Smallcakes

Disgusting!!! The cupcakes tasted cheap and like they were made with oil. The frosting was greasy and just gross. It definitely tasted like they used Crisco. One of the cupcakes I believe had a caramel frosting, and it tasted straight up artificial.
All in all, I found them to be inedible. Go get a frozen banana or soft serve from Dad’s instead!!!

Gluten free cupcake left much to be desired. The cake has a rubbery texture and the frosting seemed to be over-​sugared to mask the flavor and texture. If you are gluten free keep walking. Not worth it.

Passed by smallcakes after the boat larade last night. Definitely worth it. I got a chocolate cupcake and a hot chocolate. Well more like hot cocoa. It was strong not to sweet but it tasted like cocoa. Still Yum!
The ladies here were very nice and patient. (Seeing as we took our sweet time ordering.)

SmallCakes what a catchy name! I went here recently and had the lemon drop cupcake. Wow it was so yummy! I also had a scoop of the mint chip ice cream. That was also so yummy. Mint chip is my favorite flavor of ice cream and Smallcakes nailed it. The look inside is so cute! The two employees welcomed me when I walked in and were super helpful and knowledgeable about the products. This place will definitely see my face again next time I’m on the island. Must go try!

My husband and I took a Sunday stroll along Balboa Island and came across this gem of a place. Great cupcakes and homemade ice cream! Family owned with great customer service! Thank you for one of the best birthday cake cupcakes I have ever had!

Such a cute bakery. The cupcake I ordered was fresh, moist, and full of flavor. The owners & employees were very friendly & accommodating. Will definitely be back and helping local business.

The worst bakery ever! I thought at first this is a cute place but then I ordered the ice cream sundae cupcake and I got food poisoning from it at 1 am that morning. I also got a chocolate chip cookie and it clearly was not fresh because it was has hard as a rock!
Also, the ice cream is like eating a sorbet, ice-​y!!! This is just another cheap bakery that only has the location going for it!

My review is based upon having an opportunity to try the cupcakes at the Balboa Pavilion Wine Tasting yesterday. My friend and I tried some of the cupcakes at the event and they were really good. The ladies sharing the cupcakes at the event were helpful in talking about different kinds offered and about the bakery. I really liked the cute birthday cake style one (I’m a sucker for rainbow sprinkles). The frosting was excellent and a good cake/​frosting ratio. I live in CDM and love a chance to walk around Balboa Island. I think this is a new (new to me at least) go-​to spot to try out on my next visit.

Amazingly moist cupcake and delicious buttercream frosting. Got the «hot fudge cupcake.» Better than a hot fudge sundae.

We noticed this relatively new business (
) while starting our evening walk around Balboa. It is rare to see new openings (well … new for us … it has been open since July) on the island, so we decided go in and take a peek. The menu is very simple:
Cupcakes and Cookies Flavors:
Pink Vanilla
Pink Chocolate
Choco-​holic
Vanilla-​n-​Chocolate
Cookies-​n-​Cream
Lemon Drop
«Famous» Red Velvet
Caramel Crunch
Hot Fudge Sundae
Peanut Butter Cup
Birthday Cake
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Homemade Ice Cream Flavors:
Red Velvet
Black-​n-​White
Cookies-​n-​Cream
Mint Chocolate Chip
Choco-​holic
Vanilla Bean
Birthday Cake
24 Karrot
Lilly’s Strawberry
Salted Caramel Crunch
Peanut Butter Cup
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)
You can also get a Balboa Smash (a cupcake cut in half with a scoop of ice cream between the halves) and scoops in a waffle or red velvet cone ($ 1.00 extra). The cupcakes are $ 3.75 each, $ 36 for a dozen, a single scoop of ice cream is $ 3.50 and additional scoops are $ 2.50 each. Smallcakes has free delivery with a minimum order of 12 cupcakes and they request 24 notice for delivery orders.
After checking out the menu (
), speaking to the staff and trying a few samples; we decided to come back here after our walk. Both our samples (Choco-​holic for the choco-​holic and red velvet for myself) were creamy and flavorful. The décor is simple and seating is sparse with one small table on the inside and two more tables outside.
After taking a look at the Halloween displays and grabbing some dinner across the street at Crocker’s, we returned here for dessert. My wife thought the Choco-​holic ice cream was really good, so I decided to have a scoop of that nestled between the halves of a Peanut Butter Cup (
) cupcake. We also purchased a Pumpkin Spice (Seasonal) cupcake (
) to take home with us.
Rohlinism: The late worm gets the leftovers!
Because we returned 15 minutes before closing (8:45 pm), the selection was somewhat limited (I took the last Peanut Butter Cup Cupcake), but it made finding a table outside to consume the «smash» easier. Laina is not a huge dessert person, but she really liked the smash (probably helped it was mostly chocolate for my choco-​holic). Minus a bite at the end, the ice cream was smooth and creamy (the last bite was icy since it was coming from the very bottom of the container) and the cupcake was moist and flavorful. The peanut butter cream cheese frosting was a very pleasant surprise and it had a balanced flavor. The wife and I were both impressed with this dessert.
One of the employees came out while we were diving into our smash and asked how we were enjoyed the smash. The service was friendly and helpful answering out questions regarding the cupcakes and ice cream. There is no ambiance and the décor is understated, so don’t expect some sort of theme here, just some delicious dessert options.
The next evening we tried the Pumpkin Spice cupcake with Cinnamon Sugar Cream Cheese. The cupcake was still moist after being a day old and a palate pleasing pumpkin taste. The cream cheese was sweet without being sickeningly sweet and there was crystallized sugar on top for a nice crunch.
If you are looking for change from the normal desserts on Balboa Island (frozen bananas and Balboa bars), drop in here and grab a cupcake or a «smash.»

Today I stopped in at Small Cakes for some cupcakes and noticed they are now selling scones! Through talking with the friendly staff, I found out that the owners are from England and that the scones are an authentic family recipe! I have traveled to England, and these scones took me back to fond times. Who knew there was a little piece of England on Balboa Island?! I’m so glad I stopped in. I even grabbed some Pup Cakes for my French Bulldog! All around, I’d rate this place as excellent!

The girls here are all super friendly and the ice cream is fantastic. Overall the store has a very cute girly vibe as to be expected of a cupcake store. Everything from the cupcakes to the ice cream is freshly made and I’ve been told by one of their employees that that even do custom orders on dozens.

I was really excited to try this place. My cousin lives in Houston, TX and was raving about this cupcake shop. So when it opened in Newport, I made my way down there to try their cupcakes.
It looks like a mom and pop shop. It’s very small, but their cupcakes are pretty large! I ordered the cookies and cream and the chocolate cream. The chocolate cream had a vanilla filling, but it was a small amount. The chocolate cupcakes are moist, but nothing special. The frosting was way too thick and sweet. I was sadly disappointed.

Small cakes? Hmmm. Well let’s have a close look at what small cakes stands for:
1. This place isn’t corny friendly. They use REAL sugar. So cornys will have to go elsewhere to get their cornfix.
2. Employees are all friendly. I got served by 2 FUNNY irish girls who made my shopping experience at least 80% better.
3. Shop is fresh.
To sum up, this place is nice.

This place is super cute! They had about 10 flavors of ice cream, and I honestly wanted to try all of them, but I went with the red velvet. And it was soooo delicious. It had some of the actual cake in it! They also have cupcakes that look really good. You can even get a flavor of ice cream and put it in between a cupcake. I’ll have to go back and try that!
The staff was also really friendly and answered the few questions I had and let me try a few samples to see what kind of ice cream I wanted.

This is weird. For some reason you’re reading this review instead of indulging in the unequivocal delicacies Smallcakes has to offer.
But really, this place is fantastic. If it was closer to my house I’d probably go everyday. The cupcakes are moist and scrumptious, the staff is welcoming, and whats that? Not in the mood for cupcakes? Oh don’t worry, this place offers a myriad of other little sweet goodies like a variety of ice cream and you can even create and customize your own ice cream sandwich.
Even the vanilla cupcake was delicious. Kind of like everything else.

We went in today and for 4 cupcakes. I also wanted an ice cream cone. They won’t have cones until next week. (?? It’s only Wednesday so I would think of a way to get some cones). So I didn’t have ice cream.
The cake portion of the cupcakes are pretty moist and good. The chocolate cake of the peanut butter and chocolate cupcake was the tastiest as was the peanut butter frosting. Lemon cupcake and lemon frosting was «good». But the lemon frosting as well as the other two frostings that we had (pink vanilla and birthday cake) was very heavy and not a lot of flavor. I wonder what is the proportion of shortening to butter is because I didn’t taste must butter– mostly shortening and not much vanilla so it leaves a heavy feeling in your mouth. American buttercream frosting is very simple. There was a little bit of lemon filling and toping on the lemon cupcake and it tasted like a canned lemon pie filling. I always hope for more lemon and tartness.
The display case is filled with cupcakes and it is very beautifully done and simple. The employees are all very nice and helpful as well. The gal helping me didn’t know an answer to a question that I asked but she got answer for me right away. Good job in employee hiring! Customer service is a lost art.
I wasn’t crazy about these cupcakes but they are still one of the better cupcakes I have had.

Well, first off I was so excited for this place to opened up, but now it’s whatever. Oh my goodness! One scope is only $ 4!!! The red velvet is good I guess.

I have been so excited to try this place! I work on the island so I’ve been watching and waiting~
I stopped in today and the first thing I noticed was how hot it was in there. They had no ac! Ok, I’ll just grab my cupcakes and go. I got a red velvet and a caramel crunch and headed back to my air conditioned office to enjoy them.
I tore into the red velvet first. VERY moist and I can definitely taste the light cocoa flavor and buttermilk. The frosting was a little too sweet and runny for my taste but very rich in cream cheese flavor. It was probably runny because it was in a hot room. Hah. It’s sprinkled with finely chopped pecans which was nice. I kinda wanted more pecans!
Next I tried the caramel crunch. Chocolate cake, again, very moist. I think they use more oil than butter as the fat in these cupcakes to keep them so moist! It actually reminded me a lot of the Duncan Hines devils food. The caramel frosting didn’t taste very caramel-​y. Like… almost there! Caramel should taste like burnt sugar and this didn’t do it for me.
You know what I tasted really strongly in the frosting? Margarine and corn syrup. It’s probably just the blend of flavors that led me to that but yea, it tasted like caramel made with lots of corn syrup and fake butter.
The crunchy pretzels and sea salt on top were a nice touch. To balance out all that sweetness.
The packaging was super cute and so was the shop. The employees were very friendly and helpful. They also had ice cream so I would love to stop by and try it sometime.
I would give this place 3 stars. I will be back and probably update my review as follows! :)

Pink. Girly. Cupcakes. By the Beach. oh yes please! I absolutely love cupcakes, I even had a small home business when I lived in Nevada. They’re just so much fun, and because they’re small, you don’t feel guilty indulging in one or. four? Haha. Smallcakes is an adorable new cupcakery and ice cream shop on Balboa Island! Yep, the new kid on the block is a cutesy, girly little shop, and it totally rocks!
OK, today was basically their first day in business, in fact their actual soft opening is not until Friday 7÷24÷15. So I was pleased to see that they had opened way early. So for the complaints about no AC, and no ice cream cones. way rude. I went around 12pm, and they had barely been open for about 2 hours at that point. Their employees were a little confused, but it’d day 1, I’m not worried! They have major potential, especially with customer service. One gal, the taller one, seemed kind of offended that I was taking photos, but it is what it is. The owner actually knew who I was (^_​^) when I paid she asked «Are you Heather??» Keep in mind, I was paying cash so I had no i.d. out or a card. I was very impressed that they pay attention to their social media, nice. Oh, they accept cash AND cards! Bonus points there as many places are cash only during the soft opening phase. Parking is a pain, if you’ve been to Balboa Island, I don’t even need to explain. It’s a crazy 2 lane street where everyone is scanning for that next open spot. It’s packed. I got lucky, and ended up about 2 spots down from Smallcakes. No meters, so that’s cool too. Décor is pink, girly, and simple. Very cutesy and just overall visually pleasing.
The cupcakes are soo good. The cake itself is moist, and light, with an airy texture! So yum. There were many, many options to choose from, and since I was in a small rush, I only grabbed two. BF got the Lemon Drop as he loves lemon every thaaaang, while I got the Choco-​holic as I’ve been craving chocolate a whole lot more lately. Both were good, but I’ve had better lemon :/​the cake was not as citrusy as I was hoping for and the frosting needed a little more lemon tang. The chocolate was good, the frosting a classic american chocolate buttercream! One of my favorites (^_​^). I’m kind of bummed that I didn’t order more than just those 2 as I would’ve liked to try more flavors. The cupcakes aren’t small, so the $ 3.75 price tag kind of made sense :/​. They also have a dice dollop of frosting on top, with various decorations to finish it off. I didn’t try the ice cream as it was very hot and I didn’t have any space in my cup holders for ice cream cups. Oh, they also have a punch card! Buy 12 items, 13^th is free.
I would definitely come back once they’ve got everything finely tuned over the next few weeks, as the move from soft to grand opening. The shop is cute, adorable pink polka dotted to-​go boxes, helpful employees. they have potential. When I return I will update my review accordingly. So far, so good. Welcome to Balboa Island Smallcakes\(^_^)/