The Pink Box Bakeshop

Walked in here to check the place out after a stroll down mass with a friend and ended up getting the lemon cookies. Now I’m not a HUGE fan of lemon but wow! These are great! I’m sure there are many other great things on the menu so give this place a shot!

I know this review is coming post-​mortem (of Pink Box, not I), but I wanted to review it anyways. Despite any other non-​confectionary connotation, I thought the name Pink Box was cute, and stopped here partly on name alone. And because I have a major sweet tooth.
The comments about presentation are true — the Saran wrap was a bit off-​putting, but the items in glass cake stands and such looked nice. And, due to the fact that things are not well-​labelled, I once bought what I thought was a peach scone, only to be surprised to bite into a bacon cheddar scone. It was good, no less, haha. I purchased a variety of items from here, but I think the best were probably the cupcakes. They were not amazing, and yes the decorations on these and other baked goods were sometimes childlike. However, as a little spontaneous sweet treat walking down Mass, I found them endearing and mentally soothing. I think my favorite Pink Box treat was a caramel-​flavored cupcake. Though Cupcake Construction Co. offers prettier (and tastier) treats, I much preferred the ambiance inside Pink Box. Rest in peace, Pink Box.

Stopped in here tonight after dinner because the smell beckoned me to step inside. After reading previous reviews I am surprised Pink Box was rated as low as it was. I purchased a strawberry cupcake and it was really, really good. Moist cake, lots of strawberry flavor, not a huge amount of frosting (which personally is my preference) and it was not overly sweet. It was nicely decorated with red sprinkles and a fresh strawberry. My husband got a dipped chocolate double chocolate chip cookie. It was way too chocolate-​y for me but if you’re a chocoholic, you’d dig it. He ate his up with no complaints.
I agree that the set up could use some work, all of the baked goods are out on cake displays on a table. Probably not the most sanitary way to sell food. A set up like at Wheatfield’s would be good, with a glass shield covering everything and names of the goodies in front of each one. I had to ask what several things were because I couldn’t tell just from looking. The employee who helped us greeted us as soon as we entered and was very pleasant. I would come back again to try other flavors of cupcakes and other baked goods. Who knows, maybe they have revamped their baking techniques after reading some of these reviews.

I was surprised to see such low ratings for a bake shop, let alone a bake shop in my lovely city of Lawrence. But, I must say Unilocalers never lie.
Some cupcake shops are better than others, but I never imagined a bake shop could screw up a cupcake. We didn’t try any of the cookies, brownies, or other bakery offerings, but the two cupcakes the BF and I had here just weren’t good. Hard to imagine that anyone could possibly make me dislike any cupcake as I’m an equal opportunity cupcake eater.
Upon entering, the décor is typical of a bake shop, pink walls, cupcake art, chalkboards with handwritten specials of the day, etc. However, the lighting is a bit dim, so rather than feeling light and whimsical, the ambiance was rather sad.
There were only three cupcake options that day. Chocolate, Vanilla, and Red Velvet — each with cream cheese frosting. I chose the last of the cupcakes with white cream cheese frosting. For some reason, they decided to dye the cream cheese this awful mauve color for the rest of the cupcakes. It wasn’t exactly appetizing. I say, let the natural colors come out. It’s hard to taste and enjoy cream cheese frosting when it’s purple. Leave the colors for weddings and baby showers.
Color aside, the cream cheese frosting hardly tasted of cream cheese and wasn’t velvetly and smooth as I expect cream cheese frostings to be. It was that sugary sweet granulated frosting, which I’m not a fan of.
The cake itself was what set us off. Frosting can be hit or miss among shops as people’s preferences vary, but there is not one person in the world who enjoys dry cake and that’s what we got in both cupcakes. Both cupcakes had that crumbly consistency that you get with days-​old cake that had been left out. The red velvet cakes must have come from a fresh batch because they had not been frosted yet when we walked in, so we waited for them to be frosted. All the moisture had been completely sucked out of these guys. Sadly, this was an example of their «fresh» cupcake.

There wasn’t much to choose from. The few things we got were dry and not very tasty. There is so much potential a place like this.
Daddy Cakes in Topeka is a better selection if you don’t mind the drive.

I love the idea of a boutique bakery. I think it is a business that is well suited for Lawrence. The Pink Box – as a concept – is promising. The owner’s execution of this concept is a real let-​down.
First of all, the décor is terrible. Pink walls sound nice, but you really need some lighting to back it up. The Pink Box lacks the windows to give it good natural light and the overhead lights were non-​existent when I went in. The place came across as dim and uninviting.
The set up is a little awkward as there is not a lot of display area. Everything is up on the counter where you pay and the selection is thin.
The taste and consistency of these baked goods are lacking. Their cookies, cupcakes and muffins come out dry and dense, which really hurts the flavors they are trying to get across. The frosting job on these items is even worse – certainly not worth the extra you pay at many boutique bakeries for edible works of art.
It is very clear that the owner has the resources to keep the doors open and pursue this hobby, but lacks the skill to make it worth your time and money.
Lawrence is left waiting for a real boutique bakery.

Over the course of several visits, I have become increasingly disappointed in Pink Box Bakery. I am from Lawrence and was very excited at the prospect of a local bakery. Each time I go to the bakery I am surprised by the lack of customer service and the quality of their products.
This last time I went to Pink Box Bakery it was a couple hours after the the bakery was open. As I walk in, the owner and one of the shop workers were out in the shop cleaning. No one said good morning or acknowledged my presence. I walk over to the baked goods and inquire about a few products. I was told told that there were more cupcakes available, but they were not frosted yet. Which confused me since this bakery opens at 8:30 am and does not have all the product ready at 10:00am.
I bought a red velvet cupcake and it was very dry and the frosting tasted like store bought. Typically their cupcakes are slightly better. They are nothing special, taste like something you could make at home and are tiny. They definitely should not be charging $ 2.43 for a cake box cupcake with canned icing.
I am extremely disappointed and I have given Pink Box several chances in the past few months and continue to be disappointed. This increasing frustration has prompted this negative review. I would not recommend this bakery and really hope downtown opens a better one in the future.

I ran in here for a quick mother’s day gift and I was pleasantly surprised. Everything was SO good! The staff/​owner are local and very nice. We liked the baked good so much that we went back later that day to take more goodies home.
I suggest the lemon cookies or the chocolate chip cookies. Amazing:) The prices are reasonable too!

It had been quite some time since I had been able to make it to Lawrence, but I found myself there the other day and spied a bakery I had never seen before. I had to go in, and I am glad I did.
Based solely on taste and quality of the three items I purchased, I would give a higher rating, but there were some other factors that brought things down in my opinion.
To start with the positive! :
I purchased a cream cheese (or was it sour cream?) raspberry muffin, caramel apple bread pudding, and a piece of apple cake. The bread pudding and apple cake were HUGE, and the muffin was pretty regular sized. None of these items survived until the end of the day. Thankfully, I didn’t demolish them all on my own. All items were moist, yet crispy in the right parts. The apple items had large pieces of apple involved. They were all delicious!
Price-​wise, I paid about $ 12.00 for all three. I’m not sure what the price of each item was (see negatives) but like I said, two of them were giant, so I feel like I received much tastiness for that amount.
Now, here are things I hope they will improve on:
Awkward setup. Not too sure if it is possible to change this or not. It is a very narrow shop, and the counter is in front. There is a sitting area past it, but if people are in line at the counter, you can’t easily squeeze by them to get to it. There were four people in there when I walked in with my son. Soon a few more lined up behind me. A person or two came in and walked out, because there wasn’t much room to stand, plus there was one guy working the counter and I think they were afraid of how long the whole process may take. The guy was fairly speedy, but I also didn’t really feel like I could take too much time to ask questions.
Prices. There were some small-​type 81÷2×11 pieces of paper taped to the wall opposite the counter that seemed to list items and prices. I couldn’t get a good look at it though, because of the four people in front of me (they were a group, so once they all left it was my turn, and like I said, I didn’t feel I could take much time to study anything.) I have terrible eyes, so I gave up on trying to see it. A large board with daily items/​prices would be great! That’s the other thing… none of the items were labeled. That would help a bunch.
The last improvement I would love to see is their website. A website is listed on the label of the box, and since I didn’t have tons of time in the shop I thought I would check it out. It just said coming soon. I was hoping for a price list, or at least some info on the shop/​owner. Maybe soon?
I loved the treats, so next time I am in Lawrence, assuming they are still around, I would love to get some more. I just hope for improvements!

It’s sad, really. I love the idea of a simple bakery/​coffee shop in the heart of downtown (for now, Wheatfields is the only place that fills that description). But I was truly disappointed by Pink Box.
$ 2 for a cupcake is understandable. But not for THEIR cupcakes. I can get six cupcakes at the grocery store for $ 3 and those taste WAY Better than Pink Box’s cupcakes. Their cupcakes are tiny (just the size you’d bake at home) and the amount of frosting is VERY, VERY skimpy. And not put on nicely at all. Just smeared across with a knife. The cupcake was decorated with 3 M and M’s. Tacky AND Tasteless. The cake tasted like a boxed cake mix and the frosting tasted like nothing (but I could barely taste it because there was hardly any icing).
The hot chocolate was no better. Tasted like Swiss Miss to me! Over-​priced and bland.
Inside, the atmosphere is truly dismal. It seriously looks like a basement.
Something’s gotta change or else Pink Box Bakery will be going out of business before you can say «pink box bakery» three times fast.

I’m rating this bakery five stars on the name alone.
I avoid bakeries like the plague, but I love walking by and examining her pretty pink interior.
The sign last week stated that she closed early because she was «SOLD OUT.» On game day, of course because hello, most football players can’t get enough pink box.