the cupcake at $ 3-​$ 5 and its worth it. I would and will go back and try more flavors.

Not a fan of cupcakes but alway get it for my kiddo, they are pretty average nothing great!! I have had the best in US called sprinkles so can’t blame them my standards are too high

I had a macaroon which was tasty, not sure it was worth over two dollars for one cookie though. I realize however that they are difficult to make.

When visitng Mall of America, we decided to visit this cupcake place as we heard they were winners at cupcake wars… Lots of choices a little pricey I must say, but wasn’t too impressed that out of the dozen cupcakes;the only two cupcakes I recommend are blueberry cheesecake and bunny butt. Id recommend sprinkles cupcakes instead

I’m sorry, but this place is so underwhelming. All of their locations are just so mediocre and unfortunate. I keep going back, thinking that I must be wrong somehow, but no, really. Their cupcakes just aren’t very good. They are so unmemorable and definitely not delicious enough to warrant finishing it. They just aren’t worth the calories. How can a place named Cupcake fail to make really good cupcakes?
To be honest, they are pretty. But they just aren’t very good. I think I’ve had better ones from grocery stores. My last attempt was a blueberry cheesecake and I think the other one was a pumpkin one but I took a bite of each and gave the rest away. Not the least bit tempting or worth the calories. Dry, boring. And I definitely know how to throw down on sweet treats– they are my weakness.

Every now and then, you set aside better judgement and splurge for a decadent treat. If you’re in the Mall of America and this feeling overcomes you, get over to Cupcake! They have a great assortment of baked wonders and best of all — the friendliest service you will find at MOA. Seriously, these guys are great and their cupcakes are sure to satisfy your sweet tooth.
Then you can take a few laps around the mall to work it off!

To sum up my experience at Cupcake, I would simply describe it as disappointing.
Service — When I walked in, I looked at the display… and waited… and waited… and waited… to be be helped. The girl finally showed up and asked me in an impatient tone, «What do you want?» She handed the cupcake to me and wanted me to sign the screen. The screen was FILTHY — there was all sorts of smears and grease on it and I didn’t want to touch it with my finger whatsoever. I asked for a box and she looked at me as if I asked her some sort of ridiculous question, huffed, grabbed a box, then handed it to me (no eye contact and scowling at the same time too). She didn’t even thank me or wish me a good day and proceeded to walk into the back and go on her phone. Such a charmer!
Product — While the cupcake looked cute and dainty, it was literally the worst cupcake I ever had. People who know me have no idea how difficult this is — I have never met a cupcake I did not like. However, the actual cake itself was dry, stale, and tasteless. The frosting tasted nothing like cream cheese — it was goopy, warm, and worst of all, tasted and smelled like shortening. Even the cakes in the bakery at Walmart taste better than this — at least those cakes are fluffy!
Worst of all, I paid almost $ 5 for one cupcake, crappy service, and a gross after taste.
Definitely will not be back. There are so many better places you can go to for cupcakes! I would start with Wuollet’s — those are 2x the size of these cupcakes here and half the price. Best of all, you’ll get service with a small and no snarky looks when you ask for a box to carry your cupcake. ¹⁄₅ stars is a very generous rating for this place (I would give 0 if I could).

Just terrible. I was so excited to try this place. I love cake and cupcakes are a bit of a passion. These tasted only of vegetable shortening. We bought 6 different flavors to share with 7 of us. Only the coconut pecan frosting was edible. $ 20 and none were completely finished, even though we all took a small taste of each. Couldn’t be more disappointed.

Cupcake and Mason Jar has been quite the disappointment. As a restaurant that bills itself, and has the prices, of a place for foodies it just doesn’t come through. My wife and I have been here on several occasions, each time with the hope that the new restaurant jitters would be gone, but I believe we have now made our last trip. The service is ok. Waiters are friendly, but often don’t have the knowledge of their menu that you would expect at this type of eatery. The dishes are billed on the menu as true foodie food, and there is lots of potential but the execution is not there. When we visited for dinner, dishes were overpriced and did not live up to what the menu promised. Our most recent visit was for lunch. The bread on my Wife’s sandwich was dry and appeared to have been previously frozen, a travesty at a restaurant that has a bakery attached. My sandwich was made with out of the package lunch meat, the processed kind. My tomato soup was greasy, and separating.
The beverage selection is also lacking. At this type of restaurant I would expect a selection of craft beer, which is noticeably absent. Wine is dispensed from a taps like you would dispense keg beer.
I will say the one positive thing about this place are the cupcakes. They are delicious, although on the pricey side. I guess that’s the benefit of winning cupcake wars.
Go for the cupcakes, not the food. They really should have stuck to what they know.

I heard the founder won Cupcake Wars, and if Candace Nelson thought this was delicious, I have to try it! At first, I was hesitant to do so because of all the hype. Also, I admitted Sprinkles cupcakes are the only reasons I eat cupcakes.
I ordered the mint chocolate chip and cookies and cream cupcakes. Honestly, the frosting was good, but the texture of the cupcake was off, and the frosting did not stay on the cake too well. Definitely did not live up to the hype. I still think Sprinkles is the best.

Location: Mall of America
Cupcakes purchased:
Mad Cow-​chocolate with cream cheese frosting
Caramel Cubed– filled with carmel, cube on top, buttercream frosting
Black Bottom-​chocolate with cream cheese batter, chocolate chips
Pros:
Nice sales person
Military discount– thanks for your support
Delicious cream cheese frosting
Cons:
The cupcakes appeared to be a little smaller than usual-​this made it hard to pay $ 4 – 5 for some of the flavors-​perhaps they were regular sized like something from home-​it was also hard to peel the wrapper off.
The chocolate cupcake tasted like something I could make at home and I am not really good at making cupcakes.
The buttercream frosting was not good.
The caramel cupcake was crusty rather than moist-​the caramel inside was not tasty.
The black bottom cake was dense.
My assessment overall– I have certainly had better cupcakes. This was actually a disappointment. I do not understand how they won cupcake wars. I go to cupcake stores in each state that I travel to-​I do not need to come here again. I give them a star for their military discount.

Upfront disclosure: I didn’t try a cupcake myself, just the macarons.
The macarons were delicious and in very innovative flavors — I tried the elderflower, pear + fig, and strawberry balsamic. Yum yum! They were all awesome!
(They should probably tell their staff that «macaroons» are a totally different cookie though. Just saying.)
My SO had a cupcake and liked it, but I’m not taking that into consideration.
Judging by the other reviews, maybe they should start to focus more on the macarons.

Let me start off by saying that I visited the University Ave location years ago and left underwhelmed. However given Cupcake had won the Food Networks Cupcake Challenge and they were now at a new location I figured I’d give it another try; after all they won a huge competition.
As soon as I walked in I ooh’d & aah’d over the many flavors and struggled over which one I wanted. However once I realized that my first choice was $ 5 & my second $ 4, I resolved to go for the $ 3 option. Luckily my friend also wanted the same $ 5 option, the «Alton Brown» so we got one to split.
Well imagine my disappointment when I bit into said «Alton Brown» cupcake only to find that it wasn’t worth my removing my Invisalign trays (in public) to try it!
It was small, dry, course & more like a jiffy corn muffin than cake. For a honey almond cake it sure tasted spicy (think ginger, not jalapenos) and it had only ¼ tsp of pear filling, which 1) I didn’t realize was pear while eating it and 2) should have been doubled considering the price. The BUTTERcream was okay, but could have used a bit more sweet. All I really tasted was the butter, not sugar or the butterscotch and bourbon flavors that it supposedly had. It also had a caramel type brittle on the top which I let my friend have. She didn’t bother tasting it.
I was disappointed in the entire thing. I guess a leopard really can’t change its spots or in this case its recipe.

Prices, service, all that seemed in order… it is a botique cupcake shop after all. Plenty of whimsy and difficulty in ordering also, given the plethora of offerings. But when you get right down to it, there wasn’t anything magical going on in the flavors. Strangely enough the cake didn’t seem dense enough to support the frosting — which, yes seems like it’d be a good thing — but it somehow wasn’t.
Decent blast of sugar, but I was more immediately interested in the free cheese samples next door at the Packers shop, unfortunately. (And not just because I’m an avid lover of cheese…)

Cupcake in Prospect Park opened a new location in Mall of America. Last I had heard, they were trying to open in St. Paul, but I think the move to the mall was a better idea. They will get tons of foot traffic from tourists. Even though that are nestled up there on the 3^rd floor.
While their space is small, they make the most of it by decorating out on the counter. They have a nice display of all the cupcakes next to the name. Unfortunately it isn’t easy enough to see unless you are right by the register. 20 different cupcakes at $ 2.50-$ 3 isn’t bad. The michelle obama was sweet and simple. My balsamic strawberry shortcake macaroon was to die for though! It had phenomenal flavor. I think the treats here are even better than the original location.

K – so, since others didn’t notate right away… you can find this MOA location on the 3^rd floor of the West section (right across from Nordstrom Rack.)
I had a heckuva time myself finding this location, since it:
a) wasn’t listed on the mall directory
b) no other fellow Unilocalers gave directions to find
But… yes, they have a few different price ranges for cupcakes… I think I just kept to the basic low-​priced one for $ 3.00. It was tasty. No complaints from me — — i love sugar!
But… I also had to grab a macaron (since I’m a BIG fan!). Their macarons are more on the fruit flavors. I believe I went with the Blood Orange… it was delicious! (Maybe I caught a good batch of macarons compared with Tian Q’s review — — and I’m picky when it comes to macarons!)
Would I drive across town to get these sugary delights (either the cupcakes or macarons) — — No; not a special trip.
Would I stop by and get some sugary delights on my frequent trip (s) to the mall — — yeah, I’m pretty sure I’ll stop by again.

After hearing about this place opening up in MOA, my friend and I were excited to try it. My mom has been to the original Cupcake (winner of cupcake champions) and said they were OK.
When arriving, the store was cute and the workers seemed very friendly. The display case was very clear. I ended up getting the anti-​bully pb&j cupcake while my friend got an espresso cupcake.
The first downside were the prices of each cupcake. My friend’s was 2.95 while mine was 4.95 since it was a «specialty cake» being that it was on the episode of cupcake champions. Also, they were really small for the price. However my cupcake tasted EXACTLY like a pb&j sandwich! And although I don’t really like coffee, i took a bite of my friend’s and it was pretty good. She LOVED her’s. Another complaint though was that the frosting to cupcake ratio was huge. The cream cheese frosting towered my cupcake (there was mounds of frosting and very little cake :().
Overall I don’t know if I would waste my money on such a small cupcake. They are good, but not amazing, especially not for the price. I do think it’s smart to open up a cupcake store however, since there aren’t that many in the twin cities.

Pros:
–Super adorable new location in Mall of America, love the look and feel; the mommy Cupcake store on University St looks like a dump in comparison
–Creative and unique-​looking cupcakes
–Glee Anti-​Bully and Carrot Cake cupcakes pleasantly surprised me; I expect cupcakes to all taste the same by default, but these, were really special (double rainbow moment)
–Coffee drinks available
–They have parisian macarons and make them in novel flavors (compared to other Twin Cities macaron shops); flavors include mocha, amaretto, blood orange, passion fruit
Cons:
–Cupcakes look cool but some of them also look like products of a mad scientist’s experiments, aka not that appetizing covered in all that heavy food-​coloring and artificial crap, except for the Glee Anti-​Bully (still a little too gross looking like something out of a biology text book) and Carrot Cake cupcake thus far
–Don’t get the S’more cupcake (very predictable and nothing wow-​worthy) unless you’re boring
–Parisian macarons FAIL; overall texture was completely off and also inconsistent among all the macarons I had (too soggy, too crunchy, too dry, etc.); these macarons are too shitty to cost $ 2 a piece, I want a refund
1 stars for the joke they call parisian macarons.
4.5 stars for the cupcakes.
Moral of the story is clear, do what you do best in, Cupcake.